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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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Red Dragon, by Diamine



I've mentioned it before: I like red inks, my absolute favorite is Diamine's Oxblood and I am still searching for a dark bright red. After Crimson I decided to buy Red Dragon as well. A popular red and often sold out.Red Dragon is definitely a beautiful red. 

It's dark and elegant enough to use in the office for note taking. But in my opinion this ink is far more suitable for personal use. Personal notes, greeting cards, stories that require red ink, etc. 

The ink is more wet than usual for Diamine, causing a slightly longer drying time, some show-through and negligible bleed-through. Still the ink is very well-behaved and writes very smoothly. The ink is saturated and has low to moderate shading, even in broader nibs.During normal writing there is no feathering, but on Vellum paper and broad nibs I have noted it a few times, as visible on the scan. As always with these inks, water is a bad idea, but you might have a chance to rewrite it. 

 Red Dragon is quite dark, bright and saturated. Oxblood leans way more towards brown. Red Dragon reminds me of fresh blood whereas Oxblood is dried blood. Monaco Red is far less saturated. Crimson is way darker. Herbin's Rouge Grenat is both darker and less bright, GvFC's Garnet Red is way less saturated. 

I can draw only one conclusion: Red Dragon is the dark bright red I have been looking for.

Writings on Original Crown Mill Vellum paper
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