Scribo inks are fairly new to the fountain pen scene and have started to get some attention. While Scribo makes some amazing pens, I was a bit hesitant to try these inks. I mean, who really needs 90mL of one ink?
I purchased samples of a few colors from Vanness, but only a few. The line-up wasn’t particularly impressive – black, gray, burgundy, red, turquoise, blue-black… No sheen, no amazing shading qualities. Boring, safe colors. However, when I received the samples, I was in for a treat.
Verde Prato and Nero Nero were two of the samples I had purchased (along with Rosso Chianti and Verde Mediterraneo) and the two I decided to purchase first (yes, I said first). I purchased a bottle of each from Pen Chalet.
Verde Prato (forgive the spelling error above) turned out to be a vivid late-spring green. Inks that try for this color often suffer from illegibility and eye-searing brightness. Verde Prato flirts with that line but never crosses it. The ink is bright but not distractingly so. It is also dark enough to be quite legible.
Swatching the cards, I found rich colors that behaved beautifully, as if they were made only to compliment fountain pens. Huh. Of course they were. It says so right on the box. Fountain Pen Ink.
As a warning, if you purchase more than one or two bottles at a time, you may earn a mean look from your mail carrier. These bottles are HEAVY.
Nero Nero is a rich and wonderfully dark black. Shouldn’t black ink always be dark? Yes. But not all are. Is it waterproof? You can see a few of my water drops on the card. Don’t worry! They were not tears. Thank you for being so concerned, though! Even after my non-tears test, the ink is still legible although loses the dark color. I would call the ink slightly water resistant. I appreciate non-waterproof black inks since they are typically easy to clean out.
The swatch card of Platinum Carbon Black here is a bit misleading. My swatch of PCB photographs terribly – the ink is actually very dark and rich. I’ve wondered if the carbon particles (lampblack) interfere with the photography.
Nurebairo is another of my favorite black inks, but is actually an extremely dark blue as you can see from the swatch above. This is another impressive point with Nero Nero – black dye (non-waterproof, no particulates) is made of a mixture of very dark primary colors. Many black inks lean towards one color or another but Nero Nero is a neutral black.
Aurora Black is known for its extreme wetness in flow – it can get even extremely dry-flowing pens to write smoothly. The Scribo ink is the same in color but the flow is just a touch on the wet side of average.
When I first swatched Verde Prato, my thought was that Ana (the owner of this blog) would love this color. Bright green is one color (along with almost neon pink) that follows her in life.
I recently purchased my first Benu pen. It sparkles, has tinsel, glows in the dark, looks like an ordinary pen turned inside-out. You know, a pen that makes me feel 10 years old. Well, Verde Prato is the perfect ink for this pen. Verde Prato and the Benu pen have been inseparable since the beginning. With a standard Schmidt nib, I have yet to see a dry nib (it’s a fine nib).
A review of the Scribo inks cannot be complete without talking about these bottles. 90mL of ink alone is 90 grams (3.2 ounces) of ink. But the bottle surrounding the ink is solid glass and brings the overall weight to a full pound before counting in the packaging weight. Luckily, this packaging is designed to support the weight, but don’t drop this bottle on a toe. However, if you do drop the bottle on anything other than concrete, it will most likely survive. Not that I would know.
The stacking feature of these bottles is my favorite part. The base of each bottle contains a notch perfectly sized to fit over the neck of another bottle without touching the cap of the bottle bottle. This creates a stable stack that not even my cats have been able to topple and looks great sitting on my desk. Now the top of the Verde Prato is calling to me to add another bottle…
These two inks will not be my last Scribo inks. I have been thoroughly impressed by the quality of the ink and the attention to the bottle design. The only problem I have so far is the inks selling out!
Recently, Pen Chalet released an exclusive Robert Oster ink – Antelope Canyon. But the Chalet didn’t stop with just one special edition. Three more exclusive RO inks were added to the lineup to make a beautiful Arizona-inspired palette. I purchased a sample of each from Pen Chalet.
I have tried to balance colors so these are shown as accurately as possible, but I finally gave up attempting to do so with the four colors together. The best way to communicate the actual colors is to show a comparison with other inks you may have or may have seen in person.
Each ink color is named after a sight you may see in Arizona. I had several stock image credits that need to be used up, so I hope you enjoy the photos!
Antelope Canyon
First, for Antelope Canyon. Pen Chalet has a poetic description of each color: “This Pen Chalet Exclusive fountain pen ink encapsulates a piece of the majestic and iconic Antelope Canyon in Northern Arizona (Pen Chalet’s home state in the USA). The magnificent slot canyon’s tall, winding walls create a monumental sandstone, wave-like structure that transforms into a supernatural experience when light beams shine directly down into the openings of the canyon.”
