A look into the Grey Matter

Grey inks are out there and some of them are great. I own some bottles of these grey inks as well as having acquired some in sample form. Do I have all of the grey inks out there? I do not. I do have enough greys to make a decent comparison though.

The inks we will be looking at today are:

• Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-Same
• Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun
• Noodler's Lexington Grey
• Montblanc Oyster Grey
• Private Reserve Grey Flannel
• DeAtramentis Fog Grey
• DeAtramentis Sahara Grey
• DeAtramentis Frankincense
• Faber Castell Stone Grey

Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-Same

This ink is light, I mean graphite light. Kiri-Same is a Japanese ink and translates to Autumn Shower. This grey is light in value much like a washed out grey autumn day. It is a little light for my tastes.

Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun

This grey is a more prominent blue-grey offering. Fuyu-Syogun is another Japanese ink and translates to Old Man Winter. This grey I do enjoy as it shades quite nicely and gives a great ombre effect between grey and blue.

Noodler's Lexington Grey

This grey is very interesting. When looking at the swab, it appears light in value but when you write with it, it is nice and dark. This is one of my favorite grey inks as it is dark and does not come out too weak and watered. The swab is misleading.

Montblanc Oyster Grey

Montblanc is a name associated with luxury in the pen community and this grey is much like Noodler's Lexington but reversed. The swab comes out darker than Lexington Grey but it is substantially lighter when written with. It is a decent grey and is most likely my third or fourth favorite grey in this lineup.

Private Reserve Grey Flannel

This is more of a greenish grey and has a bit of a wool like texture which I could see being flannel like I guess. This ink is ok but definitely anything I would purchase. I don't care for the color all that much as it does write darker than the swab but the consistency is too watered for me.

DeAtramentis Sahara Grey

How is this a grey? anyone? I put it in here as it is classified as a grey but seriously?

DeAtramentis Frankincense

This is decent. It is a solid grey color, nice in value. What I do not understand is DeAtramentis' naming conventions much like Sahara Grey. Frankincense is from a certain tree and is used mainly in fragrances but it naturally yellow/orange in hue, not grey. Where these names come up with DeAtramentis is beyond me.

Faber Castell Stone Grey

I really enjoy this grey and this is definitely my second favorite of this lineup eventhough it is a bit watered as most Faber Castell inks are. This is a solid grey hue and medium in value all around. A great grey offering.

DeAtramentis Fog Grey

A blue grey but very heavy on the blue. It is a decent color and very dark, which is nice but still heavy on blue rather than a bluish grey. Out of the three DeAtramentis grey inks here, this is actually a decent offering, if you like blue.

I do not have a writing sample of this one and I apologize.

There they are. These are the grey inks in my possession. If I were to rate them in order of my favorites with 1 being top and 10 being ick, it would look like this:

1. Noodler's Lexington Grey
2. Faber Castell Stone Grey
3. Montblanc Oyster Grey
4. Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun
5. Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-Same
6. DeAtramentis Frankincense
7. Private Reserve Grey Flannel
8. DeAtramentis Fog Grey
9. DeAtramentis Sahara Grey

This review and comparison is based solely off of my opinion and experiences. I am not being compensated in any way nor do I represent any of the above companies.