Another Red Ink Review: Diamine Oxblood

June 6, 2015

Having the house to myself this past week means--what else--that I got around to inking up a dozen or so pens and writing up some ink reviews, including this review of Diamine Oxblood. I picked up the Oxblood at this year's Atlanta Pen Show from Vanness Pen Shop (where I bought all of my pen show ink purchases.)

Oxblood might be the best red ink I have used in a while. It's got incredible depth of color: a rich dark red with ever so slight brown undertones. If you're looking for a "blood red" ink, this might be your best bet. The ink dries quickly, doesn't bleed, and doesn't feather. Most important of all, it's a red ink that doesn't crust and gunk up the nib. (I'm talking to you, Visconti Bordeaux). My understanding is that this has something to do with the red and orange dyes used in certain inks. It doesn't bother many people, but it drives me nuts. Anyway, this one's going into the rotation. Especially when it looks great in a stub nib!

Diamine Oxblood Writing Sample comparison with Sailor Oku-Yama and Montblanc Bordeaux (vintage).

The Bung Box ink bottle is extremely attractive, and solves the problem many have with Sailor's regular ink bottles:  they are too shallow to fill a large-nibbed pen. — The Bung Box ink bottle is extremely attractive, and solves the problem many have with Sailor's regular ink bottles: they are too shallow to fill a large-nibbed pen.

A Rare Ink from Japan: Bung Box Blue Black

April 15, 2015

Following the blogs and Instagram accounts of pen enthusiasts based in Japan is a form of self-torture for me. They have everything we want but don’t have over here: a plethora of stores in seemingly every town where you can browse pens, ink, fine paper, etc. at your leisure. Each of these stores carries something special: an exclusive pen, fountain pen friendly stationery, and frequently, exclusive lines of ink.

Those of us stuck Stateside can only dream of having those options available to us. Most pen people who live outside of 3-4 major metropolitan areas must resort to online shopping and annual trips to pen shows. The horror. But drool in vain no more, because the good folks at Vanness Pen Shop in Little Rock, Arkansas have begun importing at least one line of ink made by Sailor for Bung Box, a small store in Hamamatsu, Japan. A couple weeks back, I picked up two bottles, the “4B” (which stands for Bung Box Blue Black), and the Sapphire Blue. Both are excellent inks, and 4B is hands down the best blue black ink I have ever used.

This is Sailor ink, so there’s nothing new here in terms of properties. It dries quickly, doesn’t smear, doesn’t feather on cheap paper, and is a good all-around low-maintenance ink that works well for daily writing. What’s so nice about this ink is the color. 4B has incredible depth, and leaves the reddish sheen on the page that certain Sailor inks are known for. I’ll let the handwritten review and a few photos speak for themselves.

Bung Box 4B is a very deep, rich color.  I prefer that my blue black inks be dark, as opposed to those that lean to the grey or greenish side of the spectrum. — Bung Box 4B is a very deep, rich color. I prefer that my blue black inks be dark, as opposed to those that lean to the grey or greenish side of the spectrum.

Here’s the big drawback, however: this ink is expensive. At $35 per bottle, Bung Box is priced higher than Pelikan Edelstein and Pilot Iroshizuku. It sits at the same price point as Caran D’Ache, which to me is expensive for ink. Regular Sailor ink runs at $15-17 per bottle (after a recent price increase), and even the Limited Edition Sailor Kobe Ink (carried by eBay seller CoolJapan) is priced at $19.99. Unless you’re a Sailor ink nut like me, I’d try out some of the less expensive and more readily available Sailor colors first before splurging on the Bung Box. The Kobe Ink comes in a huge range of colors, and while I haven’t tried it, I suspect that some of those inks are very similar to the Bung Box offerings.

Given that it will take me forever to use up 50ml of ink, however, I’m happy with my purchase and I consider my $35 well spent. As I mentioned, Vanness carries the full range of Bung Box inks, in addition to other imported ink lines such as Akkerman and Callifolio that, to my knowledge, are not available anywhere else in the U.S.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink with my own funds from Vanness, and was not compensated monetarily for this review in any way.

Why on Earth Did Sailor Discontinue Apricot?

April 1, 2015

Ever since we got the word last year that Sailor was discontinuing it's current Jentle line of inks, and, somewhat oddly, replacing them with new versions of inks previously issued as "limited editions", I've been mourning the discontinuation of Apricot, Sailor's orange ink. I understand that this is utterly nonsensical. I'm hoarding two or three bottles of the stuff, and since I've only finished one or two bottles of ink in the five years I've been in this hobby, this probably qualifies as a 10-year supply, if not more. (Some people may use orange ink on a daily basis. I don't.) Despite this, over the past year I've been searching for a suitable alternative to my Apricot, should I ever run out.

