Wednesday, October 14, 2020

REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN

REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
A new brand today... Or well, not really. Tibaldi is of course no new name to the market, with a long history in pen making (well over a century, in fact!). The brand went under in the sixties, then dabbled around until 2001 (with the most notable pen in that second period without a doubt being the illustrious Tibaldi Impero!), and ultimately was picked up by Montegrappa somewhere in 2004. Montegrappa initially used the Tibaldi name for extremely high-end limited editions, and maybe most notably for collaborations with Bentley and Bugatti... not that those were really all that memorable considering the price, in my opinion. But now, out of nowhere, Montegrappa has seemingly rebranded the Tibaldi name and given it a proper focus on modern and trendy luxury pens, watches and accessories at a more reasonable mid-tiered price point. All of a sudden, Tibaldi became interesting again!
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
I've got two Tibaldi pen reviews in the pipeline for you (of three - soon four - models in total right now), and right off the bat, I can tell you that these are pretty nice pens! We'll start with perhaps the pen that intrigued me most: the Tibaldi Perfecta! As soon as I saw this pen on Stilografica's website, I knew I had to give it a go, so thanks to the kind folks at Stilografica for making that possible!
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
If anything, I think the current Tibaldi incarnation has a very clear path ahead of them, of what they want to do and how they want to do it. Their stylistic, fresh-but-also-classic design approach shines through even in the packaging. It's just cardboard, really, so it's nothing overly fancy. And yet it's still solid, hefty and flawlessly finished with a fun geometric print on the sides and a bright orange paper outer sleeve. It's probably silly to be impressed by a cardboard box, but in this case I am.
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
Anyway, on to the pen! The Tibaldi Perfecta is a slightly smaller pen, taking strong design cues from the hugely popular safety pens of the early 1900s, a design style that's also the basis for the very popular - and now sadly long sold-out - Montblanc Heritage 1912. In contrast to the MB 1912 though, the Perfecta only inspired its superficial design from the safety pen. Underneath the surface, it's a modern cartridge converter-filled pen, and lacks the retractable nib mechanism that the 1912 is known for (even though it appears as if the Perfecta's barrel ends in an actual turning knob - but it does not!). The Perfecta comes in two colorways: this sleek all-black version, and an even more vintage-inspired version with a contrasting beige/black flecked acrylic for the cap!
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
Even though you don't actually get a safety pen out of the Tibaldi Perfecta, I still very much appreciate its' design! It certainly does feel vintage-inspired, and yet it also takes a rather minimal approach in the smaller details on the pen:
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
The subtle branding around the cap lip,...
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
The square guilloché bands around the cap finial, section and two more at the back of the barrel (which, as I said, creates sort of a visual divide between the barrel and piston knob even though it's all a single piece), and the sleek, modern-looking clip.
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
I don't like my clips this bendy
I've said it multiple times before, but for those that don't know: I'm a stickler for clip design! And this one, unfortunately, isn't working for me. The design in itself is quite ok. It's very bulky but as I said it's another modern detail that clashes nicely with the overall vintage inspiration of the Perfecta. The problem is the material it's made out of: rubber! I think it's a thin bent piece of steel (which you can see where it's attached to the cap), cast into a piece of rubber. It sort of sags a little, and bends when you pull it up to attach to something - it doesn't feel reassuringly strong to me. 
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
Most importantly though, the rubber is a dust magnet and it just distracts from the otherwise very well-executed design. Ok That's all. Clip rant over.
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
L to R: Platinum #3776, Leonardo Momento Zero, Montegrappa Zero, Tibaldi perfecta, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000
The Perfecta is what I'd describe as a medium-sized pen, coming in at 13.7 cm/ 5.39" capped, and 12.4 cm/ 4.88" uncapped. Even though that's technically a little below what I'd consider a comfortable size for my hand, I'm willing to be somewhat lenient here because the slightly tapered up barrel shape (the widest point is actually at the decorative bands at the back!) and balance make for an overall pleasant fit in the hand, still. The total weight of 25 grams is enough to make it feel like a sturdy pen, but remains unobtrusive in the hand. You do get a nice, comfortable section with a pleasant diameter (12mm/ 0.47") and threads at the front. But to make optimal use of the size of the Perfecta, I did find my grip to rest on the threads at the front of the section, and even a bit on the step right in front of it.
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
The threads are flattened off enough so to not be an issue for my grip, but the step is of course noticeable. Interestingly, Tibaldi seems to have removed the step in a recently updated version, where the part in between the nib and threads is now slightly longer and has a gentle taper to ease the transition (Anthony from UK Fountain Pens reviewed the updated version HERE). That should be a positive improvement in terms of comfort.
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
The cartridge/converter filling Perfecta is refilled by unscrewing the small front section right in front of the threads. With fairly little information to go by, I must admit it took me a hot minute of trying to figure out where exactly it opens up. The c/c filling system is ok, but nothing to write home about. The section has some metal parts, so you cannot eyedropper it - should you be wondering if that's the way to get at least a bit of the vintage safety filler vibe!

REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
The nib is supposedly supplied by Bock, something I can agree with after writing with the Perfecta for a while. It's a rather simple-looking nib with a cool laser-engraving of Tibaldi's eagle-like (?) logo (Sorry, I don't know my birds! But I do know that I like the modern Tibaldi logo) that works well. The steel nib is stiff, but it's a smooth and hassle-free writer that isn't plagued by hard-starting issues or skipping, so I can't really complain. Perhaps the biggest feature of the Perfecta (and any Tibaldi pen, for that matter) can be found underneath the nib, though!
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
... Yes that's right, an ebonite feed! Can we just all agree that these should become the standard on pens, even in this mid-tier price range? Very rarely do I come across a pen with ebonite feed that actually worsens the performance. Perhaps they are sometimes a bit too gushy, but that can simply be fixed by 'setting' the feed with mild heat or warm water. In general, though, ebonite feeds play nicer with inks than plastic feeds do (they have better 'wettability', to throw a technical term at it). Tibaldi takes a moderate approach to their ebonite feed setup: it's balanced, not gushy but not dry either. Above all, ink flow is consistent and keeps up flawlessly. It's nice to see Tibaldi bring ebonite feeds to their entire catalog. I do wonder why they do it though, and their mother company - Montegrappa - does not?
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN
I must say, the Tibaldi Perfecta took me by surprise for a second, and I was intrigued right from the get-go. I'm intrigued by this old-but-new brand, and I'm liking the style they convey with everything from the packaging to their marketing material. (Obviously, Montegrappa knows how to run a pen brand!) I really quite like the Tibaldi Perfecta. The vintage-inspired design is nice, its a very decent writer overall, and it's offered at a fair price point. While 195€ (about 190$ without VAT from our site sponsor Casa Della Stilografica - Get 10% off with discount code 'Firenze'!) is not cheap by any means, we've talked before about how 200-300$ seems to be the new mid-tiered price bracket that a lot of brands are moving into. With that in mind, I certainly think the Perfecta has everything it takes to play along with similarly priced competition from other Italian brands like Leonardo, Maiora, or even some of Montegrappa's own pens.

This product was provided on loan by Casa Della Stilografica, so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affiliate links.
REVIEW: TIBALDI PERFECTA FOUNTAIN PEN

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