Antelope Canyon is a beautiful brownish orange that shades wonderfully. It is close to Robert Oster Burned Orange but uses more yellow and brown. It’s a unique color and I love using it in an italic nib.
Monsoon Sky
Pen Chalet has this to say about Monsoon Sky:
“Arizona’s Sonoran Desert produces some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world…especially during monsoon season. Arizona’s monsoon sky is a surreal combination of clouds and colors that bring an otherworldly filter to notoriously blue skies for just a few months each year.”
Monsoon sky is an interesting color that doesn’t fit well in green or blue – it’s a greenish teal that has a strange yellowish undertone. The ink is beautiful and I smiled at how closely it matched another Pen Chalet special edition – Monsoon Storm by ColorVerse!
Sedona Red
Again, the poetic description from Pen Chalet:
“Inspired by Sedona’s eclectic atmosphere and the red rock phenomenons that made the area famous, Sedona Red fountain pen ink is a small piece of the fiery passion of the Southwest. With daring red hues hinting at spicy undertones and a bit of firepower paired with subtle color variations similar to the understated shades of the desert landscape, Sedona Red fountain pen ink emulates the fearless spirit of the West that still calls to adventurers from Sedona’s red rock formations.”
Sedona Red is a darker version of Robert Oster Burgundy and is close to J. Herbin Rouge Grenat. The sheen is a very dark greenish-black that shows up in writing and looks great.
Saguaro Green
Pen Chalet says:
“Saguaro Green fountain pen ink is an ode to the iconic Saguaro Cactus. Native to the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, the Saguaro Cactus is the largest cactus in the United States. Saguaro Green fountain pen ink is an olive-like color that mimics the Saguaro Cactus’s ability to break up the muted, desert landscape with energy and life.”
Saguaro cactus is a very odd plant. Beautiful, but otherworldly. Saguaro green is one of my new favorite ink colors. It’s a darker, slightly more yellow Tolstoy. Olive juice would be a good description. Like a green olive oil. Great color.
The theme around these four inks have made me long for vacations and camping. Arizona sounds like a great place for both!
To show the ink in writing, I’ve shown all four – first on Tomoe River paper:
Now on Cosmo Air Light 83:
Finally, both side by side:
I encourage you to grab one or four of these colors. Luckily, there’s a sample pack available from Pen Chalet if you want to try the bunch – 4mL of each ink for $11.99.
All of us at The Desk keep trying to outdo ourselves with our ink reviews. Last week, Jesi posted a full overview of all the new Colorverse Series 7 inks. This week, I’m kicking it all off with an overview of the Colorverse Standard Model ($200 for seventeen-15ml bottles). This set, based on The Standard Model of Particle Physics, includes seventeen bottles of ink, each themed around particle physics. I know ZILCH about particle physics except what I can glean from watching sci-fi movies so I will not even pretend. If anything, playing with this ink set is teaching me a little bit about particle physics — just enough to attempt to guess a question on the NYTimes crossword puzzle and not much else. But I digress…
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
High Chroma colorsLow chroma colors
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.
Diplomat inks just became available through Vanness Pens, so of course I grabbed samples of each. But this is not a small lineup of inks. 15 inks actually.
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!
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.
Today I will let the pictures speak for themselves. PenBBS Season 29 is out with 2 shimmer inks included in the lineup – 12 inks in all but I’ll be showing the first 6 in the series today. Each ink comes in the standard 60mL hexagonal bottle.
Another PenBBS ink, #272, is the closest color I have to #409. It is bright, minty and may be a bit too light for normal writing unless you have a broad nib or a stub.
Purple sky is the last of the six inks for today. This is another ink where my camera and I had words. it is a gorgeous royal purple that isn’t so dark that it looks black. The swatch of Dragon Night is close, but in writing, Purple Sky keeps the purple color.
Purple Sky is my personal favorite here, although Spring Lake and Xiamen are close seconds. I’ll be sharing the next six in this season next week before going on to season 30!
Laban hasn’t been known for their inks – only their pen lineup. But recently they came out with a small collection of inks that take their inspiration from Greek mythology. I purchased bottles of Aphrodite and Apollo and samples of the other three in the collection.
The illustrations are fun although Aphrodite is a bit… not clothed. I do like the fountain pen in each drawing!
Each ink comes in a 50mL glass bottle and the packaging is not much larger than the bottle itself – not excessive but not minimal either.
Poseidon Green is not what I would call green. It is a lovely color, though. Rather than green, it is a teal or even turquoise that leans just a little towards green. Not much shading was seen in writing but it is a beautiful color.
