Birmingham Pen August 2018 Ink Subscription

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Today we are looking at August's Pen Parcel, aka the Birmingham Pen ink subscription. Every month five new, 5ml samples hit my mailbox.

Left to right, Pelikan M805 Stresemann-M, Pelikan M605 White Transparent-M, Pilot Vanishing Point Twiligt-B, Twsbi Eco Pink-B, and Pelikan M800 Renaissance Brown-M.

Left to right, Pelikan M805 Stresemann-M, Pelikan M605 White Transparent-M, Pilot Vanishing Point Twiligt-B, Twsbi Eco Pink-B, and Pelikan M800 Renaissance Brown-M.

I'm so happy to say that Birmingham Pens got new sample bottles. These new ones are a bit bigger, but I love that they are still glass. The new ones do not have that plastic stopper like the old ones that spit ink everywhere, so I'm very happy with …

I'm so happy to say that Birmingham Pens got new sample bottles. These new ones are a bit bigger, but I love that they are still glass. The new ones do not have that plastic stopper like the old ones that spit ink everywhere, so I'm very happy with them.

Swabs:

Brunswick is a dusky teal, Monongahela River Luster is a beautiful blue with lots of silver shimmer, Cerulean is a medium dusky blue, Stage Velvet Luster is a dark purple with lots of silver shimmer, and Elegant Fuchsia is a dark fuchsia.

Brunswick is a dusky teal, Monongahela River Luster is a beautiful blue with lots of silver shimmer, Cerulean is a medium dusky blue, Stage Velvet Luster is a dark purple with lots of silver shimmer, and Elegant Fuchsia is a dark fuchsia.

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In large swabs, the ink does take a very long time to dry. Both of the luster inks are packed with shimmer, and need to be shaken before use.

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 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: Low-there was just a bit of feathering on Rhodia and Leuchtturm, mainly in the flex nib.

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: low-mostly in the flex nib.

Other properties: low to no shading, no sheen, and two shimmer inks. Monongahela River Luster and Stage Velvet Luster both have silver shimmer. Cerulean had the most shading out of the set.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was lots of feathering in every nib size as well as bleeding, so I would not recommend these inks for cheap paper.

Comparison Swabs:

Ink swabs for comparison, left to right (top to bottom for mobile RSS): Lamy Petrol, Birmingham Brunswick, and Robert Oster Velvet Storm. Click here to see the Birmingham inks together. Click here to see the teal inks together.

Birmingham Southshore Luster, Birmingham Monongahela River Luster, and Organics Studio Glycine Blue. Click here to see the blue inks together. 

Birmingham Cornflower, Birmingham Cerulean, and Birmingham Polar Bear. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Birmingham Violet Starling, Birmingham Stage Velvet Luster, and J Herbin 1798 Amethyste de L'oural. Click here to see the purple inks together.

Birmingham Carmine, Birmingham Elegant Fuchsia, and Platinum Lavender Black. Carmine is more red, Lavender Black is pretty close, but a bit lighter than Elegant Fuchsia. Click here to see the purple inks together. 

I used an ivory Hippo Noto notebook (Tomoe River 68gsm). The luster inks had good flow to them, and clogged less than the luster ink I got in july's subscription.

I used an ivory Hippo Noto notebook (Tomoe River 68gsm). The luster inks had good flow to them, and clogged less than the luster ink I got in july's subscription.

Overall, I think these 5 inks go well together. The past few months' inks have been lots of dusky blues, purples and dark reds, so in the future I would like to see something a bit different color wise-maybe a vibrant orange would be a nice surprise. Out of this set, Stage Velvet Luster is my favorite, it had a good juicy flow and didn't clog the pen.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links.