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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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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 
Wetness moderate
Lubrication good
Shimmer/sheen none
Price/ml € 0,27

The picture below gives an idea how the ink compares to other black inks. There is a hint of green in Perle Noir, but it's nowhere as green as Ottohutt's black. Aurora is noticeably more black, as is Platinum Carbon Black and even Iroshizuku's Take-sumi.


All in all, Perle Noir is a decent ink at a reasonable price, but it's nothing special. If I need a black ink, I'll use either Aurora Black or Carbon Black.

Three stars out of a possible five.

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