(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
I didn’t think I bought that many inks at the 2026 SF Pen Show but apparently I had 10 bottles! (This doesn’t even include other bottles of ink that I had pre-purchased but didn’t get muled to me until the show - those totally don’t count as pen show purchases, right?!) Now that I’ve recovered from the show AND from writing one of my longest recaps, I had some time to swatch some inks and make a wee dent in my swatching backlog.
This isn’t going to be an ink review, but more of a quick look with a few comparisons. The inks are sorted alphabetically by brand:
- Anderillium x Hello Tello, Alba Turquoise
- Colorverse x 2026 SFPS Pier 39
- Esterbrook x SakuraDragon Dark Cherry Wood
- Esterbrook x SakuraDragon Morning Skies
- Esterbrook x SakuraDragon Sleepy Burgundy
- Fog Cats Whiskers in a Hazy Dream
- Kobe x Vanness Hummingbird Green
- Leonardo Purple + Diamond Shimmer
- Papier Plume x Stationery Universe Lavender Nocturne
- Pinky Elephant Lavender Latte
Top row: Inks 1-5, bottom row: inks 6-10.
As usual, my swatching was done with a Kaweco clutch pencil holder with a Kakimori stainless steel dip nib and Col-O-Ring and Wearingeul swatch cards. Side note: Despite my best post-processing efforts in Lightroom, the exported pictures still don’t look as good as I’d like. I err on the side of swatch accuracy over the whiteness of swatch cards or accurate color or lighting of the writing mat/background.
Anderillium x Hello Tello Alba Turquoise was the one ink I didn’t buy, but was a gift from Jon Tello, who sells this ink at pen shows. This ink is a slightly green leaning turquoise, without being teal.
Inks similar to Alba Turquoise: Diamine Marine (touch too green), Kobe #48 Suidosuji Marchais Blue, and Robert Oster Torquay (both of which are every so slightly too blue but are very close matches).
Colorverse x 2026 SF Pen Show, Pier 39 gets its inspiration from the sea lions at Pier 39, a popular tourist destination. It is a medium dark brown with subtle green sheen in wetter swatches.
You can make out the green sheen in the large swatch. I like that it’s not overbearing and that you can tell the ink color is still brown.
Inks similar to Colorverse Pier 39: Kuretake Art Nouveau Mahogany Brown and Diamine Lion Rock (both have similar coloring and subtle green sheen), and Colorverse Dakota Thunder (a touch too red).
Esterbrook x SakuraDragon Dark Cherry Wood is a dark brown with a hint of reddish-purple undertones.
Inks similar to Dark Cherry Wood: Diamine Merlot (too purple), Robert Oster Hobart (too pink), and Robert Oster Australian Syrah (a bit too burgundy).
Esterbrook x SakuraDragon Morning Skies is a lovely chromashading blue with subtle purple shading.
Hard to tell from photos but you can kind of see the purple shading in the wetter spots.
Inks similar to Morning Skies: Dominant Industry x Cult Pens Sunrise (a touch too light in writing samples), Sailor Manyo Nadeshiko (darker and more purple), Sailor Ink Studio 143 (too blue).
You can see a bit more of the purple chromashading from the first three swatches from this angle.
Esterbrook x SakuraDragon Sleepy Burgundy is a shading, dusty burgundy ink that leans slightly dry when swatching.
Inks similar to Sleepy Burgundy: Callifolio Grenat (too red), Roher & Klingner Alt-Bordeaux (too reddish-purple), Robert Oster Australian Syrah (too red).
Fog Cats Whiskers in a Hazy Dawn (made by Monteverde) is a shimmering purple-blue chromashader with pops of pink in wetter swatches. I couldn’t capture the shimmer in my swatches though.
Look at how cute and cool this bottle cap and label are!
Inks similar to Whiskers in a Hazy Dawn:Sailor Manyo Nekoyanagi (swatches are similar but the writing is lighter than Whiskers), Vinta Simulan Lilac Dawn (a bit too blue), Dominant Industry x Cult Pens Dawn (too purple).
Kobe x Vanness Hummingbird Green is a rich, emerald green which can shade with slightly drier pens, or give a more saturated line from average to wetter pens.
Inks similar to Hummingbird Green: Bungubox x Esterbrook Kingfisher Teal (which is, as you might have guessed, too teal), Montblanc Homage to The Great Gatsby Green (too blue ), Montegrappa Green (the most similar of the inks I have swatched).
Leonardo Purple + Diamond Shimmer is a rich magenta that has rose gold shimmer. I didn’t notice the word “shimmer” on the bottle until after I finished the swatches, oops. 🙂
You can kind of make out the shimmer from this angle, but it’s much easier to see in person.
Inks similar to Purple + Diamond Shimmer: Sailor 50 States Louisiana (slightly too pink but is the closest match), Diamine Tranquility (bit too light and too pink), Van Dieman’s Harvest Beetroot Relish (too light and a bit too pink).
Papier Plume x Stationery Universe Lavender Nocturne is a dark purple that’s not quite dark enough to be purple-black. This ink also comes in a shimmering version.
Inks similar to Lavender Nocturne: Sailor Shigure (too blue), Monteverde Jungle Elephant and KWZ Grey Plum (both are very close matches with Jungle Elephant being a touch too dark).
Pinky Elephant Lavender Latte is a collaboration ink with artist Elda The of Thousand Skies and ink maker Tono & Lims. Lavender Latte is a medium coffee brown with purple undertones and periwinkle shimmer.
This is such a cool and different shimmer/ink combo - you can see the periwinkle blue shimmer in swatches but I haven’t been able to get it in writing samples yet.
Inks similar to Lavender Latte: Robert Oster Perth and Smokescreen (both didn’t have enough purple undertones, but Smokescreen moreso), Kobe 150 Purple Sepia (too dark of a brown and not enough purple).
Since I inked up a bunch of pens before the SF Pen Show, I wasn’t planning on inking any pens up with these inks, but I’m really looking forward to inking up Fog Cats Whiskers in a Hazy Dawn and a tie between Colorverse Pier 39 and Pinky Elephant Lavender Latte. Now that I’ve swatched these 10 inks, I’m going to use the momentum to swatch some more before heading to the Dallas Show in a couple of weeks. Until then, stay safe and stay inky!
(Disclaimer: All inks were purchased by me (except for Alba Turquoise), at the SF Pen Show.)