Demeter Brown is an earthy color with a hint of red. In front of my eyes, these three cards looked very similar. under the camera, you can see quite a difference, though. There is some light shading in writing.
Apollo Orange is a very bright color! This is a color that could lead to pen crud if left too long in a pen, especially in a dry environment. Pen crud is a crystalization of the dye in ink, left behind as it dries. It can form crystals or lumps on the pen nib with some colors. It doesn’t harm the pen and typically comes off with a quick dunk in water. The best way to avoid it is to just write more with your pen!
Aphrodite Pink is my favorite of this bunch. A dark rose pink with a brown undertone. There is a bit of shading in writing but not much. Aphrodite is a unique color in my collection – nothing else quite matches it.
Finally, Artemis Navy Blue. I don’t know that I would call this navy blue – it is more a jewel tone sapphire with a bit of purple. There is a hint of sheen that shows up in normal writing – a subtle red. Artemis is a bit darker than Sailor Studio 543.
Finally, a full family photo. (I’m just now noticing I’ve misspelled Laban on Aphrodite…)
I have enjoyed each of these inks – a beautiful collection from Laban and not the typical colors you would expect from a first release of inks. At $20 for 50mL, it is very affordable. I’ve kept Aphrodite in a pen at all time since I purchased the bottle and it has quickly become one of my favorites.
I purchased my bottles and samples from Vanness Pens where you can get a sample for $2.60 or the full bottle for $20.
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.
Sailor has made a dizzying number of inks, from standard black and blue to special editions that are only available under very specific locations. All Sailor inks have one thing in common, though – because they are high quality and (typically) amazing colors, they are usually in high demand.
While answering a question about Sailor Apricot recently, I tried to find a full history of the ink’s turbulent past but couldn’t find a clear explanation. So of course, I decided to write one.
One long-running ink line was the Jentle group. This line started with a group of six inks: Sky High, Ultra Marine, Peche, Apricot, Epinard, and Grenade (some include blue-black and black in this group as well).
However, in 2014, Sailor decided to update the Jentle line, with the subtitle Colors of Four Seasons. Four Seasons replaced the six inks with Miruai, Nioi-Sumiri, Doyou, Souten, Oku-Yama, Yama-Dori, Shigure, and Tokiwa-Matsu.
While there were several inks that were close to the original Jentle inks, they weren’t quite the same. Sky High had been a bit brighter than the new Souten. Oku-Yama was pinker than Grenade. Miruai and Tokiwa-Matsu were both close to Epinard, but not quite. Nothing quite replicated Ultra-Marine and there was no equivalent to Peche (no one complained about that, however). But the one that everyone missed was Apricot.
Soon Sailor Apricot became a currency by itself. Orange-ink-loving individuals hoarded the color when they could. People would exchange small vials of the ink in secret for large amounts of money… well, I don’t think it was ever quite that bad. But it became impossible to find.
Luckily, in 2016 (approximately), Sailor released another eight inks in the Colors of Four Seasons lineup. These inks were: Sakura-Mori, Kin-Mokusei, Yuki-Akari, Irori, Waka-Uguisu, Fuji-Musume, Chu-Shu, and Rikyu-cha.
Finally, Sailor answered the public’s need for an Apricot replacement.
Here’s a quick comparison of (approximately) equal colors between the Jentle inks and the Colors of Four Seasons inks:
But were Kin-Mokusei and Apricot truly equivalent? This was a question that obsessed many ink connoisseurs. This has been debated many times in the past and is not in the scope of this article. However, I will examine this question in the future.
First, let’s finish the Sailor timeline of these inks.
2017 brought a surprising announcement – Sailor was rereleasing the original 6 Jentle inks! Finally, we could restock our Apricot shelves and complain about Peche again.
At this point, Sailor switched gears from the 50mL jars on ink to the pretty but small 20mL bottles that now make up the Shikiori ink line. Sadly, this change meant that the price per mL jumped to nearly $1/mL (from $0.36 or $0.50 per mL), however, the bottles are easier to store next to one another.
The 20 Shikiori inks combine the Jentle and Colors of Four Seasons (1 and 2) inks with a few inks changed or dropped. The missing colors are Ultra Marine, Peche, Apricot, Epinard, Sky High, Grenade, and Fuji-Musume while new colors include Fuji-Sugata, Yozakura, Yodaki, Yonaga, and Shimoyo.
So to summarize this look at one small section of Sailor ink history, I have laid out the various colors and line-ups. In the future, I would love to take a deeper dive into a comparison of the ink colors.
Please note with this chart – the dates are very approximate and should really only be used to create a general timeline. Inks were released and received at varying times depending on retailer locations and availability.
