(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.)
