Tibaldi Blue

[lapis]

Since I don't seem to be able to find any reviews on Tibaldi inks, I thought I'd try my luck here.

 

Introduction

I don't know "who the company belongs to" and/or "who manufactures" their inks, but I guessed straight off that Tibaldi -- being rather Italian by name -- might mean that it comes from there in any case. I first thought of Visconti, then Aurora, then Stipula, but was put off alone due to the fact that they have a completely different bottling and boxing system (which doesn't prove very much). But they also make a mauvish pink which none of those three other companies do. So let's get the show on the road:

 

The Writing

Now a word or two using an M800 with a broad nib:

 

Here is a note I wrote with my Herlitz "my.pen" (a new, very inexpensive school cartridge pen for which there is no converter) which was dipped. It does write much smoother and consistent than any real dip pen I have, but has a medium to fine nib.

 

Since I always prefer to use only medium and broad nibs, I thought I'd save some time and not be dainty, but instead use one single 1.0 mm dip pen. I think I am sometimes allergic to swabs. Comparisons with well-known -- but IMO still comparable -- blue inks look like this:

 

Papers

All of the scans seen here were those of my writings on an ordinary, inexpensive copying paper. I use such paper almost always, for printing, copying, faxing, so also for FPs. If I ever need better paper, I buy it separately. But I'm tellin' ya, I still don't like Moleskin or Clairefontaine papers.

 

Ink properties

Everything being a matter of relativity of course leaves open a few important questions. I would like to sum up by comparing Tibaldi's blue with other blues as follows:

· Intensity/saturation: I'd say Tibaldi's Blue has a fair to middling intensity. Visconti's is a bit more, Aurora's even more so, all to be topped off with -- you guessed it -- Baystate Blue (BSB).

· Flow/wetness: medium high to high, a wetness of about 7/10, just like the other two Itaian inks mentioned above. De Atramentis is dryer, Florida and (BSB) are a little wetter, and the wettest of them all (here) is MB's blue.

· Drying time/speed: average, like most of the others in this list, all basically ca 10 s. Visconti is faster, BSB is even faster while Damine's Majesic blue takes 15 s to dry.

· It also shades very little and that depends also on the pen, but my M800 didn't do the trick.

· It does not dry up in a pen anymore than usual if the cap is off for 30 to 60 minutes. Thus and/or also no special start-up problems.

· I tested "bulletproofness" as "how does it get washed off, 24 h after drying on paper, with a wet swab?" Tibaldi blue was rather un-bulletproof, yielding only about a 6 out of 10, roughly the same as Diamine Sapphire Blue and Florida Blue. Only Diamine Majestic Blue was more washable. Visconti's and Aurora's well as MB's Blue have a bulletproofness of about 7/10 (IMO).

· It neither feathers or bleeds to any special extent. In fact noticeably less so than most of the other inks mentioned here in the list.

· It is it not particularly sensitive to the skin. Somewhat more than Florida or MB, but much less than BSB.

 

Availability

To be honest, I'd never heard of this ink, and when Rolf Thiel of missing-pen recently told me that it had just arrived, I thought -- as mentioned above -- that it was possibly manufactured by Visconti or Aurora or Stipula. But since they come in different bottles and different boxes, they may be their own company. The price of 14.90 Euros for 70 ml seems (at least to me) to be fair.

 

 

This is the bottle and box, two new arrivals to my collection. The box also says Italia, and the bottle contains 70 ml, just like Stipula's. I do not know whether it is also sold in cartridges, but IMO the bottle is designed to be "user friendly" although it has no ink-well part. I do find that the closing quality is very good. The cap is easy to open and easy to close, without any leaking or sprouting. I can't say that for the MB shoes. I know that MB shoe bottles are loved by many of us but IMO their caps are the worst to open and the worst to close. That applies even more to the Season's Greetings' bottles. They also leak a lot. Pfui! Forget those MB bottles!!

 

All in all

I would like to describe this ink as a nicely coloured but also well-behaved "middle blue". All in all it reminds me a lot of my other two "standard medium blues": Éclat de Saphir and Waterman's Florida Blue. Éclat de Saphir is somewhat more intensive (which I like) but bleeds somewhat more (which doesn't bother me). The Tibaldi bottle is well built (I see that as no joke) and the large dark blue box is good looking too and very protective. The bottle (70 ml) costs the same as the same volume of Stipula's ink (14.90 Euros) That is almost the same price for a ml as Èclat de Saphir but still twice as much as that of Florida Blue.

 

Note

Comparing "the real thing" with the scan I see on my monitor, it looks like all of the colours above have a tick too much red. Sorry (but I'd rather spend more money on more inks than on a better scanner and monitor).

 

Mike

[kazoolaw]

Well done.

 

I'd only seen bottles of Tibaldi packaged with their pens.

 

gary

[drifting]

Note:

 

Comparing "the real thing" with the scan I see on my monitor, it looks like all colours above have a tick too much red.

 

Mike

 

+1 on that from this monitor, as well. Still, a very nicely done review, and I especially appreciate the comparison scan. Thanks!

 

Ryan.

[Signum1]

lapis,

 

Wonderful review. I'm glad you provided the comparisons as a point of reference. Thanks for adding this ink to our ink review index. I've never heard of this Italian brand of ink as well. Thanks for introducing the Tibaldi ink here. Are there more inks from that Italian brand?

[lapis]

... Are there more inks from that Italian brand?

Yes, at least a "pink" which I also acquired at the same time. Gimmee the time and I should be able to do a review on that in a day or two.

 

Mike

[saintsimon]

IMO, this is a NOS Tibaldi ink from the company's last incarnation (currently they are using up their third life). My Tibaldi Impero came with this kind of bottle, filled with a pink ink. I can't stand pink ink and gave the ink to Michael R. while I kept the bottle itself.

[mstone]

only the diamine royal blue appears blue here, the rest are flat-out purple

[SamCapote]

only the diamine royal blue appears blue here, the rest are flat-out purple

 

I'm so glad you said that, knowing what Baystate Blue should look like. I thought I was losing my vision or something. It looked like the first three and last five were all written from the same pen & ink. Something isn't right here.

Edited March 13, 2010 by SamCapote

[Ed Ronax]

Excellent review, thanks.