DISCLAIMER: I purchased the items for this review with my own money and all opinions are my own. Please see the About page for more details.
I recently purchased a handful of inks from Birmingham Pen Co. I had done a post about comparing some of the new inks with their previous formulas but this time I wanted to try a range of their various formulas: the Everlasting Formula (a permanent pigmented ink), the Keystone Inks (formerly known as the Rich Formula [sheening inks] and the Crisp Formula [traditional water-based ink]). We reviewed some of the Twinkle inks (shimmering) previously but I have not tried any of the Wishy-Washy formula (most washable inks).. yet so stayed tuned for that.
Rotten Seaweed vs (From top to bottom): Robert Oster Saguaro Green, Colorverse Pluto & Beyond, Robert Oster Chartreuse, Colorverse Gluon LE Version, J. Herbin Vert Olive
I’ll start with Rotten Seaweed which is in the range of my favorite colors — that muted lime green. Rotten Seaweed is a bit more gold-green than many in my collection. Its most similar to the Pen Chalet Robert Oster Exclusive Saguaro Green (second swatch from top). J. Herbin Vert Olive is a bit brighter and greener, Oster Chartuese (top sample) is a bit darker. In the middle swatches are Colorverse Pluto & Beyond and Gluon LE Edition from the Standard Model Set. While I have dozens of lime green, these were the closest. Rotten Seaweed is a more muted, golden green. I find it a very intriguing color and the shading gives an array of celery to day-old avocado colors.
These inks always remind me of those automotive paint colors that look different in sunlight. Super sheeners like this will catch the light and look more red than blue but in lower, less extreme light or on different paper stocks, the sheen may not be noticeable at all.
Inks this sheening can have some rub off because there is so much pigment that it sits on the surface of the paper. If it comes into contact with any humidity or moisture, the color can smear. Tesla Coil is no more likely to do this than any of these other colors but just be wary. This smearing is of particular concern to lefties and folks who like to use both sides of the paper in their notebooks as there can be some transference.
Ah, Periwinkle! Laura and I were laughing because she’s been reviewing periwinkle hued inks the last few weeks in honor of the Pantone Color of the Year and here I go, encroaching on her theme. Birmingham Pen Co. Periwinkle is a more orchid reddish purple that some of the colors she’s reviewed (ink 1 and ink 2). Compared to the swatched shown above, Periwinkle as a beautiful shading ink, is a bit darker than Ferris Wheel Press Little Robinia and warmer in hue than Troublemaker Foxglove or Kobe #57 Himeajisai/Hydrangea. Its hard to say definitively if this is my favorite of the lot but its darn close.
Ah, Smokebox. I love a good grey ink an Smokebox is right up there in the shading, neutral/cool grey category along with Kaweco Smokey Grey, Edelstein Moonstone and Montblanc Oyster Grey. Smokebox is a more modestly priced ink when compared to Montblanc and Edelstein but the Kaweco is in a similar price range.
Birmingham Chimney Soot vs. my favorite permanent black, Platinum Carbon Black
I know it was probably unfair to put Birmingham Chimney Soot Everlasting ink up against the reigning champ of permanent black inks but it’s the only permanent black ink I own. Remarkably, it performed quite well with just a little color transfer on the largest, most ink saturated writing on th top of this card. On both cards, over the lettering, I brushed a wet paint brush over the writing to test its waterproofiness. Chimney Soot is a competitor!
Birmingham Antique Sepia comparison: (top to bottom) Troublemaker Petrichor, Kala Abstraction Sierra Mist, and Troublemaker Kelp Tea.
The last ink I tried was the Antique Sepia which is a color-shifting ink. It has a lot of mossy green with pools of a warmer pinky-beige and some deeper teal halo-ing. Finding a comp to this weas a challenge. I don’t have a lot of color shifting inks but the Troublemaker colors (Petrichor and Kelp Tea) have some of the same hues but with different over- and under-tones. Kala Abstraction Pigment ink in Sierra Mist is the closest ink I have to the dominant color in Antique Sepia.
Overall, I’m delighted to see how vast the Birmingham Pen Co. ink offerings are and how much they are experimenting with a range of ink properties. Their generous 60ml bottle for approx. $15 is incredibly reasonable for indie-produced inks.
Check out their collection for yourself and let me know what your favorite colors are.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Birmingham Pen Co. for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
We all have way too many inks than we can use in a lifetime so thankfully, Julia will show you lots of painting techniques to allow you to use your fountain pen inks (and any ink really) to paint still life, from nature and much more. Practice brush handling, experiment with water and paper, and create an art piece in her hands-on workshop.
