Stipula Etruria Magnifica Pirite

A beautiful resin extra large sized fountain pen created by Stipula.

Auroral - Novelli - Internazionale -Ebonite Sand - Limited Edition fountain pen created for Novelli Pen in Rome

Etruria Magnifica Pirite

For Karen and I, a stop at Novelli Pen in Rome is a mandatory stop on our annual visits to Rome. The store, located on via di San Marcello 22, a characteristic side-street in the historical downtown area of Rome, is close to Trevi Fountain, should be on the itinerary of anyone interested in pens when in Rome. Of course, it is easy to visit the store via their website: www.novelli.it but nothing beats a personal visit.

On my 2024 visit to Novelli I had to make a lot of hard decisions. Although I wanted all the pens I had asked to put in my "options tray", I knew I had to pair down the wants to a reasonable number. Reasonable? Well more than one, but say less than ... well is there ever a top number! It is painful and complicated process of dripping the pens, writing using the pads of excellent paper the store has, as well as the paper in my notebook I keep in my camera bag.

The Etruria Magnifica Pirite kept coming up with the pens I would place on the right hand side of the try - the serious contenders. Karen and I both liked the distinctive look of Italian-made resin, made for Stipula, that was used for this pen. I already have one other Magnifica so I knew I would really enjoying writing with this larger pen.

I enjoy Stipula pens. I visited the company a number of years ago and I was impressed with the attention to detail and the degree on hands-on workmanship that goes into the creation of their pens.

I have a number of Etruria pens in my collection, I enjoy the shape of the Etruria line. Stipula is one of the few Italian pen companies that produces its own nibs. In 2013 they were able to recover and restore equipment used by Globus, a old Italian company known for its nib making that was loczated in Bologna.

The pen has a threaded cap and in basically one turn, the cap is released from the body. With some pens, the threads require a number of turns before the cap is released.

The cap has a solid bar of metal to create the clip which is engraved with the Stipula straw design. That design relates back to his history of Tuscany during the Roman Empire. "Stipulation" in Latin means straw. The Romans had a ritual to break straw as a sign of an agreement. The metal of the clip and the cap band has a brushed finish giving the pen a different look. The cap band also has the straw motive.

Stipula's namemark is engraved on the body of the pen.

The pen has a closed length of 152 mm, the body measures 131 mm, the cap is 72 mm long and the diameter of the grip is 16mm. For compairson, the pen is about 9 mm longer and 1.5 mm widder than the regular Etruria. It is not the length that you notice, but the girth of the pen as being larger.

I enjoy writing with this pen. It is a big pen but have found it to have good balance, and I have used it both in a posted and and cap off mode.

When my fingers slide down to the nib section, when writing, the hourglass shape of the nib section is very comfortable as you slightly adjust where you hold the pen.

My Pirite pen has a converter ink fill mechanism. Don't assume that all Magnifica pens have similar ink fill systems. My Gran Sasso is a piston fill pen. I guess using the convertor is one way of keeping the price point lower. And, it avoids you having to remember that Stipula piston fill pens fill by a counter-close-wise turn. I was worried the converter would not hold enough ink, but but in my regular use of the pen, I am finding it as reasonable time period before I need to refill the pen.

My pen if fitted with a 14 kt gold , Broad, size six nib. The Broad of this pen is slightly narrower width than other broad nibs that I have. The nibs are handmade and it is expected there will be some variation. When I need good control over the nib strokes I appreciate the width. At other times I wish it was just a bit broader.

It was the look the resin that kept drawing me, and my pen judge Karen, to this pen. The smooth curving lines of black, gold, tan, cream and white seem to form endless visual shapes. The small gold flecks certainly grab the light.