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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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Wondrous Winterberry, Ferris Wheel Press

 



Wondrous Winterberry, part of the 2020 festive series by Canadian brand Ferris Wheel Press. It's hard to miss Ferris Wheel Press' advertisements, they even did a Kickstarter project for new colors, but I never tried them until now. The packaging is amazing indeed, it does look beautiful. 

But at the end of the day it's the ink that counts. The color is a beautiful subdued red with some brown. For the holiday season they have included gold shimmer. For personal notes and letters the color is quite good and remains pleasant to read, even for longer writings. It's not an ink to use in the office.

The ink behaves quite well, the shading is minimal and lubrication is good without being really smooth. The shimmer is subtle, but clearly visible. Drying time - on Tomoe River 52g paper - was 55 seconds which is average. Don't let water come near to your writings, it's very efficient in erasing all, even after several days. 

The ink characteristics:

Feathering None
Shading Low
Show through Negligible
Wetness Dry-Moderate
Lubrication Good
Shimmer/sheen Gold
Price/ml € 0,47

Being a not very vibrant red, Wondrous Winterberry reminded me most of Steenrood by Vermeer (Akkerman) and it does come close indeed. Rouge Grenat (Herbin) and Crimson (Diamine) are not far off either, but are more red and less brown.

All in all it is a decent ink, but nothing special. I really would like to see Ferris Wheel Press applying the same amount of love and dedication into their inks as they do into the packaging and marketing communications. Diamine for instance is a better brand at a quarter of the price.

Two stars out of a possible five (one star deducted for price).

Written on Tomoe River 52g paper

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