There are three inks in the set: Glimmering Greige, Chidori Cherry Blossom, and Dearest Navy.

Dearest Navy is a strong blue-black ink with a touch of purple undertone and just a hint of a red sheen occasionally – it is very close to KWZ’s iron gall blue-black (a gentle iron gall).

Hints of the red sheen show up on Midori MD Light paper:

Cosmo Air Light paper shows no sheen at all, and the purple undertones drop out:

Tomoe River paper (TR7) shows the sheen clearly in a swatch and haloing in the writing.

Glimmering Greige is a lovely warm grey with gold sparkle. The base color is close to Kirk-same – Kaweco Smokey Grey was the next close grey I could find in my collection. It isn’t very close.

Glimmering Greige on Midori MD Light – the glimmering portion didn’t show well here.

Cosmo Air Light paper shows the gold sparkle very well and brings out the blue in the ink base. On CAL paper, this ink looks like a cool grey rather than warm.

Tomoe River Paper (TR7) shows the sparkle through the swatch and the writing plus a warmer grey than the CAL paper.

The final ink today is Chidori Cherry Blossom. It seems to be exactly in between Strawberry Macaron and Lady Rose Gold (this one was a limited edition).

Again, the sparkle doesn’t show well on the Midori MD Light paper. The base ink color also comes out very pale.

Cosmo Air Light paper shows plenty of the rose gold sparkle. CAL paper also seems to let go of the sparkle fairly easily – not rubbing off, but rather spreading on the page. I’ve noticed this with other sparkle inks in the past.

Tomoe River (TR7) paper doesn’t spread the sparkle like CAL paper, but it doesn’t show as brightly, either.

Here is an overview of the three inks (plus a bonus ink that I will be reviewing soon) on Midori MD Light paper.

The inks together on Cosmo Air Light paper:

Finally, the inks together on Tomoe River Paper (TR7)

It is interesting how a change in paper can drastically change the base color of an ink. Glimmering Greige is a great example of how Cosmo Air Light paper draws out the blue undertones more than Tomoe River paper:

The three inks colors I’ve shown here today are each $22 for a 38mL bottle (or about $0.58 per mL), a price per mL comparable to Sailor Manyo inks, Montblanc standard line inks, or Diamine Shimmertastic inks. I love the idea of ink collections that celebrate special events of stationery stores and bring attention to retailers that I don’t yet know about! Glimmering Greige is also a unique grey to my collection. Thank you to Ferris Wheel Press for sending these for review!

DISCLAIMER: The ink in this review was provided free of charge by Ferris Wheel Press for the purpose of this review. The other items in the review were purchased by myself. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Review: Ferris Wheel Press Curious Collaborations: Paper Tree appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I am only reviewing these latest five inks but if you would like to read about the original five inks in the series, you can find them here:

Ink Series Review: Laban Mythology Series

I purchased my samples from Vanness where you can buy 4mL for $3.00 or the 50mL bottle for $20.

First, Zeus. Because this is a purple ink and purple is always the best! Zeus is a bit darker than ColorVerse Einstein Ring and a touch bluer. The sheen is amazing – see the swatches on Cosmo Air Light and Tomoe River paper at the end of the review for that.

Hera is a beautiful blue-black-teal color that is incredibly close to Private Reserve Ebony Blue (the original ink – I haven’t been able to compare to the recent Private Reserve release). The shading with Hera isn’t dramatic, but it shows up even in writing.

Laban Hermes is a light sky blue. I didn’t have a perfect match for this ink in my Col-o-ring cards, bu Faber-Castell Gulf Blue is close. In writing, though, Hermes is lighter.

Laban Ares is a bold red with a touch of orange – I would recommend this as a great replacement for Mont Blanc Corn Poppy since that ink is getting harder to find. There is a touch of sheen with Ares, as well!

Athena stumped me. Every time I held the card next to a blue-black swatch, it was quite obviously a black ink. Every time I held it next to a black ink, it was obviously a blue-black ink. Tono & Lims Neuschwanstein was as close as I could get until I compared Bungubox Silent Night. Athena does have a touch of sheen and I would recommend it as a replacement for Silent Night (especially since the price of Bungubox inks has skyrocketed up to $40 – $50 for a 30mL bottle). Athena is a wonderful blue-black-grey ink that would be perfect for office use.

Now for the paper. Below are swatches on Cosmo Air Light paper. The sheen is amazing on Zeus and the shading in all other inks is tremendous.

Tomoe River paper tones down the harsh edges seen on Cosmo Air Light paper, but the sheen on Zeus is somewhat lacking.

Here is a photo with both papers in the same light – Cosmo Air Light on the top, Tomoe River on the bottom.

