I've been looking through the forums and have found a fair bit of information (and avid gushing from happy owners) about the Iride and most recently, the Impero. I've seen only a few photos on the net of the elusive Transparente and would love to know more about this pen. From the photos, it looks like the celluloid on the Transparente is similar to that of the Impero?

Any lucky owners want to share their knowledge and expertise?

The Tibaldi Transparente is a superb pen, typically selling for just under $1,000. A large pen in a unique, blue-green celluloid with transparent ink chamber and a monotone nib. Similar in size to the Model 60, but a little larger in girth. Once about 3 years ago, I almost bought one for $650, which now looks like a good deal. I first saw it in someone's hands at a long-defunct Philadelphia Pen Club meeting about 10 years ago. One of my most admired pens.

As you can see below in the group photo, the gray-blue celluloid of the faceted Impereo is nothing like the Transparente, IMO.



Photo from FPN LINK The Tranparente is in the middle.

Well, first off I believe it is really the Trasparente, only one n. Of course, it would not be the first time today that I was wrong. I bought mine from Weaver McKracken about 8 years ago for $600 NIB. Agree, a little thicker than the Modello 60, perhaps the size of a Pelikan M800. I don't have a group photo of all my Tibaldi's but it would be just like the one that Skip displayed. IMHO it is a wonderful pen that is fairly hard to find, although easier than the Bononia and the havanna Modello 60.

Oooh, thanks for the information guys!

bugmd, I think you're right about the spelling. But wow is that a pretty pen. I considered one recently but the prices have gone up far too much, around 850 EUR. But that semi-transparent ink chamber is so tempting.

Is it a piston fill as well?

I do not own the Trasparente, but I have heard that some of its owners were irked by the lining inside the barrel part that houses the filling mechanism. The lining is apparently too visible (flashy) and poorly matches the colors of celluloid in the cap. I would also check the match between cap and barrel. I do own the Iride and while the lining around the vacumatic mechanism in the barrel is not too visible and matches well the colors of the cap, the barrel celluloid barely matches the celluloid in the cap and knob. Why? Because the transparent component of the celluloid in the barrel has been replaced by a dark one in the cap. You go from a three dimensional effect in the barrel to an almost two dimensional one in the cap, where the sides of the red celluloid chips cannot be seen anymore and little is visible beneath the surface. What a mistake! They should have used the same transparent celluloid for the cap with an inner lining like they did in the section and (part of) the barrel. But I digress.

Another thing you may want to check is if the Trasparente uses the same and great vacumatic filling mechanism used inside the Iride. I am not sure but there could be a more common piston hiding behind the lining. Maybe bugmd and other Trasparente owners can chime in here.

So in conclusion, watch out for the lining and preferably in person. I suspect that if you already own the Iride the Trasparente might be disappointing in its choice of colors. It may of course also be more desirable because of its scarcity, particularly for collectors who are looking for the entire Tibaldi model line-up. If having all the models is not that important anymore you may let go off the Trasparente (and Bononia) before you let go of the Iride.

You may want to see both the Iride and the Trasparente in person before choosing either.

As a sidenote, having owned the Bononia I have found it to be somewhat overhyped because if its scarcity. The Bononia celluloid lacks in depth, sparkle and color. It also feels harder and more brittle to the touch than the soft celluloid used in the Iride. I suspect the Bononia to be acetate and the Iride to be nitrate as the former does not have the camphor smell emanating from the latter. What the Bononia has going for it is an ergonomic grip, like the one used on the Oldwins with the threads at the very end of the section and also a timeless ogival design like the one used in the Balances. Too bad for the poor choice of celluloid.

The Trasparente definitely uses a piston filler much like Pelikans. All of your points are valid but nonetheless, this pen just sings to me. I said several years ago this one might the "the one pen" if I were ever put in that situation.

I love my Iride but that does not detract from the Trasparente.

As far as the Bononia goes, mine is lovely. I agree the celluloid does have a different feel from the Iride and Trasparente. This pen is certainly overpriced but what are you going to do if you really do want one. When Greg does his magic on my Impero nib life will be good.

Hi Don. That modello 60 Havana is absolutely gorgeous. It may well be the crown jewel of the Tibaldi range. I haven't seen it in person (yet) but I suspect it looks even better than the Iride even though its lack of ink view make it less practical. Congratulations for this purchase. I still have to figure out why Lex has sold his.

I think that the reason they haven't used transparent celluloid for the cap of the Iride and the Trasparente is cost. At the seminar that Stipula has held at the DC Show this year they have showed us how celluloid is manufactured with some samples of the intermediary products. From what I gathered, the pigments also make the celluloid harder (and sometimes as far as brittle) and non-pigmented celluloid accordingly takes a longer time to cure. That curing process involves several months of baking at low temperatures to allow the solvents (camphor) to evaporate so that the celluloid bars do not change shape later (warping) by lowering the camphor content in daily use. Well, uncolored celluloid which is yellowish takes longer to bake, more curing cycles and tighter quality control which may translate into higher cost. It's like an old wise wine or a 21 year-old scotch. It's organic after all.

This probably also explains why there are so few modern celluloid nitrate pens with transparent celluloid to allow the blessing of an ink view window. The only ones I know of are the Tibaldi Iride, the Tibaldi Trasparente and the Omas Lucens and Extra Lucens LEs. Are there any others? Please let me know. It seems that Omas on their subsequent use of Lucens/Extra Lucens transparent celluloid in the 360 pens did not trust Mazzuchelli Celluloide anymore and put a brass backbone or lining inside the barrel which prevents one from seing the ink level. That kind of defeated the whole purpose of the pen, but not many people seemed to be bothered. Of course, Omas also made sure the brass lining didn't show in their promotional pictures. Not very transparent I have to say.

PS The Omas, Tibaldi and Stipula celluloid nitrate bars are supplied by the same Mazzuchelli Celluloide manufacturer. Stipula does stock some of them an extra little while to make sure they are stable. One of the rod stocks they had at the DC show was the one used in the Tibaldi Iride. I wonder, nay hope, that they will use it for some of their own pens in the future. They could well do an Etruria Nuda in Iride celluloid, no? They also had a splendid brown-green-gold celluloid which they have used in the Nettuno Superba LE for Vechietti in the 90s. Their nicest stock if you ask me, although it did seem to have some aging/shrinking problems.

Have 4 Tibaldi celluloids - Impero, Rosso Verde, Iride and Trasparante - and am waiting for the 5th - Havana Blue - to arrive. The remaining two, the longitudinally striped celluloid, found on the Modello 60, and the Bononia, I don't want. The Bononia, particularly, is disappointing in the flesh. And the Trasparente is only just a little more interesting than the Bononia. It is certainly less complex than the others, of which the best, so my wife says, is the celluloid used for the Impero.

That said, I like 'em all.

Thanks everyone for the heap of information! It's going to take a while for me to digest all of that.



This makes me just more excited to receive my Impero (I'm counting down the days...I believe another week and it'll finally be in my hands!). How is the Trasparente less complex? From the pictures and descriptions around, it seems that it is similar to the Impero but has that nifty see through ink chamber and a different colour scheme.

Oh and that Havana looks lovely!

I have had one since 2000. (Got it from Marco at Novelli in Rome.) There was a longish post above that accurately recognized a few of the characteristics of the pen that some might consider flaws. (2d cap vs 3d barrell and the appearance of the transparent part of the barrell) I, however, don't mind them and certainly, aside from the sentimental value, consider this one of my favorites. The ink supply is generous, the nib is smooth and wet (but not excessively so), and the barrel is warm to the touch and a pleasure to hold/use.

I would highly recommend it.