Fpn Stipula Etruria, 1.1 Italic

[Lothianjavert]

Here's a quick review of the FPN Stipula Etruria Notte di Stelle with silver trim and 14K 1.1 italic nib.

 

1. Packaging: The pen was delivered via DHL and arrived in a box covered in layers of bubble wrap and tape. Once through the bubble wrap, I uncovered a red box with a red cardboard outer sleeve. The red box is also cardboard, but the weight is nice and does not feel cheap. Upon opening the lid, the Etruria was nestled gently into a bed of soft, plush suede-like fabric. A nice, simple presentation. On the side of the box was a small drawer that can be pulled out. The drawer houses the instruction booklet and warranty information.

 

2. Pen Appearance: It is gorgeous. How else can I describe it? The blue cellulose acetate is darker than I expected, but when it catches the light, it glitters and sparkles like a jewel. I chose the silver trim, which goes nicely with the rich sapphire hues of the pen body. The clip and cap band have Stipula's classic leaf pattern. The fit and finish are top notch. The cap threads easily and all parts are polished to a high shine and fitted nicely. The pen is engraved with the company name as well as Notte Di Stelle, FPN 2011 06/49. "Starry Night" is a perfect description of the gorgeous celluloid.

 

3. Weight and balance: It is not a light pen. I would say around medium weight. It is lighter than my older Etruria (Amber convertible) and the weight is comfortable- not too heavy and not too light. It balances nicely in the hand without the cap posted. I find it a bit back-heavy with the cap posted, but I also don't tend to post my large-sized pens.

 

4. Fill system: This Etruria is a piston fill system. It holds a lot of ink! When full, the weight of the pen increases due to the amount of ink it can hold. It still remains well-balanced. I filled mine Thursday night and used it at work all day Friday and it still has a great deal of ink left. The piston is easy to turn and takes up ink easily. There is no viewing window, so it is a bit difficult to tell when it is running low. However, a window would detract from the beauty of the pen and I would rather it not have one.

 

5. Nib: There were several option for this pen in 14k and 18k. I chose the 14k nib in part due to price. The 18k was out of my price range. I also felt that the plated 14k nib would go better with the silver pen furniture. My other Etruria has a custom ground .9 18k nib, so I decided to go with the 1.1 italic. I like large, broad nibs. This nib is a cursive italic and has great line variation. I find it to be very smooth and buttery and an easy writer. The flow is nice and the nib also seems to have a bit of flex. It is a responsive nib and is a delight even for regular writing. It is not too crisp and can be used as a regular daily writer.

 

6. Overall: It is simply a stunning pen. It is as lovely to look at as it is to write with. I am delighted with it and thankful to Wim and Stipula for all the hard work making this project possible!

 

And now a few photos and writing sample in PR Tanzanite...

 

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/8877/fpnetruria1.jpg

 

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/5111/etruriaangled.jpg

 

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/4145/fpnetrurianib.jpg

 

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/4530/fpnleafdetail.jpg

 

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/2439/nottedistellecloseup1.jpg

 

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/6520/fpnetruriawritingsample.jpg

Edited January 21, 2012 by Lothianjavert

[leod]

thanks for sharing, i like the glow of the pen

[owenj]

[SamCapote]

Great review. I keep trying to wait for mine calmly, but reviews like this make me anxious to get it.

[georges zaslavsky]

outstanding pen congrats on the purchase

[jandrese]

Beautiful, thanks for sharing. I love my Stipula broad and italic nibs. Good stuff.

[richardandtracy]

Lothianjavert, I have the same combination of pen & nib. Your review is great, and your pen is exactly as the Etruria should be. The pen looks and feels gorgeous, but I wish my writing experience had been as good as yours.

 

After the normal washing out process, my pen needed some time for the feed to be properly wetted & work as it should. This took 3-4 days, during which time I started to actively dislike using the pen. I have yet to get my nib ground to the point when it'll make any mark when just resting on the paper. At the moment I need to press uncomfortably firmly or hold the pen at an uncomfortably high angle to get it to write.

 

This - despite the really very good FPN price - is the most expensive pen purchase of my life, by a factor of more than 2. And I regret to say that it doesn't write as well as my equally lovely Charcoal Kaigelu 316 which cost 1/18th as much, and has almost the same build quality. The Etruria is supposed to be as good as Stipulas get. My one is not a good advertisement for the brand, except as a very beautiful, very decorative conversation piece. As a pen, well, let's just say there have been times when I was very tempted to see if the nib would be improved by impact from a brick wall or a sledge hammer and I had to stop using it in order to calm down.

 

I wish my pen had been as lovely as Lothianjavert's. It should have been as lovely, and may well be in the future, but in the mean time I feel as if I have wasted a lot of money. All initial pleasure of ownership engendered by opening the lovely box & seeing the beautiful pen has long since leached away.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

 

 

Edited to add an update:

I sent the pen back to Stipula to get the nib fixed, writing a 1 page letter with the pen and then highlighted every one of the 37 places where it wasn't writing properly. The pen was fixed quickly and effeciently by Stipula. The pen now works adequately. It really isn't anything special and the filling mechanism prevents any chance of seeing how much ink it has.

After the initial poor performance of the pen, I remain indifferent to any charms it may have and mostly keep the pen because it has a 'Moderator' engraving on it and that makes me a bit sentimental about it - and the fact that I never sell anything anyway.

