Birmingham Pen September 2018 Ink Subscription
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Today we are looking at September's Pen Parcel, aka the Birmingham Pen ink subscription. I’m running a bit late for this one since it’s now October, but I figure better late than never. Every month five new, 5ml samples hit my mailbox.
This month’s inks go well together, and have a nice fall vibe to them.
This month the ink subscription switched from glass sample vials to new plastic vials, similar to those used by other US retailers.
Swabs:
Persian Copper is a medium brown, Carnelian Silk is a vibrant red, Golden Ale is a medium orange, Treetop is a medium green, and Sisters Azure is a lovely blue.
In large swabs, the ink looks less vibrant and has a matte finish.
Writing samples:
Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.
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: very low to no shading, no sheen, and no shimmer inks.
On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was lots of feathering in every nib size as well as some bleeding, so I would not recommend these inks for cheap paper.
Dry time:
Sisters Azure dried the fastest at 15 seconds, and Carnelian Silk dried the slowest at 40 seconds.
Comparison Swabs:
Ink swabs for comparison, left to right (top to bottom for mobile RSS): SBRE Brown, Birmingham Persian Copper, and Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi. Click here to see the Birmingham inks together. Click here to see the brown inks together.
Robert Oster Burgundy, Birmingham Carnelian Silk, and Robert Oster Clay Red. Click here to see the red inks together.
Diamine Autumn Oak, Birmingham Golden Ale, and Colorverse Golden Record. Click here to see the orange inks together.
Pelikan Edelstein Olivine, Birmingham Treetop, and Monteverde Jade Noir. Click here to see the green inks together.
Diamine Oxford Blue, Birmingham Sisters Azure, and Monteverde Sapphire. Click here to see the blue inks together.
I used an ivory Hippo Noto notebook (Tomoe River 68gsm). Top to bottom, I used: Pelikan M800 Renaissance Brown, medium nib, Pelikan M400 White Tortoise, medium nib, Montegrappa Copper Mule, fine nib, Conklin Durograph Forest, broad nib, and a Pelikan M805 Vibrant Blue, broad nib. All of the inks had an average flow except for Sisters Azure, which was a little bit dry.
Overall, these five inks go well together, and are great colors to use for fall. I appreciate that they match the season they are delivered in. Out of the five, Golden Ale is my favorite, and the most unique. I think September’s set is my favorite set this year.
Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and is not sponsored in any way.