Pennonia Inks Part 2

Pennonia recently released five new inks, all focused on shading. Thanks to Shigure Inks for sending these inks over for review!

Swabs:

Left to right: Bubblegum, Lichen, Danube, Balaton-blue and Lilac.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry Time: 20-40 seconds

Water Resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: medium-high shading, no sheen and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was a bit of feathering in every nib size as well as a little bit of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Bubblegum is closest to Tono & Lims Beside U.

Lichen is a little lighter than Vinta Sirena.

Danube is a little darker than Vinta Perya.

Balaton-blue is a little lighter than Sailor Ink Studio 243.

Lilac is lighter than Vinta Maskara.

Longer Writing:

I used a Taroko Odyssey notebook, all five inks had a dry flow.

Overall, these inks have some lovely shading, but they are rather dry. They can also be pretty light, especially in the smaller nib sizes. These aren’t must-haves for me, but they are fun to play with.

Disclaimer: These inks were provided by Shigure Inks for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored.

Ferris Wheel Press Claire Charger Set

I’ve been looking forward to trying some of Ferris Wheel Press’s fall charger sets (3 x 5ml ink vials). The Claire charger set contains 3 inks from the Fall 2020 collection. Thanks to Phidon Pens for sending this set over for review!

Swabs:

Left to right: Royal Rhubarb, Algonquin Maple and Autumn in Auburn.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry Time: 30-50 seconds

Water Resistance: Low-Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low-high shading (high shading on Autumn in Auburn), no sheen and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was lots of feathering in every nib size as well as some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Royal Rhubarb is brighter than Monteverde Napa Burgundy.

There are a lot of similar inks to Algonquin Maple including Monteverde Valentine Red.

Autumn in Auburn is close to Ink Institute Zhonghe-xinlu Line.

Longer Writing:

I used a Taroko Odyssey notebook, the first two inks had an average flow and Autumn in Auburn had a dry flow.

Overall, I enjoyed all three of these inks, they are some of my favorites from the Ferris Wheel Press lineup. I think Royal Rhubarb and Autumn in Auburn are my favorites out of the three.

Disclaimer: These inks were provided by Phidon Pens for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored.

Birmingham Pens Rich Inks

Birmingham Pens recently took all of their ink production in-house and they kindly sent me some inks to try out! Let’s take a look at three inks from the Rich series. Thanks to Birmingham Pens for sending these inks over for review!

Swabs:

Left to right: Voltaic Arc, Tesla Coil and Angelfish.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry Time: 60-100 seconds

Water Resistance: low-medium

Feathering: Low

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low

Other properties: low-medium shading, monster sheen and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was lots of feathering in every nib size as well as bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Tesla Coil is similar to Diamine Maureen. Angelfish is close to Diamine Jalur Gemilang.

Voltaic Arc is close to Van Dieman’s Twilight Zone.

Longer Writing:

I used a Taroko Odyssey notebook, all three inks had a dry and sticky flow.

Overall, all three had a sticky dry flow which isn’t my favorite, but very common with monster sheeners. Tesla Coil had some skips and Angelfish was drier than the other two. All three can be smeared after drying for hours. I like all three of these better than Organics Studio Nitrogen. I’m not a big fan of monster sheeners simply because they take a long time to dry and can be smeared, even days after drying, but if you love big sheeners this is a good option to try.

Disclaimer: These products were provided by Birmingham Pens for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored.

Pennonia Inks Part 1

Pennonia is a new-to-me brand, developed and made in Hungary. Let’s take a look at three inks from their standard lineup: Storm Cloud (Viharfelhö), Purple Shadow (Lila Árnyék) and Tihany Purple (Tihanyi Lila). Thanks to Shigure Inks for sending these inks over for review!

Swabs:

Left to right: Storm Cloud, Purple Shadow and Tihany Purple. Storm Cloud is a dark grey. I don’t know why Purple Shadow is named that since it’s a blue black color, and Tihany Purple is an unsaturated purple.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry Time: 30-90 seconds

Water Resistance: Low-Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low-medium shading, no sheen and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was a bit of feathering in every nib size as well as a little bit of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Storm Cloud is similar to Montblanc 90 Year Gray.

Purple Shadow is closest to Nemosine Pleiades Blue Black.

Tihany Purple is lighter than Van Dieman’s Spotted Sun Orchid.

Longer Writing:

I used a Taroko Odyssey notebook, all three inks had a wet flow.

Overall, I like Purple Shadow the best. Tihany Purple can be a little light in the smaller nib sizes, but it does well in a medium nib. I love that all three have a nice wet flow.

Disclaimer: These inks were provided by Shigure Inks for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored.

Ferris Wheel Press Evelyn Charger Set

Ferris Wheel Press does a great job at separating their collections into charger sets-3 x 5ml ink vials. The Evelyn charger set contains 3 inks from the Spring 2021 collection. Thanks to Phidon Pens for sending this set over for review!

