Sailor Ink Studio 442: 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 few months ago I reviewed my first Sailor Ink Studio ink: Sailor 123. It is a fascinating color that shifts and changes before your eyes. Around the time I bought Sailor 123, I also purchased Sailor 442 from a different retailer.

Sailor 442 is a blue ink with purple tones. On my Col-o-dex card, the swab looks like a basic blue, but there is some green sheen in the splats. Shading isn’t very evident on the card because my Brause Blue Pumpkin nib was pretty saturated. You can see better shading in my other writing samples.

I tested the ink on Rhodia dot-grid paper with three Lamy Vistas in different nib sizes and the 2.4mm Pilot Parallel (dipped). The ink is a medium to dark blue with good shading in wider nibs. The purple tone comes out slightly in the broader nibs, but is most evident in the water test. The ink dries quickly but seems well lubricated when you write with it.

Chromatography reveals all the different shades combined to create this ink (light blue, purple, lavender, turquoise, green, and yellow). It’s a shame these colors don’t show up in swabs or shading. Unlike Sailor 123, 442 is not a shade-shifting ink. It’s quite striking in chromatography, but rather bland in the nib.

Even in my Handwritmic nib, which best displays the color variations, shading, and sheen potential of an ink, Sailor 442 was disappointing. There’s a good amount of shading, but only slight hints of the color variations found in the chromatography test. On the Midori Cotton paper, sheen was not evident.

After the magical experience of Sailor 123, I must say I was disappointed with 442. It’s not that it’s a bad ink--it’s actually a very nice blue with good shading and medium wetness. I just expected more from this rather expensive little bottle of ink. I now know that only certain Sailor Ink Studio inks have the shade-shifting characteristics of Sailor 123. I definitely plan to purchase those. I’ve read that the higher the number given to Ink Studio inks, the more sheen they have.

For an amazing overview of all 100 Sailor Ink Studio inks, I recommend Mountain of Ink’s blog. Not only can you read about the collection as a whole, there’s a detailed review of each one.

I purchased Sailor 442 from an eBay seller for around $21.00 plus shipping. Now you can purchase Sailor Ink Studio inks at $18.00 a piece (plus shipping) from Dromgoole’s (though you have to do so over the phone).

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Cult Pens Diamine Christine Iridescink Review

I guess I’m a sheen ink guy now. At least somewhat.

For any ink that is created to exhibit properties on the more extreme end of the spectrum - sheen and shimmer, for example - I am cautious. That means, I stick with the big brands who have a track record of good inky behavior. Not only do I expect them to work well, they need to flow well, clean well, dry well, and not act odd on the nib or on the page.

Diamine is one of those brands I have had great luck with, so when Cult Pens asked if I wanted to review round two of their Iridescink collection, it was an easy yes.

The relationship between these two great British brands extends back for several years, beginning with the Deep Dark series. Those colors were a hit, and the Iridescink has turned this entire collaboration up to eleven.

Previously, I reviewed Maureen and Robert, the first two inks in the series. I love both, but I cannot tell a lie: I love Maureen the most. Sorry Robert! Maureen is a bright blue with a red sheen, so when I saw Christine’s formulation - blue black with red sheen - you could say I was excited. I’m happy to report Cult Pens and Diamine delivered another winner.

I used my TWSBI ECO 1.1 mm stub to test Christine with. The ink goes down dark on the page, and dries with a red sheen covering what seems to be around 90% of the line. Where the letters start, and the ink is thinner, a bright blue peeks out from underneath, making for a great result on the page. I’m biased, of course, because blue black ink with red sheen may be my single favorite every day ink option. (Note: Similar to my Maureen and Robert review, it is practically impossible for me to get a good picture of this ink.)

It’s this level of sheen that I am not used to. It shows up the best on sheen-favorable (aka long dry time) paper like Tomoe River and in my Yoseka notebook. On Rhodia, it’s not as pronounced and more of the blue comes out on the page, with some sheen around the edges. On Leuchtturm, it was darker with less sheen, but dried the fastest.

Rhodia DotPad

Cult Pens lays all of this out on the product page, stating:

“Sheen can be fickle. Everything has to be just right for sheen to show up, so we can't guarantee you'll see sheen when you write with these inks, but they give you a good chance in the right conditions. You need the right combination of ink, pen and paper.”

This matters if you want the full effect of Iridescink, or any sheening ink. Heck, this matters for any pen, ink, and paper combination. That said, Christine is a color I enjoy on any paper type so far. The next test will be if I like it in a fine nib, as opposed to a stub. My guess is I will.

Yoseka Notebook

As much as I have fawned over these inks, I have yet to discuss possibly the best part of all: The price. At £9.50 (just under $12) for an 80 ml bottle, they are practically giving it away. That makes biting the bullet on international shipping a whole lot easier.

I’m a fan of sheen when it is well-behaved. The Iridescink inks from Cult Pens and Diamine are exactly that, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

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

Diamine Gibson Les Paul Guitar Ink in Pelham Blue Burst: 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.)

Diamine produces inks in such a wide array of colors that it’s hard to keep up. But sometimes they offer collections of inks that follow a theme, such as the Gibson Les Paul collection. Each ink in the collection evokes one of the finishes of the Gibson Les Paul guitars. I received the version called Pelham Blue Burst. It is named after the color on this gorgeous guitar:

This is a Gibson Les Paul Studio 2016 T Pelham Blue Guitar. (image via Reverb.com)

As soon as I received my bottle of ink, I put it in a beautiful blue PenBBS Model 323 and have been writing with it for a couple of months. It’s a gorgeous deep blue that leans toward dark turquoise.

In my tests, the ink is simply stunning on Rhodia dot paper. Even in fine nibs there’s a bit of shading, and it only gets better in wider nibs. The ink is medium-wet, not too dry and not so wet that it smears when you write with it. The swab shows how dark the color can get--it actually spans a wide range of blues depending on the width of the nib. It is not waterproof.

On my Col-o-dex card, the deepness of the blue shows in the swab. I used a Brause Blue Pumpkin dip nib to write the name of the ink, and, again, you can see how dark the ink can get. What’s really intriguing is the sheen. The ink splats glow magenta and green.

Chromatography confirms the sheen found in the ink. There’s a good amount of pink/magenta, a bit of green, and, of course, blue.

I always like to test my inks with my Handwritmic ruling pen to see how they perform in a giant nib. Pelham blue definitely shines, with lots of shading variation and sheen where the ink pools.

I am quite taken with Pelham Blue. It’s an unusual blue with a wide range of hues depending on the paper, the nib width, and the wetness of the nib. The sheen is quite striking, but even in normal writing circumstances when the ink doesn’t pool, this blue exudes sophistication.

You can purchase Diamine Gibson Les Paul Guitar Ink in Pelham Blue from Goldspot Pens in a 30ml bottle for $7.50 or a huge 80ml bottle for $15.00.

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

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