Pens of Note

Leonardo Furore

"A new line inspired by the colours and beauty of Furore on the Amalfi Coast"

Matrone Salvatore

Smerlado Blue

I am very fortunate to have the Furore, No 46, in the beautiful colour, Blu Smeraldo. This is regular production, numbered pen, created by Salvatore Matrone of Leonardo Officina Italiana.

The Pen Material

The pen is made from a rod of resin. I selected the Smerlado Blue pen and as light hits the resin beautiful shades of green/blue appear with streaks of silver. A very pleasant pen to view. There are other colours, and I debated the most about the yellow (Giallo Sole), or the blue (Blu Galassia), or the white (Bianco Sale) and of course the red (Rosso Passione) immediately caught my eye. But having just come from a week on the Amalfi Coast, and passing by Furore, the Smeraldo Blu was the colour for me! It truly reminded me of the colour of the water along the Amalfi Coast. The resin is used for the body, nib section and the cap. The pen has a beautiful consistent look. The colours of the pen are inspired by the colours of the Amalfi Coast, including the bright ceramic tiles.

The Size

The pen is an excellent size. It measures much the same as the Momento Zero, only the shape differs. The ends have on oblong curve, reminiscent of the Sheaffer Balance fountain pen of the 1930s. Closed, the pen mneasures 145 mm. when capped, 158 mm. The body itself is 130 mm. The width of the pen is good, at 15.2 mm. The pen is light in the hand with a weight of about 25 grams.

Filling Mechanism

The pen uses a converter for its ink filling mechanism. The converter is the extended version that fills the entire length of the inner body. Screw off a cap at the end of the pen, the twist a small nob to expel in draw up ink. At the time, Salvatore told me they are planning to create their own piston mechanisms and now the Grande line of Momento Zero and Furore pens come with an in-house designed Leonardo Piston fill mechanism.

The Nib

This pen lives up to the challenge of having an excellent nib. My pen is fitted with a 14 kt gold nib, in a Stub width. The pen will be available in both a steel and 14 kt gold nib version. As soon as I inked the nib, it just floated across the paper. Leonardo polishes and engraves the nib blanks and creates a very smooth nib. The 14 kt gold nibs are tipped. The steel nibs are available in Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad and 1.5 stub. The gold nibs are availalbe in Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad and 1.3 mm stub.

The Clip

The clip is not too small or large and clunky. Sometimes the design of the clip overtakes the overall look of the pen. The Furore follows the design of the Momento Zero and has a very classic subtle clip. The clip runs about 3/4 the length of the pen cap. At the end of the clip a small roller aides in allowing the clip to effortlessly slip over the shirt pocket material. It has such a classic look and so very suited to the overall look of this pen. The clip and trim on the pen is available in rhodium or gold plate. I have the rhodium as I thought it was cooler in tones and when with the blue/green tones the best.

The Cap

The cap of the pen can also impact the style and look of a pen. In this case, the cap is well portioned to the body of the pen. It is is in the same resin as the body so visually it smoothly blends into the overall look. I write with my caps posed, and this cap nicely posts to the body of the pen. The body is round, and I never like to leave a pen, without the cap closed or posted to the pen.