Fountain pen inks reviews and comparisons

Cocoa shimmer by Diamine is a brown color with gold shimmer. It's part of the Diamine shimmer collection. Unlike other shimmering inks this one actually has significant shimmer but it's hard to bring it out on scan or camera. On paper the gold is clearly visible though. A beautiful effect but you don't want to use this ink anywhere. I wouldn't use it in the office, not even for personal work notes. Especially for cards and letters it is excellent. The brown is beautiful and deep. But you can do your personal writing with this color easily, even with long pieces it remains pleasant to read.  The ink is very well behaved, but on the wet side. Drying time is very high (68 seconds on Rhodia paper). But lubrication is very well, the show-through is minimal and shading is nice and subtle. The shimmer is clearly visible.  The ink is quite red and saturated, which is clearly visible when you compare swabs of cocoa shimmer with yama-guri (Iroshikuzu). Herbin's C...

Syo-ro (dew on pine tree), by Iroshizuku. A beautiful teal colored ink that leans a lot more towards green than towards blue. A very versatile color. Suited for note taking in the office, for personal notes, for writing and for personal correspondence.  No feathering, beautiful shading, not too wet, writes smoothly. Drying time on Crown Mill was surprisingly fast with 23 seconds, as is its ability to withstand a few drops of water. This ink, as almost all Iroshizuku inks, is a dream to write with, provided you use it on quality paper. Using Iroshizuku on lowest bidder paper is blasphemy and punishment will be severe and swift. Use it on it Rhodia, Crown Mill, Leuchtturm, Tomoe or the likes, and you will be reward equally.  Comparing the ink to others is not so easy. The differences between colors that I considered close cousins, are bigger than expected. Ku-jaku is a teal that leans far more to blue, moss green (Graf von Faber Castell) is darker and a lot greener ...

Yama-budo, or crimson glory vine. A purple ink that is supposed to represent the color of wild grapes. Depending on pen and nib used, the color varies between a dark bright pink and a true purple. Perfect for personal use: notes, casual writing or letters. Personally I think it's a bit too bright and flashy for the office, although admittedly I have used and gotten away with "worse". There is no argument about the quality of Iroshizuku. Yama-budo writes like a dream in any pen or nib size. No feathering, beautiful shading, negligible show-through, not too wet and excellent lubrication, very smooth in writing. As with most Iroshizuku inks, water will immediately ruin your writing. Drying time is OK, almost 35 seconds on Rhodia. Compared to other purple inks it's a bit lighter than Montblanc's lavender purple. Compared to Herbin's Poussiere de lune or Larme de Cassis, the ink is not only darker (more purple) but also a lot more saturated. I like it best...

Part of Colorverse's space and time series, KSLV-II is a special edition in honor of South Korea's space program. Named after a Korean rocket it comes with a smaller (15ml) bottle, 75t Rocket Engine. The color is a deep blue, with a very clear purple sheen. This sheen is so present that - when writing with a very broad nib like a poster 4mm, the ink almost flips over completely: purple with blue sheen. Note the huge difference between the poster nib, a normal broad nib and a stub nib.  An excellent blue for work or personal notes, or personal correspondence. Because of the purple sheen I wouldn't use it for business correspondence.  This ink is the first Colorverse ink I have tried and I must say the ink is very well behaved. No feathering, beautiful shading (with some sheen), good lubrication and negligible show-through. T he ink is wet, drying time with a normal nib is above average (50 sec), with a really broad nib the ink is still wet after a day.  It was h...

Maybe the summer is the time for bright, vibrant colors... but recently I am more drawn to dark brown colors like yama-guri . This interest also made me buy Macassar. And this color has not disappointed me. A very dark brown, leaning towards black. A pleasant color to take work notes, easy to read. But, definitely suitable for personal correspondence and writing as well. As always, depending on the subject and mood of course.   Diamine inks are smooth, a bit wet and well-behaved. Macassar is no exception.  No feathering, a nice shading and negligible show-through. Water resistance is low (and turns the remaining brown into orange) and drying times are a bit above average, 40 seconds on Rhodia paper. Personally I prefer wetter, broader nibs for these colors. But that is personal taste, the ink behaves equally well in fine and extra fine nibs. Compared to yama-guri the color is quite similar. Yama-guri is even darker. Cacao du Brésil (Herbin) and even more...

Herbin recently released their latest color in the ' les encres 1798'  series: Kyanite du Népal. I pre-ordered this ink about six weeks ago. It looked really spectacular in the annoucement and I was anxious to try it out this week when it arrived. The color is a bright blue (that leans a bit towards teal in my opinion) and has silver particles. Clearly visible in the bottle, much less on the paper when writing. Not a real surprise, it's the same with the other colors in this series too. In practice, the color is a lot less spectacular. I like the color, not for office use (too bright, too shiny) but for (not too long) personal communication or greeting cards it is a very nice color to use from time to time.  Like any ink in this series  it is very well behaved. Smooth, a bit wet, no feathering, neglilible show-through, and a very nice shading. Drying time was surprisingly fast (15 seconds) and water resistance very low. Shimmer is clearly visible with a cott...