Grifos Nyloe Silver

[Osmaroid]

Introduction

 

I saw a Grifos Nyloe pen with a sterling silver barrel and black enamel cap in the classified section of the FPN. It was an attractive looking pen and so I looked up the couple of Grifos reviews in FPN at the time, and then went to the Grifos eBay store. I saw that they also had a version with sterling silver cap and barrel and e-mailed them about it. I had a very rapid reply from a Mr. Maurizio Stura and ended up buying that version.

 

Appearance - 5 / 5

 

The pen arrived remarkably fast for an item from Italy and was supplied in a nice, substantial feeling, satin lined case with a plush, dark blue exterior and silver colored metal around the opening - nothing fancy, just a high quality, simple case which I find most appropriate. The pen itself looked about as expected from the photos – an engraved silver colored pen with black ends and, in the middle, a curved, raised black section with gold trim that is somewhat reminiscent of the locking ring on a crescent filler.

 

 

Construction and Quality - 5 / 5 The pen's finish is basically silver with lengthwise wavy lines engraved in it. The ends have black jewels offset from the silver by rounded golden rings. These rings were puzzling at first because they protrude somewhat substantially from the surface of the barrel and cap – more about this later. The curved, raised black section in the middle is at the end of the cap. The clip is a simple and, in my opinion, tastefully tapered shape in gold color.

 

 

 

The cap is a push fit with a firm feeling click action – and this is where the reason for the somewhat protruding trim at the end of the barrel becomes apparent. The cap posts with a firm click, a very nice touch. The ring at the end of the cap was obviously made to match the one at the other end of the pen.

 

 

 

Overall, the construction is good with fine fit and finish. When I got the pen, I immediately looked for expected hallmarks as the exterior is Sterling Silver. Admittedly, I did not perform a close inspection with a loupe, merely relying on my eyeglasses for a quick look. I e-mailed Grifos to say that the pen had arrived and mentioned that I could not find hallmarks. I got a very nice e-mail back from Mr. Stura pointing out where the marks were and also giving some fascinating details about his company. They are truly a small company – just 3 people – himself, his wife and another lady who helps in "pen mounting". He told me that there are hallmarks on the top of the cap near the clip and on the end of the barrel – I had not noticed them because they are very small and look like dimples to the unaided eye. I show the cap marks below. There are actually two marks – an oval one with 925 inside for the silver itself, and a rhombus with letters, number and a symbol inside that testify their firm's enrollment in the Italian Jewelry Guild.

 

 

 

The nib is a substantial size for a pen of these dimensions and is apparently gold plated.

 

 

 

 

Weight and Dimensions – 4.5 / 5

 

The pen is 5.7 inches long capped, 6.5 inches posted and it weighs in at 1.34 ounces. It is a moderately sized full-size pen and, for an all metal structure, is not that heavy but understandably weighs more than the many light-weight plastic pens out there. Interestingly, the cap weighs just the same as the body, so some may find the pen rear-end heavy when posted. I find it a very comfortable pen to hold, posted or unposted, but that is my opinion. Because of the slight imbalance when posted, I give this area a slightly less than perfect score

 

Nib Performance - 5 / 5

 

It doesn't matter how nice a pen looks, if nib performance is not up to par, then it is all over. I like a glass smooth nib and have not yet got the hang of using a flex nib. I have not put this pen in my rotation yet, so comments here are based on a dip test. This pen definitely comes up to my requirement s – the nib smoothly glides over the paper with no sign of tooth or catching. I always make notes of performance when I dip test pens, in the Moleskine journal in which I test them, and my notes for this one included "Just about perfect – as smooth as they come". A keeper for sure!

 

Filling System and Maintenance 5 / 5

 

The pen is a cartridge/converter filler. As such, it is in line with the majority of fine pens (and not so fine pens as well!). I do not like using cartridges, so will use the supplied converter. I must admit that to make this an absolutely perfect pen, it would be a piston filler, but at the price I cannot find fault with the choice and will not mark its score down on that basis.

 

 

 

Value – 5 / 5

 

Here is the amazing part of this pen story. Admittedly the pen was on sale when I bought it, but I got a new hand-made Sterling Silver pen for quite a bit under $100. This is, to my mind, a true bargain.

