I returned this evening from a couple days out of town and found a package waiting to be opened. Inside was my recently acquired Stipula Florentia.

It is as pretty as I had hoped, though the amber celluloid may not be quite as spectacular as that of the Etruria I once owned. Fortunately, this one fits my hand much better than the Etruria, so I can enjoy writing with it. As expected, the nib is quite nice.

I have not yet been able to give it a full workout, but it has written a wet line with both Aurora Blue and a golden brown mix I made a while back. Tomorrow I may load it with my remaining bit of Rotring Brick Red.

This somewhat makes up for the Novecento Rex I committed to purchase back in the fall, then had to let someone else have when funding for my wife's job did not come through when expected. The day after I passed on the Rex the funding was approved, but the pen had been sold to another.

When my 15 year old son saw the Florentia this evening he was really impressed with its beauty. He was eager for his friend to come see it and write with it. This is his friend whom he recently introduced to fountain pens with the gift of a Parker Reflex.

Can you please post a photo?

Erick

I may be able to snap a photo or two tomorrow. My setup is crude, and my skills even less refined, so don't get your hopes up for something akin to what is typically seen around here.

Here are a couple novice-quality photos Erick.Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

Congratulations on your Florentia! These are hard to find. Got mine from Weaver McCracken when he was still selling pens. Stipula used the Amber/Ambra celluloid on the Etruria, Novecento Rex LE, and of course the Florentia. It's such a beautiful, warm material. BTW, for a crude set-up, your photo is nicely done!

I also purchased a Florentia from Weaver and it is a delightful pen to write with. I shall always keep it.
Enjoy that Florentia!!!

Jim

And the DaVinci and Suprema.

So far, I've got it on the Novecento Rex, DaVinci, Suprema, and Etruria. I suppose I should get the Florentia for completeness, but I have a black Florentia already.

What a beautiful pen! I didn't find it on the Stipula site. Is it a discontinued model?

Yes, it is. The celluloid is still available on the Etruria, though.

Congrats on the Florentia. When this model first came out, I got two examples, one medium sized and one over sized. Both are amber, very lovely, and write like a charm. I wish this model had become more popular as I like the flat top design.

I hope I am not going off topic, but I really miss Weaver. He was always my first "go to" vendor for Stipula products, and I always appreciated his prices and his customer service. I still hope he is just taking a year off to regroup and that he will return to us.

I miss him too, and I also hope he returns.

Yeah, Weaver was a wonderful person, and a great guy with whom to do business. Even when I was not buying from him he answered my questions. A true gentleman!

Thanks for all the nice comments about the Florentia. I am enjoying using it, though I have been so busy the past two days I have barely written with it, maybe two pages in my journal. I am looking forward to using it regularly.

$550 on eBay. Ouch. Finding one of these babies must either take patience or a really fat wallet.

Thanks, it is a very old camera and the set up is essentially a South Carolina t shirt draped over a bar stool sitting just outside my front door in the afternoon sun.

That one's a lot more than Weaver was selling them for, though he was long out by the time I took a snapshot of his pages. He'd had them in 2006 at $179. I believe that was a close-out price.

In my instance it was being in the right place at the right time. I opened the PenMarket page on Pentrace three minutes after Tony posted the ad. I emailed him even before the pictures finished loading on my screen!

I have wanted one of these for a while, and was fortunate to find one I can afford, and get to it before any one else did.

Fwiw, here's the 2002 prices from Weaver's site for the Florentia:

STIPULA FLORENTIA

Beautiful Amber with Either Gold or Silver Trim

18k Nibs in F, M, B

Large ~ Piston Filler
Medium ~ Convertor Filler

Large Silver Trim Fountain ~ List: $550 Our Price: $379
Large Gold Trim Fountain ~ Our Price: $425

Medium Silver Trim Fountain ~ Our Price: $255
Medium Gold Trim Fountain ~ Our Price: $325

Medium Silver Trim Roller ~ Our Price: $165
Medium Gold Trim Roller ~ Our Price: $255

Medium Silver Trim Pencil ~ Our Price: $165
Medium Gold Trim Pencil ~ Our Price: $255