2023 New Year is a fabulous bright green ink with lots of sparkle – the closest I have in my collection is Anderillium Spirula green although 2023 New Year is darker.

2023 New Year surprised me with the amount of shading – that isn’t something I usually expect with sparkling inks.

The sparkle is a bit wild – both gold and silver particles. I had no issues with 2023 New Year clogging or even hard starts – ColorVerse uses a small enough particulate that the ink flows well.

Now for the paper. The first paper here is Tomoe River paper (TR7). Lots of shading on TR paper and a bit of a black halo sheen as well.

I’ve angled the same swatch so you can get an idea of the sparkle!

Cosmo Air Light paper, as usual, brings out the blue undertones of the ink, making it more of an emerald green

Sparkling inks have a great time on Cosmo Air Light paper, although the sparkle has the tendency to drift across the page.

Midori MD paper shows ColorVerse 2023 New Year much closer to a true green.

However, the sparkling characteristics of the ink are wasted on Midori MD.

2023 New Year is a 30mL bottle and is priced at $24 MSRP which works out to $0.80 per mL. While not as expensive as Sailor’s small bottles, it is a bit pricey, but I do think the novelty of both silver and gold sparkle makes this ink worth grabbing while it is around.

DISCLAIMER: The ink included in this review was provided free of charge by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Review: ColorVerse 2023 New Year appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I had a lengthy discussion with Carol at Luxury Brands about good permanent black inks. As the distributor for both Platinum (known for my beloved Carbon Black ink) and Colorverse, she recommended I try Colorverse Permanent Black ($15 for a 30ml bottle) from the Colorverse Office Series. This collection of inks features those everyday staple inks like standard water soluble blue, black, brown and green as well as a few permanent inks.

While Platinum Carbon Black ($30) comes in an epic 60ml bottle, Colorverse Permanent Black comes in a bottle half the size and half the price. While the ink costs the same per milliliter, not everyone needs 60ml of permanent black ink. Also, over the last few years, Platinum inks have been harder to get than one would expect. So, it’s nice to have a comparable alternative, should you need it.

In writing tests, the Colorverse Permanent Black ink appears to be a good solid black. I had no issues using it in short term tests. I have not been able to fully test the wash-out-ability of Colorverse Permanent Black compared to Platinum Carbon Black (which I’ve had no issues washing out of a pen, even after its dried) but the Colorverse Permanent Black easily washed out of my tester tools and brushes.

As for the water resistance, after allowing the ink to dry for 10 minutes, I doused it in water. As you can see in the sample above, the ink didn’t budge.

When compared to other permanent black inks, the Colorverse Permanent Black does not appear as shiny in the large swatch. Both R&K Sketch Ink Lotte and Platinum Carbon Black appear slightly glossy where the Colorverse looks matte. The tone of the black is also very neutral where the R&K looks a bit greenish in tint.

Overall, I think the Colorverse Permanent Black is a strong contender as one of the best permanent black inks currently available. I stand by my belief that everyone should have a pen with permanent black ink — whether for drawing and mixed media, addressing envelopes or signing documents. Even if you load the ink into a Preppy or other inexpensive pen, having a permanent ink is a must for all fountain pen enthusiasts.

*** all smudges in this review were the result of obnoxious cats and not the fault of the inks. Cats just don’t understand personal space or ink dry times.****

Tools:

• Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 6mm guide sheet
• Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15), James Finniss Serendipity nib holder ($79AUD)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Silverwhite 1500s  Round #2

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Luxury Brands for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Inkmas Day 8: Colorverse Permanent Black appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Two of my favorite things: Colorverse ink and anything featuring my hometown: Chicago… how could I resist? If I were to guess what color someone might create for an ink that embodies Chicago, I am not sure I would guess a dark purple/brown with shimmer particles. I might have thought of the sky blue from the stripes on the city flag, or red to emulate the Fire/fire. Green for the St. Patrick’s Day river dye? Charcoal grey for the color of some of the more recognizable skyscrapers (Sears/Willis Tower, the Hancock building, or the Lake Point Tower)? Once I started playing with the ink, I was more convinced that Colorverse made an interesting choice for a color to embody Chicago.

The shimmer particles in the Chi-Town ink ($12.50 for a 15ml) are more iridescent than gold or silver which is more commonly found in shimmer inks. The particles look blue or green depending on the light, paper or angle.