Class is Sunday, August 28, 2022 from 1-3pm and tuition is $85 including materials. Class is limited to 15 students so you should probably register ASAP to ensure your place. Julia asks that you bring an object to use for your first still life. Check out her Instagram feed for some ideas.
Class fee is separate from pen show entry fee.
There are lots of other interesting classes on the docket for the SF Pen Show. I’ll be working at the show so I won’t be able to attend any classes but I’m looking forward to living vicariously through anyone who is attending the classes.
Inside the world of fountain pens, there are several areas for people to focus. Some people concentrate on vintage pens, others love unique filling systems, and the list goes on. Personally, my favorite fountain pen focus is ink.
I first became interested in fountain pens when I saw the vast number of ink colors that are available. This interest soon became an obsession and I currently have too many inks (bottles, samples, cartridges) to keep track of without help. I fell back on a spreadsheet to keep track of my growing collection, but it wasn’t exactly useful other than a place I could look up ink to see if I already owned a sample before purchasing another!
Then the Fountain Pen Companion was created. Urban Hafner, a fountain pen person located in Germany, took on the challenge of ink tracking and created an online database where users can enter their inks, track them, and visualize their collections.
Over time, Urban has refined Fountain Pen Companion (or FPC) to include additional features including a friendlier ink entry screen, the ability to compare your ink collection to that of another user, an ink visualization tool, and plenty more.
The visuals don’t end with ink colors. Below is a chart of ink brands by volume.
I can’t talk about Fountain Pen Companion without also mentioning the Leader board. This is a board tracking the top 10 individuals in several areas like number of samples or total number of inks. This is a fun way to feel more in touch with fellow fountain pen people and ink collectors along with the community section and blog. Fountain pen ink reviews have recently been added to help with those new ink acquisitions.
Since this database came from the work of a single individual, I encourage people to think about supporting Urban’s work on his Patreon page. FPC lives on a server that Urban pays for, supports, and maintains.
One last feature I would like to point out – the Fountain Pen Companion has a mascot! The Fountain Pen Capybara was designed by Angela He (InkyConverters) and can be viewed on the FPC blog or on Angela’s Etsy shop (although it is temporarily closed until August).
As a side note, I am not affiliated with Fountain Pen Companion – I’m only a supporter and an avid user who thinks this is an amazing way to keep track of fountain pen ink. If you use FPC, leave a note or send a quick message of thanks to Urban!
Exclusive Pen Show inks and other goodies are the carrot to make us all feel massive massive amounts of FOMO but I decided to make sure someone in our community doesn’t suffer from FOMO by giving away a brand new bottle of the Sailor 2023 Pen Show Exclusive Ink.
Its a bright, vivid orange to help see you through the last grey days of winter. When compared to other oranges in my collection, I’d say its a bit brighter and happier than Sailor Apricot, if that’s possible. This ink will definitely show best with a wide nib to get all the shading,
TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me what your favorite orange ink is. Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.
If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.
FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Friday, February 24, 2023. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.
DISCLAIMER: Items included in this post 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.
Pilot Iroshizuku inks are now available in cartridges ($14 for 6 cartridges). Is this something we wanted as a pen community? I am not sure. If I said yes, I don’t thin I would have imagined each cartridge to cost $2.33 each. I mean I love Ku-Jaku but I like being able to put the ink into any pen that I own not just Pilot-specific cartridge-accepting pens.
Pilot Iroshizuku bottled ink is about $24 for 50ml (that’s $0.48 per ml). The bottled ink can be used in any fountain pen with a converter or piston filling mechanism while the cartridges will only work with Pilot fountain pens.
Of course, if you or someone you know is buying their first-ever fountain pen like a widely-recommended Pilot Metropolitan, then a pack of Pilot Iroshizuku cartridges would be a great starting point.
So, if you are trying to build a great starter kit for a graduate, fountain pen-curious friend’s birthday or what we like to think of as a “first taste is free” gift, then pairing a Pilot Metropolitan and a pack of Pilot Iroshizuku cartridges is a good way to do it. For more experienced fountain pen fans, this may not be your most flexible or cost-effective method to keep your ink needs met.
Of course, I say all this and then I thought “Oh, this is great to have at work in case my pens run our of ink during the day.” I think I drank the ink.
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.
This weekend, we were hit with a fast-moving, very destructive storm that blew in on Friday afternoon and left us without power for the whole weekend. A tree had taken down our power lines which required an electrician to come out and repair the power connection at the house and then the power company had to come out and reattach the power lines to the pole outside and then re-connect them to our house and finally turn the power back on. This left us scrambling to find a friend to let us keep our refrigerator foods in their fridge, cleaning up yard debris from the storm and endlessly searching for power to keep our phones up and running while we coordinated with neighbors, electricians and framily (our family of friends).
