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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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KSLV-II, by Colorverse


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. The 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 hard to find a similar color. I thought KSLV-II would be like Kon-Peki, but this ink is much more blue. Ku-jaku is too light and too green. And neither Asa-gao nor Homer blue (Montblanc) comes close. 

All in all this ink is a nice addition to my collection. Definitely an ink to use frequently!

Written on Clairefontaine Triomph paper (white).
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