Ink Review #1856: Van Dieman's Cradle Mountain Grey

Van Dieman’s Cradle Mountain Grey is from the Colours of Tasmania collection. This ink is available in 30ml bottles. This ink was recently reformulated but I finished this review before the new version was released. The old version is still available at some stores. You can find this ink for sale at Vanness Pens.

The color:

Cradle Mountain Grey is an unsaturated deep grey.

*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 almost 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:

• EF Pilot Vanishing Point

• F, M, B Pilot Ishime

• Vintage Mabie Todd Swan (flex nib)

• Rhodia Goalbook

• Taroko Enigma notebooks (68gsm TR)

• Leuchtturm A5

• Pen & Gear Paper from Walmart

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Medium

Feathering: Medium

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low

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

On 20 lb copy paper there is a little bit of feathering and bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Cradle Mountain Grey is closest to Colorverse Costar. Click here to see the grey inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pelikan M205 Moonstone with a fine nib on a Taroko Breeze notebook. The ink had a slightly wet flow.

Overall, this ink is a nice color but there’s too much feathering and bleeding for me.

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