So there is the newest five inks from Laban in their Mythology line!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased at full price by me. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Review: Laban Inks appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Robert Oster has started to release inks inspired by various cities in the United States. As of today, seven inks have been released:

Napa, California- a deep wine red
Chicago, Illinois- steely, snow-inspired blue
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma- a grassy plains green
Kansas City, Kansas- a golden brown inspired by the wheat belt
Miami, Florida- a blue-green inspired by the water
New York, New York- bright red for The Big Apple
Las Vegas, Nevada- a shimmering purple inspired by the glitz of Las Vegas

I purchased my samples from Vanness where they were $3.00 ($3.75 for Las Vegas) for 4mL and the bottles run $18 for 50mL ($26 for Las Vegas).

Oklahoma City is a grassy green color, somewhere between Robert Oster Lemon Grass and Robert Oster Grun-Schwarz. This is going to be one that Ana likes!

Napa is a fabulous burgundy – very much a wine color.

Chicago. This one is probably my favorite (other than Las Vegas, because, of course, it’s purple)This is an ink that shows multiple layers of color – not quite multi-chromatic, but almost. It is very close in color to several vintage iron gall blue-black inks.

New York is a bold red lighter than Robert Oster Red Candy.

Kansas City is a great ink for shading. I would say ripe wheat is about right for this color description – a brownish gold.

Miami is an ink that I had expected to be more turquoise. Like Chicago, it is close to several vintage blue-black iron gall inks but it leans much more towards the blue side.

The swatches I had seen of Robert Oster Las Vegas looked nothing like the color that came out of this sample. Las Vegas is a mid-lavender with plenty of sparkle – either silver or a pale blue. Although the sparkle is hard to see in this photo, the second photo below is better.

WONDERFUL sparkle. Amazing purple. This ink makes me feel like I’m 8 years old again.

I mentioned that Chicago and Miami both looked like vintage blue-black inks – here they are side by side.

Below are swatches of the seven inks on Tomoe River Paper:

And Las Vegas shimmer close-up on Tomoe River paper:

The seven inks on Cosmo Air Light paper:

And the Las Vegas shimmer shot on Cosmo Air Light paper:

Tomoe River paper is on the left and Cosmo Air Light paper on the right. The difference in how color shows on the two paper types still amazes me – on CAL, Miami is darker but Chicago and Napa are lighter.

So there you have it! Robert Oster Cities of America inks:

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided at a discount for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Line Review: Robert Oster Cities of America appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I’ve divided up the Colors of Nature inks into various themes. The first is the Beginning of Seasons starting with the Beginning of Spring.

Beginning of Spring is a very bright yellow-green, a bit lighter than Ferris Wheel Press Fizzy Lime. Beginning of Summer (below) is a classic green with a touch of blue undertones.

Beginning of Autumn is a medium orange while Beginning of Winter is a classic blue-black.

The four Beginning of Seasons group is a bright collection and, I think, represents the seasons very well.

The four Beginnings inks on Cosmo Air Light paper:

The four Beginnings inks on Tomoe River paper:

I have tried to show a brief comparison between Tomoe River paper (left) and Cosmo Air Light paper (right).

The second set of Colors of Nature inks is the Divisions of the Year set. This includes Spring and Autumnal Equinox inks and Summer and Winter Solstice inks.

Spring Equinox is a beautiful multi-chromatic ink that looks like Sailor Manyo Sakura. However, this ink feathered terribly on the Col-o-ring cards. I will examine this issue in detail at the end of my post.

Summer Solstice is a bright red with a hint of blue undertones.

Autumnal Equinox was my favorite ink of these 8 inks. It is a dark golden brown and one of the few inks where I did not notice feathering.

Winter Solstice is a pleasantly shading dark gray ink. This ink did not show the feathering issues.

The Divisions of the Year inks all together:

The Divisions of the Year set on Cosmo Air Light paper:

The Divisions of the Year set on Tomoe River paper:

The Divisions of the Year inks on Cosmo Air Light paper (left) and Tomoe River paper (right):

Now to talk about the feathering issue with the IWI inks. The first swatch I created started showing serious feathering immediately. This is seen not only in lettering but also the swatch on the right.

When I used the same dip pen to write on Cosmo Air Light paper, you can still see feathering:

However, again with the same dip pen, when I wrote on Tomoe River paper, I found no feathering at all.

The IWI inks are watery and thin formulations – they remind me of writing with Papier Plume inks (especially those in the standard line). I believe this is the main reason behind the feathering. In future posts on the IWI inks, I will bring this up again after testing a few fixes. Make sure you read Part 2 next Thursday!

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 Review: IWI Colors of Nature Part 1 appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I’ve broken the inks into groups of five so the colors can be compared to each other and to already familiar inks.

