Scribo Blue Capri and Arancio di Sicilia Inks: A Review

Today I'm reviewing two summery Scribo inks: Blue Capri and Arancio di Sicilia.

Blue Capri

Blue Capri is a bright, turquoise-blue ink with good shading and a bit of magenta sheen.

On Rhodia Dot Grid paper the ink offers good saturation, some shading (especially in broader nibs), and a fast dry time. It is not waterproof.

Chromatography reveals slight variations in tone from light turquoise to medium turquoise.

I did a longer writing sample using the Fenestro EF fountain pen (reviewed here) on Tomoe River Paper. The ink flowed well and is bright and readable. Even with an EF nib, some shading is noticeable if you look closely.

On MD Cotton Paper with a ruling pen, the ink dazzles. It's nicely saturated, with shading, lovely pooling, and that magenta sheen.

Compared with my other turquoise inks, Blue Capri is closest to TWSBI Sky Blue, although Blue Capri is slightly more saturated. Iroshizuku Ama Iro is a cooler turquoise. Robert Oster Tranquility is greener and Fire & Ice is darker.

Blue Capri is a beautiful turquoise ink, reminiscent of sparkling Italian waters.

Arancio di Sicilia

Arancio di Sicilia is a vivid orange ink with excellent shading and some pink sheen.

The ink is saturated with deep reddish-orange tones and good shading (especially in flex nibs). The ink took some time to dry, but that's likely because I tested it with my flex nib. It is not waterproof.

The Chromatography displayed pale pink, peach, and deeper orange tones.

The Ruling Pen brought out the best of this ink on MD Cotton Paper. It is bright orange ranging from deep sunset tones to lighter pink-orange. The shading is excellent and pink sheen shows up where the ink pools.

For my longer writing test, I used Cosmo Air Light paper. The pink tones of the ink are enhanced on this paper. Shading is also good. It's an orange that is deep enough to read easily, but complex enough that it doesn't jar your eyes.

Although I have several orange inks, none of them are as beautiful as Arancio di Sicilia, in my opinion. TWSBI Orange is closest in terms of hue, but it is more of a burnt orange whereas Arancio is brighter.

Arancio di Sicilia just became my favorite orange ink. It looks like how a fresh, juicy orange tastes. I'm definitely going to order a full bottle of this color.

You can purchase both inks from Vanness Pens. Blue Capri is $3.50 for a 4ml sample and $35.00 for a 90ml bottle. Arancio di Sicilia is priced the same.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Scribo Feel A Riveder Le Stelle Fountain Pen: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

After I reviewed the Scribo Feel Amarena several months ago, I was smitten with the flex nib Italian pen. I discovered a special edition, available only from Scrittura Bolognese, called A Riveder Le Stelle ("to see again the stars"). Midnight blue with a sprinkling of white like the Milky Way, the pen called to me and I answered.

The pen comes in the usual grey-blue box associated with Scribo pens. There's a cotton and leather two-pen roll-up case inside, along with information about the pen and a warranty card.

In addition I received a hand-written card from Scribo and a complementary bottle of ink.

There's also a commemorative book included that features the Cineteca of Bologna.

La Riveder Le Stelle is a line from Dante's Divine Comedy. Dante and Virgil, emerging from Hell, observe the starry sky and exult in being able to see the stars again. After our year of Hell (i.e. 2020) Scribo created this pen with the hope that soon we will all be free to observe the stars, both literal and figurative. La Riveder Le Stelle is, therefore, a tribute to the stars of the cinema. 10% of the revenue from the pen is donated to Cineteca of Bologna to assist with the recovery and restoration projects of Immagine Ritrovata.

The pen features handmade midnight blue resin speckled with white. Trims are platinum and the 14k flex nib is white gold. Scribo Feel pens have a distinctive dodecagonal shape with curves that taper towards the mid-section of the pen.

This is a large pen, measuring 148mm/5.83 inches capped and 136mm/5.35 inches uncapped. The cap does not post. Capped and filled with ink, the pen weighs 39.15 grams. Uncapped and filled with ink it weighs 21.3 grams. The grip is a comfortable 11.28mm. A piston filler, the Scribo can hold 1.42ml of ink.

The screw-on cap features a finial etched with a quill, a rather tight clip, and a cap ring inscribed with "Scribo Feel the Writing."

There's a sharp drop from the barrel of the pen to the grip, but the grip is lengthy, so your fingers never come in contact with the drop or the barrel threads. The rounded shape of the barrel fits snugly between your thumb and forefinger. The pen is well-balanced in the hand and extremely comfortable for writing.

I opted for the 14k fine flex nib. The nib has a tiny bit of plain scrollwork and the words "Feel the Flex Scribo," along with the gold content. The fine nib is smooth and arrived perfectly tuned.

To assist with the ink demands of flex, the nib is fitted with an ebonite feed with two capillaries. I've not experienced any ink starvation or railroading when writing with this nib even when flexing.

Although no modern nib can really compete with vintage flex nibs, the Scribo Feel nib is very good. It's a smooth, trouble-free writer unflexed. Flexed, it provides excellent line variation, up to 2mm wide.

Unfortunately, I've managed to knock the tines a bit out of alignment. Clearly, I pushed the nib too far while experimenting, so I suspect a nibmeister is in my future.

The Scribo A Riveder Le Stelle is limited to 100 pieces, and you can only find it at Scrittura Bolognese. It costs €581.97 (approximately $709, depending on exchange rates). That's a pretty penny for a resin fountain pen, but this pen is so solid in the hand, so beautifully made, and such a great writer that I believe it's worth it.

(I purchased the Scribo A Riveder Le Stelle from Scrittura Bolognese with my own funds.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Scribo Verde Mediterraneo Ink: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Scribo ink arrives in a gorgeous, cloth-covered box. The box is substantial because the ink bottle is made of thick glass. Filled with ink it weighs a whopping 441 grams/15.5 ounces.

Verde Mediterraneo is a deep teal green with shading and a good amount of red/burgundy sheen. On my Col-o-dex card, you can see the various shades of the ink in the swab, the shading properties in the writing and swirl, and the sheen in the splats.

I tested the ink on white Rhodia dot-grid paper. It writes smoothly and demonstrates shading in all nib sizes. Although the ink dried super fast, it didn't seem dry when I wrote with it. In fact, it flowed quite nicely and is well saturated. It isn't waterproof.

Chromatography reveals a bit of pale yellow and ochre, turquoise and blue.

On MD Cotton Paper with my Handwritmic ruling pen you can see shading and sheen, especially where the ink pooled.

For a lengthier writing test, I used an MD Notebook Journal and my TWSBI Prussian Blue fitted with a Mark Bacas Predator nib. The ink was wet and flowed well. You can even see a bit of the red sheen.

I also drew a design modeled after a pattern by @mgemart_ on Instagram. This was done in my Galen Leather Tomoe River Journal. Again, the ink worked well on the paper, although you can see a difference between the left and right sides. The left side is more saturated (presumably because I had just inked the pen). The right side was completed the following day and is much lighter.

Scribo Verde Mediterraneo is an excellent dark teal ink. It reminds me most of Sailor Yama Dori, but the Scribo ink is much greener.

You can purchase this ink from Goldspot Pens ($39.00 for 90ml), although it is currently sold out. I would suggest trying a sample first just to make sure you like the color, since $39.00 is quite an investment. I suspect that price is partly due to the fancy glass bottle, which, by the way, is stackable with other Scribo bottles. I'm not sure how helpful that feature is (at least for saving space) since the bottles themselves are so massive.

(Goldspot provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)