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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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Lierre Sauvage, J. Herbin


Recently I heard the (British) term "green-ink letter", which is a letter to for instance a politician expressing eccentric views, often characterized by prolixity and written in longhand, but not necessarily in green ink. Somehow green ink is associated with lunatic and eccentric behavior and even though I rare use green ink, I wonder why.

There are some beautiful green inks out there and many of those are excellent for personal notes, personal correspondence or even short business notes.

One of those inks is Lierre Sauvage, by J. Herbin. Perfect for any personal use or note taking in an office environment. It is very bright/in your face, which might make it a good color for reviewing and adding suggestions as well.

It's a beautiful color, excellent shading and even though the ink (like many Herbin inks) is quite wet, it writes really well. I have tried this ink in Parker, Lamy and TSWBI pens with different nib sizes and the ink goes well with any of these pens and nibs. Drying time on vellum paper is long (50 seconds), so that is something to take into account.I have compared the ink with Vert Empire (a bit more dull, grey), Syo Ro (more blue) and Moss Green (darker). 



N.B. writing on Original Crown Mill Vellum paper.

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