DeAtramentis Louis XIV of France, Antique Pink: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

King Louis XIV of France was nothing if not a man of extravagance. He commissioned numerous portraits of himself, and had the Hall of Mirrors built at Versailles to commemorate his military victories.

Photo by Susan Pigott

So, it seems fitting that DeAtramentis chose to name this flamboyant pink color after Louis XIV.

Louis XIV of France (also called “antique pink”), is a lovely shade of pink. It’s not a subtle pink (just as Louis XIV was not a subtle king); rather, it is bright and cheery, much like pink roses.

I tested the ink using my Platinum Century 3776 with a fine nib. Platinum nibs are much finer than Western ones, so essentially the lines are like an extra fine. With such a fine line, you wouldn’t expect to find shading, and I didn’t. But the ink flowed well and had reasonable dry times. You can really see the rich color in the swab. The ink is not waterproof.

Chromatography demonstrates that this ink has little more than pink and dark pink in its composition.

I compared DeAtramentis Louis XIV pink with a few other pink inks I had on hand (I am clearly not a pink person, because I struggled to find four!). Each shade is rather unique, especially J. Herbin’s Rouille d’Ancre, which reminds me of well-worn ballet shoes.

Using my ruling pen, I wrote some nice big letters (with fabulous curlicues befitting King Louis). You can definitely see some shading using this large nib, though the ink doesn’t have any sheen.

King Louis of France ink is a good choice for anyone who wants a shade that is unabashedly pink. This would make a terrific Valentine’s Day ink. You can get a 35ml bottle from Vanness Pens for $14.00.

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De Atramentis Alexander Hamilton Ink Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

De Atramentis has taken their standard Aubergine color and put a dashing Alexander Hamilton on the label--giving an already popular ink a new wave of energy. I'm not usually into the relabeling of old products, but the De Atramentis themes are always a fun take.

This rich purple ink is nicely lubricated. I had no flow issues with it at all--and though it behaves like a very wet ink, the dry time isn't too unreasonable. It took about 22 seconds to dry completely on Rhodia paper, but it's relatively dry a bit quicker than that.

It's a very saturated color that doesn't show much shading. There is a little bit, but it's not a key feature with this ink. Chromatography shows that it's a bright pink and grey mix, and the dark tones of it do result in a higher rate of show-through on thin paper. I did not experience any bleeding on the papers I tried. When it pools, it has a subtle brassy sheen to it that is extremely lovely. I didn't see much of this sheen in regular writing, though--only in places where I deliberately tested for it.

One of my favorite features of this ink is its water resistance. It isn't advertised as having any resistance, but both my drop test and my wash test showed that this ink will survive a leaky water bottle or spilled cup of tea. While the pink tone washed away, the darker grey tone stayed put and the text was still easily readable.

While the color is the same as the Aubergine ink from De Atramentis, the shade itself is different from the other purples in my swatch collection. It has a magenta undertone that makes it a little more zippy than the more common dusty purples.

The popularity of Hamilton as an historical--and more recently, musical--figure has led to some scarcity of this ink. If you love the color, Aubergine is still more easily available. But the fun themed labels are worth the wait--and they make great gifts for fans and enthusiasts.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Two Kyoto Ink Reviews: Ohara’s Morning Snow and Hisoku

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

For Christmas Santa bought me some fabulous ink! (Well . . . actually, I ordered the ink and Santa wrapped it, but whatever). I asked for several Japanese inks. One was Kobe’s Mikage Grey (which I included in a review of grey inks here). The others were Kyoto TAG inks: Kyo-no-oto Hisoku, which is a limited edition ink, and Kyo-iro Ohara’s Morning Snow. These are inks produced by the TAG stationery store in Kyoto, Japan.

Kyo-iro Ohara’s Morning Snow

I fell in love with Kyo-iro Ohara’s Morning Snow when I first saw it on the Vanness website. The name comes from the soft purple shadows that appear in snow drifts on cold mornings (not that we have such days in Abilene, Texas, sigh). The color is a muted purple that can be quite dark in wide or flexible nibs and nicely subtle in finer ones.

I tested the ink using my Aurora Nebulosa with a medium italic nib (no flex). The ink shades well and writes beautifully, though it is a bit on the dry side. As you can see from the swipes, the ink can appear as a dark purple or (as in the swab) a dusky purple. It is not waterproof.

Chromatography reveals several colors in Ohara’s Morning Snow: dark blue, purple, lavender, pink, and light blue.

The ink exhibits wonderful shading and sheen in wide nibs, as demonstrated using my Handwritmic Ruling Pen.

But for normal writing, the ink is much more subtle, as you can see in these writing samples with my medium italic nib. The poem is by Christian Wiman who teaches at Yale.

##Kyo-no-oto Hisoku

I saw a swatch of Kyo-no-oto Hisoku on the Fountain Pen Network and went nuts over it. Poor Lisa at Vanness Pens got about a dozen emails from me about this ink. Fortunately, she was able to procure a bottle and got it to me in time for Christmas. Hisoku means “secret,” and this ink looks like something whispered in the wind. Unfortunately, it is a limited edition.

Hisoku is an unusal color. It’s not bright like a teal ink and it’s not dark like a blue ink. Vanness calls it a “steel blue.” I think it looks like the muted blues you sometimes see in Renaissance paintings. I tested it using an Omas fine extra flessibile nib. It exhibits gorgeous shading and the color is quite unique. It reminds me a little of Noodler’s Dostoevsky, but I like Hisoku better. The ink is wet and is not waterproof.

Chromatography reveals some of Hisoku’s secrets. It is a muted blue ink with some yellow tones.

Hisoku looks fantastic in a wide nib with excellent shading and sheen where the ink pools.

I wrote out a poem by one of my favorite poets (Mary Szybist) using my Omas pen, but something is wrong with the feed and the nib kept railroading.

So, I switched to my TWSBI mini with a 1.1mm stub. The ink performed well. It’s wet, but not deeply saturated, yet it shades beautifully.

I love Kyoto inks because they are soft, distinctive colors that evoke emotions in me that other inks simply do not. I can’t explain this. Perhaps the names of the inks create images in my mind that stimulate emotions. Perhaps the colors themselves remind me of fond memories. Either way, the inks are special to me.

You can purchase both Kyo-iro Ohara’s Morning Snow and Kyo-no-oto Hisoku at Vanness Pens. 40ml bottles are $28.00 and 4ml samples are $3.50[

(These inks were purchased from Vanness Pens at a discount with my own funds.)

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Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!