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 ...
A deep dark brown ink, inspired by the color of "wild chestnut" by my favorite brand, Iroshizuku. It is subtle, it doesn't draw attention but it's absolutely beautiful and sophisticated. Perfect for both personal work notes in the office and personal correspondence.
Being Iroshizuku, it goes without saying that the ink is very well behaved. It performs excellent in any fountain pen I have tried it in, it is well lubricated, has a beautiful shading and drying times are around average. Water resistance is above average, an occasional drop of fluid won't ruin your writings completely. On decent paper (and this ink deserves that!) there is no feathering or show-through.
Most brown or brownish color I have are less subtle. It wasn't so easy to find two colors that at least a little bit close. Herbin's Cacao du Bresil and Caroube de Chypre (with gold shimmer) are dark browns too but significantly different.
Yama-guri is a welcome addition to my ink collection. Definitely an ink to use for a few days every now and then.
