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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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Tchaikovsky, Noodler's ink


Tchaikovsky by Noodler's ink is part of their Russian series. I couldn't find out why they associate Tchaikovsky with purple, Diamine has a blue Tchaikovsky ink, but having an ink named after you is a great tribute in almost any color. 

Being a purple ink this ink is useful only for personal use of course and should be kept far from the office. The most striking think about this ink is the HUGE difference between a dip pen (1mm OB nib) and a regular nib on a Parker Sonnet. The color changes from a lowly saturated, bland purple into a well-shaded deep purple.  

The ink itself is a typical Noodler's ink. It does what it has to do, no-frills. The color is neither ugly nor beautiful, the bottle is chock-full (careful), the ink dries quickly enough and it behaves decently in almost every pen and on every paper. Plus, it's not very expensive.  Show through is minimal, shading is low, water resistance is high. 

The dip pen was a surprise, and so was comparing it to other inks. Based on the bottle I thought it was quite similar to Herbin's Poussiere de Lune. The q-tip swab shows it's not. It's more blueish and paler. Lavender Purple is very different, that wasn't a surprise and so is larme de cassis. 

I will probably use this ink more often... but it will be with a dip pen with a broad (oblique) nib!

Written on Original Crown Mill Vellum paper

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