In the close-up above the ink looks more purply than it did in person which, because of the gold/brown sheen looks more brown in person, at least to me. YMMV.

You can ssee in the close-up above how the ink can look sheen-y brown-black rather than purple.

My initial ink comparisons aligned CHi-Town with dark brown inks but on second look, I tried purple and more predominately black inks. I think its safe to say that Chi-Town is more of a purple/black with an emphasis on the BLACK.

Pent Kotobo No Iro Black Lizard and Diamine Winter Miracle are more purply when compared to Chi-Town. Birmingham Pen Co’s Philadelphia Friend Circuit and Coking Coal are closer though Coking Coal is a cooler blue grey undertone and Fried Circuit has a warmer, almost brownish undertone.

So, like the city of Chicago itself, this ink is a conundrum. Some people see Chicago as “the second city” some city it as the jewel of the midwest. The ink is similar. You see what you want to see. Some will see shimmer like taillights on wet pavement, others will see muddy waters or the dark sky of a crowded city. How do you see Chicago? Both the ink and the city?

Tools:

• Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 6mm guide sheet
• Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15), James Finniss Serendipity nib holder ($79AUD)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Silverwhite 1500s  Round #2

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Some items in this review were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Inkmas Day 7: Colorverse Chi-Town appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Colorverse From Cali ($12.50 for a 15ml bottle) is a light, dusty lavender on the cool side of the spectrum. It shades like crazy and is too light for an EF nib but if you like rockin’ a stub nib or a big juicy BB nib, this ink will help to brighten your cold, wintry days like a hothouse orchid. The powdery quality of From Cali reminds me of a flower petal.

When compared with many of the other powdery lavender inks in my collection, there is a clear division between the warm colors (like Troublemaker Foxglove, Kobe #57 and Ferris Wheel Little Robinia) and the cooler lavenders like Vinta Tabaum (Engima Blanks Exclusive), Papier Plume Violet, and Sailor Fuki-Musume. Tabuam and Papier PLume Violet are much more violet and Fuji-Musume is much more saturated so From Cali really does sit in a unique place being a more pastel lavender while still remaining a cooler color.

Tools:

• Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 6mm guide sheet
• Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15), James Finniss Serendipity Nib Holder ($79 AUD) with Franklin-Christoph SIG Fine nib
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Silverwhite 1500s Round #2

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Inkmas Day 5: Colorverse From Cali appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

What I can tell you is that it is another in a long line of inks I’ve purchased in an attempt to find my signature yellow-green ink. Jesi will often hand me ink samples and ask, “What about this one?” and I have to be very specific “too yellow”, “too bright”, “too muddy” or “too light”, for example.

Taepyeong Seongdae is a close contender as  the ink is a darker yellow-green without edging into a pine or forest green (too blue) hue. In a wider nib, Taepyeong Seongdae is a bit darker than I would like but in a fine or extra fine nib the color does not become too light to be useable. It has real potential though its a hair muddier than I would hope for. Overall it meets many of my ridiculously specific requests for a yellow-green ink.

It shades a good deal but does not show any sheening.

The closest ink color in my collection was the similarly named Kingdom Note Olive.Penlux Pine and Sailor Rikyu-Cha both lean a bit more brownish but are closer than the dozens of other yellow-green inks in my collection which tend to go more grassy or lime in color.

I’d say its a tie between Taepyeong Seongdae and Kingdom Note Olive. I reall ythink I need to make my own yellow-green ink at some point but I think I’m the only one who would want it.

Tools:

• Paper: Elia Note with Tomoe River 52gsm with 6mm guide sheet
• Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15), James Finniss Serendipity Nib Holder ($79 AUD) with Franklin-Christoph SIG fine nib
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Silverwhite 1500S Round #2

DISCLAIMER:  Some items in this review were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Inkmas Day 3: Colorverse Kingdom Series Taepyeong Seongdae appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

My home state (where I was born and grew up), California, has already been done, and Jesi reviewed it previously:

But I’m still waiting for Kansas, so it’s fun to think about what it could be. Kansas’ state flower is the Sunflower, and I could totally go for a golden sunflower yellow (or would that be too close to New Jersey?) The Kansas state bird is the Western meadowlark, which has a bright lemon yellow belly. If we’re playing on the Wizard of Oz, the colorway could be Ruby Slippers?

