Taccia Imperial Portuguese

[KCkc]

Background :

I bought from Richard Binder because he mentioned that he would check the flow on the pen before shipping. But I thought I might as well have the nib customized by Richard.

 

After much anticipation, I received my Taccia Imperial Portuguese from Richard Binder. I picked Cranberry because I am partial to nice red pens even though I do not have that many. In fact, I only looked at the photos on Taccia site and I liked the design Imperial Portuguese in Cranberry. I knew nothing about Taccia but I have faith that if Richard is willing to carry the brand, it must be reliable.

 

Packaging:

The pen came in a black creased leather-like one pen zipper case. Inside is lined with real leather (the smell test) with the Taccia logo embossed. The interior of the case and the pen slot reminded me of my MB Boheme 2-pen zipper case.

 

Color (Cranberry) :

The Cranberry is great color—like real cranberry mushed up in a juice with red, burgundy, black, dark moss green. The trim is stainless and it has Portuguese Taccia etched on the cap top. I noticed a slight possibly hard water deposit stain mark on the cap jewel that I managed to buff off with Simichrome.

 

Cap :

The cap is screw-on type with threads at the nib-feed end of the section. So you would not feel the cap threads and the slightly stepped section-barrel as much when writing with it.

 

Materials and Design:

From a non-expert eye, it looks like the pen is turned from a solid rod of resin because the thickness is about 1/16” in cap and barrel and I could not detect seams on cap and barrel. The barrel has a barrel/section trim ring in stainless steel. There is a slight 1/16” taper at the part where the barrel and trim ring is connected to the section. The trim ring is hidden when the pen is capped.

 

Since there is an absence of cap bands, the pen looks like one piece with the cap lip slightly overlapping the barrel.

 

Statistics :

The pen is a tad thicker in the middle as compared to my MB146. It is 5.5” capped, 6.25” posted, internal cap diameter is about 5/8”.

 

OK, the famous Binder nib job :

When I submitted my writing preferences, I informed Richard that I like a wet but not flooding writer, something like the flow of a no problem healthy Pelikan M800 medium. I also told him I enjoyed his 0.6mm Pelikan M200 stub, Stipula 0.9mm italic because I could write fast (my normal speed) with them. So he suggested 0.7mm cursive italic.

 

I flushed the pen before I inked it. When it writes, it writes well. I could write fast and free on this firm steel nib. I quite enjoyed it.

 

Somehow I knew from PT or somewhere that Richard tests his pens with Waterman Blue Black, I asked for him to test it in Waterman Florida Blue. He was sweet enough to do that and the Florida Blue that flows from it now is very very very nice Florida Blue.

 

Bottom Line :

So thanks to Richard and Barbara for accommodating to my idiosyncrasies and now I am a very happy writer.

[Ann Finley]

Hi KCkc--

 

Nice, thorough, review!!! I'll have to admit I did a double-take on the comment "When it writes, it writes well." But I'm thinking now that you mean anytime you pick it up to write with it, it writes well.

 

I got see one of these pens in January at the St. Louis pen gathering--it was "multi-color" and quite pretty.

 

Thanks for the review,

 

Ann

[KCkc]

The pen had an initial (first full inking session) starting problem.

 

The ink would stop 1/8" above the iridium and the pen would not write. I shook it, use the inverted nib writing position, etc --the ink just would not get to the iridium.

 

I flushed the converter several times with detergent trick and the waited for the ink to get used to the feed before writing. After that, the pen has been fine. But I suspected it was more of a feed issue.

 

Richard emailed me and promised that if it acts up again, send it back to him so he can work out the problem. But I think my pen got the idea, too so it has been performing flawlessly since the initial run = )

[Stylo]

The pen had an initial (first full inking session) starting problem.

 

I am waiting for the same exact pen and I hope I won't have starting problems. When I did a quick dip test at the L.A. show, it also had a hard time starting, but I assumed that a pen which has been dip tested all day long might not write that well. We'll see.

 

I have another Waterman pen that has some flow problems. I have to push ink through with the twist converter once in a while. A few people have mentioned that a rinse with a mild dish washing solution might cure that problem. I'll try it on that pen first, and if it works, and if the Taccia is troublesome, I will try it with the Taccia too

 

Thanks for the review by the way.

[Maja]

Nice review KCkc! Last summer, I read the "Stylophiles" magazine review of the Taccia pens and was impressed with what I read. At the time of the review, I don't think the Imperial Portugese was available (I think only the "non-Imperial" Portugese model was) and I wanted a larger pen (the regular model is 4 5/8"capped and 5 1/4" posted).

