Stipula Etruria Rainbow Magma—Steel Nibs?

[pschwartz]

Anyone had experience with the steel nib version of the stipula Rainbow LEs? I am curious how they compare with the titanium ones and I wonder who makes them. Also does anyone know if you can purchase a gold or titanium nib unit as an upgrade? Thanks

[RubenDh]

Hi! I have quite a few Stipula Etrurias, ranging from the older celluloid ones to the recent Rainbow ones. Since your question is about the rainbow, please allow me to share my experience. I have the clear demonstrator Rainbow and the green Rainbow.

 

The green rainbow came with a steel gold plated 1.1 stub nib. And what a nib this is! Although it is a steel nib, it outperforms a LOT of other nibs from other brands, even gold ones. It's smooth, has a very nice and generous ink flow,... It's even better than Visconti 23kt stubs! I have not had other steel nibs from Stipula (my others are all titanium,14k and 18k so I can't tell how the F or M nibs or so perform).

 

The clear demo has a titanium nib. That's quite... something else. Although the nib is wet and has a nice variation, it seems that the tines are very easily missaligned. This is probably due to the very flexible material (titanium) and the fact that those nibs are very thin (almost as thin as a paper). This missalignment can result in occasional skips on my pen. Other people like waskisquirel on youtube had issues with their titanium nibs as well. The titanium nibs have the distinct titanium feedback that all titanium nibs have, which I find quite pleasant. A cool thing is that Stipula offers matt gold plated titanium nibs!

 

Since you meight be in the market for a 14 or 18k nib, I must say those are pretty awesome! The duotone nibs look very cool aesthetically as well.

The 14k nibs writes a bit thinner than 18k nibs (at least when I compare my 14k F and 18k F).

 

Another thing to mention is who makes them. Some nibs (gold ones?) are made by Stipula itself, why others are made by BOCK. All nibs are interchangeable with Jowo nibs as well. So even if you order a steel or titanium nib on the pen, you can swap it with Goulet nibs and so on as well. I even put a 1.9mm music nib from Franklin Christoph on one and it writes quite well.

 

Im not sure where to buy replacement Stipula nibs but you can ask the shop where you'll buy the pen from, or ask an italian Stipula dealer such as Stylograph Corsani. You can also try this link: http://www.hisnibs.com/stipula.htm

Edited June 5, 2019 by RubenDh

[pschwartz]

Thanks so much Reuben—that’s all good information. I bought the pen here on line and have been really looking forward to it. I think I have a bit of Stipula ‘fever’. If you ever have any you want to sell, do let me know.

All good things,

Paul

[RubenDh]

Please share with us how you like it! I find the Etruria line one of the best pens out there (except for the titanium nibs, not a fan of those but as I have their steel, 14k and 18k ones I use those daily). I love the pens for their size, their curvature and their section, their weight, the fact that they unscrew in only one turn and... their materials! The casted accents (old versions have sterling silver cast and new ones brass cast accents) really are quite nice as well. Beats laser edged cap bands easily!

 

After some years of slacking, I believe the company is getting back up on their feet. They recently finally joined Instagram and they have now revamped their whole website (still under construction since some functions don't seem to be working just yet). Their old website wasn't updated for literally 8 years lol. They also launched a new itiration in celluloid, a new version of the Ventidue model, ... .

 

I completely understand thecase of the Stipula fever

[sansenri]

I'd like to confirm. The Stipula steel nibs are usually rather nice nibs.

When I bought my Etruria Rainbow yellow, which came with a steel nib, I also bought a Stipula gold nib (silver trim) from a local dealer who had a convenient offer going on the bare nib, the scope was to switch it in, in place of the steel one.

When I actually first tried the steel nib I liked it so much that I did not feel the need to switch to the gold one at all!

It's smooth, has good flow, and a tad of bounciness too!

[mge01park]

Stipula Etruria Prisma 88 Fountain Pen - Magma, T-Flex (Limited Edition)

I'm looking at this pen as it's been heavily discounted. Can you advise on how your purchase(s) turned out?

Is the Stipula's gold-plated titanium T-flex nib good and worth it?

The pen is an LE of 193 pieces and had a list of $595 originally and is now selling in the mid $300's.

Thanks for any help.