Colorverse on the other hand, has their USA Special Series highlighting US cities. My personal favorite there is Fabulous Glistening Las Vegas. a sort of flamingo pink ink with shimmer. When I think about Kansas City, I think about fountains so I could easily see a watery blue. We’re also known for our BBQ (don’t get into a debate about which BBQ is the best – it will only end in a fight!) so we could be up for a burgundy color.

Robert Oster is also tackling Cities of America. According to Jesi’s review, Kansas City’s color has already been decided, along with a few others!

So do you have any thoughts about your city or state inks? If you live outside the US, I’m sure you want country/state/province/city inks as well right? What color do you think your geographical signature ink should be?

The post What’s your state’s Sailor Ink Color? appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The ink was first sold on the first day of the pen show, 9am Friday. By 9am Saturday, the entire show was sold out of this new ink set (don’t worry, retailers are now restocked) and there is no question why it flew off the ink racks. The artwork on the box is the gorgeous Butterfly Nebula.

ColorVerse reversed their normal glistening/non-glistening arrangement for this set; the large, 65mL bottle contains the sparkle while the smaller, 15mL bottle is a standard ink.

NGC 6302 is an interesting teal that reminded me of Robert Oster’s Muddy series, but Muddy Swamp is much darker and much less green. I would call NGC a dark version of Lennon Tool Bar Plastic Sky.

Butterfly Nebula was the big surprise of the set – a dusty, under saturated periwinkle with a beautiful pink sparkle! The sparkle is difficult to see until the paper is angled like the photo below.

I’ve had a TWSBI Eco inked up with ColorVerse Butterfly Nebula for a full week – I have had no issues with dry starts, the ink continues to flow well through the feed. I had a bit of a problem with NGC 6302, however. It turned out that I forgot how dry my Ritma can be! The ink itself is not dry at all.

The paper shown above and below is wheat straw paper – the sparkle shows well and is a touch darker than the ink on Tomoe River paper.

Below are ink swatches on Tomoe River paper (original):

And the beautiful sparkle angle:

Again, the same inks on Cosmo Air Light paper:

And the sparkle:

Finally, ColorVerse NGC 6302 and ColorVerse Butterfly Nebula on MD Light paper:

The sparkle here is not quite as dramatic:

Here at the end of the post, I wanted to include a photo of the ink when the sparkle has settled to the bottom of the bottle:

Since I don’t have a video of the clear view of Butterfly Nebula, this photo was the best way I could show the sparkle in the pen:

Again, thank you to Dromgoole’s for the ink shown in this review!

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Review: ColorVerse Butterfly Nebula and NGC 6302 appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Colorverse put together another wonderful collection of inks, the New Horizons set ($60),  themed around the New Horizons spacecraft that has explored our heavens as far as Arrokoth 2014 MU69, the most distant object ever seen up close.

The set of four 15ml bottles of ink come in a round box and includes a beautifully designed package with stickers, information sheet and a limited edition card with the number of the kit.

The four colors included in the set are Pioneer Container, Kuiper Belt, Pluto and Beyond, and Arrokoth. Kuiper Belt is where the Arrokoth 2014 MU69 object exists. Pluto’s orbit crosses the Kuiper Belt at some points is often far outside the Belt. So I understand where the naming for all but the Pioneer Container ink came from. Pioneer was the name for probes that were sent beyond our known solar system and carried the Golden Record so I sort of see the thematic relationship. As for the actual colors I compared them with images from NASA’s website.

I don’t agree with the colors that Colorverse chose for each element of the New Horizon voyage. I think I would have chosen a warm grey for Pluto & Beyond. I would have made the Kuiper Belt ink the color they chose for the Pioneer Container. Since I am not sure what the Pioneer Container is supposed to be, I am not sure what color that should be instead. The Arrokoth color seems spot-on for the images on NASA site.

Regardless of whether I think the ink colors are accurate representations of the heavenly bodies, let’s talk about the actual ink colors.

First up, is Pluto and Beyond. While I didn’t think it was an accurate color for Pluto and Beyond, it is a yellow-green so it’s going to be close to the top of my list of favorite colors in the set.

Its not as yellow as Robert Oster Saguaro Green but not as green J. Herbin Vert Olive, Robert Oster Redwood Forest or Pennonia Green Finch. I’m always looking for another citrus green and this is a perfect addition to my collection.

