Fountain pen inks reviews and comparisons

  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...

Following last week’s post of autumn inks, today a selection of fifteen brown inks. Although some of them can easily be used throughout the year, brown inks are most often associated with the fall. Warm inks that give a melancholic feeling. The fantasy  of writing handwritten letters or stories,  overlooking a Scottish lake. The fireplace warming the room. Outside it is wet, cold and foggy. The bright autumn colors are gone. Winter is approaching fast. As any list, this list is incomplete and could easily have been different. Why did I leave out SBRE Brown? Or Herbin’s Cafe des Iles? Let me know what your favorite is!

September. Autumn has started on the northern hemisphere. The evenings are longer, the nights already cold and the days more chilly. Yet, there is still plenty of sunshine and the leaves are starting to turn yellow, brown, and red.  So what ink colors match this early Fall season? I’ve compiled a list of ten suitable colors. Fully aware that any list is arbitrary and unfair to some beautiful colors that I left out. To name a few, Montblanc’s Homage to Victor Hugo , Diamine’s Macassar , Herbin’s Lie de Thé or Cacao du Bresil , and KWZ’s Capuccino . Yes, these are all brown inks. Too early in the season. I guess I will have to write a brown ink special in a few weeks.  The colors that did make it to the list are more colorful, resembling the sunshine and colorful leaves. In random order Yama-guri (Iroshizuki), Oxblood , Autumn oak, Pumpkin, Burnt Sienna (all Diamine), Rosso antico, Red fox , James Purdey & Son single malt (all Montblanc), Habanero (Noodler’s), and SBRE Bro...

Citrus Black is one of the inks from the Platinum Classic ink series. A beautiful color-shifting iron gall ink that really stands out. When first applied to the paper it is a retina-destroying yellow, but then the oxidation of the iron used quickly makes the ink change into a darker color that resembles more olive green than citrus fruit in my opinion. But the name  maybe comes from the initial yellow which is not unlike a lemon. I had to get used to this color, but it works really well. Definitely an eye catcher in the office and unusual but perfect for personal correspondence.  The video below shows how it shifts colors on paper.  The ink itself is a bit dry when writing, but very well behaved. A (wide) wet nib is recommended for both the color and ease of writing. Shading is beautiful and heavy, there is no feathering,  negligible show-through and drying times are reasonable. As a true iron gall ink, this ink can take a bit of water.  It's hard to compare thi...

This years writers edition of Montblanc is an homage to Victor Hugo, the French poet  novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement.  The ink in the series is a sepia brown and very fitting for the fall I believe. The ink is a bit light, almost yellowish, but still has enough style and class to be used for both personal correspondence as well as note taking in the office. It comes in the familiar 50ml square, ribbed glass bottle.  The ink has a lot of shade and as can be seen in the writing samples below, the color shifts colors, depending on nib. With a larger dip pen the color becomes a deep brown, where the ink swab and medium nib show the ink as much lighter. In the price range you may expect a wonderful ink and Victor Hugo doesn't disappoint. Beautiful shading, no feathering, no show through, excellent lubrication. Some Montblanc inks tend to be a bit dryish while writing, but this ink is very smooth and writes like a dream. Drying time (on Tomoe River paper) is 4...

Encre du Desert by Montblanc is part of the Antoine de Saint Exupéry (Petit Prince) series and a hommage to this aviation pioneer and writer. I didn't know what to expect from this ink but was pleasantly surprised. Labeled as "dark saffron"  the ink is somewhere between brown and purple; depending on nib size and light.  I have used it for several days now, both in a work setting as for some personal communication and I think it's suited for both. Dark and distinctive enough for the office, warm and special enough for personal writings.  The ink is very well behaved and better lubricated than most Montblanc inks. No feathering and beautiful shading. Show-through is significant, even on decent paper (Tomoe River, Rhodia, Clairefontaine). Drying time is a bit longer than average, 50 seconds on Tomoe River paper, the paper used for the review below. Water or fluids will ruin your writing.  Encre du Desert is a subdued, purple color that definitely leans to...

I've often called Noodler's ink very functional and not very beautiful. And even though that is mostly true, some of their colors are definitely challenging that opinion. Black Swan in Australian Roses is a beautiful ink and when I saw Habanero on Reddit, I knew I would have to buy this ink too. A color that is mostly suitable for personal writing, but with the Corona lockdown, you can use anything for work notes while in a video call.  High shading, no feathering, no significant show-through, and decent lubrication. The ink writes really nice. However, it is very wet and has an extremely long drying time. On Tomoe river paper it looks wet for more than half an hour and smears very easily, even after 45-60 minutes. This of course does limit the possible use of the ink, less suitable for a notebook or journaling.  Once dry, a little bit of water will ruin it, but the ink remains legible if you're quick enough with a kitchen towel.  Compared to other orange ...