Heart of Darkness, Noodler's

My collection of black inks is limited. In a previous review I discussed Aurora black, a very fine black ink. But I also wanted a permanent black. So I ordered Noodler's Heart of Darkness. I have a few other inks of this manufacturer and while they do their job, I am not a fan. The inks are very wet, have little or no shade and the colors are OK at best. Never marvellous.

They have one advantage that is worth mentioning but of lesser importance to me... the inks are very forgiving on cheaper paper. Bleed-through of course, but hardly any feathering and normal drying times. On the super smooth Original Crown Mill Vellum, the ink almost floats.
This ink is no exception. I didn't like it much in my Parker Duofold (medium nib). In a TWSBI Eco (Fine nib) it is a decent black. Darker than I expected, little or no shading, some bleed-through even on Rhodia. Drying times on (smooth) paper are very high, more than a minute.

When comparing the ink to other blacks I was surprised to see it turned out darker (with glass pen) than Aurora Black, allegedly the darkest black available on the market.

N.B. paper used is original crown mill vellum paper

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)

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

Fountain pen inks reviews and comparisons

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