Fountain pen inks reviews and comparisons

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 t...

Bilberry by Diamine is in the twilight zone between blue and purple. Far more dark than the European blueberry it’s named after. Billberry is a very nice dark ink. I’d call it a dark purple leaning towards blue, but it’s really a matter of perception. In any case it’s an elegant ink that works both for personal correspondence as well as note taking in the office. At first glance many will consider it a blue.  Like most if not all Diamine inks, this ink is very well behaved. No feathering, some shading, and minimal show-through. The ink is less wet than most, writes smoothly and has a drying time that's below average for Diamine (Clairefontaine paper). The ink is very afraid of water, even a little drop or some wetness will smear it and ruin your writing. Even days after writing.  Diamine’s Lilac Night was my first thought for a comparison, but it’s much lighter and more blue. Noodler’s Tchaikovsky (a not very vibrant purple) and iroshizuku’s Murasaki don’t come ...

Black Swan in Australian roses. What to expect from an ink with that name? It's definitely not black, nor does the color remind me of roses. I'd say it's a light purple color, leaning towards red. One explanation I've read for the name was the high degree of (almost black) shading. In any case, it's a nice, subtle color. It's definitely more a color for personal use than for use in the workspace, but you will still get away with taking notes in this color. No one would take offense or even frown.  The ink is well behaved. Noodler's is a no-frills ink brand. It does what it has to do. Atypical for Noodler's are the high shading and the long drying times. Very different from the inks of this brand I used before: Tchaikovsky, Heart of Darkness, Esenin, and Kingfisher. It wasn't easy to find a color that comes close. It reminded me most of Diamine's Syrah (much darker) and a little bit of Iroshizuku's Bishamonten and Montblanc's Lavend...

In 2019 Iroshizuku launched a series of anniversary inks named after the seven Japanese Gods of Good Fortune. Jurojin, the God of Longevity, is one of those inks. The color, halfway between blue and purple is very versatile. Suitable for note taking in a business environment and beautiful enough for personal correspondence and notes. I don't know why but for me this color is a bit melancholic, hence my choice for the writing sample, Pushkin's "I loved you once". Anyone that has experience with Iroshizuku knows it's a series of wonderful inks. There is no argument about taste in colors, but the ink behaves extremely well. On Rhodia paper I have only seen a little bit of feathering with a poster nib. Shading is good and subtle, there is some show-through but one can still use the backside of the paper. The ink is not too wet and lubrication is extremely well, the ink is unbelievably smooth. Drying time surprised me, 18 seconds on this paper. The ink ...

A few months ago this new ink series by Sailor was announced. Based on flowers, in a stylish 50ml bottle. What I see is not a flower, but an ink that is stormy blue with a hint of green. Teal? Maybe, but in my opinion it's darker than that, scans and monitors can be slightly deceiving. This ink can be a work horse. Very suitable for note taking, definitely works in the office, but also for personal notes and correspondence. The ink writes like a dream. It's not very wet, but smooth and extremely well-behaved in any pen. Just the combination crown mill vellum paper and a poster nib (as you can see), leads to some feathering of the ink. Drying times are simply fast, with just 12 seconds on this paper! Shading is low. Water resistance is low. Even after days it smears easily with just a tiny drop of water. I called this ink a work horse. It is, and an expensive one. Even though it's wonderful ink, it's simply not special enough to justify the price. Yonaga ...

A bright red ink, exclusive for the German market (but easily available online) and with a very intriguing name for a writing ink. Which effect does this red color have or aim to have?  It is a beautiful red color, bright and deep.  In my opinion it is more suitable for grading and correcting than for notes or correspondence. For longer reads I like reds with a bit more brown, for greeting and holiday cards I prefer a shimmering red ink (Firestorm Red, Rouge Hematite for instance) . The quality of ink is high, as is to be expected from Diamine. No feathering, nice shading, negligible show-through and very smooth writing. The ink is very wet, which can be seen easily when writing and it comes back in above average drying time of 50 seconds (Crown Mill Vellum paper, medium nib Parker). In the writing with a poster nib some silver/green sheen can be seen. The ink most certainly doesn't like water. The color that comes closest is Red Dragon, also by Diamine....

A new caligraphy ink by Manuscript with extreme shimmer. Definitely not something to use in the office but it looked interesting to write some cards with in the upcoming holiday season. This ink is clearly not meant for long notes or letters. A very dark violet or purple with heavy gold shimmer. I find it a hard to use ink. OK to use in a fountain pen like the TWSBI ECO with a stub nib, but a dip pen made the ink feather and spread, even on Clairefontaine or Crown Mill Vellum paper. On Lalo Vergé it was much better. The ink is very wet, causing considerable show-through and even some bleed-through. The drying time wasn't too bad though with 35 seconds. The shimmer smears easily for a bit longer. As can be seen even on this scan, shimmer is gold and very high. A bit of water will keep the ink readable, enough to rewrite. The violet or purple is comparable to Herbin's Améthyste de l'Oural . Diamine's Imperial Purple (no shimmer) is brighter and lighter.  ...