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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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Pain d'Épices, LaCouronneDuComte

Recently, the Dutch webshop LaCouronneDuComte launched a new series of ink under their own name. The ink is being produced by Diamine and has similar bottles and pricing.  The webshop claims that the colors are exclusive for them. Pain d'Épices is a warm red, or as the website describes it, "Pain d'Épices is a warm, red-brown ink with an olive-green sheen that evokes the feeling of a delicious gingerbread." I wouldn't touch a gingerbread in this color with a ten foot pole, but it is a warm red and when using very wide or poster nibs, the green sheen is clearly visible. Much better for personal use than for office use, but it is elegant and dark enough. 
Quality of the ink is as expected. No feathering, beautiful shading, hardly any show-through, normal wetness, good lubrication and average drying times. As afraid of water as the next Diamine ink.

 So how does the color compare to other inks? As can be seen in the Ink Comparisons, it will be extremely hard to distinguish between Pain d'Epices, Communication Breakdown, and Red Dragon. All Diamine inks. The green sheen sets Pain d'Épices apart, but when writing with normal pens, chances are you won't see the sheen at all. The differences in color are minimal and it makes one wonder whether the angle and size of the q-tip swab makes the apparent difference or the ink itself. 

 It is a good ink with an attractive price, a nice color, and the sheen does add something. However, Diamine has been milking this segment of red inks a bit too much.
Written on Lalo Verge paper. 
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