I violently resent the fact that Stipula do not do 100% QA checks on pens as expensive as this, and that the pen was in such a poor condition when I received it. The company I work for does 7 stages of 100% QA checks on a box costing less than this pen (one on arrival of the parts, then after every stage of assembly), so it is utterly unforgivable that Stipula do not do even one 100% QA check. Stipula claim to be producing luxury products, but use the QA regime of a company making cheap junk. As I say, it's unforgivable, and I am never going to forgive them.

 

I will never, ever, buy a Stipula again.

 

Richard.

Edited July 13, 2012 by richardandtracy

[JonB55198]

I got the same nib and love it too! Now if I can just figure out how to make my handwriting worthy of such an instrument...

[Lothianjavert]

Nothing can help my handwriting... I've tried, but it's futile. However, I still love the nib and the pen. I just can't put this one down. The 1.1 is still versatile enough that I can use it at work easily. Luckily the only person that needs to be able to read my handwriting is me.

[saskia_madding]

I didn't originally buy this pen/nib, but opted for the Notte di Luna with a 0.9 nib. When I saw the pictures of coming out of the Notte de Stelle online, I was floored by how gorgeous it was.

 

With some hunting and a lot of people networking for me, I managed to snag one off a gracious FPNer, and I'm STILL in love with it. I have a lot of great pens, but this one is among the top favourites. It's comfortable, it's beautiful, and the nib is a dream.

 

Thanks for this review! You've reminded me it's about time to ink it back up again. Have you ever tried it with Tuski-yo? YUM.

Edited July 12, 2012 by saskia_madding

[wastelanded]

  On 7/12/2012 at 5:59 PM, saskia_madding said:

Have you ever tried it with Tuski-yo? YUM.

 

Your pen filled with Tsuki-yo is what put the hook in me for that ink. And that pen is indeed a thing of beauty, the material seems about an inch deep when you look into it.

[tenney]

From the fairly glowing comments here, it seems that a Stipula 1.1 (or even 0.9) 14K or 18K nib is very nice. My only experience is with their steel nibs on a Pasaporto and Vedo and neither nib came from Stipula as usable and the 1.1 on the Vedo could not be made usable (suggested course of action: have it reground).

 

So from this are y'all telling me that at least non-steel Stipula nibs are ok?

[ArchiMark]

Great review of a very handsome looking pen....

 

 

 

Somehow I missed hearing about this FPN pen....oh well....

[humsin]

  On 1/24/2012 at 11:53 AM, richardandtracy said:

Lothianjavert, I have the same combination of pen & nib. Your review is great, and your pen is exactly as the Etruria should be. The pen looks and feels gorgeous, but I wish my writing experience had been as good as yours.

 

After the normal washing out process, my pen needed some time for the feed to be properly wetted & work as it should. This took 3-4 days, during which time I started to actively dislike using the pen. I have yet to get my nib ground to the point when it'll make any mark when just resting on the paper. At the moment I need to press uncomfortably firmly or hold the pen at an uncomfortably high angle to get it to write.

 

This - despite the really very good FPN price - is the most expensive pen purchase of my life, by a factor of more than 2. And I regret to say that it doesn't write as well as my equally lovely Charcoal Kaigelu 316 which cost 1/18th as much, and has almost the same build quality. The Etruria is supposed to be as good as Stipulas get. My one is not a good advertisement for the brand, except as a very beautiful, very decorative conversation piece. As a pen, well, let's just say there have been times when I was very tempted to see if the nib would be improved by impact from a brick wall or a sledge hammer and I had to stop using it in order to calm down.

 

I wish my pen had been as lovely as Lothianjavert's. It should have been as lovely, and may well be in the future, but in the mean time I feel as if I have wasted a lot of money. All initial pleasure of ownership engendered by opening the lovely box & seeing the beautiful pen has long since leached away.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

 

 

 

Edited to add an update:

I sent the pen back to Stipula to get the nib fixed, writing a 1 page letter with the pen and then highlighted every one of the 37 places where it wasn't writing properly. The pen was fixed quickly and effeciently by Stipula. The pen now works adequately. It really isn't anything special and the filling mechanism prevents any chance of seeing how much ink it has.

After the initial poor performance of the pen, I remain indifferent to any charms it may have and mostly keep the pen because it has a 'Moderator' engraving on it and that makes me a bit sentimental about it - and the fact that I never sell anything anyway.

I violently resent the fact that Stipula do not do 100% QA checks on pens as expensive as this, and that the pen was in such a poor condition when I received it. The company I work for does 7 stages of 100% QA checks on a box costing less than this pen (one on arrival of the parts, then after every stage of assembly), so it is utterly unforgivable that Stipula do not do even one 100% QA check. Stipula claim to be producing luxury products, but use the QA regime of a company making cheap junk. As I say, it's unforgivable, and I am never going to forgive them.

 

I will never, ever, buy a Stipula again.

 

Richard.

 

Visconti's not much better

[Horseknitter]

Bought this same pen but only inked it once bc I was intimidated by its beauty and price. Brought it back out this afternoon to ink and find the filling 'knob' very difficult to turn. I'm unable to gain enough space to insert any lubrication into the mechanism. And after that I'm lost.

 

Anybody help me get this beautiful pen back up and running? It is gorgeous. Just needs some ink ;-)