September 09, 2023

Waldmann Xetra Vienna

September 09, 2023/ Kelli McCown

At the San Francisco Pen Show 2023, Waldmann had Stefanie Ottilie, an expert engraver, hand engraving the Waldmann Xetra Vienna pens. It was amazing to watch her work. She was so focused, even in a ballroom full of people and noise. Thanks to Luxury Brands for providing one of these pens for review! Most retailers carry this pen, but in different colors. You can find the White and Rose Gold at Goulet Pens. Atlas Stationers carries the Pink, Blue and Green.

The pen is sterling silver and 5.4 inches long when capped. The cap is a screw cap. The pen weighs 40 grams.

The pen is 6.5 inches when posted.

When posted the cap does not attach to the pen completely, there is a little gap in-between.

Now let’s talk about the cap. It’s gorgeous. It’s 2.4 inches long with a clip, hand-engraved.

The cap is so pretty that it deserves another close-up.

The medium steel nib is engraved with the Waldmann logo and the date 1918.

The section is a slip 8mm and has a very discreet step to the threads and barrel.

The nib is smooth and didn’t have any issues. It’s a very stiff steel nib, no softness or flex to it.

When inked with KWZ Chicago Blue (one of my favorite blue inks) the writing was smooth and enjoyable.

With cursive again I had no issues with the nib.

The section is a bit slim for my hands but that didn’t keep me from enjoying writing with it. I love the engraving and the length of the pen. I would absolutely purchase this pen, but probably in white or pink next time.

Disclaimer: This product was provided by Luxury Brands for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This post is not sponsored in any way.

September 09, 2023

Taccia Hiroshige Inks

September 09, 2023/ Kelli McCown

Let’s take a look at four Taccia inks from the Hiroshige collection. You can find these inks for sale at most retailers including Vanness Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: Ainezu, Asahanada, Ruri and Naka Murasaki.

Writing samples:

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

Dry Time: 20-50 seconds

Water Resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: Ainezu and Naka Murasaki had low shading. Asahanada had medium shading. Ruri had medium shading and medium red sheen.

On Walmart Pen + Gear copy paper there was some feathering in every nib size and some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Ainezu is a bit more grey than these other blue black inks.

Asahanada is lighter than Birmingham Monongahela.

Ruri is brighter than Diplomat Deep Blue.

Naka Murasaki is a bit more red than Birmingham Corona.

Longer Writing:

All of the inks had average flows.

Overall, Ainezu is my favorite out of the four, but I enjoyed all of them. They are lovely and well-behaved.

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

September 08, 2023

Akkerman 6-10 Inks

September 08, 2023/ Kelli McCown

Let’s take a look at five Akkerman inks. You can find these inks for sale at most retailers including Vanness Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: 06 Binnenhof Blues, 07 Koninginnelnach, 08 Diep Duinwaterblauw, 09 Laan Van Nieuw Oost, 10 Ijzer Galno.

Writing samples:

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

Dry Time: 50-60 seconds

Water Resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: All five had low shading.

On Walmart Pen + Gear copy paper there was some feathering in every nib size and some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

06 is a bit brighter than Octopus Blue Koi.

07 and 09 are pretty similar to each other.

08 is brighter than Monteverde Zebra.

10 is lighter than KWZ IG Blue #2.

Longer Writing:

All of the inks had average flows.

Overall, I enjoyed all five of these inks. They are great basic blues, and you can’t go wrong with any of them.

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

September 07, 2023

KWZ IG Blues

September 07, 2023/ Kelli McCown

Let’s take a look at five KWZ Iron Gall blue inks. You can find these inks for sale at most retailers including Vanness Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: IG Blue #1, IG Blue #2, IG Blue #3, IG Blue #5, IG Blue #6

Writing samples:

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

Dry Time: 40-90 seconds

Water Resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: All five had low shading.

On Walmart Pen + Gear copy paper there was some feathering in every nib size and few dots of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

IG Blue #1 is more grey than these other inks. IG Blue #2 is darker than IG Blue #1.

The ink gets progressively brighter the higher the number goes. #6 is brightest.

Longer Writing:

All of the inks had average flows.

Overall, I enjoyed all five of these inks. They do require a bit more care than the average ink because they are iron gall, but they are worth the extra work.

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

September 06, 2023

KWZ Blue Blacks

September 06, 2023/ Kelli McCown

Let’s take a look at two KWZ blue black inks: IG Blue Black and Blue Black. You can find these inks for sale at most retailers including Vanness Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: Blue Black and IG Blue Black.

Writing samples:

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

Dry Time: 40-50 seconds

Water Resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: Both had low shading.

On Walmart Pen + Gear copy paper there was some feathering in every nib size and few dots of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Blue Black is lighter than Bungubox 4B. IG Blue Black is darker than the rest of these inks.

Longer Writing:

I used Pilot Vanishing Points with a Taroko Enigma Notebook. Both had average flows.

Overall, I really like both of these inks. I prefer the color of the IG Blue Black over the regular Blue Black, but you can’t go wrong with either one.

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

September 06, 2023

PenBBS Season 27 Part 5

September 06, 2023/ Kelli McCown

Let’s take a look at four inks from PenBBS Season 27. I purchased my inks from Vanness Pens, but they are no longer carrying the brand so I’m unsure of where you can purchase them.

Swabs:

Left to right: 521 Heavy Snow, 522 Winter Solstice, 523 Slight Cold and 524 Great Cold

Writing samples:

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

Dry Time: 15-40 seconds

Water Resistance: Low-Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: All four had low shading. Great Cold had low copper sheen.

On Walmart Pen + Gear copy paper there was some feathering in every nib size and few dots of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Heavy Snow is lighter than Diamine Robert.

Winter Solstice is brighter than Diamine Music Strauss.

Slight Cold is similar to Colorverse Schrodinger.

Great Cold is less saturated than Robert Oster Thunderstorm.

Longer Writing:

I used a Mabie Todd Swan with a Taroko Enigma Notebook. All four had average flows.

Overall, I think Great Cold is my favorite out of the four-I just really like the color and it’s well behaved.

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

September 05, 2023

Esterbrook Aqua & Aqua Shimmer

September 05, 2023/ Kelli McCown

Let’s take a look at Esterbrook Aqua & Aqua Shimmer. Both inks have the same base but the shimmer version has gold shimmer added. You can find these inks for sale at most retailers including Vanness Pens.

Shimmer Version:

Aqua Shimmer is the same medium blue but with gold shimmer.

*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 just a little bit of 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: 60 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: medium shading, tiny red sheen, and gold shimmer.

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

Comparison Swabs:

Aqua is similar to PenBBS Su Wu. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Aqua Shimmer is a little bit darker than Diamine Jack Frost.

Longer Writing:

I used a Lamy Safari Turquoise with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, they’re a good basic blue. The shimmer version didn’t have any clogs. There’s nothing about these inks that makes them stand out from the crowd. I could take or leave them.

Thanks to all my Patrons! I couldn’t do these reviews without you! You can find my Patreon page here.

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

August 31, 2023

Ink Review #2292: Ferris Wheel Press Definitely Peachy

August 31, 2023/ Kelli McCown

Ferris Wheel Press Definitely Peachy was from the Summer 2020 collection. You can find this ink for sale at most retailers including Vanness Pens.

The color:

Definitely Peachy is a pale peach, right in-between pink and orange. It looks different depending on the paper used.

*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 pink.

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: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

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

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

Comparison Swabs:

Definitely Peachy is closest to IWI Grain Rain. Click here to see the orange inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a TWSBI Eco-T in Coral with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had a dry flow.

Overall, the color is interesting but in writing it’s way too pale and dry. It’s a no for me.

Thanks to all my Patrons! I couldn’t do these reviews without you! You can find my Patreon page here.

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

August 19, 2023

New Dominant Industry Inks

August 19, 2023/ Kelli McCown

Today let’s take a look at three new Dominant Industry inks: Evening, November Leaves and Winter Pine. You can find these inks for sale at most retailers including Vanness Pens.