If you look carefully, in the background, you can see my newest ink obsession.

Enter the first pretender. Iroshizuku Yu-Yake is a perfectly good ink. It doesn't feather on my cheap office paper, it flows well, and it has a nice pure orange color that shades decently. So what's the problem with it? I'll show you:

This isn't a 100% accurate color reproduction, but it's close (Orange Inks are hard to photograph/scan.)  In this picture, the Yu-yake shows up a tad light, and the Apricot a shade darker, but the difference in vibrancy is accurate. — This isn't a 100% accurate color reproduction, but it's close (Orange Inks are hard to photograph/scan.) In this picture, the Yu-yake shows up a tad light, and the Apricot a shade darker, but the difference in vibrancy is accurate.

Yu-yake certainly doesn't have the same "pop" as the Apricot, and to be fair, Pilot probably intended Yu-Yake to be a completely different color. It's also somewhat unfair that I chose to show off the Apricot in a 1911 with a Nagahara-tuned music nib, but Apricot looks just as good in a fine nib. Iroshizuku does win out on the cheap office paper that I have to use on a daily basis at work, so I will probably keep this bottle around. Apricot tends to bleed through.

The hunt for a suitable Apricot replacement continues. But then again, what else do I have to do with my time and money?

Inks of New York: Noodler's Pinstripe Homage

March 11, 2015

I broke this out yesterday from my stash of inks that I somehow never got around to trying, and I really like it. I'm not anti-Noodler's. I don't necessarily buy the "these inks will dissolve your pen" arguments as long as you are smart about cleaning your pen periodically and use common sense with your fragile vintage stuff. For example, don't use a super saturated Noodler's Ink in a vintage celluloid pen that could easily stain. For most modern pens, I'll typically give Noodler's a go. (As with anything I say on this blog, YMMV, so use your own judgment with regard to what inks you're comfortable with.)

Pinstripe Homage has some of my favorite Noodler's artwork.

Anyway, back to this ink. Pinstripe Homage is one of the "New York Colors" that Noodler's manufactured for the former Art Brown International Pen Shop in Manhattan (may it rest in peace). Other colors included Subway Series Sepia, Manhattan Blue, and Brooklyn Brawn. Some of us out there appreciate the overarching baseball theme. Personally, I love this color, and can't believe that I waited this long to use it. I'd describe it as a darker blue black with hints of teal (dare I say a "dark Yama-Dori"?) I also like the fact that this ink dries quickly and doesn't bleed, though it will feather a bit on cheap paper, like most Noodler's inks.

People have also compared this ink to Iroshizuku Syo-Ro, another "teal-black" ink.

Unfortunately, as far as I know this ink is not available anymore. I picked up my bottle from Goldspot, who bought Art Brown's remaining stock when the shop closed. If anyone wants to do an ink sample trade for some of this, reach out!

Ink Review: Aurora Blue

February 17, 2015

If I have a pen loaded up with "basic" blue ink for work, there's a good chance it's Aurora Blue. I prefer the Aurora ink to Waterman's Serenity (formerly "Florida") Blue; the Aurora has a depth and richness of color that the Waterman does not, without sacrificing any of the properties that make Waterman ink the “go-to” ink for vintage pen users and restorers.
By the way, if you’re a fountain pen user and have not heard others sing the virtues of Waterman “Florida Blue” (as it was formerly known), it’s generally considered one of, if not the, safest inks out there, in that it does not stain pens or clothes, behaves well on the vast majority of papers, and won’t melt your fountain pen. While I’m no chemist, and make no representation as to whether or not Aurora Blue has a similar chemical composition, in my experience Aurora ink (black or blue) is low-maintenance and safe. I’ve never had a problem with it in any pen.

Takeaways If You Are Considering This Ink

If you need a solid, well performing blue ink for professional use, you can’t go wrong here.
Aurora Blue does not feather, bleed, smear, or ghost on most papers. It dries quickly, even on the slick Clairefontain paper and Exacompta index card stock that I use to write my reviews.
The one “con” I can come up with is price, and I know I’m being nitpicky here. Aurora ink is generally priced at $15–18 for a 45ml bottle. That’s more expensive than Waterman ink (approximately $11 for a 50ml bottle). I do like the Aurora bottle very much, in that it is tall and makes it easy to fill a pen with a large nib.
NOTE: Aurora Blue is a very deep violet blue, with noticeable purple undertones, especially when the ink is wet. If you don't like purple inks, you may not like Aurora Blue. (In the interest of full disclosure, I would write with purple ink on a regular basis if I could get away with it, but many of the documents that I have to sign daily must be signed in blue ink, so this is my best option.)

While this bottle of Aurora Blue is from my personal collection and was purchased with my own funds long ago, our sponsor PenChalet has a good price ($15) on this ink.