Years ago, I went on a mission (pun intended) to find a smoky purple. If Pioneer Container had been available then, it may have topped my list.

While Robert Oster’s Summer Storm and Sydney Lavender  are more violet and Pen BBS #346 and 270 are more red, Pioneer Container is squarely between them — perfect smoky purple, not too bright and not too grey. I want one of those big 60ml bottles of this ink.

Arrokoth is a warm reddish brown. The closest match I had was Diamine Triple Chocolate. Colorverse Soul and Monteverde Brown Sugar were both slightly more reddish. When I’m looking for a brown ink, I tend to prefer these warmer hot chocolate-y browns so I will definitely put this ink to use.

The final ink in the set is Kuiper Belt which I initially thought was a black bit when I started comparing it to other swatches, I realized it is a very dark blue black. Taccia Aogura is probably the closest in color. But you can see that Kuiper Belt is not black but blue.

Is this set a cost effective way to satisfy your ink inklings? Probably not, but it is a delightful set that celebrates another great NASA voyage while also providing me with yet more bottles of ink.

DISCLAIMER: Items in this review were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Preview: Colorverse First Horizon Set appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I have been enjoying this look at ColorVerse Project Series 2. Each of the 8 inks is named after the brightest star in well-known constellations and it has been fun learning a bit about each star/constellation combination. I purchased my samples at Vanness where they were $3.10 for a 4mL sample or $27.50 for a 65mL bottle.

The first ink today, (alpha) PSC, is named after the brightest star in the constellation Pisces. It is actually two stars, so a bit of a cheat! I love the dusky pine green- it is dark enough to be legible and swings from dark to light in writing, but not in a way that causes shading. It is quite a peaceful, gentle color.

The next ink, (alpha) CYGNI, is the first of two glistening inks in the second Project series. This is a dusky sky blue with subtle shimmer – appropriate for the white giant that is one of the brightest in the night sky. ColorVerse does a great job with shimmer inks – the particles are smaller than several other manufacturers’ shimmer inks, making it less likely to clog in your nib feed.

The only other glistening ink in this series is (alpha) SCORPII. The color is appropriate for this star – a red supergiant that is said to have a mass 12 times that of our own sun. The dusty pink has an orange undertone that isn’t quite a salmon pink. It is close to the color of PenBBS 140 – one of my favorite sparkling inks.

The last ink in the Project collection is (alpha) CMA. The ink shows medium shading in writing and is an interesting blue-gray color – not quite a blue-black but close. This is probably the most office-friendly color of the series but the shading keeps it from far from boring.

These are the same photos from last week’s post – the entire series on Tomoe River paper (first) and Cosmo Air Light paper (second).

A photo of both papers in the same light for a clearer comparison. It will never cease to fascinate me – the difference paper makes in the character of each ink.

ColorVerse has done a great job with this collection. Three of the inks here, (alpha) And, (alpha) UMa, and (alpha) Ori, will make their way into my collection sooner or later.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me and I was not compensated to write this review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Line Review: ColorVerse Project Series 2 Part 2 appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

The Packaging:

First and foremost, who doesn’t want an ink set that comes in a Halliburton-style plastic suitcase (okay, it’s more like a Pelikan case) with perfectly cut out foam slots for each bottle? Let’s just say I’ve been living out various James Bond-esque “saving the world from a dangerous color conspiracy” storylines over the last week. (I’d like to blame pandemic isolation for this level of goofiness but alas, I would have been doing it no matter what the state of the world.)

Inside the case is also some stickers, a card on a larger sheet and a three-page brochure with information about the set in a manner consistent with previous Colorverse releases.

Each page in the booklet features a picture of the ink bottle, a swatch of the color and a breakdown of the RGB, web hex number and Pantone color matches as well as surface tension and Ph. I have, in the past attempted to verify the accuracy of the Pantone values (FYI: they are not all the accurate) but have never bothered with the RGB or hex numbers. The only place that would be useful is when entering inks into the FPC database.

The Quarks sub-collection are blues and purples and the Leptons are mostly warm reds plus a green and grey.

Of the seventeen bottles, five feature red caps. These are the Bosons sub-collection. These colors are a more diverse range of colors.

The bottles included in the Standard Model are the “mid-sized” 15ml bottles from Colorverse. Not the giant 60ml bottles included in their regular sets nor the tiny sip sized 5ml (essentially sample) sized bottles. In this day and age, with new inks coming out on an almost daily basis, I think 15 to 20ml sized bottles are just about perfect.

The Swatches:

I organized the initial swatch photos by sub-collection: Quarks, Leptons and Bosons. The first set, pictured above, is the Quarks. It’s a good range of blues and violets.

Next up is the Leptons, shown above, which is four reds, a green and a grey.

The Bosons sub-collection colors are quite the range of colors. I will continue to assert that I know nothing about particle physics so maybe there’s a reason that Colorverse chose these colors for these particles? Let me know in the comments.

Finally, I put all the colors in the set together to show the full range of hues. It breaks down like this:

• 3 greens
• 5 blues/teal/turquoise
• 2 purples
• 1 grey
• 4 reds
• 2 orange/browns

None of the Standard Model inks contain glistening particles. A couple of the inks show a bit of sheen — mostly the deep blues —  but many colors show a range of shading. There is also a nice range of high chroma and low chroma colors. I’m not suggesting that any of the inks are under-pigmented but rather that about half of the colors are earthier tones while the other half are bright, vivid colors.

Only three ink colors included in the set have been previously released by Colorverse — Photon, Gluon and Electron (Poor Selectron got left out of this party).  This version of Gluon does not include the glistening particles which makes the color a little lighter and more green than yellow. The LE version of Photon is a bright shamrock green not the more teal blue-green of the original Photon No. 23 and the LE Version of Electron is more tomato red than the orangey color of the original Electron No. 31.

While a collector of ink might have initially been bothered by the duplicates, the change in hue for the LE set will set their minds at ease.

Keep going for ink swatch color comparisons and my conclusion…

The Swatch Color Comparisons:

Let’s start comparing the ink colors. I’ll start with the inks in the Quarks sub-collection. While the inks are all “in the range” of some fairly common ink colors, there are subtle differences to each. Down is a classic bright blue but hits a slightly different tonal range and color depth than Cross Blue, Sheaffer Blue or Private Reserve Cosmic Cobalt. The color is similar… but different which is a sentiment I will repeat throughout these ink comparisons. Whether the differences were accidental or intentional, I do not know.

Charm hits that coveted almost Parker Penman Sapphire Blue color range. I don’t have a sample of Parker Penman Sapphire but I have Strait’s Pens Poor Man’s Sapphire which is “in the ballpark”. Charm is also close to the 2020 Special Edition Timeless Blue by Ferris Wheel Press.

Strange also leans into that almost/maybe/kind of like Parker Penman Sapphire Blue that folks clamor for. Monteverde Sapphire and DC Supershow Blue (which I think might be the same color) and Penlux Cobalt Blue are similar. Strange does not have the sheen that the Monteverde inks have.

Up is the classic turquoise. It is probably the ink most similar to many other colors like Lamy Pacific Blue/Turquoise, Franklin-Christoph Spanish Blue and Monteverde Caribbean Blue.

Top is the same hue as Monteverde Purple but a much deeper color. Bungubox L’Amant is about the same shade but it skews more pink/red and Noodler’s Purple Martin is darker overall. If I were to guess, Top might be similar to the coveted Montblanc Beatles Psychedelic Purple but I don’t have a sample of that either.

Bob and I spent some time debating the actual shade of Bottom . Purple? Violet? Really dark blue? It’s definitely leaning towards dark violet. It’s similar to the Magnetosphere in the Colorverse Goldspot Special Edition but Bottom is less intense. It’s like an eggplant purple-black. Both Sailor Shigure and Robert Oster Deep Purple are more vivid purples.

Now, for the Leptons.  First up is Muon which is a vivid coral-y red with pink undertones. The Strait’s Pens Rosé by the Bay is probably the closest in color. Bungubox Lycoris is similar but the sheen in Lycoris shifts the color a bit. J. Herbin Corail des Tropiques is more orange but hints to the same coral tones.

It’s rare that there’s an ink color that gets compared to my favorite red: Sailor Irori but here it is. The Standard Model LE Electron is a warm bright red similar to Kyo-Iro #3 Fushimi Flamingo Red, Color Traveler Miyajima Scarlet and the red of all reds (IMHO) Sailor Irori. This special blend of Electron clearly looks to compete with the Japanese reds.