The first group is Black, Sepia Black, Pine Tree, Caramel, and Orange.

Diplomat Black is much more accurately called a blue-black ink.

Sepia Black is very close to Kobe Antique Sepia but has more shading.

Diplomat Caramel is quite close to the ever-popular KWZ Meet Me In St. Louis from 2019 – Butterscotch. the colors are nearly identical but Caramel has great shading.

Diplomat Pine Tree was actually tough to match. Not only is it a strange-ish color but also looks different in every light. Bungubox Nostalgia was the closest I could find that is similar in more lighting.

Diplomat Orange is just like Bungubox Fresh Oranges. Orange is a good option since it is cheaper, not to mention the fact that Fresh Oranges is currently not produced!

The second set of inks includes Diplomat Moss Green, Deep Green, Caribbean, Royal Blue, and Deep Blue.

Diplomat Moss Green has a base color identical to Diamine Ultra Green but the shading and sheen are close to Monteverde Green.

Diplomat Deep Green has a base color just like that of Monteverde California Teal with shading and sheen similar to Lamy Crystal Peridot.

Diplomat Caribbean is a touch darker than Kobe #48 Water Source Marche.

Diplomat Royal Blue and Deep Blue have the same base color which is close to Monteverde Blue (now called Malibu Blue). Royal Blue is closer to a washable blue while Deep Blue is what I would call a Royal Blue.

The final set of Diplomat inks contains Red, Burgundy, Orchid, Purple, and Lilac.

Diplomat Red is a slightly more saturated version of Diamine Classic Red. A bit on the pink side of a true red.

I believe Diplomat Burgundy is closer to true red than Diplomat Red. Diamine Red Dragon is a close match.

Diplomat Orchid would be better named Hot Pink. It is nearly identical to Bungubox Sweet Love Pink, complete with gold halo sheen.

Diplomat Purple is a bit less saturated than Manyo Akebi but has a hint of the same sheen.

Diplomat Lilac is a wonderful purple similar to Papier Plume Violet although a touch less blue.

So that concludes the overview of all 15 Diplomat inks. I swatched each ink in both Tomoe River 52 gsm Paper and Cosmo Air Light 83 gsm paper to give you an idea of the colors on each paper type.

I covered up one swatch which made it into these pages but isn’t part of the Diplomat ink line. Oops!

Finally, here are all 15 Diplomat ink swatch cards. In my opinion, Lilac and Orchid are absolutely the best inks in the line, with Sepia Black and Pine Tree being the most original colors. Other than disputing the color names, I have nothing bad to say about the new Diplomat inks! As I use them further, I’ll post other reviews diving deeper into individual colors and their performance in a pen. Hopefully, though, this helps when browsing for a new ink!

• Swatch Cards: Col-o-ring cards (100 for $10)
• Paper: Musubi Tomoe River Folio and Musubi Cosmo Air Light Folio (Approximately $35 for 384 pages and $25 for 208 pages)
• Ink: Diplomat inks ($11 for 30mL each or $2.60 for 4mL sample)

DISCLAIMER:  The inks in this review were provided at a discount by Vanness Pens for the purpose of this review.  All other items in this review were purchased by me.  Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Review: Diplomat inks appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Of course, I couldn’t resist an ink themed around cats! I was able to get three out of the four bottles and a sample of Cat at Dawn which was sold out at the time I ordered.

Each cat suggests the light at a given time of day. Cat at Dawn is bright blue morning, Cat at Noon is radiant hot red-orange, Cat at Dusk is a watery blue grey and Cat at Midnight is a black though not a super-dark black.

I totally get the colors and naming for Dusk and Midnight but the Dawn and Noon are a bit of a stretch for me. I tend to think of morning light being more coral, pink or even golden. And, to me, Noon is more likely to have a vivid blue sky with a white hot sun. Naming discrepancies aside….

The colors of these inks are pretty unique. Noon is probably the most unusual being a slightly color-shifting shading coral red. The color is very reminiscent to the juice from fresh tomatoes to me. Dusk is the next most unique color being a color shifting pale grey-blue-violet. Because of its mutable nature, Dusk can look more like a pale violet or more grey. Midnight is a light black. It’s not a grey or a blue-black but a black with a greenish-teal undertone. Finally, Dawn is a bright ultramarine blue, though not as saturated as other ultramarine blues on the market. Dawn shades but has no sheen.

Ink ring swatches above are on Tomoe River paper. The colors look pretty consistent to the results on Col-o-ring paper.

On Rhodia paper, when writing with EF nibs, Midnight is the most usable. Dawn, Noon and Dusk are readable but would benefit from wider nibs like a stub.  None of these inks are water-resistant. Dusk vanished completely when wet. Midnight and Dawn leave some traces behind of the original lines and Dawn just leaves a wet, bluish residue. (My water samples here are still a bit damp but the results are accurate.) This ink should clean up easily in your pens and the lighter nature of the colors is unlikely to stain most pens.

When comparing the inks to other colors, the Ink Institute inks proved a challenge to find similar shades. Cat at Noon was particularly challenging to find similar colors. The unusual shade/sheen to the color leans red and then more orange-y pink. Most of the inks I have that are anywhere close in color are much more saturated.

When looking at the colors close-up, the shimmer inks were probably the closest in color similarity. The advantage of Cat at Noon is that it does NOT have shimmer in it making it  a lovely alternative if you want an unusual color but do not want shimmer in your pen.

Both Starry Ink Melon Summer and Small Endowment Melody of Sandy Creek are shimmer inks but are the closest in color. The darkest shade of Cat at Noon is similar to J. Herbin Corail des Tropiques but Corail lacks the lighter orange-y tones. Diamine Coral is the opposite to Corail des Tropiques when compared to Cat at Noon. Coral has the brighter orange tone, though more saturated, but not the deeper reddish coral color. Finally, I included Sailor Sakura Mori to provide a counter balance — an ink with a good deal more pink. I would not describe Cat at Noon as pink at all.

With Cat at Midnight, I looked for other “almost black” inks to compare. Standard Bindery Luna Tone is clearly more of a blue-black and Robert Oster Smokescreen has much more of a brownish undertone. Birmingham Pen Company Alternator Crimson is probably the closest in color despite its name.

I included Platinum Carbon Black to show that Cat at Midnight is not a true black.

Cat at Dusk is one of those wonderful magic inks that looks a bit different depending on how dry it is, your nib and paper choice and the lighting in your room. It makes it comparable to things like Troublemaker Petrichor and Sailor 123 even though it is not at all in the same color family.

Cat at Dusk is more similar to J. Herbin Gris Nuage and Kobe #53 Kitano Pearl Silver though it looks like a marriage of the two other inks. It’s more bluish than Gris Nuage and more purple than Kitano Pearl Silver. Of the four inks from the Cat series, it’s my favorite.

Now, to compare Cat at Dawn which is the most similar to other inks. Remarkably, it’s probably closest to Cross Blue. There is a similarity to Montblanc Lapis Lazuli and Sailor Jentle Sky High as well though they are considerably more saturated. Sky High has a great sheen if that is something you prefer. Cat at Dawn or Cross Blue would work if you prefer shading. Montblanc is great if you want to spend a truckload of money for your inks.

I like Ink Institute inks and the Cat Series is a strong first showing for this brand. It’s different though some of these inks may be too pale for some users. To me, Ink Institute Cat Series is a great change to the sheening and super sheeners that have flooded the market lately. Now if they do Cat at Naptime (ginger like our feline mascot) and Cat at Supper (tawny like a tortie cat) and add some shades that feel more feline in hue, I’ll be happy.

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

The post Ink Line Review: Ink Institute Cat Daily Line appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Back during the original release my parents coincidently also happened to be visiting Paris. When I realized they were a few blocks from Boisnard, I dropped a not-so-subtle hint about my Christmas list and Santa was kind enough to travel over to the shop to pick up several of the inks. To this day, they remain some of my all-time favorite Christmas gifts.

Overall, the line includes ten inks: Vert amazone (green), Gris de houle (grey), Noir abyssal (black), Bleu de Minuit (blue/black), Bleu austral (blue), Violet boreal (purple), Rouge d’Orient (red), Terre d’ombre (brown), Orange soleil (orange), and Ambre de baltique (yellow). Those ten inks are divided across two miniature ink sets (Solaris and Luna), and the one I own (Solaris) includes the green, black, purple, red, and orange. I also received a bottle of the blue/black.

The full-size bottles are 50mL squares that are nearly identical to the J. Herbin 1798 inks, minus the wax seals on the front of the bottles and wax-covered caps. The opening of the bottles are wide enough to easily fill any pen in my collection, and one of my favorite details is the glass embossing on the bottom of each bottle.

My parents had never picked out an ink before choosing these, but they made an excellent choice in picking the full-size bottle with Bleu de minuit. To be fair to the other colors, I’m naturally biased to blue/black. But to be fair to Bleu de minuit, it has some fierce completion in my personal ink collection and still somehow manages to get used on a regular basis nearly two years later. The color is a rich, deep blue that straddles the line between blue and blue/black. Depending on the nib you are using it can produce both shading and sheen. The sheen is right at the level that produces a “halo effect” around each letter in print writing- and while I enjoy super-sheening inks as much as anyone- this type of sheen is some of my favorite in actual practical day-to-day writing.

The Solaris miniature set of inks includes five other essential colors, and overall I really like how this set is packaged and executed. When the new line was released, it was targeting a more premium market and I think that direction shows in nearly every aspect of the “look” of these inks. The price is also premium, but not totally out of range for other “premium” inks we have seen in recent years. At the current price I was able to find at the writing of this post, the price per mL of the miniature set (75mL for $67.20) is similar to the Sailor studio ink line (20mL for $18). Beyond the “premium” branding, the size (15 mL each) and shape of the bottles make them a particularly useful sampler set.

The orange ink is nearly empty, but I was still able to piston-fill a TWSBI earlier this week in preparation for this review. Any bottle that allows for piston-filling even with the last few mL of an ink is a major win in my book.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve found myself reaching for the purple and the orange most often from the set. The orange is yellow-based and very bright even in finer nibs. The purple is an interesting shade- almost dusty, but still maintaining a vivid color and exhibiting significant shading even in writing. FYI: The writing samples below are a decent representation of the colors but the photo does not accurately display the sheen of the bleu de minuit and noir abyssal.

I reach less often for the black and the red, but to no fault of their own. The red is a rich, classic red that leans towards a darker red or maroon. Inking it up this week reminded me what a great color it is. The black is a dark, saturated black and even has some sheen to it which gives it some interesting character on the paper. Both colors are really good, but probably tend to get edged out by similar or competing colors in my collection that have become my fall-backs in those color categories (looking at you Platinum Carbon Black). Out of the entire set, the green is the only ink that I don’t personally prefer. There is nothing “wrong” with the color. It is saturated and behaves well, but is just a little too “classic green” without much character for my personal tastes. (I tend to prefer darker greens with brown undertones.) It also seems to write a little drier than the other colors on the page in my experience this week, but I need to re-ink it in a different nib to re-test this theory.

I’m on vacation this week for the first time in 2020, and before we left for a socially-distanced quiet (rainy) get-away by a lake, I decided to ink-up the entire line in their closest matching TWSBI. Perfect travel companions.

Back in 2018, Santa also surprised me with a J. Herbin glass pen along with my inks, and I noticed that Goldspot is carrying these glass nib pens in a variety of colors alongside the Jacques Herbin inks. I use this glass nib pen on a regular basis on many of my ink swatches to showcase the ink properties in a thinner line.

The miniature ink sets- Solaris and Luna, full-size bottles, and ink cartridges (!), are all available at a variety of retailers including Goldspot. I may have to re-stock my orange soleil and even track down the Luna miniature ink set- for the sake of science of course.

Tools:

• Pens: TWSBI Eco ($30.99), J. Herbin Glass Dip Pen ($27)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10), Col-o-Ring Oversize ($15), Well-Appointed Desk Rubber Stamps ($8-16)
• Ink:  Jacques Herbin Ink ($32 for 50ml bottle)

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased with my own funds or gifted to me under the Christmas tree. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Ink Review: Jacques Herbin Essential Inks appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Of the six inks in the line-up, the Violet, Red, Blue and Blue-Black all have some sheen to them on Col-o-ring paper. I think the sheen in the Violet is so strong that it is likely to show-up on most high-quality fountain pen friendly paper, certainly on Tomoe River and such.

I’ll start my overview with the Blue. It’s the most similar to other inks, in terms of color. It’s a true blue — a bog stock, vivid blue. Sheaffer, Waterman, Pilot, Lamy… they all have their version and I’m sure there’s more.

I have to wonder if there’s a base powdered pigment of bright blue that all the major pen manufacturers use straight of the pot?

Yep? French Ultramarine Blue straight out of the pot. Thanks, Blick for the image. If you want to try to make your own, this Sennelier Artist Pigment and the Make Ink Book could be just the thing. (Note: As mentioned in the comments below inks are made with dyes not pigments! You can make watercolor with pigments. Sorry. I clearly did not have enough coffee when I wrote this. But you see my point about the color being French Ultramarine?)

So, I don’t have much to say about the blue. It’s bright, out-of-the-tube blue with some sheen. It’s archival so it’s not supposed to fade and it’s reasonably priced in a good-sized bottle. But there’s also other options in this category. Do they fade? I don’t know. I’m not a chemist so I can’t guarantee the pH of other inks.

The Cross Violet had massive sheen on Col-o-ring paper. The sheen blew me away. Cross Violet is a little more on the red side than Waterman Purple.

The photo above puts the two red purples side-by-side (Taccia Murasaki Purple and Cross Violet) and then the two bluer purples side-by-side (Montegrappa Violet and Waterman Purple) then the Sailor Jentle Fuji Musume which has shading and granulations of both reddish purple and bluish purple but no sheen.

Amazingly, Cross Blue Black is a unique shade of deep blue. Diamine Eclipse and Sailor Shikiori Shimoyo are close but not quite the same hue. There’s a bit more brilliance to the Cross Blue Black plus that lovely sheen. I included the Parker and Sheaffer Blue-Black as some of the other classic inks even though the hues are not similar at all.

Okay, these reds are really this bright. Cross Red is really bright. When I started to match it to other reds, it became clear that Cross Red is more fluorescent than I initially thought.

Cross Red has a good deal of sheen and if you need to edit papers, no one will miss the marks with this red ink. Dang!

Cross Green is a bright shading “kelly green.” Surprisingly, I didn’t have a ton of comparison colors in my stash. Green is also a difficult color to make archival. I have not tested it to see if it keeps from fading but I will definitely do a test with this ink soon and see how it does.

Now… for the Cross Black. Like Cross Blue, this is another ink that, other than the claim of being archival, makes the Cross Black stand out from all the other black inks on the market. And, as I’ve said before, Platinum Carbon Black is still my favorite, go-to black ink because it’s waterproof. I once sacrificed a Lamy Safari by letting Platinum Carbon Black dry in the pen to see if I could clean it out afterwards. It clean out with water six months later, no problem.

That said, if I want black ink for a vintage pen Sheaffer, Waterman or Cross would all be a good option.

So, if you are looking to stock your ink cabinet or shelf and haven’t tried Cross inks yet, I would recommend Cross Violet or Blue Black first, then the crazy bright Red. If you like green, Cross Green is a vivid option too. The Blue and Black are one of many options.

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)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Blick Synthetic Round #0
• Ink:  Cross Inks ($15 for 2oz bottle)
  

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

The post Ink Overview: Cross Inks appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

I can’t find specific details but the current bottle design has been used since the 1920s and 30s with slight variations. The faceted gemstone look of the bottle allows the bottle to be tipped onto its side to make it easier to get ink out as the ink levels begin to get lower. It’s one of my favorite ink bottles.

Waterman offers just eight colors in its ink line up. Of those eight colors, the names have changed over time but the colors have remained fairly consistent both in range and hue. The swatches shown above may show earlier names (i.e. Havana Brown which is now called Absolute Brown) but the ink colors are the same. I got into fountain pens just as Waterman was changing the ink names so I have had bottles with new and older names. The ink colors did not change. Waterman just updated the label designs and the names.

Honestly, I think they should have hired someone from a nail polish company to give these lovely colors poppier names. Maybe Tender Purple should be called “Did You Do It on Purple?” and Inspired Blue could be “Pen Life Aquatic”? Okay… maybe these names need work but they are certainly more worthy of these pretty colors than “Harmonious Green” which is the lamest name ever.

When you see how much these inks sheen, is it fair to give them such humdrum names? I don’t think so. Six out of the eight colors in the line sheen. Tender Purple, Inspired Blue, Harmonious Green and Serenity Blue are the most likely to sheen. Depending on your paper, Audacious Red and Mysterious Blue will sheen too.

When you add the that fact that these inks are safe for vintage fountain pens and the prices per bottle is very reasonable ($11.30 per 50ml bottle) and what’s not to love?

Okay, I’ll give you more reasons…

Let’s compare each Waterman ink color with other similar inks. I’ll start with a color I initially didn’t like but have grown to love. It’s Waterman Harmonious Green. Again, I was thrown by the name. It’s not GREEN as I expected it to be and when I put it next to other similar swatches, it becomes clear that Harmonious Green is actually more of an aqua or a teal green than an actual Kelly or grass green. I think if the color had been named Jade Green or Jadeite it would probably be much more popular. Harmonious Green is quite similar to similarly-priced Kaweco Paradise Blue and the more expensive Pelikan Edelstein Jade. Pilot Iroshizuku Shin Ryoku, De Atramentis Petrol and Kobe #47 are all slightly more green but just by a tiny bit. So, I think Waterman (in my mind) Jadeite Green is in very good company.

Waterman Audacious Red shows some sheen which is similar the limited edition Franklin-Christoph ’19. The sheen in Audacious Red is not quite as pronounced and a little darker but the hue is quite similar. Seeing as how the Franklin-Christoph ’19 ink is harder to acquire than a pen show in 2020 (too soon for this joke?), Audacious Red is a good option. I included a swatch of Pelikan Edelstein Garnet which is slightly more orange and Diamine Matador and Red Dragon which are both slightly darker reds and Robert Oster Red Candy which is almost as dark as Red Dragon but not quite.

Waterman Serenity Blue (again, the name is not fitting for the beauty of the color) is very similar to both Lamy Blue and Pilot Blue. These three inks, while simple in name are classic, workhorse ink colors. They are less saturated than the three inks shown on the right: Monteverde Sapphire, Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-Gao and Monteverde 2018 DC Supershow Blue. Asa-Gao is the closest to Serenity Blue while the two Monteverde inks are deeper and darker.

We’ve had several debates as to whether Waterman Obsession Blue and Inspired Blue are the same color. I’m inclined to believe they are but just bottled with different labels. There are only slight differences in the swatches I have from my bottle (labelled Obsession Blue) and the swatches I have from my sample vial (labelled Inspired Blue) that can be chalked up to the amount of ink I put on the paper as much as to the color of the ink. That said, the comparison inks for Waterman’s turquoise ink are very similar to the inks I pulled for Sheaffer last week, including Sheaffer Turquoise.

Just for giggles, here’s the photo from the Sheaffer ink overview from last week. The colors I picked were: Sheaffer Turquoise, J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche, Lamy Pacific Blue, Franklin-Christoph Spanish Blue, Monteverde Caribbean Blue. Yep. All the same swatches.

While we are rehashing how similar some of the Waterman inks are to Sheaffer, I’ll go through the black ink swatches too. Waterman Intense Black is a solid performing water soluble black ink. This week I divided the black ink comparison with three cool/neutral blacks on the left and three slightly warmer blacks on the right. The cool/neutral blacks are from top to bottom on the left: Monteverde Coal Noir, Sheaffer Black and Platinum Carbon Black (being the only waterproof black included). On the right, from top to bottom: Lamy Crystal Obsidian, Waterman Instense Black and Kaweco Pearl Black. Both Waterman and Sheaffer Black are safe for vintage pens so my advice is to pick one and buy a bottle because everyone needs a bottle of black ink. If you are brave enough to own a waterproof black, then definitely add a bottle of Platinum Carbon Black to your shopping list. That should round out your black ink needs quite handily. If you want to experiment with other blacks, the world is your black pearl oyster. There are so many options to choose from!

Waterman Absolute Brown (shown above as Havana Brown) is a warm, reddish brown. The closest ink comparison I could find was J. Herbin Terre de Feu though it is slightly more orange. Lamy Crystal Topaz is similar in hue but the sheen throws off the appearance of the color on some papers. Absolute Brown shades but does not sheen.

I was surprised how difficult it was to find a good ink match to Waterman Mysterious Blue. Truly mysterious, wouldn’t you agree? It is an ink color that is slightly darker than the brilliant blue of Sailor Sky High but not as dark as Parker Quink Blue-Black or Colorverse 03 Saturn V. It’s definitely not a blue-black ink and much more of a true blue, maybe a bright, clean denim blue?

Tender Purple has a similar color and hue as Lamy Crystal Azurite but not quite as much sheen as Azurite. Coloverse 53 Hayabusa is similar in hue but with considerably less sheen. The only other inks I could find that were similar to Tender Purple are shown on the right and are more purple in color than the actual VIOLET color that Tender Purple actually is. I don’t want to get all “Well, ACTUALLY…” but knowing color is kind of my job. Tender Purple is violet, not purple. and Callifolio Violet is purple. These people are killing me with their poorly inaccurate naming. Either be ridiculously charming and clever or extremely accurate, please.

All-in-all, Waterman is my favorite classic ink. I love the gemstone shaped bottles. I recommend Inspired Blue and Tender Purple often at pen shows to folks looking for a “fun color” for their vintage pens but I don’t think Serenity Blue or Inspired Blue should be overlooked either for their striking colors. And Harmonious Green, despite its name is the Jadeite you’re been looking for. Intense Black and Absolute Brown really do round out an ink collection if you don’t already have a good black and brown in your collection. I know we all get blinders on looking for the newest, hottest, fanciest new ink colors but these classics have stayed classic for a reason.

Tools:

• Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Blick Synthetic Round #0
• Ink:  Waterman Ink ($11.30 for 50ml bottle)

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 Ink Overview: Waterman Inks appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

These colors have been around for decades. Yet, they are still lovely.

The great thing about a classic ink like Sheaffer is that it is safe for your vintage pens. So, having a bottle of Sheaffer ink around is wise just for the vintage pens you have — or might one day have.

Another great aspect of Sheaffer inks is the reasonable price. Compared with a lot of other ink brands, $10 for 50ml is a great deal.

Let’s get into each color. I’ll start with black ink. We should all have at least one bottle of black ink. If you are not brave enough to keep a bottle of Platinum Carbon Black as your “one true black”, here’s a comparison of Sheaffer Black against some other water soluble black inks and Platinum Carbon Black. From top to bottom, left to right: Pelikan Edelstein Onyx, Waterman Intense Black, Sheaffer Black, Platinum Carbon Black, Colorverse 20 Blackhole, Monteverde Raven Noir, Monteverde Coal Noir, Kaweco Pearl Black, Lamy Crystal Obsidian, Colorverse 1 Sunspot, Robert Oster Black is Black.

It’s challenging to see the subtle differences between the blacks on screen but I tried to compare Sheaffer Black to other similar blacks. Sheaffer Black is a rich, dark black. Monteverde Coal Noir is probably the closest black to Sheaffer Black as both feel genuinely neutral black and very dark. Monteverde Raven Noir is close but a little warm with a hint of red. Pelikan Onyx has a hint of green. The remainder of the blacks are definitely warm blacks. It would be hard to tell the difference between these blacks if I didn’t have all these swatches side-by-side to compare. Sheaffer Black is a good flat black.

When it comes to blue-black inks, they run the gamut in the dark blue hues: indigo, midnight blue, deep sea blue, blue-black, and anything else that is not turquoise or bright blue. That said, to find good comparisons for Sheaffer Blue-Black which leans a little more dark greenish-teal, these are the inks I find: Callifolio Olifants, Sheaffer Blue-Black, Sailor Shikiori Shimoyo, Robert Oster Great Southern Ocean, Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris. Clearly, I didn’t find other inks that were clearly described as “blue-black” but really fit the same look-and-feel as Sheaffer Blue-Black. Sheaffer Blue-Black has lovely shading.

Sheaffer Brown is a very warm, brown so it was hard to find a comparable color. Instead I tried to find familiar, popular browns. From top to bottom:  Diamine Ancient Copper, Sheaffer Brown, Ackerman SBRE Brown, J. Herbin Cafe des Iles. All of these browns are warm browns but all feel like they accomplish different things. Sheaffer Brown shades beautifully.

With Sheaffer Blue, it was pretty eye opening that the blue was pretty comparable to so many other blues that are beloved and considerably more expensive. From top to bottom: Sheaffer Blue, Monteverde Capri Blue, Sailor Jentle Sky High, Colorverse 14, Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, Sailor Jentle Souton. Looks like there’s no reason to drop twice as much money on the same color anymore, huh? Sheaffer Blue has some rockin’ red sheen.

Oh, turquoise! I have so many bottles of turquoise ink and I marvel at how similar they all are. From top to bottom: Sheaffer Turquoise, J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche, Lamy Pacific Blue, Franklin-Christoph Spanish Blue, Monteverde Caribbean Blue. None of these turquoise inks are crazy expensive but that’s okay. It just means its okay to have more than one bottle. Sheaffer Turquosie has a delicious, pinky sheen.

Sheaffer Green is not a crayon green or Kelly green that you might expect from a basic line of inks. It’s actually more of a teal. For comparison, from top to bottom: J. Herbin Bleu Calanque, Robert Oster Torquay, Sheaffer Green, Diamine Marine, Colorverse #23 Photon. I have recommended Robert Oster Torquay so many times and Sheaffer Green is similar, just a little more green. It’s a really pretty color. Don’t discount it just because it has a simple name. Think of it as “Vintage Pyrex Aqua” instead of Green. Sheaffer Green sheens with a little reddish.

Red ink is a hard color to agree upon. To compare, from top to bottom: J. Herbin Rouge Opera, Diamine Matador, Sheaffer Red, Colorverse 49 Felicette, Taccia Aka Red. Sheaffer Red is a slightly warmer red like Taccia Aka Red but Taccia has way more sheening. There is a little sheening in the Sheaffer Red though. Colorverse Felicette is a slightly pinky red and Diamine and J. Herbin are both a darker red.

Sheaffer Purple is a lovely shading bright purple. Compared to other inks, from top to bottom: Sheaffer Purple, Pilot Iroshizuku Mirasaki Shikibu, Pilot 100th Anniversary Jurojin, Papier Plume Violet. Sheaffer Purple is very similar to Pilot 100th Jurojin which is really surprising. Pilot Iroshizuku Mirasaki Shikubu is a little warmer and Papier Plume Violet is a little cooler.

I hope this overview gives you a little more of an appreciation for Sheaffer Inks. I really think they are a great option. They are reasonably priced, the colors are great AND safe for vintage pens.

Tools:

• Pens: Tachikawa Comic Pen dip nib holder ($8.25) with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack)
• Swatches: Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Blick Synthetic Round #0
• Ink:  Sheaffer Fountain Pen Inks ($10 for 50ml bottle)

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 Ink Overview: Sheaffer Inks appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.