Tibaldi Bononia Bora Bora
The Tibaldi pen company was founded in Florence in 1916 by Giuseppe Tibaldi. The company is now run by the Aquila Family, “life-long Italian virtuosos in the pen design and manufacturing industry, and a major proprietor of both Tibaldi and Montegrappa trademarks.” The company moved from Florence to Bassano del Grappa in 2004. I have previously reviewed the Tibaldi N60 Amber and it is still one of my favorite daily writers. Their designs are a wonderful mix of vintage and modern design. I reached out to the Tibaldi company and they graciously sent me one of their Bononia fountain pens in Bora Bora for review. Thank you to the good people at Tibaldi and if you are interested in getting one of their pens for yourself, please check out the Tibaldi website or go directly to the Bononia page. As a bonus if you are a new customer and order direct from their website you can also get 10% off your first order!
Packaging: The pen arrives in a matte black box with an orange outer sleeve. The outer sleeve is plain except for “Tibaldi” embossed on two sides. The black inner box has “Tibaldi” embossed on the top, the company logo and website on the sides, and a geometric design imprinted on both ends. The inner box pulls out to reveal the pen which is held in place by a grey elastic ribbon on a soft grey plush bed. Underneath the pen bed there is a credit card style warranty card and a small black packet with two black cartridges in it.
First Thoughts: The design has a very retro feel and the material is just captivating.
Design: The pen has a classic cigar shape overall. The cap final is a pointed taper which gradually widens until the cap opening. The clip is set into the cap, it is stiff but clips easily onto a notebook cover. It was a bit tougher to get it to clip on thicker fabric though. The clip is squared on top and resembles a long style necktie, in my opinion. Below the point of the clip, “Tibaldi” and “Made in Italy” are printed on the cap. The bottom of the cap has three steel cap bands with the cap material showing in between them, then flairs to the cap opening. Interestingly, the material pattern between the bands does not line up with the pattern on the cap but I love this! It makes each pen unique and makes the bands and the material pop. The bottom finial matches the shape of the cap finial and the barrel gradually widens before tapering back down to the cap threads and grip section. The threads sit at the end of the barrel and are very smooth. The short section tapers before reaching a flared finger stop. The pen does post securely and has a nice balance even for longer writing sessions.
Nib Performance: The nib appears to be a #6 size stainless steel nib. I received a double broad nib for this review and the nib performed beautifully and was buttery smooth. It was slightly finer than some of the other double broad nibs that I have used, but that may be due to the ink and paper I tested with. The nib is engraved with “TIBALDI,” the company logo, and “BB” for double broad. Like the N60, the Bononia came with an ebonite feed, which kept up perfectly with every type of writing and every ink I put through it. I am not sure if Tibaldi makes their nibs in house, but they are very well tuned and great writers.
Filling System: The pen uses a Standard International cartridge converter.
Value: MSRP is $295.00 USD but street price is around $236.00 USD
Overall: The material and design of this pen are truly wonderful. I love that Tibaldi embraces vintage style with modern materials on many of their designs. The balance of the Bononia is perfect for long writing sessions. The Nib! Oh my gosh, that nib is simply amazing. I attended a friend’s wedding recently and their colors included a blue that was close to the Bora Bora coloring. I brought the pen with me and took it out for a note and multiple people came over to look at it and try it out.
Specs:
Name: Tibaldi Bononia in Bora Bora
Design: Resin
Length: 146.1mm (5.75in)
Posted: 163.9mm (6.45in)
Diameter: 13.7mm (0.54in)
Weight: 23g (0.81oz)
Nib: Stainless steel
Filling System: Standard International cartridge converter
Pros: Amazing material, beautiful performing nib, ebonite feed
Cons: None that I can think of
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