(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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