So, what do you do when the power goes out? You organize your ink stash, of course!
Regardless of whether you have 10 inks or 200, looking through your collection and determining what you like, don’t like, where you have accumulated a lot of the same color or realize you don’t have a single orange ink, taking time to review your ink stash can be helpful. Especially if you have plans to attend a pen show in the near future or want to keep yourself from continually buying the same turquoise ink from different makers over and over.
These are the sheening inks that Diamine let their fans name. They hosted the naming contest saying that fans could choose any name, even Robert and Maureen, so of course EVERYONE voted for Robert & Maureen and hence, an ink legacy was born. I like that the mini bottles are labelled Bob and Mo.
Step One: Inventory
If you have access to power (and I hope you do!) you can start by using a spreadsheet or FPC (Fountain Pen Companion) to inventory your collection. This is a great way to get on top of your collection. Exactly how many bottles and samples currently exist in your collection. Are any bottles almost empty? Have any bottles never been touched?
Two of the permanent inks in my collection.
This is also a good opportunity to see if you have any specialty inks in your collection. I believe in my heart of hearts that everyone should have a bottle of black ink and/or a permanent or document ink (Platinum Carbon Black does both very well). I also think everyone should have one bottle of sheening ink — it doensn’t have to be a super sheener but the effect of sheen on paper is something that is a great addition to an ink collection and reminds us all why we fell in love with inks in the first place.
Pen BBS #111 was a very popular golden sheening ink. So hard to capture in a still image.
Do you have a stash of shimmer inks? Do you use them? If not, why not? Doing an ink inventory assessment is a good chance to evaluate the whys of your collection. Maybe you’ve never bought a shimmer ink and by doing a review of your collection, you realize THAT shimmer is the next ink you need to try. See? This is fun. Start making your shopping list.
Step Two: Swatch Your Inks
Note the pencilled S and B in the upper right hand corners of these swatches. I did them in pencil so they could be changed or erased as needed.
The first step is to just get an idea of what colors you have. You can use Col-o-ring cards to make a color wash and then label the swatch. I have added small codes on my cards. Since I sort my inks by brand in. my Col-o-ring and by color in my Col-o-dex, I use a simple “B” for bottle or “S” for sample so that I know how much ink I have of a specific color. I am in the process of adding additional symbols as well to increase my organizational acumen. The first addition is an “x” over the “B” or “S” if I’ve used up the ink (more specific to samples) or gave it away/sold it. I would like to keep the swatch card for comparison purposes so I don’t buy the same color again.
The next step is to make it easier to browse through bottles. Using two methods, I created ink swatch samples onto my ink bottles. Bottles that had large flat tops got a swatch cut from Col-o-ring paper using a 1″ circle hole punch. I attached them with E6000 adhesive or Super Glue (glue stick won’t adhere to the plastic caps). Let the paper dry completely before cutting out the dots so the paper doesn’t tear in the hole punch. Ask me how I know this?
For smaller bottles or bottles without flat caps, I use Col-o-ring Dippers to label my bottles. I dip the Dipper card into the bottle, add the brand and color name to the tag and then tie it around the neck of the bottle with string. Bonus: It makes each bottle look like a gift to myself.
Since I store my inks in an Ikea Alex drawer unit, labelling the bottles on the top make it easy to pull open the drawer and see the ink colors. Clearly, there are more bottles that need to be labelled but its progress.
Step Three: Purge
After inventorying, swatching and labelling your inks, you may discover you have some inks you don’t like or don’t want anymore. By going through this inventorying process, you can figure out what inks you might own in excess and where you may have a gap in your color spectrum.
If you discover you have samples you no longer want, spark up a swap with other pen fans. There are bound to be folks interested in a trade or swap on Pen Addict Slack, in any of the various Subreddits or Discord server. You might even find folks willing to swap or trade whole bottles of ink, just be sure to package them well and resist the urge to ship inks in the coldest times of the year as they do have a tendency to freeze. You could also sell excess ink.
With a current collection of over 600 bottles of ink, I realized that I have more ink then I could use in a three lifetimes. So I took on the challenge of reviewing and curating my ink collection to be a smaller, more easy to use collection. No one needs as many bottles of turquoise ink as I own.
While I love swatching and looking at all the colors, it was time to streamline the collection.
