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Nettuno pens - info anyone?


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#1 pay

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Posted 15 July 2010 - 05:03 PM

I happen to be in Bologna for work for a few weeks. Last time I was here, I made a few
pleasant visits to Vecchietti Brothers shop. I saw some amazing pens, including some
vintage Omas and others that were the owners personal collection (went home with a
new, actually NOS, Omas :)).

I have learned that this family is apparently connected to Nettuno pens, but also that
the old Nettuno is not the same as the recent revival.

Are vintage Nettuno pens still available? I will ask at Vecchietti, too, but so far I havent
had the free time to get there. If so, which are the most representative of the brand?
What should I look for and what should I avoid?

Are the modern Nettuno's really of the same bloodline --so to speak-- or is someone just
reviving a brand for marketing purposes?

Any input / opinions welcome. Thanks. -PAY

#2 AltecGreen

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Posted 16 July 2010 - 02:04 AM

Are vintage Nettuno pens still available? I will ask at Vecchietti, too, but so far I havent
had the free time to get there. If so, which are the most representative of the brand?
What should I look for and what should I avoid?

Are the modern Nettuno's really of the same bloodline --so to speak-- or is someone just
reviving a brand for marketing purposes?

Any input / opinions welcome. Thanks. -PAY


The current Nettuno has no real connection to original company. Vecchetti stopped making pens in the late 50's. The current iteration was revived by a stationery firm in 2001 and then acquired by Aurora in 2007. The current pens don't really have much connection to the original bloodline in terms of design. Whereas the 90's incarnation of Tibaldi while not related to the original company made pens that were in the spirit of their namesake. In 1996, Stipula made two Nettuno tribute pens, the Superba and the Idra. These pens are much more in the spirit of the original company.

I've seen vintage Nettuno pens because I know a local that collector that owns several. The vintage Nettuno pens are pretty rare and not easily found even in Italy. Nettuno like other Italian companies made hard rubber and gold filled safety pens as well as Parker Duofold cones. In the 1936, Nettuno introduced the Superba line. The Superba is the best known and probably the most representative model. If I see a vintage Nettuno, I will try to buy it. I expect prices to be pretty high especially for examples in excellent condition. They seem to be harder to find than vintage Tibaldi pens. Asking Vecchetti is a good start. Don't be surprised if the going rate for a vintage Nettuno run $1-3k.

-RC

#3 pay

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Posted 20 July 2010 - 04:14 AM

Thanks, RC, that was exactly what I wanted to know.

#4 Rick Propas

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Posted 21 July 2010 - 01:28 AM

My recollection (which may be faulty) is that the modern Nettunos were made by Stipula. Is that correct?
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#5 AltecGreen

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Posted 21 July 2010 - 04:29 AM

My recollection (which may be faulty) is that the modern Nettunos were made by Stipula. Is that correct?


Stipula made the modern Superba and Idra recreations in 1996. It is likely that Stipula continued making the pens for Firma who acquired the Nettuno name in 2001.

#6 simp

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Posted 05 August 2010 - 02:46 PM

I've seen vintage Nettuno pens because I know a local that collector that owns several. The vintage Nettuno pens are pretty rare and not easily found even in Italy. Nettuno like other Italian companies made hard rubber and gold filled safety pens as well as Parker Duofold cones. In the 1936, Nettuno introduced the Superba line. The Superba is the best known and probably the most representative model. If I see a vintage Nettuno, I will try to buy it. I expect prices to be pretty high especially for examples in excellent condition. They seem to be harder to find than vintage Tibaldi pens. Asking Vecchetti is a good start. Don't be surprised if the going rate for a vintage Nettuno run $1-3k.

Just to add some info about the brand: most of them came from the Letizia Jacopini book.

Nettuno claims to be born in 1911 because there is an advertisement draft of that time, but there is an official registration and its is only in 1916. I summarized all info I could find in this page:

http://www.fountainpen.it/Nettuno

unfortunately the page is in italian, but google translation does'nt seems too bad (I'll try a better translation if someone is interested).

Superba is the most famouns model, but the prices you told seems a very hight to me. I bough a Superba in very good conditions some years ago in a pen show for about $300, now it's certainly more expensive, but 1000$ seemed excessive to me (but collectors are often crazy people).

Anyway Superba is not so rare, and I remember it to be present often in italian pen shows, more than any tibaldi modello 60 or imperiale (nearly equivalent Tibaldi models). Older models (hard rubber and Duofold copies) are much rarer but this is easily explained by the fact that early production was much less: Tibaldi was a real factory, rather than a family production.

Regards
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#7 AltecGreen

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Posted 06 August 2010 - 03:50 AM

Superba is the most famouns model, but the prices you told seems a very hight to me. I bough a Superba in very good conditions some years ago in a pen show for about $300, now it's certainly more expensive, but 1000$ seemed excessive to me (but collectors are often crazy people).

Anyway Superba is not so rare, and I remember it to be present often in italian pen shows, more than any tibaldi modello 60 or imperiale (nearly equivalent Tibaldi models). Older models (hard rubber and Duofold copies) are much rarer but this is easily explained by the fact that early production was much less: Tibaldi was a real factory, rather than a family production.


