And another Blue: Stipula Calamo

May 30, 2005

Hi all,

As promised, threatened and cajoled , another blue ink review, in this case: Stipula Calamo. A fairly new kid on the block, for an ink anyway, but it does resemble an antique. Check for yourself.

Page 1 of 4:

Page 2 of 4:

Page 3 of 4:

Page 4 of 4:

Yes, it does resemble that old style look, where the ink just fades away while the paper gets more yellow. If you like that sort of stuff, go for it. as indicated, it is relatively cheap. Personally, I like a stronger statement than this ink makes, but the bottle is nice enough, especially the cap, with the lobed Stipula logo.

BTW, just in case you hadn't realised yet. The reason there are generally 4 horizontal lines undeneath the squiggles in the samples of each nib, is that there are always two lines with the pen held at a 90 degree angle to the writing direction (the first two lines underneath the squiggle), and another two lines with the pen held parallel to the writing direction, with the nib dragged from left to right. This in orde to show any difference between what would normally be horizontal and vertical lines. So, the first two lines are representative of horizontal lines, the next two of vertical lines, as if the paper was turned 90 degrees first.

As requested, the next ink reviewed will be a burgundy, but I haven't decided which one of the two I have as yet. Nibs and pens are still being rinsed, flushed, dried and properly cleaned of any ink remnants anyway.

In the mean time: enjoy!

Warm regards, Wim

Edited November 8, 2010 by wimg
Fixed links

May 31, 2005

I have to admit that I didn't know that Stipula made ink. The color reminds me of the "old" Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue. I say "old" because I read recently that they reformulated their blue. I hope the bottle you're getting is the new stuff so we can see what it looks like & get your opinion on it!

Thanks for making me aware that there is such a thing as Stipula ink!

Ann

May 31, 2005

As requested, the next ink reviewed will be a burgundy, but I haven't decided which one of the two I have as yet. Nibs and pens are still being rinsed, flushed, dried and properly cleaned of any ink remnants anyway.

In the mean time: enjoy!

Well done, old boy! You certainly do give us something to chew on and shoot for in our own reviews.

Calamo probably isn't for me; my lack of refinement and sophistication as a newbie is not yet able to appreciate the nuances in many inks.

In music, it took me quite awhile before I was convinced that Tchaikovsky and Beethoven were not the be all and end all of the classical repertoire. Calamo is for me, at this time, like Mozart and Haydn were in my road to music appreciation. I like them now, but I didn't then.

With a burgundy Pel 250 on the way, I'm very interested in a burgundy ink for it, so I am looking forward to the Wim treatment of same.

P.S. You need an assistant to do that 'lug work' of equipment cleaning and readying for the next project.

May 13, 2006

I bought a bottle of the wonderful Stipula-Calamo blue ink at the Chicago show. I asked for a bottle of ink, I would normally not buy.... so this is what I got. A little expensive I thought ($12.85 for 70cc), but I have not been disapointed by this person's previous recommendations.

I was particularly impressed by the inner sealing cap in the bottle that allows one to travel with the added safetly against leakage. The blue color of this ink is very pleasant and subdued. It is one of the lowest feathering inks I have worked with, so it is excellent when writing in low quality papers. This ink is a very fluid , and some of the pens I have had real trouble keeping wet, now flow perfectly.

Because of this I am very encouraged to try their other colors: Siena, Red and Green. I have some concern about permanence, but hand stains wash off easily with Dial Complete.

I am also puzzled by the Stipula Netto pen fillling system. They claim it prevents soling your hands, the nib or the pen section.

Has anyone tried it yet, and can give an opinion?

Thank you Ajtsib

September 7, 2008

Is this the ink that would be included in the box? I have one blue ink cartridge packaged with the converter. I popped it in today and am trying to decide if it looks like this or the darker blue...

Is Stipula a Diamine -based ink? They have lots of interesting colors that are off the beaten path but still conservative to use by most of us office-bound drones.

December 23, 2009

Resurrecting this topic -- where does one find Stipula inks for $12.85? That's by far the cheapest price I've seen, since Swisher sells it for $19, and Stipula itself sells it for a whopping 28 euros.