Améthyste de l'Oural, Herbin 1798

Améthyste de l'Oural, a bright purple with silver particles in the Herbin 1798 range. And yes, this silver turned out to be a bit allergic to the scan, but it is definitely visible on paper. It's bright, beautiful, too bright for an office setting in my opinion. Even though I really like this color, using it for work notes started to annoy me within the hour. It's much more suitable for personal communication or writing.

Not surprisingly, this ink is very well-behaved, a bit wet but never too much. No feathering, hardly any show through and well lubricated. Shimmer is visible with wetter and broader nibs. Water resistance is poor, a little drop won't wash away your writing immediately, but you won't send that letter anymore. Drying time was OK, almost 40 seconds on Rhodia paper. Shading is amazing, very beautiful.

Comparing the ink to other colors brought some surprises. It really is a distinctive color. Montblanc's insidious Lavender Purple is a lot more red, Larme de Cassis (Herbin) is lighter. And, Murasaki Shikibu (Iroshizuku) is a lot more blue. I don't have a color that comes close.

I will definitely use this ink more... but not in the office.

Paper used is Rhodia No. 19 notepad, ivory

Around the World in 80 Days, Montblanc

Visiting Paris last month, I couldn't resist visiting the Montblanc flagship store and pick up a bottle of ink. Around the World in 80 Days is a limited edition ink, part of the recent collection about Jules Verne's description of Phileas Fogg's adventure. Nicely packed and in the well-known beautiful bottle. The ink is someone between blue and green, increasingly green in a wetter, broader nib. As such it is suitable for both the office as well as personal notes and correspondence. Personally, I like the ink best in finer nibs. It seems more dark and blue that way. I have tried the ink on both Tomoe River and Rhodia paper. The ink behaved flawlessly and feels a little bit on the dry side. Drying time is neither slow nor fast, 40 secs on Tomoe River. On Rhodia paper On Tomoe River (52g) The ink doesn't handle water very well, even after a few days the ink smears easily when some water drops are applied. Careful! The full characteristics: F

Orange!!

It's Spring, we just had King's day and the European Championships football are being held next month. More than enough reasons to fill up some pens with orange inks. I was surprised to see I had gathered eight inks in the past few years that qualify as orange. Some true bright orange, some leaning more towards red or brown. Which one is your favorite? Written on Tomoe river, 52g

Kikyou, Sailor Manyo

A few months ago this new ink series by Sailor was announced. Based on flowers, in a stylish 50ml bottle. What I see is not a flower, but an ink that is stormy blue with a hint of green. Teal? Maybe, but in my opinion it's darker than that, scans and monitors can be slightly deceiving. This ink can be a work horse. Very suitable for note taking, definitely works in the office, but also for personal notes and correspondence. The ink writes like a dream. It's not very wet, but smooth and extremely well-behaved in any pen. Just the combination crown mill vellum paper and a poster nib (as you can see), leads to some feathering of the ink. Drying times are simply fast, with just 12 seconds on this paper! Shading is low. Water resistance is low. Even after days it smears easily with just a tiny drop of water. I called this ink a work horse. It is, and an expensive one. Even though it's wonderful ink, it's simply not special enough to justify the price. Yonaga (Sailor)

Fountain pen inks reviews and comparisons

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