Colorverse Lucky Galaxy Ink Review & Chromatography How-To

(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!.)

As soon as Lauren Elliott, AKA FlygirlElliott and Lucky Star Pens posted about the latest addition to the Lucky Star Colorverse lineup, I knew I had to buy one, which is exactly what I did at the recent Baltimore Pen Show. Colorverse Lucky Galaxy is the third exclusive release for Lucky Star Pens and was created to celebrate its 3rd anniversary. The prior two releases were Lucky Star and Lucky Star II. Like the other two before it, Lucky Galaxy is a shimmer ink, or what Colorverse calls “Glistening”. The ink comes in a 30ml glass bottle and sells for $20.

The 3 Colorverse x Lucky Star Pens inks: Lucky Star, Lucky Star II and Lucky Galaxy.

I inked up my trusty TWSBI Go with a Medium nib and used that for the writing samples on the Col-O-Ring cards. For the other writing samples, I used the Kakimori steel dip nib with 52 gsm and 68 gsm Tomoe River and Cosmo Air Light 75 gsm papers.

In large swatches, Lucky Galaxy leans more red than pink.

Writing sample on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper.

68 gsm TR.

Cosmo Air Light 75 gsm paper.

In the writing samples, the pink is more pronounced.

The shimmer is there but not in-your-face, which I like.

The turquoise/blue shimmer can make it look kind of blurple but what you see near the nib is the real ink color.

Lucky Star Galaxy had an average flow when writing but definitely took a while to dry on 68gsm TR. Dry times may be a bit slower on 52gsm TR or faster on papers like Rhodia, copy paper, Cosmo Air Light or with drier or finer nibs. The ink has blue/turquoise shimmer, minimal shading and no sheen.

Inks similar to Lucky Galaxy are Diamine Pink Glitz (gold shimmer), Diamine 2019 Inkvent (Blue Edition) Candy Cane (no shimmer), Sailor Ink Studio 731 (no shimmer but gold sheen), Colorverse #49 Felicette (no shimmer), and Diamine 2021 Inkvent (Red Edition) Pink Ice (silver shimmer.)

While I have similarly colored inks in my collection, it’s not often that non-gold or silver shimmer is used so I’m glad that Lucky Galaxy has a different shimmer. This ink sells for $20 per 30ml bottle on the Lucky Star Pens website, which is about the perfect amount for a bottle of ink.

BUT WAIT! There’s more!! Just when you thought this article was over, it’s not over!! I thought I’d share something new that I decided to do for ink reviews - chromatography! Basically, chromatography is a way to show the various components of a mixture (in this case, ink) as different parts get drawn up the strip via capillary action at different rates. As it relates to ink, this means chromatography allows you to see the colors that make up the ink.

What you need to do ink chromatography

• Chromatography strips - You can find them on Amazon - the ones I have (which are out of stock) are about 6” x 0.75”. I have not tried these personally but I have heard that white coffee filters (cut into strips) or even paper towels, can be used in lieu of chromatography strips.
• Cup - I use glass so there is no risk of staining if I accidentally get ink in there
• Rod - A chopstick, slim pen/pencil, wooden dowel, or in this case, a paintbrush, will work
• Clip - You will need a clip to secure the strip. I use binder clips because I can suspend the strip from the rod.

Wine glass (cuz I’m bougie that way), binder clip, chromatography strip, paintbrush.

How to do ink chromatography

1. Put some water in your glass
2. Depending on how tall your glass is and how much water you put in it, you may need to trim your strips or add/remove some water. You want the strip to touch the water a bit but you don’t want to submerge the ink.

Strip is on the outside of the glass so I can see if it will touch the water.

3. Draw a line across the strip about ½” from the bottom (does not need to be exact.)

Testing this outside the glass so I can add/remove water as needed.

4. Put the rod through the binder clip and rest it on the glass such that the strip touches the water, then you wait.

You can see the ink line is above the water line and is already beginning to “move up.”

Roughly 4 minutes in.

I waited until 5 minutes when the ink “stopped moving” before removing it from the glass. Duration of wait time will vary based on how quickly the ink is separating up the strip. If you wait too long, the colors may get too diluted and be harder to detect.

Letting the strip dry on a paper towel (no, those aren’t blood stains, just Lucky Galaxy!)

Closeup reveals a hint of shimmer at the base where I drew the line and basically pink ink throughout.

Contrast that with a multi-shading ink (or chromashader) like Sailor Manyo Fuji which shows shades of magenta/pink and blue, with a bit of yellow above the pink.

While chromatography isn’t necessary to enjoy inks, it is a fun way to see how similarly colored inks may have underlying differences that aren’t as noticeable in writing samples or ink swatches. I can’t wait to see my future ink chromatographies.

(Disclaimer: I purchased Lucky Galaxy ink at regular price from Lauren Elliott at the 2023 Baltimore Pen Show.)

Diamine Claret Fountain Pen Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Spring is in the air, and it's time for some bright and cheerful colors to get me out of the winter fog. I've recently been trying to step outside of my comfort zone in terms of ink colors. Diamine Claret is the first ink as part of this experiment. I normally go for blue, green, and purple inks that feature lots of saturation, shading, and bright character. On occasion, I also enjoy dark inks that are in the blue or blue-green shade. So, reds and pinks are really outside of my normal preference.

