Ink Review #2737: Ink Institute Affluent Dragon

Today’s ink is Ink Institute Affluent Dragon from the Spring 2023 collection. You can find this ink for sale at most retailers including Vanness Pens.

The color:

Affluent Dragon is a bright blue with 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 a little bit of sheen.

Writing samples:

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

*For my writing samples I use:

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: There’s some bleeding in the flex nib and swab on Rhodia, but I think that’s due to a flaw in the paper rather than the ink. I’ve had this happen with most inks on this most recent batch of paper.

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

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

Comparison Swabs:

Affluent Dragon is closest to Diamine Arctic Blue. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer Writing:

I used a Kaweco Sport Cyan with a fine nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink has an average flow.

Overall, this is a lovely ink. It has some nice shading, even in a fine nib.

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