Skip to main content

IG Blue #2, by KWZ

The iron gall Blue #2 ink is the third ink I bought from KWZ inks, handmade inks from  Poland. KWZ is a brand with a lot of modern iron gall inks in their collection. I am a huge fan of their IG Green #3 and a lot less of their IG Red #3. So I was definitely curious of this blue. Being a dark blue (especially when dry), you can't really go wrong. Perfect for office use, suitable for personal correspondence and notes. It is a solid, serious color. Personal writings should match that. 

The ink is well behaved, feathering and show-through are negligible, the ink writes smooth enough and drying times are acceptable with just over 30 seconds. Shading is moderate at most, but beautiful with a broad or stub nib. The water resistance is quite good, the ink can take water for a long time and still remain legible. A lot more susceptible to water than the traditional iron galls, but good enough. I have used this ink in a TWSBI with a stub nib, a Lamy with a medium nib, and with an oblique 2.5 mm tape nib. With all these pens the ink behaved almost perfectly on Original Crown Mill Vellum paper.

The scan below was taken approximately 24 hours after writing. Both iron galls ink in the comparison have darkened considerably. IJzer-galnoten (P.W. Akkerman) leans more towards gray/black, blue #2 is brighter and remains more true blue. Blue nuit (Herbin) is a regular ink. When wet, Blue nuit and Blue #2 aren't that far off.... 

All in all this is a high quality ink in a decent color with which you can't really go wrong. No, it's not the most exciting color maybe, but it certainly has its use. If you are looking for an iron gall ink that remains really blue, definitely consider this one. 


N.B. Written on Original Crown Mill Vellum paper
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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…
Post a Comment
Read more

Ultra violet shimmer ink, Manuscript

A new caligraphy ink by Manuscript with extreme shimmer. Definitely not something to use in the office but it looked interesting to write some cards with in the upcoming holiday season. This ink is clearly not meant for long notes or letters. A very dark violet or purple with heavy gold shimmer.
I find it a hard to use ink. OK to use in a fountain pen like the TWSBI ECO with a stub nib, but a dip pen made the ink feather and spread, even on Clairefontaine or Crown Mill Vellum paper. On Lalo Vergé it was much better. The ink is very wet, causing considerable show-through and even some bleed-through. The drying time wasn't too bad though with 35 seconds. The shimmer smears easily for a bit longer. As can be seen even on this scan, shimmer is gold and very high. A bit of water will keep the ink readable, enough to rewrite.
The violet or purple is comparable to Herbin's Améthyste de l'Oural. Diamine's Imperial Purple (no shimmer) is brighter and lighter. 
All in all this is a …
Post a Comment
Read more

Green Gold #2, KWZ

Searching for a gold colored ink I came across this ink. It’s far more green than gold, but the color is definitely intriguing. Can it be used in the office? I don’t know, maybe in Spring. For now I will stick to personal notes and correspondence with this ink.
KWZ produces well-behaving inks and this color is no exception to that. The ink shows no feathering, a beautiful shading, no show-through, good lubrication, and moderate wetness with below-average drying times.
I don't have any color that comes close. Herbin's Vert empire or Lierre Sauvage, as well as Grab von Faber Castell's Moss Green are true greens and don't come close.
All in all this is a very nice ink and a unique color. A great addition to the collection!
N.B. Written on Crown Mill Vellum (off-white)
Post a Comment
Read more