Magenta is always a tricky color for me to nail down. Is it pink, purple, or red? The answer is...yes. Depending on the color of the light in your environment, this ink can look more red or pink. In other cases where the ink has pooled, you can detect a hint of purple. It has a lot of character, and I've been surprised by how much it grew on me after writing a few lines. The color is red enough and dark enough to make it easy for me to use on a regular basis, and it has all the pop and saturation that I crave in my inks.

Diamine Claret is really well-behaved, which is something I've come to expect from any Diamine ink. It flows well, has plenty of lubrication while writing, and has a little bit of shading that pops out between the red and pink hues. On top of that, this ink dries really fast. In my tests, it was normally smudge-proof within 10 seconds. That time went up a few seconds for marks that had more ink pooled up, but it was always dry in 15 seconds. This isn't the fastest drying ink out there, but it's pretty respectable. Fast-drying inks isn't something that I look for, but I know that it's really important to many people and many different situations. This is a decent option if you want a magenta ink that dries quickly.

I chose think ink due to the bright color swatch on Goldspot's website. I figured that even if it wasn't a preferred color, it should still be loud and proud of what it is. Claret definitely delivers in this regard, but also provides some extra delight in the moderate shading that comes with it. I have some trouble identifying and/or naming specific colors in the pink and purple range, but I can easily tell that there is a nice amount of variation between different shades when writing with this ink. It's just enough to let you know that this isn't a wide gel pen — this is a nibbed pen that provides those beautiful little variances and pools of darker ink that collect in some strokes but not others. The more I've used this ink, the more I've come to appreciate and even love it. While it's not a preferred color by nature, it's quickly ascending the ranks of my favorite inks to use.

As the inaugural ink my experiment to push myself to use inks that are outside of my usual preferences, Diamine Claret is a strong and promising start. If you'd also like to try it out and add some spring-time colors to your life, you can pick it up in bottled or cartridge format. Bottles are available in 30ml or 80ml sizes, and the cartridges come in an 18-pack. I went with the 30ml bottle, and that came in at just $8. I'm pleasantly surprised by this cheery ink and look forward to trying more!

(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

---

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

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

Pairings Party: Onoto Scholar Highland, Ferris Wheel Press Central Park Greens

We stationery lovers love picking out perfect product matches. Whether that is a wooden pencil paired with a textured paper, or a fountain pen inked with a complimentary color, we all spend way too much time and effort getting things just right. It’s our nature, and we love it!

One thing I am going to start doing is sharing some of the pairings I make, especially when testing new fountain pens and inks. I have plenty of both that come across my desk, and do consider how products work together, even if it is mostly aesthetic.

I went matchy-matchy with this pairing of the Onoto Scholar Highland Fountain Pen, inked with Ferris Wheel Press Central Park Greens. The greens of both work well together, with the ink color bringing out the subtle shades of green in the acrylic pen barrel.

This is my first experience with the Onoto Scholar, from the classic British pen maker. Onoto’s original run as a manufacturer ran from 1905 to 1958, with the Onoto we know today re-launching in 2005, restoring these British-made pens back to their former glory.

As great as Onoto packaging is, I’m not sure I need two pen sleeves. The leather option is beautiful, but removing that and dropping the total price to under $250 might be an easier sell.

Modern Onoto pens are classically-styled, and feature amazing craftsmanship at many different price points. Up until the release of the Scholar, there wasn’t a dedicated introduction product lineup to the brand. To jump into an Onoto at a base-level would cost you somewhere in the $400-$500 range, but the Scholar brought that down to a more reasonable $270 price point, while keeping the high quality they are known for. Yes, that is still pricey, but is a far better solution for those wanting to test out the brand for the first time.

That’s what I’m doing with the Scholar, and it has been great in every way. This gold trim model (silver trim is also available) features a uniquely-patterend green and grey polished acrylic barrel and cap material, with a polished black grip section and top finial. The Fine Steel two-tone gold-plated Onoto #7 nib is rock-solid, with a firm feel and a smooth line. It works perfectly with the overall size and feel of the pen, which checks in at a mid-range 25 grams in total. It uses a cartridge/converter filling system.

This is a Fine nib, and was a wet writer out of the box.

As a fan of classic designs for modern times, I would be remiss if I didn’t call out the beauty of the Onoto chevron clip. That, in conjunction with one of the best logos in the business on the top finial, completes this British design wonderfully.

To match the Highland, I went with another first-time test in Central Park Greens. Despite being around for years, this is my first Ferris Wheel Press experience. This is a standard ink, with good flow, average shading, no sheen, and a moderate dry time. The green ink leans slightly yellow, but is more than legible on most pages. In short, it is an excellent writing ink, and a great choice for putting words on the page.

The Onoto Scholar comes in many classic solid barrel colors including the vintage-styled Mandarin, and Rosso-both of which harken back to classic fountain pen barrel colors found in the early 1900’s. Along with Highland, Onoto has done a fantastic job bridging design philosophies of old and new, and now price points as well.

I stuck the converter directly into the bottle to fill due to the small opening, and unbalanced bottle.

As for Ferris Wheel Press, the choice is endless. I will say, as great as the ink is, and as beautiful as the bottles are, they are some of the least functional from a pen filling perspective. Syringes or pipettes may be required for wider-barreled pens, and a more solid bottle base maybe be required, less you end up with an inky mess on your hands-or counter top.

This pairing was a party, and a fun way to look at two products together-especially when both products are new to me. I’ll be looking for ways to work in more pairings posts into future reviews.

(Vanness Pens loaned this product to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

---

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

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