Ink Review: Penlux Mo Plum and Tangerine

By Jessica Coles

Penlux is not a common ink company in the US, although they have been creating ink for some time now. The ink is made by Sailor and sold on the Taiwanese market – six colors are commonly available and three were reviewed last year by our own fabulous Ana. Recently, Penlux released two limited edition inks in their Mo line: Tangerine and Plum ($24 each at Pen Chalet).

The first thing I noticed about both inks was the packaging – the colors used have a deep, rich color and are well-matched to each ink. That wasn’t all, though. The boxes are each one piece and use no adhesive at all.

Not something I expected!

Next, the bottle size was impressive for a limited edition ink. I’ve come to expect the smaller 15-20mL bottles (thanks especially to Sailor Studio), but Penlux has lavished us with 50mL heavy glass bottles with Tangerine and Plum.

So now for the real test of these inks… The color.

Just like the colors on the packaging, both Plum and Tangerine are rich, saturated colors that feel luxurious. The names fit each color perfectly – Plum is a deep, dusty purple that is close to burgundy, shades very well and has a bit of green sheen. Tangerine is a bold orange that leans heavily toward red with a hit of gold and brown sheen. It shades from a dusty coral to dark, rusty orange.

I took the comparison photos outdoors since the studio lights were not showing the sheen at all. Plum falls somewhere between Callifolio Bourgogne and Noodler’s Black Swan in Australian Roses (the older version), but the sheen falls between the gold-green of Sailor 653 and the green of Krishna Anoki.

Tangerine is a bit of a hard color to compare. The closest is Taccia Aka Red, but the shading can range from Diamine Pumpkin to Akkerman #9.

Writing samples help to show this color range. Both inks felt slightly to the wet side of normal, did not feather and only showed through when I had pools of ink to show sheen. Plum shows a bit of water resistance although much of the color is lost. Tangerine was not legible after meeting with water.

 

Taken separately, Tangerine and Plum are each beautiful, rich, saturated colors. Taken together, these inks would make a fabulous halloween pairing! If you do decide to purchase these inks (and I highly suggest you do), make sure to do it soon. Out of the 999 bottles produced of each color, only a small percent are available to purchase in the US.