Thanks for the info Simone. I would love to find a vintage Nettuno in the US for $300. Unfortunately, they rarely show up in the US and the price can have a significant mark-up. I really have to visit Italy on a pen hunting trip.

BTW-how rare are the vintage Tibaldi pens? I just acquired a vintage Tibaldi Infrangible that is kind of odd. The barrel is definitely from an Infrangible. It has the correct barrel imprint. However, the cap looks like it came from a Modell0 60.

#8 simp

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Posted 07 August 2010 - 04:07 PM

<br />Thanks for the info Simone.  I would love to find a vintage Nettuno in the US for $300.  Unfortunately, they rarely show up in the US and the price can have a significant mark-up.  I really have to visit Italy on a pen hunting trip.<br /><br />BTW-how rare are the vintage Tibaldi pens?  I just acquired a vintage Tibaldi Infrangible that is kind of odd.  The barrel is definitely from an Infrangible.  It has the correct barrel imprint.  However, the cap looks like it came from a Modell0 60.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

That was almost 10 years ago (probably more), so I don't think it still will possible to get one at that price. Nettuno are hard to find anyway, and in Italy we don't have big pen show like the ones in the US or in Germany.

I'm from Florence so I'm quite interested in Tibaldi, but in more than 15 years collecting I just found one outside pen shows. Usually you find some Tibaldi model (let say one or two) in pens shows, but for the Infrangibile it's almost three year that I cannot see any one. I saw a Superba last year and this year also. But I go just to some of the pen show (I'a collector, not a seller) so perhaps I'm just unlucky.

Regards
Simone
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#9 david i

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Posted 11 August 2010 - 07:26 PM

Stipula made the modern Superba and Idra recreations in 1996. It is likely that Stipula continued making the pens for Firma who acquired the Nettuno name in 2001.



Hi,

I usually focus on old pens from the USA (and related international divisions), but I have a few modern pens and a few old pens from abroad. Early in my collecting, I did stumble upon the Stipula Nettuno editions. They had quite a "vintage" look, even to me, who at the time had only been into old pens for a bit. I ended up owning both Superba and Idra. While these are not vintage Nettuno pens, proper, they are rather nice. I finally had chance to shoot them (been very busy month),and now offer the images here. I would like to see images of true vintage Nettuna pens, never having seen one before.

Anway, the Stipula versions...

Posted Image


regards

David


David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

Posted Image

#10 simp

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Posted 12 August 2010 - 09:00 AM

Hi,

I usually focus on old pens from the USA (and related international divisions), but I have a few modern pens and a few old pens from abroad. Early in my collecting, I did stumble upon the Stipula Nettuno editions. They had quite a "vintage" look, even to me, who at the time had only been into old pens for a bit. I ended up owning both Superba and Idra. While these are not vintage Nettuno pens, proper, they are rather nice. I finally had chance to shoot them (been very busy month),and now offer the images here. I would like to see images of true vintage Nettuna pens, never having seen one before.


Unfortunately my photographic abilities are almost catastrophic, so I usually don't ever try to take photos. But the modern one look almost the same of the old. Anyway I'll try to take some photos in the weekend, but if the results will be too bad I'm not so sure I'll be in the mood to publish them...

Regards
Simone
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#11 marcshiman

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Posted 25 August 2010 - 02:31 AM

BTW-how rare are the vintage Tibaldi pens? I just acquired a vintage Tibaldi Infrangible that is kind of odd. The barrel is definitely from an Infrangible. It has the correct barrel imprint. However, the cap looks like it came from a Modell0 60.


Since I started collecting vintage Italians, one of the the things I've learned is that the rules are very different from American pens. When we find an American pen with a nib of another manufacturer, we either assume "frankenpen", or that there was a repair somewhere along the way. In either case, the pen is considered flawed and un-original.

With Italian pens, I'm finding pens that clearly were sold with nibs from other brands - I'm assuming a jeweler replaced the nib perhaps for a different writing characteristic for a particular user. My latest experience with this was at DC (some of you might have seen this pen) - a GF Omas pen with The King nib in it (The King is not a sub-brand of Omas). The owner of the pen swears this pen is untouched since it was presented as a wedding gift.

I've got other such examples that I no longer attribute to a mid-life replacement nib. I just don't know.

Marc



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#12 diplo

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Posted 25 August 2010 - 03:37 PM

I am afraid there are no good news for Nettuno pens.
After purchasing the brand from Firma in early 2007 Aurora did not come out with a single new pen. The website is closed ever since. The only "novelty" that was launched under the Aurora management for the Firma brand was a rebranded Barracuda (a former Nettuno model, now called Cube)...

#13 Deirdre

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Posted 12 October 2010 - 08:06 AM

There's also the new Trident, not as good as the old (magnetic cap) trident:

http://www.fahrneysp...Item--i-110832S

#14 fabbale

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Posted 19 November 2010 - 09:37 PM

<br /><br /><br />

That was almost 10 years ago (probably more), so I don't think it still will possible to get one at that price. Nettuno are hard to find anyway, and in Italy we don't have big pen show like the ones in the US or in Germany.