I’ve started the process of selling some of my excess inks. The first inks listed are from my Montblanc stash (Patrons got a first crack at the offerings, FYI). While I believe everyone should own one of Montblanc’s classic inks in a shoe bottle, unless the ink is a color you love and will use regularly, more than a couple is excessive (even for me). So I am keeping a smaller collection of Montblanc and selling off the rest. I’ll be continuing to list inks I’ve culled from my collection over the next few months and then I’ll probably do some ink sample grab bags because I have 100s of samples and nowhere to put them all.
Have you done a deep curation of your inks? What did you discover?
While working at the Dromgoole’s table in St. Louis, I was able to score both of the Sailor Manyo Limited Edition Dual Shading sets (4 each with 20ml bottles, $60).
On the Col-o-ring cap swatches, there is a bit more diversity in the colors of Set #2 but it’s definitely a more wintery feeling palette.
I have debated endlessly with myself which set I like more and I can’t decide. Which set is your favorite?
Besides being a great option to get several inks in one kit, the bottles are smaller than the regular Manyo line (each bottle is 50ml) so its also great if you prefer smaller bottles of ink.
Unfortunately, Dromgoole’s is currently sold out of these sets, hence the eye candy post rather than a full review. These sets are an overseas exclusive so when they sell out they are gone! Full-sized bottles of the Manyo inks are still available for $24 each (50ml) and some other online pen retailers may still have them in stock so if you want to get your hands on these, I recommend googling ASAP. They won’t last long.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Dromgooles for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
I’ve mentioned it a couple times with my Patrons that I’ve been on a bit of a stationery and ink declutter this summer. I’ve been going through my 600+ bottles of ink and attempting to pare it down to a more manageable number. Over the past year, I’ve discovered that I tend to favor a couple bottles of ink over everything else. I’ve even considered purchasing new bottles of the ink when I finish these bottles.
Alternately, other inks have languished for months or even years. It’s not that they are not beautiful colors its just that I am likely to have three or more similar bottles of ink.
I’ve become aware, over the years, my penchant for fine nibs limits the usability of inks that are lighter in color. Some lighter inks are often too light to be usable in a fine nib pen.
Also, 600 bottles is a lot of ink to store. I had it in my head that I could get the collection down to 100 bottles but everyone who knows me has laughed at my optimism. While I appreciate a good declutter, I also love having all the things I might need to make or create.
Over the years, I have gone on various adventures to fine the “perfect” grey ink, the one-true lime green ink and a mission to find the finest plummy purple color. This has left me with several, close-but-not-quite-right inks that have sat idle in my collection. I have also made various attempts made to bring a red or orange ink into my collection. I am just not a fan of red and orange inks. They’re pretty but I never want to ink up a pen with them.
Each month, I have been selecting a few brands and attempt to edit out some of the many bottles I own. So far, I’ve gone through my Montblanc inks,Robert Oster, and Sailor inks along with a few random inks. Patrons got early access to these sale inks but now I’m opening it up to regular readers of the blog.
This ink declutter/purge means that if you love red or orange inks, have been looking for that perfect grey ink or just want to try a lot of inks cheap, my loss is your gain.
If you’d like to get early access to sales like this or to participate in our monthly pen and book chat, consider subscribing to our Patreon.
Nicole S over on Pen Addict Slack asked me (and other pen community bloggers) to give a shout out for her survey on inks and whether they are wet or dry.
Nicole S is a physicist and has tamed up with a rheologist to look at characteristics of ink. Part of this is determining how people perceive the wetness or dryness of a particular ink.
Her request is simple, just fill out her survey here.
Rank the listed inks on a scale of 1 (extremely dry) to 10 (extremely wet) based on your own experience. If you’ve only used one of the inks, that’s fine, just rank that one. Used a bunch of them? Awesome, rank them all!The more FP users we can get info from, the better we can correlate our rheological results with the subjective ones, so please share the link and encourage your pen friends to participate.
Here’s to advancing ink studies and understanding!
Once again Mike at Inkdependence has teamed up with Pennonia to create an exclusive ink: Borahae ($13 for a 60ml bottle). I am on a mad kick for purple these days so this sample couldn’t have come at a better time. The ink is a deep rich violet purple with quite a bit of sheen.
Borahae is one sheeny ink!
Inks in order from top to bottom: Pennonia Borahae, Lamy Crystal Azurite, Waterman Tender Purple, Monteverde Mulberry Noir, Taccia Murasaki Purple, Colorverse 53 Haybusa, Diamine Bilberry, and Cross Violet
When compared to similar shades of purple, Borahae stands out as being a lot sheenier than most. While Lamy Azurite has a similar level of sheen, the color hue is different. Azurite is a bluer purple-violet. Borahae has more of a reddish undertone– under all that sheen.
