Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz - Ink of the Year 2017

Pelikan has a reputation for high quality products, whether it be a writing instrument or ink. I have tried Pelikan Edelstein ink before and I really enjoy the inks and when I heard about this one, I was super excited to try it. I love brown inks and this one is really nice.

Browns are fun to write with, in my opinion. When I was going through my inks to come up with some other comparisons for Smoky Quartz, I realized how many browns I have.

When looking at Smoky Quartz, it comes across as a true brown without any red undertones. Montblanc Toffee Brown is very similar to Smoky Quartz but a tad darker whereas J. Herbin Caroube de Chypre is very reddish in its brown. Private Reserve Ebony Brown is a nice dark brown but there are notes of green in it when compared to Smoky Quartz.

Smoky Quartz is a nice, rich brown color with some beautiful shading. The flow is high with Pelikan inks and this is no exception here. The saturation is good, and there is little to no sheen. It is just a delightful brown color.

On Rhodia paper, the color of the ink is rich and dark with nice shading. One thing that I really noticed was how quickly it dries on ink resistant paper. I noticed that it would be dried within 10 seconds of being placed on the page. That is fantastic.

Tomoe River paper also brings out the shading here, as it should and the dry times were also right around 10 seconds which is just phenomenal. What I found to be odd here is that the ink comes across a bit lighter on this paper compared to Rhodia.

If you like brown colored inks this one needs some consideration. Pelikan Edelstein inks are known for high quality and this ink is worthy of being the ink of the year! Hands down.

This review is based off of my opinions and experience. I do not represent Pelikan nor am I being compensated in any way.

Aurora Blue-Black Ink - My Thoughts

It is not all that often to run into a pen/ink maker that only has 3 ink offerings but Aurora is that brand. This blue/black ink is their third ink color offering alongside Black and Blue which are great inks. This ink has been making some waves in the community and a friend provided me a sample of this ink to play with. Let's take a peek.

First off, a very interesting color here. This is a piece of Mnemosyne paper with some ink applied with an eye dropper. A nice rich blue hue is there with some nice shadows and a dark sheen is there as well. Fascinating results.

I took a look at my ink supply and found three other ink colors to compare against Aurora Blue/Black. I chose Noodler's Air-Corp Blue/Black, Private Reserve Ebony Blue and Diamine Deep Dark Blue. Once again, quite interesting here. Aurora has some dark purple tones which implies some red whereas the Noodler's Air-Corp has more green in it which makes sense as it is a more military themed ink. Diamine Deep Dark Blue came the closest to the Aurora offering and Ebony Blue had a green tinge as well. All are nice dark blue colors but this Aurora color stands out as a favorite of mine.

On Rhodia paper, it looks great. This ink has a great flow, nice saturation and is a surprising shader since it is a dark ink. That was a surprise for me. Even being more of a wet ink, it doesn't take long for drying times and is a pleasure to write with.

Tomoe River paper actually brings out some sheen here and there. The pens used were a Jinhao x750 with a M nib and a Franklin Christoph 19 with a Medium Cursive Italic nib. The ink behaved much like on the Rhodia paper. We had great flow, nice dry times and shading with some sheen here.

Overall a very nice ink that is acceptable for professional use in an office setting or just some personal journal writing. It is not waterproof so it may not be a wise choice for anything needing to be archival. I really like how the black qualities of the ink are muted and the blue does shine through so it is not a super dark offering. I will be buying a bottle most definitely, as if I need more ink, but I am doing it anyways. Thhppfft!

This is based off of my personal experience and opinions. I do not represent Aurora in any way nor am I being compensated.

Robert Oster Fire & Ice - My thoughts Take 2

In my previous post, I went through my frustration with this ink and its refusal to sheen. I thought about it, I decided to buy a bottle anyways and guess what? Sheen for days!!

Now I completely understand the love of this ink and the reason it is so popular. The sheen is absolutely powerful, pronounced and gorgeous. The above example was written with an Edison M steel nib on Tomoe River Paper. Look at all the sheen with a M nib.

