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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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Purple, Raduga

 


Purple by Raduga. A Russian ink and a brand that stems from the Soviet era. As I have been told it is the default ink in Russia. It's a standard ink, no frills. So why did I buy it? Curiosity mostly, and because I didn't have it yet. It's not available in the Netherlands, but I stumbled upon a Ukrainian seller on eBay. 

The ink surprised me. A deep medium dark purple that writes nicely on all sorts of paper. It's best handled with care because it will leave its marks easily. Pleasant enough for longer readings and writings. A true work horse that can easily be used for work notes, personal notes and letters.

There is neither shading nor  feathering, it dries fast and the lubrication is good enough. The ink is water resistant; once dry it is hardly affected by water. Drying times are below average, 38 secs on Tomoe River paper.

The characteristics:

Feathering None
Shading None
Show through Light
Wetness Dry-Moderate
Lubrication Good
Shimmer/sheen None
Price/ml € 0,07

Raduga Purple reminded me of Yama Budo (Iroshizuku), Purple Bow (Diamine) and Aubergine (Octopus). Yama Budo is clearly different, much more red. Purple Bow is darker and leans more towards blue and a dark lilac. Aubergine however is pretty close. 

I mentioned earlier that the ink leaves its marks easily. It did stain the sink which was nothing bleach couldn't handle. Cleaning a TWSBI ECO that had the ink in it for two weeks was a bit more work. I had to take it apart to clean the barrel. So you might want to be careful there and and reserve a converter or cartridge for it. Or a complete pen of course.

All in all this is a good, decent ink at an unbelievable price. Nothing spectacular but that wasn't expected either.  
Three stars out of a possible five.



Written on Tomoe River 52g paper

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