Ink Review #2032: Private Reserve Midnight Blue

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Private Reserve Midnight Blue is from the Standard collection. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Midnight Blue is a medium blue.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks more of a denim blue.

Writing samples:

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

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: Medium

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Medium

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

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering and some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Midnight is similar to Van Dieman’s Bass Strait Cobalt. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pilot VP Black Ice with a medium nib on an Odyssey notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, this ink is alright, but there’s too much bleeding and feathering for me. There’s so many good blues out there that I just don’t need this one.

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

Ink Review #2031: Private Reserve Black Magic

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Private Reserve Black Magic Blue is from the Standard collection. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Black Magic Blue is a deep blue with a violet undertone.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks more purple than blue.

Writing samples:

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

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: Medium

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Medium

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

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering and some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Black Magic has a slight violet undertone and these other blues don’t. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing:

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

Overall, I enjoyed this color, I love the slight violet undertone, but there’s way too much feathering and bleeding for me.

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

Ink Review #2030: Private Reserve 2 Minutes to Midnight

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Private Reserve 2 Minutes to Midnight is from the Standard collection. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

2 Minutes to Midnight is a classic dark blue.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has a bit of shading.

Writing samples:

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

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: Low

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low

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

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering and some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

2 Minutes is darker than Ferris Wheel Press Jelly Bean Blue. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pilot Vanishing Point Wish with a medium nib on an Odyssey notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, this ink is a lovely color and I enjoyed the little bit of shading and sheen, but there is a little bit more feathering and bleeding than I like to see.

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

Colorverse Ham & Ham Glistening

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Colorverse Ham 65 and Ham Glistening come as a boxed set. These inks are available at Vanness Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: Ham 65 and Ham 65 Glistening.

Writing samples:

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

Dry Time: 15-20 seconds

Water Resistance: Medium

Feathering: Low

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low

Other properties: Ham 65 had medium shading and low red sheen. Ham 65 Glistening had low shading, low red sheen and red shimmer.

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

Comparison Swabs:

Ham 65 is more green than Robert Oster Carbon Fire.

Ham 65 Glistening is more green than these other blue shimmer inks.

Longer Writing:

Ham 65 had a wet flow and Ham 65 Glistening had an average flow.

Overall, both are nice inks but they do have a little bit of feathering and bleeding.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and is not sponsored in any way.

Ink Review #2027: Ferris Wheel Press Three Steamboats

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Ferris Wheel Press Three Steamboats is from the Summer 2020 collection. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Three Steamboats is a pale turquoise blue.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has a bit of shading.

Writing samples:

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

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: Low

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

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

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering but no bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Three Steamboats is a little bit lighter than PenBBS Eagles Over London. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pilot Custom 74 Teal with a broad nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had a dry flow.

Overall, I enjoyed this ink but the flow is a bit dry for me. The color can be a bit too light in the smaller nib sizes so I would stick to medium and broad nibs.

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

PenBBS Part 1

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Let’s take a look at three PenBBS inks: 44 Peacock Blue from Season 4, 66 Sea Blue from Season 6 and 111 Shanghai from Season 10.

Swabs:

Left to right: Peacock Blue, Sea Blue and Shanghai.

Writing samples:

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

Dry Time: 30-40 seconds

Water Resistance: Low-Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Peacock had medium bleeding.

Other properties: Low-medium shading

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

Comparison Swabs:

Peacock Blue is similar to Diamine Thunderbolt.

Sea Blue is close to PenBBS Break.

Shanghai is similar to PenBBS Cane Yellow.

Longer Writing:

The first two inks had an average flow and Shanghai had a dry flow.

Overall, Peacock Blue is my favorite out of the three just based on color but Sea Blue is the best behaved.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and is not sponsored in any way.

Ink Review #2023: Monteverde DC Supershow Blue 2020

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Monteverde DC Supershow Blue 2020 was released for the 2020 DC Pen Show. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

DC Supershow is a classic dark blue.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has a bit of shading.

Writing samples:

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

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 5 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: Medium

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Medium

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

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering and a few dots of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

DC Supershow is similar to a lot of other blue inks. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Kaweco Al-sport Petrol with an ef nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had a wet flow.

Overall, this ink is a nice color but has too much feathering and bleeding for me.

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

Ink Review #2022: Van Dieman's Spring Cloudburst

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Van Dieman’s Spring Cloudburst is from the Tassie/Seasons collection. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Spring Cloudburst is a deep royal blue.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has a bit of shading.

Writing samples:

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

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

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

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering and a few dots of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Spring Cloudburst is closest to Diplomat Blue. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pilot VP Twilight with a broad nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, this is a lovely blue ink, well-behaved and a nice color. The downside is that there are a lot of nice blue inks out there similar to this one. There’s nothing about it that stands out as a must-have.

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

Ink Review #2021: Pilot Iroshizuku Hana-ikada

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Let’s take a look at Pilot Iroshizuku Hana-ikada today. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Hana-ikada is a light cotton candy pink.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink is darker than it is in writing.

Writing samples:

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

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

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

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering and a few dots of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Hana-ikada is similar to Sailor Jentle Sakaura-mori. Click here to see the pink inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Diplomat Aero Antique Rose with a broad nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, this is a lovely pale pink. It can be rather light in smaller nib sizes so I would stick to medium and broad nibs to keep it legible. It’s different enough from Pilot Iroshizuku Kosumosu that I want both.

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

Ink Review #2020: Pilot Iroshizuku Sui-gyoku

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Last year Pilot came out with three new Iroshizuku inks so today let’s take a look at one of them-Sui-gyoku. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Sui-gyoku is a medium teal.

*For my swab cards I use a Col-o-ring by Skylab Letterpress, a medium Pilot Ishime and a Mabie Todd Swan.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has some red sheen.

Writing samples:

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

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 40 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

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

On 20 lb copy paper the ink had some feathering and some bleeding in all nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Sui-gyoku is darker than PenBBS Mentha Aquatica. Click here to see the teal inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Leonardo Furore Grande in Verde Smeraldo with a flex italic nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, I really like this ink! I love the color and it’s well-behaved. A full bottle is on my wish list!

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