Ok, so it is odd that the sample didn't produce any sheen for me but the bottle does. Can you get a dud sample? Seems rather unlikely. This Cerulean blue ink is a wonderful ink. It shades, sheens, has nice flow and is a must own ink, in my opinion.

This post is based off of personal experience and opinion. I do not represent Robert Oster in any fashion nor am I being compensated in any way.

Robert Oster Fire and Ice - My thoughts

Robert Oster is a ink maker in Australia that really made a splash in the ink scene with Fire and Ice. I have seen the reviews and I wanted to try this ink myself so I received a sample and tried it out. My findings seem to differ from the majority of the internet.

 The special property of this ink and the reason for the name here is the red sheen that is to appear during normal writing. The main ink color is a Cerulean blue color which is more of a teal that is bluer than green. Sheen happens in highly saturated inks as not all of the dye can be absorbed by the paper so as it dries on top of itself, a different color is usually seen. This is sheen.

 This is Fire and Ice with the red sheen visable. This took some big drops to make it appear. I originally tried this ink with my Edison Collier with a M nib and no sheen was evident. Now, I have read some internet reviews that achieved some sheen with a F nib but I decided to try it in a Twsbi Diamond 580 with a 1.5mm nib.

 This did not achieve any sheen. This is a very wet nib and the paper here is Mnemosyne. Well, maybe the paper is the issue.

Nope, Rhodia didn't help either which was unsettling. Well, what should I try next? Oh, I know what to try. Voodoo paper which you know as Tomoe River.

Seriously? No sheen here either. What does a pen geek need to do in order to see some fire in their ice? The only other thing I can think of is this was a sample and perhaps a bottle would provide better results.

I do like the ink. It is a Cerulean blue, as I mentioned earlier and is quite similar to J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor, which is a teal but more green than blue. Emerald of Chivor is also supposed to have red sheen as well. I also tested this next to 2 other teals which are Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-Ro and Ku-Jaku.

Fire and Ice is much more blue than the comparable inks here. It shades nicely and is overall a great blue ink but what about the fire? Where is the sheen? Grrrr.

This review is based off of my own opinion and experiences. I do not represent Robert Oster nor am I being compensated in any way.

Inkjournal Ink Flight #2

Inkjournal strikes again with another Ink Flight box and this one was teased a bit as to what the inks would be. I took a gamble and was rewarded with inks I had hoped for. Let's take a look at the inks and the surprise included.

The clue for the upcoming inks were that they would come from overseas. Granted, that could reference Diamine, Bookbinders, Faber Castell, J. Herbin and many more brands but I had a gut feeling they would be Robert Oster inks. I was correct.

Robert Oster inks have become very popular recently and the most infamous would be Fire and Ice. I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in trying them out and I really like the color palette included in this Ink Flight.

Our Robert Oster samples for March are:

• Barossa Grape
• Fire & Ice
• Peppermint
• Cafe Crema
• Australian Sky
• Yellow Sunet
• Direct Sun

 

Along with the inks came a Robert Oster blotting card. 

It is a convenient and portable way to handle long drying ink when on the go and you need to hurry and close that notebook on a freshly penned note(s). Last month we had the micro fiber cloth and here is a blotter card. I love this.

Next was a surprise. Last month there was an InkJournal book for our ink cataloging needs but this month was a bit different.

Three Platinum Preppy pens with all of the supplies needed to convert them into eyedropper pens. Included are the pens with F nibs, o-rings, silicone grease and an eyedropper. Now, you may be sitting there thinking "well that is all fine and dandy but how in the heck would I do that!" 

Instructions are also included! Huzzah! This eyedropper kit was a welcome surprise and allows other pen enthusiasts to possibly try something new. 

InkJournal Ink Flight #2 is a success in my opinion. I paid $25.00 for this months offering and I believe I will be continuing to do so going forward. I really like seeing what is inside the box!

This post is based off of my experience and my opinions. I do not represent InkJournal in any way nor am I being compensated in any way.

Noodler's American Aristocracy - the Ink and History

When this ink first came out, I looked at the swatches online and didn't really give the color much thought as this is not normally a color I am drawn to. I then obtained a sample from the Ink Flight by Inkjournal. I will admit that the sample led me to buy a bottle and I am hooked. I love this ink and of course, there is a historical significance to this particular color. Nathan Tardif of Noodler's Ink is really good at that.

What I did not understand at first is why this ink has 3 different values of essentially the same hue. After looking into the story behind the ink's inspiration, it all came together.

Thomas Gage's son, Henry, purchased approx 19,000 bottles of wine for the purpose of gaining power, influence and notoriety from other aristocrats at the expense of excessive taxation from the common folk at the time. The wine consisted of three very popular vintages, which were a dark sherry, a port and a fortified wine named Madeira. Three different wines and three different wine colored ink hues.

These three colors are interesting. I only have one of the hues. It dries more of a plum/burgundy with notes of brown. I am unsure as to which wine I have but I really enjoy using it.

The other part of this ink is more of a message from Mr. Tardif, much like his Berning Red did for Bernie Sanders. To quote Nathan Tardif of Noodler's Ink:

"These reflect a series of plum burgundy hues – a very old style royal purple ink, traditionalist in tone due to the distance of the colonial era and age of the collective memory of it – yet fairly dramatic in the contrast of its lines upon the page.  Hopefully, the memory of that “ancient regime” may give pause to those who may otherwise be prepared to embrace a new one that is surprisingly similar in its motives and behaviors."

A definite jab at what we are currently experiencing here in the US. Politics aside, this is a lovely ink, regardless of which value or shade you receive. Each bottle is hand bottled which helps add to the uniqueness here. The bottles are not labeled, as far as I can see, to depict which ink color you are buying. I am happy with mine and I do love the historical inspiration that caused it to come to be.

This post is based off of my experience and my opinion. I do not represent Noodler's Ink nor am I being compensated in any way.

J. Herbin 1670 Inks "de-sparkled"

I have recently completed my collection of the entire set of the J. Herbin 1670 Anniversary inks known for their glittery components. There have been multiple reviews on each of these inks but I haven't seen one where the ink itself was used without shaking the bottle to include the glitter particulate. Let's do that.

After using these inks for a while, I found that the glitter was impractical for me. Sure, it adds a touch of whimsy to writing but what if you really like the color and don't want to spend the time cleaning out the feed afterwards. The answer is to not shake the bottle up prior to filling up your pen. These inks are highly saturated and are great flowing inks. 

Lexington Grey has been my go to grey ink for some time but Stormy Grey here has topped it. Great flow, deep dark color and an overall wonderful grey.

From a business perspective, I could use this for my office writing needs quite easily.

Emerald of Chivor is an interesting color. It is a very saturated ink that becomes green as it dries but really looks blue when it first visits the page. It is a gorgeous green color and I am a fan of the color green.

I now use this ink color in my green/black Pelikan M800 and this makes a stunning combo.

Rouge Hematite is a red color and I do not have a ton of red inks. I drug my feet on this color as red is not my most favorite but this is quite the red. It is heavily saturated and it is definitely stop light red. This can easily be used by teachers everywhere to the bane of the average student.

Now Caroube de Chypre I have reviewed before but this time we are looking at the non-glittery version. This is a reddish brown and is quite rich. The saturation is once again high but the flow and feel of the ink is wonderful. Montblanc Toffee Brown is still my go to brown but this is a close second.

I currently have this loaded in my Edison Mina Extended and it matches the cappuccino mesh acrylic very well.

Bleu Ocean is a very vivid blue ink color. The saturation really makes this blue sing. I have a ton of blue ink colors as it appears blue ink must be easy to produce as the market is drowning in blues. With that in mind, this blue is definitely in my top 5 blue hues.

This blue ink makes me smile. I have it loaded in my Platinum 3776 Chartes Bleu pen and the combination is perfect. 

Give these inks a try unshaken. Yes, they look very pretty with the glitter particulate included on the page but they are equally stunning on their own de-speckled selves. Oh, and they shade like crazy too!

This review is based off of my own opinions and experiences. I do not represent J. Herbin nor am I being compensated in any way.