Many of the inks I compared to Borahae, Monteverde Mulberry Noir felt closest but it did not have nearly the amount of sheen that Borahae has. Several of the other colors were brighter and more saturated. Depsite being a deep violet purple, there is something understated and a little dustier about the hue.
You can also add a little bottle of blue shimmer ($9 for 15g bottle) and add as little or a lot to the Borahae to give it a fabulous shine. I think selling the shimmer separate from the ink is a great idea and provides some flexibility to the end user depending on the pen or situation. Sometimes you feel like a little glitter, sometimes you don’t. I hope more companies offer this option.
Exactly how many bottle of purple ink does one person need? (Asking for a “friend”.)
DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this post were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
With a TWSBI Eco or 540/580, sometimes they don’t suck up a full reservoir worth of ink when dipping the nib into a bottle. Or… you are down to the last drops of ink or trying to fill from a sample. This problem can also arise with pens that use converters. I often have trouble getting a full fill in my Sailor Pro Gear pens.
When you encounter this problem, its nice to have an alternate method to fill.
something to support your sample vial, I recommend an Ink-a-Pet
rag or paper towel to wipe nib
pen or converter
ink sample or bottle
Depending on the pen model, you will need to either untwist the nib unit (580/540, etc) or pull out the nib and feed (ECO).
Start by plunging about some ink. No need to fill the whole syringe as it could lead to overfilling (that’s why its good to keep a rag or towel nearby).
Once you’ve got ink in the syringe, look and see the small hole at the base of the nib section (where the feed fits into the ink reservoir). That’s where you will put the tip of the syringe and fill the ink reservoir.
I used the Ink-a-pet to hold my pen upright and provide a “third hand” as I inserted the needle and slowly plunged ink into the reservoir.
You can stop filling at any point but if the goal was to fill the reservoir full, you may need to add more ink to the syringe and plunge a bit more.
Once completed, be sure to reattach the nib and feed and clean the syringe.
Filling a converter:
The same technique can be used to fill a converter. Once again, I fill the syringe though I make sure not to put more than 1 or 2 ml since the converter doesn’t hold much ink and too much ink will lead to spillage.
Once again, I use my Ink-a-pet to hold the converter once I filled the syringe with ink. Again, be sure to look closely to see the small hole in the end of the converter that connects to the feed. You want to be able to get the ink into the converter and not all over the converter collar.
Stop filling before disaster occurs and be sure to dab any excess before trying to insert the feed into the converter or it will leak over the outside of the converter and possibly stain the inside of your pen.
Again, be sure to clean out your syringe with clean water and store it safely for your next refill.
Easy, peasy! I hope this helps you use your pens and inks more easily.
DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Some items 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.
I don’t think it occurred to me that AI might ever rear its head into the pen and stationery community. Since so much of what we use in this community is hard goods and, often, very timeless goods at that, it does seem surprising that AI would ever be a topic we might discuss. However, Laura brought it to my attention that a recent release from Ferris Wheel Press The 2024 Aurorealis Limited Edition Ink utilized AI in its development and packaging design.
Notable design details:
By embracing new technology, we’ve used AI to help conceptualise Cybearnice’s high-fashion futuristic garb, complete with stylish damask details and anti-radiation technology.
The description definitely makes me wonder if the copy for their promotion of the product wasn’t also written by AI.
The addition of “anti-radiation technology” is seriously suss as well. Is Ferris Wheel Press suggesting other inks or inks from other manufacturers are radioactive? Even if its just supposed to be “playful” wording, I don’t think you should joke about radiation.
Beyond the oddness of the promotional copy, as a pen-and-ink consumer, are you more or less likely to purchase a product that you know to be created with AI?
More discussion about the Ferris Wheel Aurorealis ink can be found on Reddit.
Another pen show is now in the past – the California/LA pen show. Last week I joined the Dromgooles and Ana “Well-Appointed Desk” Reinert for several days in LA surrounded by pens, ink, paper, and an amazing group of people.
However, California wasn’t as sunny as I thought it would be…
Inside the hotel, however, I found Ana’s sunny face!
Of course, we had to dress alike. It’s important to pick a dress with pockets.
Ink. Everywhere. It’s hard to believe that the two and a half shelves of Wearingeul ink were eventually reduced to barely half of a single shelf.
Ink shelves are so beautifully neat and tidy just before the start of a pen show!
Stay tuned – the Baltimore show is the next stop over on the opposite coast starting March 1. Who will be joining us?
My question for everyone here – I have stood much new ink to fit into one single post. What should I review first? Wearingeul Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Anna Karenina, or Persephone? Ferris Wheel Press Sugar and Spite, ColorVerse Blue Dragon, Dominant Industry Old Man and the Sea, or Lamy Blackberry?
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