Muon Neutrino is a very unusual red. It’s a warm red, leaning towards a brick or burgundy color but finding a comp was a challenge. Robert Oster Rivers of Blood is a bit pinkier. Noodler’s Antetam is more orange-y brown and Waterman Red is close but different. (See? Different!) I thought maybe Muon Neutrino would be similar to Mars Curiosity but it is much more red where Curiosity is much more orange.

This next comparison is a bit of a cheat: Electron Neutrino and Z Boson from the Bosons sub-collection are both warm clay browns. Z Boson is slightly more yellow and Electron NE=eutrino is more reddish-orange. Robert Oster Australis Oak sort of falls, value wise, between Electron Neutrino and Z Boson. Golden Record from the Voyager I collection by Colorverse is also a pretty close match.

Standard Model Tau was one of the easiest ink colors for me to match (only after Up). Robert Oster Moss Green and Eucalyptus Leaf and Noodler’s Army Green are all very similar.

When I started matching ink swatches, I realized why one of my favorite colors in the Standard Model set was Tau Neutrino. It is a grey-black and I love grey-black inks. There’s a slight purple cast to the color which reminded me of Sailor Chu-Shu and Diamine Earl Grey — both colors I love and Coloverse Anti-Matter which is also a favorite though Anti-Matter has more of a bluish undertone. Of the three, Chu-Shu is probably the closest match.

W Boson is probably the most unusual color in the set. It’s a softer teal blue with a grey undertone. I assumed there would be a ton of Robert Oster ink that would be comparable but the color is much more muted than many of the Oster blues. Kyo-No-Oto #7 Hisoku is probably the closest but W Boson is a bit more green.

I assumed I’d have a drawer full of bright greens to compare the LE version of Photon but alas, most of my green inks tend to skew darker or more yellow. Monteverde Erinite is probably the most similar. Other greens were darker, more blue or more yellow.

The LE version of Gluon is a pretty close match to Robert Oster Chartreuse or Australis Tea. This range of ink colors is my personal white whale. Lime green is my favorite color so finding just the right ink that is legible in a fine nib pen without being too neon, too light or too dark has been a life long challenge. Gluon shades like crazy and is a beautiful color but I don’t know how well all that shading would work for legibility in a fine nib pen.

And last but not least, the Standard Model Higgs which is a bright, cheery red and when we pulled comparison swatches it was clear to see. Sheaffer Red, Diamine Ho Ho Ho and Conway Stweart St. Blazey were all close comparisons. Ho Ho Ho is a bit more orange but Sheaffer Red and St. Blazey are pretty similar.

Woh. This set is expensive!

First, I completely agree. This is not something that everyone will want to purchase. For starters, it is limited edition so there are not many left to be had. Second, you may already have many colors that are quite similar or close enough. However, when I did the messy math, each bottle works out to be approximately $11.75 each and that did not factor the ridiculous Halliburton case into the equation. For comparison:

• Pen BBS 15ml  $8
• Sailor Studio 20ml $18
• Sailor Shikiori 20ml $13.50

So, the Colorverse inks are pretty much on par plus– super cool James Bond case!

As for the range of colors, it is a pretty thorough collection of ink colors. Except for the two similar golden browns, the range covers all the colors regularly used. If one had been more of a chocolateey brown and maybe one of the reds been more of a bright magenta pink, then the set would be a no-brainer. If you do not have a lot of inks, investing in this set would give you a solid array of hues in reasonable sized bottles. I realize this sort of ink investment is not for everyone but, as I pointed out earlier, the price per bottle is definitely in the range for inks of this quality and volume. I say, if you have the means, order the set.

Special Thanks:

Agnes for asking me to provide a color comparison for Tau Neutrino which lit a fire under me to purchase the set and to Bob for expertly choosing swatch comparisons with the eagle eye of someone who mixes Pantone colors on a daily basis.

Tools:

• Pens: Tachikawa Comic Pen Nib Holder – Model 40 ($8.25) with Zebra G nib ($10.25 per 10-pack)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Ink:  Colorverse Standard Model of Particle Physics ($200 for seventeen – 15ml bottles packed into a custom carrying case)

The post Ink Overview: Coloverse The Standard Model appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.