Ink Review #2349: Robert Oster Free Spirit

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Robert Oster Free Spirit is a Vanness Pens exclusive, in honor of their daughter Lauren.

The color:

Free Spirit is a bright turquoise with purple 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 plenty of shimmer.

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 purple shimmer.

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

Comparison Swabs:

Free Spirit is a little brighter than Van Dieman’s Icy Great Lake. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a Leonarado Furore Grande with a flex stub nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has a dry flow.

Overall, this is a lovely ink. It’s a little dry, but other than that it’s really well behaved.

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.

Ink Review #2348: ON Inks Millionaire Dream

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Today’s ink is ON Inks Millionaire Dream. This ink was given to me by a pen friend so I’m unsure of where you can purchase some.

The color:

Millionaire Dream is a medium purple that shades to 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 true purple less 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: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

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

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

Comparison Swabs:

Millionaire Dream is closest to Sailor Manyo Fuji. Click here to see the purple inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a Kaweco Al-sport in Red with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has a very dry flow-I wrote until the ink dried out.

Overall, the color is great and the shading is amazing but it’s too dry for me to use in long-form writing.

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.

Ink Review #2347: Pelikan Edelstein Apatite

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Pelikan Edelstein Apatite was the ink of the year for 2022 so I’m abysmally late with this post. You can still find this ink for sale at some retailers including JetPens.

The color:

Apatite 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 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: 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 some feathering and bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Apatite it a bit more blue than Sailor Ink Studio 464. Click here to see the teal inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a Kaweco Al-sport in Red with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has a dry flow.

Overall, this is a lovely ink. It’s a little dry, but other than that it’s really well behaved.

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.

Ink Review #2346: ON Inks Purple Heartwood

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ON Inks is a new-to-me brand that I’m excited to test out. This bottle of ON Inks Purple Heartwood was given to me by a pen friend so I’m unsure of where you can purchase some.

The color:

Purple Heartwood is a deep unsaturated violet.

*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 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: 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 bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Purple Heartwood is less saturated than Diamine Music Vivaldi. Click here to see the purple inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a Brooks Charleston with a medium monoc nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has a very dry flow.

Overall, I enjoyed the color but it’s too dry for me to use in long-form writing.

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.

Ink Review #2345: Platinum Chou Kuro

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Platinum Chou Kuro is touted as the darkest black ink-let’s test it out! You can find this ink for sale at most retailers including Vanness Pens. Thanks to Luxury Brands for providing this ink for review!

The color:

Chou Kuro is a deep matte black.

*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 no shading or 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: High-a tiny bit of pigment moves with the water so it’s not completely water proof.

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

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

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

Comparison Swabs:

Chou Kuro is closest to Octopus Black Elephant. Click here to see the black inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a Kaweco x Akkerman Al-sport in Navy with a medium nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has a wet and smooth flow.

Overall, I really like this ink. It’s wet and super smooth and dries to a dark matte finish. I’ll use this ink often.

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

Disclaimer: This product was provided by Luxury Brands 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.

Nagasawa Kobe Affection

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Vanness Pens recently teamed up with Nagasawa Kobe and is now carries their special editions in the United States. At the San Francisco Show I picked up a Nagasawa Kobe Affection Kyomachi Legend Blue 1911FL in broad.

The pen is blue-purple or “blurple” with subtle flecks of glitter and 5.5 inches long when capped. The cap is a screw cap. The pen weighs 26.8 grams.

The pen is 6 inches when posted.

The cap posts securely with no gap.

Now let’s talk about the cap. It’s 2.6 inches long with a clip. The cap band is engraved with Nagasawa Pen Style.

The broad 21K gold nib is engraved with Nagasawa Kobe and their rooster logo. The nib is numbered.

The section is a slim 1/3 of an inch and has a very discreet step to the threads and barrel.

The nib has a little bit of feedback, which is normal for a Sailor. It’s a very stiff steel nib, no softness or flex to it.

When inked with Monteverde Peace the writing was smooth with no flow issues.

With cursive again I had no issues with the nib.

There are a few inks that match the pen well.

I really enjoyed this pen, it’s a great size for my hands and the metal section wasn’t as slippery as I expected. I would absolutely purchase this pen again!

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This post is not sponsored in any way.

2300 Inks!

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We have surpassed 2300 ink reviews so it’s time for another favorites post! Today is the first day of fall so we’re going to focus on autumnal inks! Today I’ve been inking up all my favorite fall inks and pens.

Reds:

I love all four of these!

Pinks:

Pink isn’t really a fall color but there are still some good deep pinks.

Oranges:

Gimme all the orange inks in fall! Monteverde Fireopal is a favorite in the autumn.

Yellows:

I wasn’t a big fan of KWZ Honey when I first tried it but it has really grown on me and now it’s a favorite!

Greens:

I love all the olive greens in fall.

Teals:

Sailor Yama-dori is a long time favorite of mine. It’s just so good!

Blues:

Diamine Tudor Blue is probably my favorite fall blue.

Purples:

Colorverse Pillars of Creation is so under-rated! Why is no one talking about this ink?

What are your favorite fall inks? Let me know in the comments below!

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page and this post is not sponsored in any way.

Conklin Cool-toned Inks

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Let’s take a look at five Conklin inks. You can find these inks for sale at Vanness Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: Classic Black, Denim Blue, Kelly Green, Deep Blue and Israel 75.

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: Medium

Feathering: Low

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low

Other properties: All had medium shading. Israel 75 and Deep Blue had medium red sheen.

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

Comparison Swabs:

Classic Black is a little darker than Callifolio Noir.

Denim Blue is a little darker than Taccia Ainezu.

Kelly Green is similar to Diamine Spruce.

Israel 75 is a bit darker than Deep Blue.

Longer Writing:

All of the inks had average flows except Denim Blue, which had a dry flow. I used a Taroko Enigma notebook.

Overall, there’s a bit too much feathering and bleeding for me. They’re not bad inks, but not the inks for me.

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

Caran d'Ache Chromatics

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Let’s take a look at three Caran d’Ache inks from the Chromatics collection. You can find these inks for sale at Vanness Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: Vibrant Green, Magnetic Blue and Hypnotic Turquoise.

Writing samples:

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

Dry Time: 30-60 seconds

Water Resistance: Low-Medium

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: All had medium shading.

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

Comparison Swabs:

Vibrant Green is brighter than Robert Oster Evergreen.

Magnetic Blue is more blue than these other blue blacks.

There are lots of other similar inks to Hypnotic Turquoise.

Longer Writing:

All of the inks had average flows. I used a Taroko Enigma notebook.

Overall, all three are lovely and well-behaved. Magnetic Blue is my favorite out of the three just because I like the color.

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