Stipula Calamo Dark Gray Ink: Stipula, has recently released six new ink colors, one of which is Grigio Lava, also known as Dark Gray. Stipula ink, which is designed specifically to prevent deterioration from light exposure, is a highly regarded Italian in. One nice feature is, similar to when you buy paint, each Stipula ink package comes with a dab of the ink on the outside of the packaging as well as on the outside of the bottle, so that you know exactly what the color looks like. Stipula Grigio Lava (Dark Gray) is one the new Stipula ink colors and is an easy to clean ink, which will not clog up your fountain pen. Dark Gray is a nice dark color, part black, part gray with a slight purple tint that produces some nice color variations.
We found the following characteristics when using Stipula Calamo Dark Gray ink that you may find helpful:
Testing Factors
For this review we used a J. Herbin spiral glass pen (with an equivalent fine nib) on Rhodia paper.
Bottle Sizes
Stipula ink comes in just one size, a 70 ml. glass bottle, equivalent to 2.3 oz. The large bottle Stipula uses is made of dark opaque glass which helps to protect the ink from light. The Stipula bottle has a large plastic lid with a wide mouth allowing for easy access and use.
Cost
Stipula fountain pen ink is a mid range priced ink imported from Italy and retails for $19, but is available at Pen Chalet for 20% off its full retail price or $17.10.
Dry Time
Using the glass dip pen on Rhodia paper, the dry time we experienced is approximately 5 seconds. This is a reasonably fast dry time. Obviously using a larger sized nib will generate a longer dry time.
Bleed Through
We did not experience any bleeding using Stipula Dark Gray fountain pen ink on Rhodia Bloc N. 18 paper.
Feathering
Under normal use we did not experience any feathering on the Rhodia paper we used. Slight feathering was shown during the water test below.
Water Test
We ran a wet cotton swab over a Stipula Dark Gray ink sample after letting it dry for 3 minutes. This test resulted in some slight feathering, and significant color bleeding and smearing. Stipula Dark Gray ink is not waterproof.
Shading
Stipula Dark Gray ink will produce some nice shading and color variation depending on the nib used and wetness of the nib. The darkest lines will almost be black, where the lighter lines will be a lighter gray color.
Conclusion about the Stipula Dark Gray ink
Overall, we like Stipula fountain pen inks. They have great characteristics, easy to use, good flow, nice colors, reasonably price, large bottle, on and on. Stipula Dark Gray ink is a good everyday color, which has some nice color variations, dry’s very quick, etc. Pen Chalet is excited with Stipula’s 6 new colors as it will provide more color options when purchasing this fabulous Italian imported ink.
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