Delta 39 Plus One Review: A Refined Celluloid Limited Edition Fountain Pen

Introduction

Delta, the famous Italian pen company, went under a couple of years ago and has now been resuscitated. One of the first releases from the revived brand is the 39 Plus One, a limited edition fountain pen capped at 399 pieces. This review covers a pen numbered 382 out of 399.

The street price sits at roughly $1,279 in the US, with a noticeably higher MSRP of around $1,599. That makes this an expensive pen by any measure, so the question is whether the materials, the writing experience, and the design justify it. Here is a full breakdown.

First Impressions and Design

This is a large pen. Held next to a Pilot Metropolitan, the difference in scale is immediately obvious. The silhouette is distinctive: a deeply tapered cap that ends in a very pointy finial, a sleek curved barrel, and a pointed rear end that gives the whole pen a dramatic, almost weapon-like profile.

The celluloid is the star here. It is a deep brown material with genuine depth, previously used by Delta on the Enrico Caruso model. Rather than being loud or in your face, it is refined, which makes it easy to picture this pen in formal settings. The cap features the classic Delta scrollwork, a large Delta wheel, and a ring marking the 1982 to 2022 anniversary.

The gold-over-silver trim is consistent throughout, including gold-plated threading on the cap and a gold-plated band near the section. One divisive detail is the oversized Delta lettering on the cap band. It is very Delta, but it reads as a bit much and some will prefer the pen without it.

The Right Balance System

The most unusual feature lives in the back cone. Unscrew it and inside sits a gold-plated two-gram weight that can be removed entirely. Leave it in and the pen carries more weight at the back; take it out and the balance shifts toward the front.

The idea is practical on paper: writers doing long sessions may prefer the rear-weighted feel, while calligraphers might favor a front balance. In practice, two grams is not much, but on a relatively light pen you genuinely do notice the difference when it is in or out. Whether that difference meaningfully changes the writing experience is debatable, and the system borders on gimmicky, but it is fascinating to experiment with.

Other pen makers have played with movable internal weights before, so the concept is not new, but Delta executes it neatly with a cute, well-machined piece.

Filling and the Nib

The pen fills by cartridge, converter, or eyedropper. The whole assembly unscrews to reveal a standard Delta converter, and a rubber O-ring is fitted to support eyedropper use. It is not a spectacular filling system, but the eyedropper option adds flexibility.

The nib is an 18k JoWo unit, available in extra fine, medium, broad, and 1.1mm italic, all tuned to JoWo’s standard. This example is a broad. The section is hourglass shaped and longer than it first appears.

How It Writes

Initial skepticism about the skinny-looking section and the sharp rear end quickly faded. The pen is genuinely comfortable in hand and fits well, with the long section keeping fingers well away from the threads.

The broad JoWo nib writes smoothly, wetly, and with pleasant line variation. It is not a flex nib, but a little pressure coaxes extra flow. Reverse writing is possible and takes the broad down to something close to an extra fine line without feeling scratchy. As a pure writer, it is a joy, and that matters most when you are spending this kind of money.

Things to Consider Before Buying

The pointy finial and rear end are an aesthetic choice you may or may not love. The posting situation is also poor: the cap does not really post in a usable way, though at this size most people will not need to.

Two more concerns are worth weighing. There is no center band, so metal threads sit directly against celluloid. Over-tightening the cap could theoretically crack it, since there is no band to disperse that pressure, so careful capping is wise. And the value equation is demanding: $1,279 street is a lot for a cartridge-converter pen with a non-in-house nib, even with limited edition status, gold trim, and attractive celluloid on its side.

Buying Advice

Buy this pen if you love Delta, want a distinctive original design in refined deep brown celluloid, and prioritize a smooth, well-tuned writing experience over filling-system innovation. The comfort, the wet 18k broad nib, and the material quality are the real arguments here.

Skip it if the price feels uncomfortable or if you want a pen that posts or carries an in-house nib. As a limited edition from a revived brand, it will appeal most to collectors and Delta loyalists who already know what the scrollwork and wheel mean to them.

Conclusion

The Delta 39 Plus One is a lovely, very comfortable writer wrapped in beautiful celluloid, with a clever if slightly gimmicky balance weight and a price that demands real commitment. It is not cheap at around $1,279, but for those drawn to its original design and refined materials, it delivers where it counts: on paper.