So, what's new from the folks at Stipula? Well, not quite so new, per se... First of all, the Stipula Inverno has been out for a month or so by now, we had some delays in getting our hands on a sample to review. In the second place, the Inverno really isn't a "new" design, but rather a new colour scheme for an existing design.

The retractable nib Etruria from Stipula has proven to be an interesting pen. The design makes it without a doubt one of the "coolest" of pens introduced last year. Unfortunately, the design might also prove to be the weak point of this model, one of our local collectors has had two versions of this pen fail, with the retracting mechanism freezing up.

The good news is that Stipula was very quick to deal with the problem, providing excellent customer service for the poor guy. I've come to expect no less from this company. So far, those two pens have been the only two that I've heard of with the trouble.

Now, on to the Inverno. The regular production Etruria retractable is done in the rich, warm amber colour of the regular Etruria. The Inverno (Italian for winter) however, is done in a polar opposite, colour scheme-wise. Instead of warm earth tones, it's done in cold blue gray tones. Appropriate for a pen named after winter.

The colours are very subtle on the Inverno. This is what I like most about the pen. Don't get me wrong, it's a colourful pen, but at first glance, or under dim light, it looks like a simple blue-gray pen. Once you get it under bright lighting however, the cap and barrel really come alive.

The material has a sort of neat pattern, what I would almost describe as a "herringbone" pattern, with dark and light gray overlaying the blue material. It sounds busy, but since the colours are so subtle, the effect in real life is very nice. Not overpowering at all. In fact, I might have wanted a bit ( a very little bit!) brighter colours, just so the pattern would show even in lower light. But I'm more than happy with it in it's current, "low impact" shades. (We've lightened some of the images illustrating this article enough to show off the cap and barrel material's colours. The pen does appear much darker in "real life".)

The trim is sterling silver as you might expect, Stipula is famous for the high quality of their sterling silver trim pieces. As with the other versions of the Stipula Etruria, the cap band is very ornate, with a heavy relief engraving of vine leaves around it. The clip is also engraved with a similar pattern. There is a thin ring at the lower end of the barrel, and when the cap is removed, you find another pair of slim rings, one that forms the barrel threads, and the last at the front edge of the section.

The silver colour of the trim obviously goes well with the blues and grays of the cap and barrel material. From a visual standpoint, the Inverno may be understated, but it's a very well colour coordinated understatement!

I'd have a tough time choosing between the Inverno and the regular production Retractable Etruria. I absolutely love the amber colour of the regular production model. In my opinion, it's one of the most attractive materials in use by a modern pen maker today. But... The Inverno has a certain flair to it. I like the fact that it's not what it appears to be at first glance. I like the fact that it has an understated elegance to it, where the amber material of the regular model is a bit more "in your face". It's a tough call between the two.

Once you get past deciding whether the material makes enough of a difference to you to justify springing for the Inverno, the rest of the pen is no different than the regular production version. In other words, a retractable nib, full sized, piston filling pen. That just happens to use Stipula's delicious large size nib, available in a myriad selection of tip sizes, from extra fine through a trio of very nice stub sizes.

When you remove the cap, a simple twist of the section extends the nib. Actually, I hold on to the section and twist the barrel, but I know folks who do it the other way around. The same thing in the end. Once the nib is extended, the pen works just like any other Stipula piston filler. Which is to say very well indeed. The piston mechanism is very smooth, and the ink capacity seems to be more than adequate.

The nibs are, as I mentioned, a real treat. I love the big Stipula nibs. Especially the .9 and 1.3 stubs. The .9 is a very "usable" stub, it is a finer line than most stub nibs, but you still get all the line width change that makes a stub nib soo much fun. The 1.1 and 1.3 stubs are a little more extreme, and require a bit larger handwriting, but I love the extra flair they give, especially to my horrid handwriting.

Even the "regular" nib sizes are very nice nibs with which to write. I've tried the fine and the medium, and both were flawless performers. Ink flow is also very good, at least on the samples I've tried. Stipula seems to have gotten it "right" with this large nib/feed combination.

When you're finished writing, a simple twist of the section retracts the nib into the barrel, and the cap can then be replaced.

The retractable nib Etrurias are, all in all, a gimmick. No getting around that. There's no real need for the nib to retract into the barrel. But it's so cool. And, after all, cool is what using fountain pens is all about nowadays. It's not as though we need to use these very expensive, sometimes fragile and temperamental writing instruments. We could all be happily typing away on our PDAs, or at best scribbling with a Bic.

If you like your gimmicks, if you want the ultimate gimmick, then taking a look into one of the retractable nib Etrurias might be a good idea. It's probably the best way to get the most fun out of using a fountain pen out there today.

Then, your choice just comes down to colour. The regular amber version, or the Inverno? That's a call only you can make! The Inverno is being made in an edition size of 398 pieces, and the list price is $550.