 

 

Conclusion and Overall Rating - 4.9 / 5

 

The performance is great, the quality of manufacture is good, it looks good, and the cap even posts with a firm click. To top all that, it is a bargain. You might surmise that I like this pen, and you would be absolutely correct. In his informative e-mail to me, Mr. Stura stated that they cannot afford to to spend so much money in advertising campaigns as the big brands do, so they rely on their pens' quality and their customer service to spread by word of mouth. I have no affiliation with them other than as a highly satisfied customer and am doing my bit in "spreading the word" to readers at the FPN.<br style="mso-special-character:line-break"> <br style="mso-special-character:line-break">

[jar]

Nice review. Grifo's pens have to be one of the remaining really great deals out there.

[Fountainpenlover]

Many thanks for your review Osmaroid! Have an exact model as the one you have just purchased, together with some other sterling silver models manufactured by Mr. Stura's company (namely, two Grifos, one sterling silver, and the other sterling silver with gold plating over - vermeil version). I really cannot agree more on all you stated in your review of the Grifos Nyloe. As I collect especially sterling silver fountain pens, I can assure you that, as you say, the Grifos are good value for money.

[Boucheron Parker]

I am a brand new member and starting over pen collector in South Carolina. I say starting over, because I had a Boucheron Parker pen and pencil set in solid 18k yg at one time, and recently a Sheaffer fp & bp Imperial Diamond Sovereign with real diamonds set in the cap instead of the Sheaffer "white dot". However, I now focus on sterling silver pens and was so pleased to read your post regarding the Grifos "Nero Muse" fp in sterling with your great pictures. As a matter of fact, I had just ordered an identical pen this morning, and was wondering if the price ($100 & free shipping from Italy)would bring me a decent pen. So, I am more than reassured by your posting of your experience and I look forward now to the arrival of my "Tuscany" sterling pen with great anticipation instead of great anxiety!!! I also recently purchased a Laban black lacquer fp & rb with sterling vine and leaf overlay on caps & barrels, again, very elegant and classy and at an excellent price. Looking forward to being an active member and learning a great deal from you seasoned member collectors.

Introduction

 

I saw a Grifos Nyloe pen with a sterling silver barrel and black enamel cap in the classified section of the FPN. It was an attractive looking pen and so I looked up the couple of Grifos reviews in FPN at the time, and then went to the Grifos eBay store. I saw that they also had a version with sterling silver cap and barrel and e-mailed them about it. I had a very rapid reply from a Mr. Maurizio Stura and ended up buying that version.

 

Appearance - 5 / 5

 

The pen arrived remarkably fast for an item from Italy and was supplied in a nice, substantial feeling, satin lined case with a plush, dark blue exterior and silver colored metal around the opening - nothing fancy, just a high quality, simple case which I find most appropriate. The pen itself looked about as expected from the photos – an engraved silver colored pen with black ends and, in the middle, a curved, raised black section with gold trim that is somewhat reminiscent of the locking ring on a crescent filler.

 

 

Construction and Quality - 5 / 5 The pen's finish is basically silver with lengthwise wavy lines engraved in it. The ends have black jewels offset from the silver by rounded golden rings. These rings were puzzling at first because they protrude somewhat substantially from the surface of the barrel and cap – more about this later. The curved, raised black section in the middle is at the end of the cap. The clip is a simple and, in my opinion, tastefully tapered shape in gold color.

 

 

 

The cap is a push fit with a firm feeling click action – and this is where the reason for the somewhat protruding trim at the end of the barrel becomes apparent. The cap posts with a firm click, a very nice touch. The ring at the end of the cap was obviously made to match the one at the other end of the pen.

 

 

 

Overall, the construction is good with fine fit and finish. When I got the pen, I immediately looked for expected hallmarks as the exterior is Sterling Silver. Admittedly, I did not perform a close inspection with a loupe, merely relying on my eyeglasses for a quick look. I e-mailed Grifos to say that the pen had arrived and mentioned that I could not find hallmarks. I got a very nice e-mail back from Mr. Stura pointing out where the marks were and also giving some fascinating details about his company. They are truly a small company – just 3 people – himself, his wife and another lady who helps in "pen mounting". He told me that there are hallmarks on the top of the cap near the clip and on the end of the barrel – I had not noticed them because they are very small and look like dimples to the unaided eye. I show the cap marks below. There are actually two marks – an oval one with 925 inside for the silver itself, and a rhombus with letters, number and a symbol inside that testify their firm's enrollment in the Italian Jewelry Guild.

