Posts filed under Ink Reviews

J. Herbin Kyanite du Népal Ink: 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.)

A new limited edition shimmer ink is on its way as part of J. Herbin’s 1798 Anniversary Ink Collection. It is due to be released on June 21, 2019.

Kyanite du Népal is named after a mineral mined in Nepal. It is a deep blue color which J. Herbin has captured well in this ink.

Kyanite du Népal is a saturated blue ink that is more turquoise than purple on the color spectrum. The ink contains silver shimmer that complements the blue nicely.

In my testing on Maruman Septcouleur paper, the ink demonstrated good flow, shading, and shimmer in both fine and broad nibs. It dried fairly quickly, but the ink did not seem dry in any of the nibs I used. It is not colorfast.

The chromatography test doesn’t show much in terms of color variation. There’s a faint line of silver shimmer at the bottom, and the color ranges from light blue to turquoise to darker blue.

Obviously, shimmer inks show up best in wide nibs and splatters. That’s definitely true of Kyanite as you can see in the following examples. The shimmer is quite stunning.

Because the ink contains shimmer, the particles settle to the bottom of the bottle or within the barrel of your pen. It’s always necessary to shake the bottle or pen (capped, of course) before using the ink. I relegate shimmer inks to my less expensive pens, such as my TWSBI Eco, simply because I don’t want shimmer particles possibly clogging up my expensive pens. This is probably just paranoia on my part, since I’ve yet to experience clogging in my less expensive pens.

Kyanite du Népal is a gorgeous shade of blue with burgundy sheen and silver shimmer. It’s a bit darker than Diamine Blue Lightning (which also has silver shimmer), and Kyanite contains sheen in addition to silver shimmer which gives it more character than the Diamine, in my opinion.

You’ll be able to purchase Kyanite du Népal on June 21 from your favorite retailers. A 50ml bottle is $26.00.

(This ink was provided to Pen Addict for review at no cost by Exaclair.)

Posted on June 7, 2019 by Susan Pigott and filed under J. Herbin, Ink Reviews.

P. W. Akkerman SBRE Brown Ink: 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.)

Oh, how I adore brown inks. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because they remind me of chocolate and horses and fall (my favorite season). Maybe it’s because there are so many luscious shades that make me think of the browns, tans, and red dirt colors of New Mexico, my homeland. I honestly don’t think of myself as a brown ink sort of person, but when I find a brown I love, it’s what goes in my Nakaya Naka-ai Heki-Tamenuri or my Franklin-Christoph Coco and Creme or Autumn Oak pens.

I also love me P.W. Akkerman inks (though SBRE Brown is actually made by Diamine). Not only are the inks absolutely amazing (Shocking Blue, for example) but the bottles--oh, my, the bottles! Why can’t all inks come in bottles that look like a genie could emerge if you rubbed the top? Plus, the Akkerman bottles have a really cool system for drawing the ink into the bottle stem with a glass marble. Dutch engineering is awesome-sauce.

SBRE Brown Ink is, of course, named for Stephen BRE Brown, a well known ink aficionado with a popular YouTube video series. He discusses the ink in its current Akkerman Dutch Masters Bottle format here.

Akkerman SBRE Brown is a gorgeous brown that leans toward the orange spectrum. It is rich and wet with lots of shading and a bit of sheen.

As you can see in my ink test (on Maruman Septcouleur paper), the ink shades nicely even in a medium stub nib. The swab shows the richness of the color. It is not waterproof.

The chromatography test confirms that the ink contains mostly tan and orange colors.

In a super wide nib (I used my Handwritmic Pen), the ink shades beautifully and pools with lovely brown sheen.

Akkerman SBRE Brown fills a niche in my brown ink collection. It is unlike any of my other browns, as you can see in this comparison on Col-o-dex cards.

Akkerman inks are not cheap. You are paying a premium for the amount of (ink 60ml) and the heavy glass bottle. I think it’s totally worth it, as these inks are stellar in quality and color. Shocking Blue remains one of my all-time favorite inks. SBRE Brown is now my first choice for any of my brown pens.

You can purchase Akkerman SBRE Brown ink from Vanness Pens for $32.00.

(This ink was purchased from Vanness Pens with a reviewer’s discount.)

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Posted on May 31, 2019 by Susan Pigott and filed under Akkerman, Ink Reviews.

3 Oysters Ink Delicious Blue and Delicious Chilli Red: 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.)

3 Oysters Ink is made in Seoul, South Korea. The inks are formulated with pure, ionized water and dye-based colors. I received two colors for review: Delicious Blue and Delicious Chilli Red.

The inks come in glass 38ml bottles with black caps. The bottom corner of the bottle is cut so that you can angle the bottles for easier filling, though I’m not convinced the bottles are all that stable when angled. Thankfully, they are tall and deep, not squat and flat like Sailor bottles, so it’s easy to fill even large pens.

Delicious Blue

Delicious Blue is a basic blue ink leaning more towards turquoise than navy. It’s a rather flat color with a tiny bit of shading but no sheen. It’s definitely darker when I write with my Blue Pumpkin nib (in a dip pen) than with my Leonardo Stub nib.

In my initial ink testing, I used Maruman Septcouleur Paper which is a pure white 75gsm paper. Delicious Blue remains a consistent color whether you’re writing or swabbing. It is fairly wet and is not waterproof.

My chromatography test reveals that the color is a mid-range blue with a tiny bit of violet.

I also tested the ink on Tomoe River Paper and on a Life Renover notebook. It remains consistent on each kind of paper. In the second photo, I compared the Maruman paper with Tomoe River and couldn’t see much of a difference. Tomoe paper generally brings out sheen if an ink has any, and Delicious Blue does not.

Chilli Red

Although the spelling (“Chilli”) drives me to distraction since I’m from New Mexico and chile is chile, this color is definitely a hot red. In swabs it leans more toward orange than burgundy.

Like Delicious Blue, Chilli Red is a rather flat color that exhibits some shading but no sheen. Although the color is rich when I use my Blue Pumpkin nib, in swabs it washes out pretty easily, turning almost coral. This is also true for wider nibs, such as my super-wide Handwritmic pen used in the first Chilli Red photo above. It’s a very wet (even watery) ink that takes a long time to dry. It is obviously not waterproof.

Chilli Red is much more interesting when you do a chromatography test. It has lots of pink, dark pink, and orange.

The ink performed consistently on the Maruman paper, Tomoe River Paper, and in the Life Renover notebook. The second picture compares the ink on Maruman and Tomoe.

I’m sad to say that I’m not all that impressed with 3 Oysters ink, at least in these two colors. Both Delicious Blue and Delicious Chilli Red are flat, basic colors. You can get a bit of shading from them, but they don’t have any sheen at all (which may please those of you who don’t like sheeny inks). I’m also not too keen on how washed out Chilli Red becomes in wider nibs.

I’m not going to give up on 3 Oysters yet. I’d like to try some of their more interesting colors, such as Hwangto.

You can purchase Delicious Blue and Chilli Red from Vanness Pens for $18.00 (38ml) or $2.50 (4ml sample).

(These inks were purchased from Vanness Pens with a reviewer’s discount.)

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