IJzer-galnoten, P.W. Akkerman

My recent buy of the KWZ inks got me interested again in Iron Gall inks. Years ago I had a bottle of P.W. Akkerman's iron gall ink (in Dutch: IJzer-galnoten) but never replaced it. The bottle itself is amazing. Practical because of the reservoir (sealed off with a marble) on top and a gem on every bookshelf.

The ink itself is a very sturdy and practical blue-black ink (but definitely grayish too when dry. It is perfect for the office, but there is no reason not to use it for personal notes or letters as well. The color may not be very vibrant or cheerful, but it's a good, solid, beautiful ink.

The ink is a bit dry, but behaves extremely well. Writing is smooth. No feathering, decent shading, minimal show-through. Drying time on Crown Mill Vellum paper is less than 15 seconds, fast! This iron gall ink definitely has registrar qualities, it is not afraid of water. You don't even see on the grid where I dropped water. And a separate two hour soak-in-a-cup test didn't harm the ink either.

So what does it compare to? The gray/greenish color it dries up to sets the ink apart from others. IG Blue #2 by KWZ is a darker blue. Blue nuit (Herbin) and Shin-Kai (Iroshizuku) come close when the ink is wet, but the difference gets bigger when the IG dries and darkens. N.B. This scan was taken more than a day after writing.

I will keep a pen filled up with this ink for a while.. I really like this ink!

Kikyou, Sailor Manyo

A few months ago this new ink series by Sailor was announced. Based on flowers, in a stylish 50ml bottle. What I see is not a flower, but an ink that is stormy blue with a hint of green. Teal? Maybe, but in my opinion it's darker than that, scans and monitors can be slightly deceiving. This ink can be a work horse. Very suitable for note taking, definitely works in the office, but also for personal notes and correspondence.

The ink writes like a dream. It's not very wet, but smooth and extremely well-behaved in any pen. Just the combination crown mill vellum paper and a poster nib (as you can see), leads to some feathering of the ink. Drying times are simply fast, with just 12 seconds on this paper! Shading is low. Water resistance is low. Even after days it smears easily with just a tiny drop of water.

I called this ink a work horse. It is, and an expensive one. Even though it's wonderful ink, it's simply not special enough to justify the price. Yonaga (Sailor) and Balt…

Gele oker van Frans, P.W. Akkerman

P.W. Akkerman in The Hague has a series of Dutch masters, based on colors 17th century Dutch painters used. It is a nice series, with some lovely colors. Stone red by Vermeer for instance is amongst my favorite ink colors. And these bottles, absolutely stunning! Gele Oker van Frans (Yellow ochre by Frans) is based on paintings by Frans Halsema.
But why this color? It's likely to cause eyeball cancer or at least some severe retinal burns. Observing the sun through binoculars is less painful. The ink is nearly impossible to read on Crown Mill or Rhodia paper. A broad or stub nib is a necessity, or even a glass dip pen.
The ink characteristics are simply good. Akkerman has high quality inks and this one is no exception. No feathering, no show through, moderate wetness, sufficient lubrication and some nice moderate shading. Drying times below average and water resistance very poor. With a price of around 25 euro for a 120ml bottle, the inks are very reasonably priced too.
But this col…

Red Fox, Mont Blanc, Le Petit Prince

Red Fox is a Montblanc Limited Edition, based on their Le Petit Prince series. The ink is a dark brown orange, not unlike the fur of a fox. I wasn't sure what to expect of this ink to be honest, reviews are mixed, but in the past week I have been writing a lot with it. It's great for personal use and at the same time, despite being a dark orange, it's a color that you can easily use in an office environment to take down notes. For longer reads the color remains pleasant.

The ink and its color surprised me and I must say, Ireally like this ink. At 35 euro for 50 ml the ink is expensive, but well worth it.

It's a high quality ink. As expected, no feathering, no bleed-through on decent paper, shading is strong and excellent and the ink behaves extremely well in my Parker Duofold (medium nib). Lubrication is a bit better than most Montblanc inks I know but still, some pens have difficulties with it. TWSBI and Montblanc is not a good combination for instance. This is a non pe…

Fountain pen inks reviews and comparisons

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