Fountain pen inks reviews and comparisons

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  ...

  It's Spring, we just had King's day and the European Championships football are being held next month. More than enough reasons to fill up some pens with orange inks. I was surprised to see I had gathered eight inks in the past few years that qualify as orange. Some true bright orange, some leaning more towards red or brown. Which one is your favorite? Written on Tomoe river, 52g

  A new Herbin in the 350 series. Medium dark green with silver shimmer. Not an ink to use in the office, but certainly an ink to use in personal correspondence like postcards and brief notes.  The ink behaves quite well, the shading is beautiful, but lubrication could be a little bit better. Especially for a Herbin ink it's quite dry. Drying time - even on Tomoe River 52g paper - was only 35 seconds. Don't let water come near to your writings, only the shimmer has some water resistance.  The other characteristics: Feathering None Shading Moderate - high Show through Negligible Wetness Dry-Moderate Lubrication Could be better Shimmer/sheen Silver shimmer Price/ml € 0,44 Vert Atlantide reminded me of Moss Green (Graf van Faber...

Fall is absolutely a season for brown inks. Cacao du Brésil is a grayish brown by Herbin that indeed slightly resembles cacao. Decent and low-key enough for the workplace but with enough character for personal correspondence and notes. A well-behaving ink as expected by Herbin. No feathering, hardly any show-through, good lubrication and not very wet. The ink has some nice shading. Drying times were below average (little over 25 sec). Water won't wipe out your writing immediately, but water resistance is low at best.  Compared to other browns Iroshizuku's Yama-guri and Diamine's Macassar are a lot darker, deeper brown and more saturated. Herbin's Café des Iles is significantly less dark and more red.  All in all this is a very nice brown ink!  Written on Original Crown Mill Vellum paper

Some inks are just for fun. Unusable in the office, unusable for long notes, letters or stories, but they might work on for example greeting cards. I expected Corail des tropiques to be one of those colors. It's not pink, it's not orange, it's definitely not red. It mostly reminds me of salmon, but I'm sure there's coral out there somewhere in this color too. There is no arguing about taste, but personally I believe "ugly" doesn't even come close. Color aside, how does the ink behave? That was disappointment number two. I have a lot of different Herbin inks and even though they perform slightly better in a dry nib than in a wet nib, it's always good. Not this ink. The ink doesn't write nearly as smooth as other Herbin inks, giving a dry scratchy feeling, even in my (wet) Parker Duofold. At the same time there is some feathering and the ink spreads a bit. This can best be seen with the poster nib (title) and the glass dip pen (writing sa...

Visiting one of my favorite ink stores this week the owner told me about one of her favorite colors, Vert de Gris by Herbin. A color I somehow noticed before so I had to try it. It is a strange color.. it's grey yes, but it's also green of course and when writing on paper it looks even more blue than green. The color is subtle, neutral and can be used in the office for note taking and of course for personal notes and writing too.  The behavior of Herbin inks was no surprise; Herbin produces unadulterated, good, well-behaving inks. No feathering, minimal show-through, nice shading (less than usual), quite wet and excellent lubrication. The ink writes very smoothly. Drying times a bit below average and there is some resistance to water... when you're quick enough you can still see what you wrote.  Big question is, what does this ink compare to? I wouldn't know... it's not a teal despite the blue and green and it's too green or blue to be a proper grey...

Herbin recently released their latest color in the ' les encres 1798'  series: Kyanite du Népal. I pre-ordered this ink about six weeks ago. It looked really spectacular in the annoucement and I was anxious to try it out this week when it arrived. The color is a bright blue (that leans a bit towards teal in my opinion) and has silver particles. Clearly visible in the bottle, much less on the paper when writing. Not a real surprise, it's the same with the other colors in this series too. In practice, the color is a lot less spectacular. I like the color, not for office use (too bright, too shiny) but for (not too long) personal communication or greeting cards it is a very nice color to use from time to time.  Like any ink in this series  it is very well behaved. Smooth, a bit wet, no feathering, neglilible show-through, and a very nice shading. Drying time was surprisingly fast (15 seconds) and water resistance very low. Shimmer is clearly visible with a cott...

Améthyste de l'Oural, a bright purple with silver particles in the Herbin 1798 range. And yes, this silver turned out to be a bit allergic to the scan, but it is definitely visible on paper. It's bright, beautiful, too bright for an office setting in my opinion. Even though I really like this color, using it for work notes started to annoy me within the hour. It's much more suitable for personal communication or writing.  Not surprisingly, this ink is very well-behaved, a bit wet but never too much.  No feathering, hardly any show through and well lubricated. Shimmer is visible with wetter and broader nibs. Water resistance is poor, a little drop won't wash away your writing immediately, but you won't send that letter anymore. Drying time was OK, almost 40 seconds on Rhodia paper. Shading is amazing, very beautiful.  C omparing the ink to other colors brought some surprises. It really is a distinctive color. Montblanc's insidious Lavender Purple is a ...

Another Herbin, another ink in the vicinity of red. Cornaline d'Egypte from Herbin's 1798 line. Far more orange than red of course. It is supposed to have silver simmer but neither my Parker, nor a TWSBI stub nor a cotton swab could bring it out. I don't see it.  Bright, unusual and beautiful. Not for everyday use and not everyone will like it.  This ink is very well-behaved, quite wet but it never becomes a problem.  No feathering, no show through and well lubricated. Shimmer is invisible. Water resistance is poor, a little drop won't wash away your writing, but it will be ruined. Drying time was long, 60 seconds on crown mill paper.  Depending on nib the color varies from a bright clear red (Parker) to a darker red (Lamy, stub). I find it too bright to use in the office, and not pleasant enough to read when used for note taking. I find it a very nice ink though for short letter, quick personal notes, and greeting cards. Although definitely red, th...

After Oxblood , Red Fox and Esenin , it is time for another red. Rouge Hematite, by Herbin, from their 1670 line. A nice bright red with some gold shimmer in it. Best compared to the gold panning kids can do be in many amusement parks these days: it's very hard to find any gold. Using a cotton swab or a stub nib, you will see some. In a regular nib, hardly at best. The 1670 line is good and this ink is no exception. Well-behaving inks and not too wet. A clear difference with the normal inks (perle des encres) that are also good, but maybe a little bit on the wet side. No feathering, no show through, moderately wet and well lubricated. Shimmer is visible, with some effort as described. Be careful with fluids though, the ink doesn't handle water very well. Drying time was a surprise, 15 seconds on crown mill paper.  Depending on nib the color varies from a bright clear red (Parker) to a darker red (Lamy, stub). I find it too bright to ...

Recently I heard the (British) term " green-ink letter ", which is a letter to for instance a politician expressing eccentric views, often characterized by prolixity  and written in longhand , but not necessarily in green ink. Somehow green ink is associated with lunatic and eccentric behavior and even though I rare use green ink, I wonder why. There are some beautiful green inks out there and many of those are excellent for personal notes, personal correspondence or even short business notes. One of those inks is Lierre Sauvage, by J. Herbin. Perfect for any personal use or note taking in an office environment. It is very bright/in your face, which might make it a good color for reviewing and adding suggestions as well. It's a beautiful color, excellent shading and even though the ink (like many Herbin inks) is quite wet, it writes really well. I have tried this ink in Parker, Lamy and TSWBI pens with different nib sizes and the ink goes well with any of t...