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Perle Noir, Herbin

Perle Noir is one of the most recommended and well reviewed black inks out there. When I bought this ink a few years ago, I was disappointed. It is not the blackest, not the smoothest, not the fastest drying ink, not an archival ink, not the cheapest.  I decided to give it a second chance so I eyedropped a Preppy with it and filled a Lamy All-star. Over the past few days I have written many pages of work notes with the ink. Perle Noir is a well behaving black ink that is sold at a reasonable price, but it doesn't excel in anything. Below some writing samples, followed by drying times and test in water resistance. Drying times are about average to slow, 45 secs with a broad nib on Tomoe River 52g paper. The ink is certainly not water resistant, but it can handle an accidental drop.   The full characteristics: Feathering none Shading hardly any Show through negligible  ...
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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

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