Stipula Etruria Rainbow Stiflex Nib Fountain Pen Review 

Delighted to see you come back with a Stipula review, Blake. I ❤ Stipula, as you already know. And the Etruria pens remain some of my absolute favorites ever. If I were forced to pare down my collection to only the indispensable favorites, I’d only keep all my many Stipulas and Auroras. The Etruria’s all round design aesthetic, feel in hand, fit & finish,and everything else about it just suit me to the tee. Stipulas have a certain charm and romance to them that is hard to describe but I just get it. The 14k Stiflex gold nibs are, in my opinion, their best in the made-in-house nib inventory. The older, standard 14k and the 18k are definitely a little stiffer, but still great writers. The Stiflex are not really ‘flex’ nibs, per se. But they have a distinctly soft, slight bouncy, springy feel that makes them very pleasurable, very smooth writers. And you could even coax a little flex out of them if you want. Even their steel and titanium nibs are, in my experience, very good, reliable writers. The piston mechanism is somewhat stiff, certainly not sublimely smooth as Aurora’s (or Pelikan’s) but they are alright and have the SCS (self-cleaning system) that is supposed to efficiently clean the barrel as you operate the piston up and down. I’ve seen it work very well (as advertised) in my Rainbow Prism pen (V-flex) . I also have the Emerald (green) Rainbow (14k M). The reverse operation of the piston took me a while getting used to. But I actually learned to love it as another unique quirk of the Stipula pens that makes them different from the rest. One major drawback of the pens, though, is that Stipulas are really not designed to be disassembled by the user. They are just not built that way. So, if something goes wrong, as some disgruntled users have sometimes complained, you’re basically stuck and have no other option but to send it back to where you bought it from and then back to Stipula’s factory. Stipula’s customer service is notoriously slow, unpredictable and frustrating. Luckily, I have yet to experience any of that myself. It’s what I’ve heard some others often complain about it on public pen forums. None of my 12 Stipulas have caused me problems so far. But Italian pens are finicky, and all the brands have an image problem relating to customer service. Lastly, about pricing. I’m shocked to hear the price you quoted here, Blake. I have yet to hear such a figure anywhere. At any rate, I’ve bought most of my Stipulas from (or in) Italy. From novelli.it, in particular. The steel nib Etrurias(including the clear demo you have) are typically priced at 200'€. The 14k gold nib upgrade models are priced at around 450€. I have no complaints about the price. I wrote to Luca Viti of Stipula to please consider making some new pens of my other loved Stipula models like the Florentia and Novecento. I have a few of those, but would happily get more in the future. Some of the older, classic Stipulas are very desirable, but so hard to find anymore, except on the Bay, where I don’t really go to buy. And many of their celluloid and ebonite models are top drawer pens. Thanks for the review! Enjoy the Etruria. Don’t let it go. 🙂

That view from your window is incredible.

Great review. I appreciate your candor. It is seen less frequently as most reviewers are not using their own hard earned cash but the retailers freebies. This pen looks interesting, but there are many other alternatives that are superior for the money, for example, Santini.

Or you can get THREE Pilot 823 in clear for three different inks! Thanks for the review!

Thank you for this presentation! It seems a nice pen, and an inhouse made nib is always more special!

love Stipula... my grail maker, in the early days of eBay of old (mid to late nineties)... now I own several. Great review... you definitely redeemed yourself herein since your last Stipula review...