Saturday, December 14, 2019

REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN

REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
So if you've been following along recently, you may have caught me raving once or twice about the Leonardo Momento Zero Grande on social media and in my recent Holiday Gift Guide. The Grande simply ticks a lot of boxes for me, and -IMHO- improves on the regular (and widely popular) Momento Zero (reviewed HERE).
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
You see, the Momento Zero is already a great pen in its own respect. It offers a fantastic design (heavily inspired by one of my all-time favorite brands: Delta), spot-on build quality and well-tuned Bock nibs. All that for a price that's pretty uncommon for Italian pens. I expected the Grande to be more of the same only in a slightly larger overall footprint. In reality, they managed to exceed my expectations in almost every way, almost...
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
The Grande doesn't strike me as a massive pen, but next to a regular MZ the size difference is hard to ignore
Where to start? Well, the Grande obviously grew a bit, almost a full centimeter over the Momento Zero. Oddly enough, for the massive oversized pen it is, it never strikes me as one. The larger size is best appreciated when both Momento Zero models are put side-to-side. It easily dwarfs several considerably large pens like the Montblanc 149. At 15cm/ 5.9" closed and 13.5cm/ 5.3" uncapped, it's bigger than a Montblanc 149 and it's almost as wide. The Grande is a few millimeters wider than the regular MZ, but not quite as girthy as the 149. The fully metal captured converter adds a good bit of weight to the Grande, at 35 grams it's even heavier than the Montblanc.
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
L to R: Pelikan M805, Edison Beaumont, Leonardo Momento Zero, Leonardo Momento Zero Grande, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000
The section is also a bit longer and girthier than that of the regular Momento Zero, but the difference is rather minimal. It still has that unusual but remarkably comfortable shape, and now bears a decorative metal ring at the edge (Salvatore told me it's made from plated stainless steel, so it should not corrode over time).
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
So it's bigger, but the design is still unmistakably Momento Zero-ish. The clip is smaller and slimmer (an unusual choice for a larger pen, but it looks quite striking). The cap now has three decorative rings, although to be fair some regular MZ's already had that too.

The Grande comes standard in five new stunning resins. You may have noticed that the pen Leonardo sent me to review is the 'Coffee' resin, but has gold trims. This caught me off-guard initially, as none of the Grande are sold as such. A few messages with Salvatore made it clear that, while they don't offer every trim as a standard option, they can make them on request.
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
The most noticeable design change that the Grande received, is that the cap now sits flush against the barrel because of the pinch near the edge. A minute detail that strikes me as a very 'Italian-esque' - you may have seen it on some Omas pens before. The flipside of the seamless transition from barrel to cap is that it makes the step from barrel to section a bit larger. Admittedly, it's a minute difference. But in terms of comfort, the step is ever-so-slightly more noticeable in the hand. Luckily the metal ring right behind the section is nicely rounded to help ease the transition.
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
The filling system is a bit of an oddball. The cartridge/converter system makes way for an integrated converter that cannot be removed. It's well-made -as is the regular converter on the other models- with metal parts that are engraved with a nice greek-key motif and the Leonardo logo. At well over one mL (Most websites state 1.2 mL, but I can't seem to get that yield), the ink capacity takes a considerable leap over a standard international converter (0.8~ish mL) but still falls short of 'true' piston fillers like the Pelikan M800 (2 mL).
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
Now here's the thing: I don't like that you cannot (or should not) remove the converter. I think they should've just called it a piston-filler (in many ways, it IS) and sealed the barrel shut so you can only fill it from the blind cap at the back of the pen. Now it still looks and feels like an 'inferior' converter-filled pen, but without the possibility of removing the converter or using cartridges. A bit nitpicky, I know... but in terms of value proposition, a 300$ piston filler sounds like a better deal to me.
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
The nib is again Bock-made with Leonardo's own custom laser-etched imprint. This one is again different from previous models, with a subtle line etched along the tines. I don't quite understand why each Leonardo model so far has received a slightly different nib design, making it difficult to swap nibs between pens, but oh well...
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
The nib rests on an ebonite feed, something usually reserved for higher-end pens only. The steel nib noticeably benefits from the custom feed, which provides a wet and steady flow of ink. Whereas the regular MZ seemed a bit prone to drying out, the Grande does not seem to dry out much at all (even after weeks of not being used). The EF steel nib is fantastic. That's to say, I wouldn't exactly describe it as an extra fine. But the -relatively- fine line it puts down, it puts down very well. The flow is wet, and the nib is superbly smooth and responsive.
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN
The Momento Zero Grande improves on a pen that didn't really need improvement to begin with. I'm fairly certain the regular Momento Zero will continue to provide everything most users need, but the larger size and small-but-noticeable upgrades of the Grande make it a slightly more refined pen overall. Especially if you prefer larger pens, it will definitely be up your alley.

The price is high, at around 295€ (270$), it's twice that of the regular MZ. Add a gold nib (+200$), and it puts up a fair fight against similarly priced pens like the Pelikan Souverän M800. That being said, I'm quite strongly convinced that you get your money's worth.

NOTE: This product was provided by Leonardo Officina Italiana, so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own. This post does not contain affiliate links.
REVIEW: LEONARDO MOMENTO ZERO GRANDE FOUNTAIN PEN

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