 

 

 

The nib is a substantial size for a pen of these dimensions and is apparently gold plated.

 

 

 

 

Weight and Dimensions – 4.5 / 5

 

The pen is 5.7 inches long capped, 6.5 inches posted and it weighs in at 1.34 ounces. It is a moderately sized full-size pen and, for an all metal structure, is not that heavy but understandably weighs more than the many light-weight plastic pens out there. Interestingly, the cap weighs just the same as the body, so some may find the pen rear-end heavy when posted. I find it a very comfortable pen to hold, posted or unposted, but that is my opinion. Because of the slight imbalance when posted, I give this area a slightly less than perfect score

 

Nib Performance - 5 / 5

 

It doesn't matter how nice a pen looks, if nib performance is not up to par, then it is all over. I like a glass smooth nib and have not yet got the hang of using a flex nib. I have not put this pen in my rotation yet, so comments here are based on a dip test. This pen definitely comes up to my requirement s – the nib smoothly glides over the paper with no sign of tooth or catching. I always make notes of performance when I dip test pens, in the Moleskine journal in which I test them, and my notes for this one included "Just about perfect – as smooth as they come". A keeper for sure!

 

Filling System and Maintenance 5 / 5

 

The pen is a cartridge/converter filler. As such, it is in line with the majority of fine pens (and not so fine pens as well!). I do not like using cartridges, so will use the supplied converter. I must admit that to make this an absolutely perfect pen, it would be a piston filler, but at the price I cannot find fault with the choice and will not mark its score down on that basis.

 

 

 

Value – 5 / 5

 

Here is the amazing part of this pen story. Admittedly the pen was on sale when I bought it, but I got a new hand-made Sterling Silver pen for quite a bit under $100. This is, to my mind, a true bargain.

 

 

Conclusion and Overall Rating - 4.9 / 5

 

The performance is great, the quality of manufacture is good, it looks good, and the cap even posts with a firm click. To top all that, it is a bargain. You might surmise that I like this pen, and you would be absolutely correct. In his informative e-mail to me, Mr. Stura stated that they cannot afford to to spend so much money in advertising campaigns as the big brands do, so they rely on their pens' quality and their customer service to spread by word of mouth. I have no affiliation with them other than as a highly satisfied customer and am doing my bit in "spreading the word" to readers at the FPN.<br style="mso-special-character:line-break"> <br style="mso-special-character:line-break">

[Osmaroid]

Glad you found my review of use to you - let me know what you think of the pen when you get it, and especially if and when you try it out. I have since purchased a second pen, identical except for the engraving in the silver. I got it from the FPN Classified section for a bargain price of under $50, if I remember correctly, and am pleased to say that it is just as good looking and well made as the review pen and exhibits a similar high level of writing performance.

 

 

I am a brand new member and starting over pen collector in South Carolina. I say starting over, because I had a Boucheron Parker pen and pencil set in solid 18k yg at one time, and recently a Sheaffer fp & bp Imperial Diamond Sovereign with real diamonds set in the cap instead of the Sheaffer "white dot". However, I now focus on sterling silver pens and was so pleased to read your post regarding the Grifos "Nero Muse" fp in sterling with your great pictures. As a matter of fact, I had just ordered an identical pen this morning, and was wondering if the price ($100 & free shipping from Italy)would bring me a decent pen. So, I am more than reassured by your posting of your experience and I look forward now to the arrival of my "Tuscany" sterling pen with great anticipation instead of great anxiety!!! I also recently purchased a Laban black lacquer fp & rb with sterling vine and leaf overlay on caps & barrels, again, very elegant and classy and at an excellent price. Looking forward to being an active member and learning a great deal from you seasoned member collectors.

[georges zaslavsky]

a very nice and sober pen