Mini-Review: Stipula Italic Nibs

[NeoTiger]

Hey, quick review here of two Stipula Italic nibs that I have. The contestants are the Stipula Duetto with a 0.9mm Italic nib in Titanium, and a Stipula Ventidue with a 1.1mm Italic in 14k gold (rhodium plated).

 

Here's a quick image to compare the two pens first.

 

http://neotiger.googlepages.com/stipula1.jpg

 

As you can see from the images, the 1.1mm nib writes a bit thicker than the 0.9mm nib. This is obvious of course, it's meant to do that. However I found that I liked the thick-thin definition of the 0.9mm nib a bit more than the 1.1mm, the contrast between vertical strokes and horizontal strokes appears to be better. I found this a bit unusual in that I expect a wider italic nib to have a better thick-thin ratio.

 

http://neotiger.googlepages.com/stipula2.jpg

 

However there are other factors to consider other than just the line width and the thick-thin ratio. I think the ink used may have some effect, perhaps the Caran d'Ache ink I had in the Ventidue was feathering a little bit more than the Visconti ink in the Duetto.

 

In terms of "nib feel", these two nibs behave quite differently. The 1.1mm 14k nib was very smooth, like drawing a hot knife through butter. However, the 0.9mm nib just feels better, like a sharp knife carving into ice. This difference in feeling is quite obvious, and I definitely prefer the titanium nib.

 

Another factor to consider is that the titanium nib is a bit semi-flex. This may explain the better thick-thin ratio seen in the 0.9mm Ti, because the nib will flex open a bit during vertical strokes but won't be flexing for a horizontal stroke.

Edited December 1, 2008 by MYU
corrected image links

[Deirdre]

I really like my 0.9mm Titanium nib too.

[CharlieB]

Nice review. I wonder what Wim and girlieg33k will say....

[greencobra]

Interesting comments, thanks for sharing. I use the 0.9 more than the 1.1. I think the 0.9 is a bit more responsive and I can control it better whereas with the 1.1, I need to work hard at it. Too much thinking makes me tired.

[georges zaslavsky]

both very nice pens, enjoy them