 

Glad you like your pen so much (I love red pens too...that's my favourite color) and that Richard was able to grind your pen's nib to match your writing preferences. I think it's great that he actually tests the new pens he sells (unless someone specifies otherwise) and adjusts/smooths their nibs if necessary. That's a great service

[wimg]

Hi Kckc,

 

Very nice review indeed!

 

Could you please be so kind as to provide us with a writing sample? I would love to see how your pen and nib (and you ) perform on paper.

 

TIA, kind regards, Wim

[KCkc]

Not sure if this is ok cos it is not my camera :

Large photo :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v288/eba...ch888/IMG_6.jpg

 

[This is so cool, I can actually edit the non-loading photo link.

Now it should be working finr = )]

Edited April 2, 2005 by KCkc

[Stylo]

Not sure if this is ok cos it is not my camera :

Nice pic. it reminded my why I was attracted to this pen I am still waiting for my Cranberry Taccia. It will be my first ever red FP I have a cardinal Pentel mechanical pencil, but that doesn't count as a "pen", and it is not red any way you look at it.

[wimg]

Hi KcKc,

 

Thank you for posting that picture. Lovely pens, lovely handwriting!

I have the Stip Orangerie, the RHR variant of the Saturno. Amazingly anachronistic pen, but great fun! . Have you ever threatened any people with it yet ? It spits its ink meters with a little practice .

 

Kind regards, Wim

[KCkc]

1. I have the Stip Orangerie, the RHR variant of the Saturno.

 

 

2. Amazingly anachronistic pen, but great fun! . Have you ever threatened any people with it yet ? It spits its ink meters with a little practice .

Dear Wmg,

Thanks.

1. Do you have a picture of the Stip Orangerie, the RHR variant of the Saturno tha you mentioned ? I am interested in seeing it.

 

2. No, have not threatened anyone yes, but you gave me some neat ideas to test out and maybe it will work better than a pepper-spray with some practices

 

 

BTW, I love the Waterman Liaison Brown Ebonite patters = ) minus the clumsy c/c filler mechanism.

 

Cheers,

KCkc

[wimg]

Hi Kckc,

 

Here it is:

http://fp.vandebilt.net/pics/stips/stip0002-367.JPG

From left to right, Stipula Etruria d'Inverno, Stipula Orangerie, Stipula Etruria Indian Nights and Stipula Etruria Amber. The latter is on a holiday to Italy now, because I broke the barrel.

 

Another pic:

http://fp.vandebilt.net/pics/halloween/Onoto%20Stip%20002%20600.jpg

From top to bottom the Orangerie, and an Onoto "Royal Crown".

 

Just to give an idea, here is some writing with the Stips:

http://fp.vandebilt.net/pics/stips/stipnibs01-6.jpg

 

And a nib width chart:

http://fp.vandebilt.net/pics/stips/stipnibwidths01-6.jpg

 

BTW, the Inverno's diet has stabilised on Ottoman Azure, the Orangerie's on Cayenne (just very fitting ).

 

In the mean time a few have been added to the collection, but I still need to photograph those. Just like a few other pens... .

 

Talking about woodgrain: have you seen the Novecento woodgrain? It is avaible in 3 models: the medium, read small, c/c, the big c/c, and the large pistonfiller.

 

Warm regards, Wim

[KCkc]

Dear wmg,

I like all of them eye-candies.

I'm not a Stipula person to start with but if they have a killer deal, I'll definitely jump.

 

Heard there's a choking problem with the Novencento c/c. Is it true ?

Thanks,

KCkc

[wimg]

Hi KCkc,

 

I haven't heard about choking problems on Novecentos. Actually, the Saturno is also a Novecento, just with a different filling system.

 

I reckon it may have to do with the converter, which is a pain, as it suffers from SID (Sticky Ink Syndrome) in a very bad way. I think I mentioned it here before, but even rinsing the original Stipula converter out with pure liquid dishwashing soap, doesn't get rid of the problem. I advise anyone who wants to use a converter with a Stip c/c pen, to get the Pelikan international size piston converter. That is IMO the best on the market as a replacement for international size converters. Holds the most amount of ink, and no SID at all.

 

Oh, the SID means that the ink stays in the upper part of the converter, and just doesn't want to flow down. Even tapping it doesn't help a lot, or not at all. This will starve the ink flow, so may show up like choking problems. It very likely has to do with the surface tension of the ink in combination with the plastic used for the converter.

 

HTH, kind regards, Wim