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First impressions: Santini Italia Giant

I talked a bit about this pen on Instagram and in some previous posts, so it won’t surprise you folks that the Santini Italia Giant has got me all excited the past few months.

As you’ll gather from the video, this is a very special pen. If you’re in a box-ticking mood, try this: handmade, sterling silver trim with enamelling, ebonite feed, ratcheting piston filler, ebonite body, limited edition of 33.

And to cap it all off: a completely in-house #8 size bi-colour nib that dwarfs even the Sailor KoP or Montblanc 149. All for 730 Euros (which I happily paid out of my own pocket).

I worried that the Giant would be a bit of a gimmick. I’d buy it, chuckle about the huge nib for a while, then sell it as I sold the Pilot Custom Urushi or Wahl Decoband. But actually it is a remarkably good pen to use. Despite the piston mechanism and large overall size, it’s not heavy and has exceptional balance, as well as spot-on aesthetic proportions.

Speaking of aesthetics, the cherry ebonite is lovely, and the gold trim sets it off perfectly, with lots of lovingly handmade trim.

The comfort is great, with no sharp edges. The piston holds a ton of ink. The cap spins off quickly and seals well. The overall fit and finish are good, with neat lines and bright polish. The branding and engraved limitation number are very subtle.

And the nib: well, mine arrived with a less than perfect tipping alignment, but it wrote fairly well and after a few minutes of attention it wrote very well.

The line is crisp, a true F, yet wet, just as I like it. And (unsurprisingly with all that gold) there’s a good amount of line variation if you want it.

This is the largest pen I own, but to get hung up on the size alone would be a shame.

This is a pen that’s obviously been lavished with care and attention, and above all, pride. The huge, huge wooden box it comes in has no fewer than three screwed-on brass plaques informing you that the Giant is made in Italy.

There’s a lot more to say, but the last word is this: after a few weeks, I’m still using the Giant. I see this one being with me for a long time. I’m glad I took a second chance on Santini.

6 Comments

  1. Ian H

    It great to see that you have one of these. The Santini brand is one that I am seriously considering for the future. But why, for such a lovingly made and high quality pen, do you still have to fiddle with its nib to get it to be a joy to write with‽

    I don’t understand why some of the upper tier pen makers find it difficult to send out an item which has been thoroughly quality controlled…. Not everyone wants to just look at a beautiful pen in a cabinet, some of us actually want to use them 😯.

    It probably won’t stop me from getting one though…

    • Anthony

      I’m giving Santini a bit more of a pass here than say Kaweco or Visconti because Santini is operating at a much smaller scale, the nib design is new and radical, etc. But yes, agreed!

  2. devonico

    That is an impressive pen!

    I am waiting for a smaller offering from Santini in the post. If the pen lives up to the high expectations I have on it I might consider making the effort to buy the Giant. Thank you for your well considered and balanced review.

  3. Ryan

    Is the nib really bigger than a Namiki emperor? On another page you say it’s only short of Tohma.

    • Anthony

      I don’t have an Emperor on hand to do a direct comparison. If you and 400 other readers donate £5 I can buy one to evaluate side by side!

      • Ryan

        Ha! I’m refreshing Santini’s page every morning hoping that these come back in stock. I think I will get it in the Intenso or Perla acrylic though. The Perla seems like an M1005 Stresemann on steroids!

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