Glenn's Pens

Pens of Note

SCRIBO FEEL

Feel the writing.

Bologna Italy is well known for its food, and I say, also for its pens. It is the home of Scrittura Bolognese, known as SCRIBO. The company, founded in 2016, may seem like a relatively new pen company, however it is based on the expterise of those who have previously worked with the iconic OMAS pen company.

The SCRIBO Feel is the flagship pen for the company. I had the opportunity to try out this pen in the fall of 2018 when I met Luca Baglione. We talked about SCRIBO and the Feel pen. I was impressed and I looked forward to the release of the pen.

I have a Feel as part of my pen collection and I have enjoyed the experience of writing with the pen, or as Scrittura Bolognese aptly puts it -- "Feel the writing".

The Feel is produced in a Black-Blue and a Grey-Blue colour. The pen is hand turned from a solid bar of resin and from the moment you pick up the pen, the solid feel of the pen is very evident. Special versions, produced in limited quanitities, have been produced in other colours.

The pen has a bold look. It low light it may look like a black pen, however, with light, the blue tone in the pen comes across. Somewhat similar to Art Italiana line produced by OMAS in that it is based on a Doric column, but the Feel as a very distinctly different look in that it is bigger and there is a curviture of the cap to body. The body and the cap have a gentle curve at the section where the cap meets the body section. The curve is slight and gives the pen a distinctive look. I am not a fan of pens that have a substantial width change between the body and cap. With the Feel, the change is slight but yet gives the pen a very comfortable feel in the hand.

About the Pen

All parts of of pen are important, however I will first talk about the nib and the feed as these are two very important aspects of the pen that have a significant impact on the writing experience. The Feel pen is fitted with an rhodium finished 18 kt gold nib available in four widths: Extra Fine, Fine, Medium and Broad. There is also a flex nib produced in 14-kt gold available in the four widths.

When I met with Luca at the SCRIBO centre in Bologna, there were a number of Feel pens on the desk, and I found myself picking up various pens as I was talking notes. I had the opportunity to write with most of the pen widths. This also included the opportunity try out a yet-to-release triple broad nib. What surprised me was that I did not think I would like writing with a flex nib. In fact I did. The nibs even in Fine has such good flow I found writing easy with nibs that I would have previously though as not not for me.

The nibs reflect the writing chracteristics of the former OMAS pens. SCRIBO owns the tooling that exclusively produceD the OMAS nibs.

Supporting the nib, and the flow of ink to the nib, is a high quality ebonite feed. This is an important part of the pen and it regulates ink flow. In a workshop area, Luca demonstrated the unique charateristics of the ebonite feed. In its normal state it is firm. But when heated, th ebonite becames softer and flexible. This allows for a better fit of feed and nib, resulting in superior ink flow characteristics. Ebonite feeds are also pourous and retaining a wet surface supporting superior capillary action.

Finally, in terms of ink handling, the Feel has a quality piston feed that holds about 1.4 ml of ink. A good amount of ink for writing.

The writing experince is very good. It is a big pen, however, it never felt over-sized in my hand. The pen can not be capped, however, the body nicely sits in my hand. The body and cap are have facet, 12 sides, and this means the pen, when place on a flat surface is more secure than a fully round pen body can each all to easily roll off the desk.

The Look of the Pen

It is a beautiful large pen. When closed, then pen is about 159 mm, just under six inches. When you write with the pen open, it is about 134 mm, or just over five inches. The width of the body is about 17 mm, or just over half an inch.

I have mentioned the soft contours of of the body. This gives the pen an inviting appearance. The body and cap of the pen are faceted with twelve sides. From my perspective the facet sided pen offers greater stability when laying flat on a desk.

The trim goes with the simplicity of a clean design of the pen. The Black-Blue Feel has rhodium silver plated trim. They Grey-Blue Feel has Ruthenium trim. The clip of the pen is important to me. The clip of the Feel has a solid look, yet not over powering to the pen. A simple single band at the bottom of the cap is engraved with SCRIBO, Feel the Writing. A small plate at the top of cap has an engraved quill. A single band divides the piston feed nob from the body of the pen.

It was very interesting to talk with Flaminia, the Designer at SCRIBO. She talked about her goal of creating a pen that was simple yet elegant. I believe she was very successful with this pen. I use my pens at work. I want a pen that feels good in my hand and is attractive. Pens that are too flashy can be a detraction.

Ownership

Rather than put the Feel in an expensive presentation box, SCRIBO places the pen in a canvas and leather pen fold. The fold can hold two pens and comes with a cloth for cleaning the exterior of the pen. I like having the pen fold. It means my pens are safe and secure when I leave them on my desk, or place them in my briefcase. A fold I will use everyday. A presentation box less so.

Having the fold nicely sets off the ownership of the pen. And, since the holder has spaces for two pens, I needed two pens. In addition to the black-blue, I have the stunning Verde Prato.

Feel Verde Prato

So who could have only one Feel pen? Not me. I liked writing with the Feel so much that on my last trip of Rome, and I was at Novelli Pen, I saw the store had a Feel Verde Practo available. The Verde line was issued in the Spring of 2019 and sold out very quickly. There are two pens in the Verde group. Each has a limited production of 169 pens. The Verde Prato is a lighter green, and the Verde Bosco is produced in a darker green.

Of course, in terms of writing experience, it is the same pen, but with a very distinctive look. The beautiful green resin has smooth curving tones of green. As the light catches the tone various the pen radiates.

Feel Foglia

2021 was supposed to be a really great year. Karen and I had a very special trip in Italy book. We were booked to Premium Economy seats, had great places reserved. Although we are in Italy almost every year, this was going to be a really great trip. We made it through 2020 COVID, we thought things would be okay for our trips. When I saw a photo of the Scribo Feel Foglia pen at the begininng of the year I told Karen - that is the pen I want to celebrate 2021 with! I told her to get right on it as the 219 pens that would be released would go fast. And they did. Karen linked up with Marco at Novelli Pen in Rome, ordered the pen. Marco indicated he thought he would have them in November. Well when it did arrive it was even better than I expected.

The Feel has the same great solid feel in the hand. There is a good 17 mm width in terms of the body of the pen. I normally post my pens, but you can not with the Feel body. For me with this pen it has not been a problem. I like the faceted body as that helps to prevent the pen from uncontrolled rolls off the desk. The ebonite feed delivers a great smooth flow of ink. It does not seem how long I leave it on my desk or in a carry case, I can just open then pen and it writes. The resin has such rich colours, I ordered the pen with a 18 kt Stub nib. Oh what a pleasure to write with but it leavea a wide line of ink on the page. If you are a small writer be aware this is a wide nib, but the stub cut gives the line definition - big definition.

One more SCRIBO Feel to my collection.

SCRIBO Feel

SCRIBO Feel in blue/black, regular production pen.

 

SCRIBOI Feel Blue Bkack

SCRIBO Feel in blue/black, it comes in a beautiful canvas pen wrap.

SCRIBO Feel Verde Prato

SCRIBO Feel Verde Prato

SCRIBO Feel Verde Prato

SCRIBO Feel Verde Prato

 

Scribo Foglia

SCRIBO Feel Foglia (2020)

Scribo Feel Foglia

SCRIBO Feel Foglia (2020), besure to get some SCRIBO Ink, well performing in in a beautiful bottle.

 

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