I'm from Florence so I'm quite interested in Tibaldi, but in more than 15 years collecting I just found one outside pen shows. Usually you find some Tibaldi model (let say one or two) in pens shows, but for the Infrangibile it's almost three year that I cannot see any one. I saw a Superba last year and this year also. But I go just to some of the pen show (I'a collector, not a seller) so perhaps I'm just unlucky.

Regards
Simone


Ciao Simone,
it's a plesaure to mee here!!!
We live in Tuscany, but we met in a usa forum!!!!
For you and all one TIBALDI in my collection

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I buy old Italian fountain pens. If you have some to sell, please send me an email.

#15 fabbale

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Posted 19 November 2010 - 10:31 PM

Since I started collecting vintage Italians, one of the the things I've learned is that the rules are very different from American pens. When we find an American pen with a nib of another manufacturer, we either assume "frankenpen", or that there was a repair somewhere along the way. In either case, the pen is considered flawed and un-original.

With Italian pens, I'm finding pens that clearly were sold with nibs from other brands - I'm assuming a jeweler replaced the nib perhaps for a different writing characteristic for a particular user. My latest experience with this was at DC (some of you might have seen this pen) - a GF Omas pen with The King nib in it (The King is not a sub-brand of Omas). The owner of the pen swears this pen is untouched since it was presented as a wedding gift.

I've got other such examples that I no longer attribute to a mid-life replacement nib. I just don't know.

Marc




Ciao Marc,
this is a THE KING in mervellous conditions (i think...)

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I buy old Italian fountain pens. If you have some to sell, please send me an email.

#16 fabbale

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Posted 19 November 2010 - 10:33 PM

Hi,

I usually focus on old pens from the USA (and related international divisions), but I have a few modern pens and a few old pens from abroad. Early in my collecting, I did stumble upon the Stipula Nettuno editions. They had quite a "vintage" look, even to me, who at the time had only been into old pens for a bit. I ended up owning both Superba and Idra. While these are not vintage Nettuno pens, proper, they are rather nice. I finally had chance to shoot them (been very busy month),and now offer the images here. I would like to see images of true vintage Nettuna pens, never having seen one before.

Anway, the Stipula versions...

Posted Image


regards

David



Hi David
this set in wooooow!!!!

I've never seen a Stipula like this; the Nettuno is a vintage or a replica?

FB
I buy old Italian fountain pens. If you have some to sell, please send me an email.

#17 david i

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Posted 19 November 2010 - 11:09 PM

Hi David
this set in wooooow!!!!

I've never seen a Stipula like this; the Nettuno is a vintage or a replica?

FB


Hi Fabbale,

Thanks for joining the Board. While the site is hosted in the USA, I suspect I speak for many saying that international pen discussion is very welcome. I fear I do not know very much about vintage Italian pens, but I am happy to learn.

The Stipula Nettuno pens in my picture (Superba and Idra) are near modern pens (late 1990s I believe) done by Stipula in the style/tradition of Nettuno, the defunct pen company. I guess that makes them replica, although I do not know that Netunno made pens of this original shape. My recollection is that the celluloid used was old stock from decades earlier. I am not certain of that.

Is there a good book to learn about old Italian pens... a book in English? ;)

-david
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Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

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#18 fabbale

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Posted 20 November 2010 - 11:27 AM

Hi Fabbale,

Thanks for joining the Board. While the site is hosted in the USA, I suspect I speak for many saying that international pen discussion is very welcome. I fear I do not know very much about vintage Italian pens, but I am happy to learn.

The Stipula Nettuno pens in my picture (Superba and Idra) are near modern pens (late 1990s I believe) done by Stipula in the style/tradition of Nettuno, the defunct pen company. I guess that makes them replica, although I do not know that Netunno made pens of this original shape. My recollection is that the celluloid used was old stock from decades earlier. I am not certain of that.

Is there a good book to learn about old Italian pens... a book in English? ;)

-david


Ciao David, thank for your info.
In Italy, during the last years several books are made, some also in english.
I think that for you the better book is :

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Are 2 books that examine all production and it's the Opera Omnia about italian vintage fountain pens; it's write in italian and english.
Letizia is a friend of mine and if you need a copy i think that's possibile ask her.
Other important books:

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If you need some information about italian pens, let me know. I'll be happy to help you.
I buy old Italian fountain pens. If you have some to sell, please send me an email.

#19 simp

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Posted 09 December 2010 - 06:24 PM

I forgot my promise, but I took some photos of the original version I own.
They are not so good, but they are good enough to be published.

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This is a selection, you can find the full gallery (and also the high resolution versions) here:

http://www.fountainp...:Nettuno_Photos

Simone
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#20 fabbale

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Posted 10 December 2010 - 01:26 PM

I forgot my promise, but I took some photos of the original version I own.
They are not so good, but they are good enough to be published.


This is a selection, you can find the full gallery (and also the high resolution versions) here:

http://www.fountainp...:Nettuno_Photos

Simone


GREAT PEN SIMONE !!!!!
:blink:
I buy old Italian fountain pens. If you have some to sell, please send me an email.




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