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 ...
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 Caroube de Chypre comes close, but has a silver shimmer.
All in all this is a very nice ink and a welcome addition to my collection. I will definitely use it from time to time for cards and shorts letters.
