Robert Oster Signature Ink Fire and Ice: 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.)

I’ve reviewed several Robert Oster inks (Torquay, Tranquility, Astorquiza Rot, and Claret and Verde de Rio), but I’ve been looking forward to this review for a while. The first time I saw a swatch of Fire and Ice, I knew I must have it. Usually I order a sample first, but, nope. I ordered an entire bottle. This ink has two characteristics I love: it’s blue and it has amazing red sheen, thus the name “Fire and Ice.”

I loaded it up in my Visconti London Fog with a fine palladium nib. This nib has a little bit of flex to it, so I figured I would see some shading and sheen. I was correct. When I did my usual ink tests on Maruman paper, I noticed sheen in the writing and wherever the ink pooled. The ink is wet, as you can see from the dry times test. It is also not waterproof. It’s a gorgeous turquoise-ish blue with distinct red sheen.

The sheen shows up best in the ink splats, of course. Just look at that delicious color!

My Pilot Parallel 2.4mm really shows off the shading and sheen.

The chromatography test revealed pink, green and blue in the ink.

Fire and Ice is a spectacular color. You can see the fire (red) even with a fine nib.

I prefer this ink to J. Herbin’s Emerald of Chivor (review here), which is also a blue-teal with red sheen, plus sparkles. They are both beautiful inks, but, honestly, I don’t like sparkly ink anymore. It’s too high maintenance, and I don’t like having to constantly shake the pen to get the gold sparkles to appear.

Robert Oster Fire and Ice top; J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor bottom.

You can buy Fire and Ice at Vanness Pens for $16.00 for 50ml.

(I purchased Robert Oster Fire and Ice ink with my own funds.)

Two Robert Oster Signature Inks: Claret and Verde de Rio

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

I am a big fan of Robert Oster Signature inks, as anyone can tell from reading my previous reviews (Torquay, Tranquility, and Astorquiza Rot). Today, I’m reviewing two more Oster inks: Claret and Verde de Rio.

Claret

Claret is an ink color I thought I would really like. It’s obviously named for the wine, and in swabs it is a beautiful burgundy color.

However, writing with a medium nib, it is really more of a dusty mauve. I like the color, but it is not my favorite Robert Oster ink. It has some shading, beautiful gold sheen, but it is very dry, as you can see in the ink test.

The chromatography reveals some gorgeous colors—pink and blue.

But this ink is so dry, I don’t like writing with it. It seems to drag on the page, whether you’re writing on Maruman paper or Tomoe River paper.

But with a broad nib, the ink looks much more interesting.

Although dry inks can be excellent for pens with overly juicy nibs, I much prefer wet inks. Previously, I reviewed KWZ Brown-Pink, and I like that color more than Claret because the KWZ ink is much wetter.

Verde de Rio

Verde de Rio is a beautiful grass-green color. This ink is similar to Robert Oster Jade, but it is a slightly greener-green whereas Jade is more of a yellow-green.

In my ink testing, Verde de Rio is a medium-wet ink, with good shading in broad nibs and a little dark green sheen in ink spatters.

Chromatography reveals that the ink has a limited spectrum of color. In fact it almost completely washes out.

Verde de Rio is absolutely gorgeous in broad nibs.

I also used it with a brush pen and it’s very nice.

However, with my Franklin-Christoph medium SIG nib, the color is a bit too light for my taste.

You can buy Robert Oster Signature Ink at Vanness Pens, $16.00 for 50ml and $2.00 for a 2ml ink sample.

(I purchased these Robert Oster inks with my own funds.)

Robert Oster Signature Ink Astorquiza Rot: 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.)

Astorquiza Rot is named after Claudia Astorquiza who introduced Robert Oster inks internationally. “Rot” is German for red (I feel really dumb that I didn’t know that). The ink is a deep red that looks almost exactly like blood droplets.

In my Conid Minimalistica fountain pen with a flexible titanium nib, the ink comes out dark and nicely shaded.

Ink testing shows that the ink has a good amount of pink in it, especially when lightly swabbed once with a Q-Tip. But when you put down more ink with a swab, the color becomes a deep, glossy red. It’s a very wet ink and it is not waterproof.

The chromatography test shows that the ink is mostly reddish-pink with a hint of blue.

The ink writes beautifully and exhibits excellent shading. I did not detect any sheen on the Maruman paper I used for my ink tests, nor did I see any with my Tomoe paper. But in my ink splats, I found that the ink has a black, glossy sheen. It’s really pretty cool!

Now that the holidays are drawing near, you might want a rich red ink for letters and cards. Astorquiza Rot is a terrific choice. You can find this and other Robert Oster inks at Vanness Pens, $16.00 for 50ml.

(This ink was purchased with my own funds from Vanness Pens.)

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