Swabs:

Left to right: April Showers, Madam Mulberry and Morningside Mint.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry Time: 10-50 seconds

Water Resistance: Low-Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: medium-high shading (high shading on Morningside Mint), no sheen and silver shimmer (April Showers).

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was lots of feathering in every nib size as well as some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

April Showers is closest to Diamine Moon Dust.

Madam Mulberry is similar to Sailor Ink Studio 252.

Morningside Mint is similar to Sailor Ink Studio 160.

Longer Writing:

I used a Taroko Odyssey notebook, all three inks had a dry flow.

Overall, I love the color of all three inks, but Morningside MInt can be too light in most nib sizes. Even in a wet broad nib it’s still pretty light. All three are a bit drier than I prefer, but are great colors for a spring season.

Disclaimer: These inks were provided by Phidon Pens for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored.

Birmingham Pens Everlasting Inks

Birmingham Pens has recently taken all of their ink production in-house and they kindly sent me some inks to try out! First we are going to look at four inks from the Everlasting series. Thanks to Birmingham Pens for sending these inks over for review! Quick warning about these inks though: because they are pigmented they require more frequent cleaning. These inks are not meant to sit in pens for months at a time so for those of you who stink at good pen hygiene, these are probably not the inks for you.

Swabs:

Left to right: Compost, Black Spruce, Triple Sec and Ice Age.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry Time: 10-20 seconds

Water Resistance: Medium-Compost and Black Spruce and high-Triple Sec and Ice Age.

Feathering: Medium

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: no shading, no sheen and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was lots of feathering in every nib size as well as some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Compost is less saturated than these other black inks.

Black Spruce is closest to Lennon Tool Bar Firmament.`

Triple Sec is less saturated than these other oranges.

Ice Age is similar to Tono & Lims Yamanashi.

Longer Writing:

I used a Taroko Odyssey notebook, the first three had a wet flow and Ice Age had an average flow.

Overall, out of the four inks I think Black Spruce is my favorite and Triple Sec is my least favorite. I was hoping all four would be water resistant, but Compost and Black Spruce weren’t quite as resistant as I hoped. All four inks dried quickly, but like most inks that dry quickly there is quite a bit of feathering. None of these four are a must-have for me.

Disclaimer: These products were provided by Birmingham Pens for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored.

Van Dieman's Underwater Collection Part 4

So far we’ve covered most of the Van Dieman’s Underwater Collection. Today let’s look at the last four inks. I purchased my samples from Vanness Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: Deep Sea Diver, Sea Urchin, Sunken Treasure and Royal Starfish.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry Time: 70-120 seconds

Water Resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None-Low

Other properties: medium shading (Royal Starfish and Sunken Treasure), high sheen (Sea Urchin and Royal Starfish) and gold shimmer (Deep Sea Diver and Sunken Treasure).

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was lots of feathering in every nib size as well as some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Deep Sea Diver is a little more brown than these other shimmer inks.

Sea Urchin is closest to Monteverde Midnight Black, but Sea Urchin can look more purple in some lighting.

Royal Starfish is closest to Sailor Ink Studio 950, but its sheen is closer to Lamy Azurite.

Sunken Treasure is more blue than the other purple shimmer inks I have.

Longer Writing:

I used a Taroko Odyssey notebook, all four inks had a slightly dry flow.

Overall, out of the four inks I think Royal Starfish and Sea Urchin are my favorite. Both have high sheen but I didn’t have smearing issues with either one. I love the color of Sea Urchin-in some lighting it’s black, in the sun it’s more purple. The downside to all four inks is the long dry times.

Disclaimer: I purchased these inks myself. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored.

Ink Review #1555: 3 Oysters Doldam

3 Oysters Doldam is from the I.Color.U collection. I purchased my sample of ink from Pen Chalet.

The Color:

Doldam is a medium grey with shading.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink ranges from light grey to a medium brown.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: Low

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: medium shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was quite a bit of feathering and bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Doldam reminded me of Montblanc Oyster Grey at first, but when compared Oyster Grey is cooler-toned than Doldam. Click here to see the 3 Oysters inks together, and click here to see the grey inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a TWSBI Eco Cement with a broad nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, this ink is generally well behaved, and has some interesting shading. I still prefer Montblanc Oyster Grey over Doldam.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.

Ink Review #1554: Kobe 46 Nagisa Museum Gray

Kobe 46 Nagisa Museum Gray is from Kobe’s standard lineup. I’ve been meaning to review this one for quite a while, but never got around to it. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The Color:

Nagisa Museum Gray is a deep neutral grey.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks darker and has a little bit of black sheen.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, low black sheen, and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was quite a bit of feathering and bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Nagisa Museum Gray is closest to Van Dieman’s Federation Peak. Click here to see the Kobe inks together, and click here to see the grey inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pilot Custom 823 in Smoke with a broad nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had a wet flow.

Overall, this is a good basic dark grey ink-not too much shading or sheen, and a work appropriate color.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored.