Every bottle of KWZ Ink has a handwritten swatch on the label. More often than not you get a very accurate idea of what the ink looks like dry.

KWZ Inks: A New Favorite

July 13, 2016

This year I made the decision to move most of my ink reviews over to my Tumblr blog, www.bottledup.ink, and to start writing ink reviews in a much more abbreviated format. I did this for a couple reasons. First, there are a number of people out there who do far more comprehensive ink reviews than I was ever able to put together, so in terms of this blog, it seemed like a better use of my time to produce other kinds of content. Second, I honestly was getting a bit bored with the lineup of available fountain pen inks and wasn't having as much fun writing the reviews. Sure, there were still some unique colors out there, but it was getting increasingly expensive to chase "uniqueness" in the form of limited editions that were starting to run upwards of $35 per bottle.

Enter KWZ. KWZ is manufactured in Warsaw, Poland by Konrad Zurawski, a PhD student in Chemistry. KWZ inks originally attracted attention for their lineup of modern iron gall inks in a wide range of unique colors, such as Mandarin Orange and Turquoise. I'm not aware of another company that offers ink like this: previously, with iron galls you were limited to blue blacks and the occasional "dusty pink/purple", such as Rohrer and Klingner Scabiosa. While I don't personally own any of the KWZ iron gall inks, I've tested them out at pen shows, and it seems as though KWZ has managed to create an iron gall ink that flows well. (The one knock on iron gall is that traditionally, it can write very dry.)

NOTE: If you are unfamiliar with Iron Gall ink and its properties, please read the ENTIRE disclaimer on the Vanness website. TLDR version: iron gall ink, while famous for its ability to change color as it dries, can be corrosive, and while the iron gall content in KWZ ink is probably not high enough to damage modern gold or stainless steel fountain pen nibs and parts, it's not a good idea to leave these inks in a pen for weeks at a time, or to mix these inks with non-iron gall inks. I'm not trying to be alarmist - I use a couple iron gall inks on a regular basis, including Platinum blue black and the old school Pelikan blue black - you just have to practice good fountain pen hygiene.

KWZ Green Gold, in a Lamy 2000 Stainless Steel medium cursive italic ground by Mark Bacas.

Personally, I'm enamored with KWZ's standard line of inks (i.e., the non-iron gall variety). I purchased my first bottle (Green Gold) at the 2016 Atlanta Pen Show, and soon after placed an order for two other inks that caught my eye: Brown-Pink (yes, that's a real color) and Honey (it looks exactly as you'd expect Honey-colored ink to look).

A macro shot of KWZ Brown Pink on Leuchtturm dot grid paper.

Behavior-wise, these inks tick all the boxes I look for: they flow well, they don't feather or bleed on relatively cheap paper, and they dry quickly with no smearing. Seriously, all three of these KWZ inks have near-instantaneous dry times, which I love when I'm taking quick notes at work and have to be able to flip the pages without worrying whether or not I'll end up with a smeary, unreadable mess at the end of the day.

A macro shot of KWZ Honey on Leuchtturm dot grid paper.

But as it always is with inks, it really comes down to the color. For work, I prefer muted, offbeat colors that don't scream off the page. The Brown Pink could best be characterized as a burgundy with purple tones. It's a nice color that I've used regularly. Honey resembles J. Herbin's Lie de The, only it's a slightly warmer color with less green. The Green Gold is how I expect my "moss green" or "racing green" ink to look. It's not watery like some other inks I've tried in this color (Stipula Verde Muschiato and Papier Plume Moss Green come to mind). Though I'm someone who rotates inks a lot in his pens, these three have seen a lot of repeat use lately.

Where to Buy

Vanness Pens is the only U.S.-based retailer I'm aware of that stocks KWZ inks, and they always maintain a wide selection in stock, though Honey and Brown Pink tend to sell out quickly. KWZ ink is also reasonably priced, at $12 for 60ml.

My Favorite Ink Brand

May 11, 2016

While I'm on the subject of favorites, I thought I'd do a quick recap of my favorite brand of ink: Sailor. Confession: I own nearly all of the current "standard" Sailor Jentle inks (everything except Tokiwa Matsu, which is essentially the same as the old Epinard), as well as multiple bottles of the "old" Jentle inks and several special editions manufactured for Japanese retailers Bung Box and Kobe Nagasawa. When it comes to Sailor inks, I have a problem.

My favorite color? I can't pick just one, though the inks that get the most use are the blues: Bung Box Sapphire, and Sailor Jentle Nioi-Sumire and Souten. However, now-discontinued Apricot holds a special place in my heart, and many people obsess over the teal green Yama-Dori due to its red sheen when it dries on the page.

Why do I like Sailor inks so much? It's a combination of deep, slightly offbeat colors, the fact that I've found the inks safe to use in pretty much any pen, and that they write really well on cheaper papers. In a finer nib, I've yet to discover any paper on which Sailor ink won't perform at least decently. Kiwa Guro nano-black will even write fairly well on a Moleskine and in Field Notes pocket notebooks.

A bottle of the special-edition Bung Box Sapphire.

Some people enjoy Sailor inks for their collectibility, and try to collect the various inks that Sailor bottles for Japanese retailers. The two most famous are the lines that Sailor manufactures for Bung Box (Hamamatsu, Japan) and Kobe-Nagasawa (Kobe, Japan). These are also the most widely available: Vanness Pens in the United States regularly carries Bung Box, and occasionally, Massdrop will run specials on specific colors. For the Kobe Inks, you likely will have to go through eBay (retailer CoolJapan) unless Vanness restocks them. Other special edition Sailor inks (such as those manufactured for retailers Kingdom Note and Maruzen) probably require you to use a purchasing service like White Rabbit Express, if you don't know someone living in or traveling to Tokyo who can pick up the ink for you. I've not gone this route, so I can't advise regarding how easy/difficult White Rabbit is to use, and whether it ends up being cost effective.

The Bad: The Bottle

One of my favorite things about purchasing Bung-Box inks used to be that they came in this vase-shaped bottle.  Apparently, this bottle is not manufactured anymore, and Bung Box inks now come in the standard Sailor bottle. — One of my favorite things about purchasing Bung-Box inks used to be that they came in this vase-shaped bottle. Apparently, this bottle is not manufactured anymore, and Bung Box inks now come in the standard Sailor bottle.

Nothing's perfect, and Sailor ink is no exception. What's the one thing I would change? The bottle. Sailor inks come in a short, wide bottle that can be difficult to use with larger-nibbed pens. I've even had trouble from time to time getting Sailor pens to fill completely if the bottle is less than half full. At one point, I hoped that Sailor would permanently move to the taller, vase-shaped bottle they used for certain of their Japanese special editions, including Bung Box, but these bottles have since been discontinued. (Why, Sailor? WHY!?)

Final Thoughts

If I could encourage someone new to fountain pens to try a single brand of bottled ink, it would be Sailor. The colors are fun, unique, and most important of all, can't really be duplicated elsewhere (and certainly not in any ink that's available in cartridges). I know I keep going back to this, but one thing that's really important to me is performance on cheap paper. For many people just starting out with fountain pens, they haven't yet discovered or stocked up on higher-end paper, and they can become easily discouraged with inks that tend to feather and bleed through anything other than Rhodia or Clairefontaine. Sailor as a brand performs better than most.

The standard Sailor Jentle line is also relatively inexpensive for such high-quality ink that comes in a range of colors. Retail pricing is anywhere from $12 (for standard blue, black, blue-black) to $18 for Yama-Dori, Souten, etc. Pigmented inks such as Kiwa Guro are priced at a slight premium (around $21), but if you are looking to import the special Japanese editions, be prepared to pay as much as $43 per bottle. Occasionally, Amazon sellers will have specials on specific colors. For example, you can currently snag a bottle of Yama Dori or a bottle of Shigure (purple) for less than "full retail".

Why have I personally focused on finding a "favorite brand" of ink? When you find one that you can load into any pen, without worrying about how that ink will perform on basically any paper, then it adds an entirely new level of satisfaction to your writing experience. I easily could see myself start using Sailor ink exclusively.

But how about you? What are your favorite ink brands? I'm interested to see what people's thoughts are.

DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, through which I may be compensated a small amount if you purchase something from any of the sites linked to in this article. While I'd greatly appreciate it if you use these links to purchase an item you are interested in, you are, of course, under no obligation to do so. Many thanks!

Diamine Terracotta is an excellent ink.  Check out my review over at Bottledup.ink. — Diamine Terracotta is an excellent ink. Check out my review over at Bottledup.ink.

BottledUp.Ink: Where My Ink Reviews Went

May 6, 2016

You may have noticed that I've been doing fewer ink reviews on this blog. That's because I've mostly moved them over to a Tumblr I run, Bottledup.ink, though so far I've done an extraordinarily bad job letting you all know that. I've recently posted a couple ink reviews (mainly photographs) of Sailor DoYou and Diamine 150th Anniversary Terracotta over there, so please check it out.

Sailor DoYou is another very dark brown that I've been enjoying.  A full review is up on the TGS Tumblr. — Sailor DoYou is another very dark brown that I've been enjoying. A full review is up on the TGS Tumblr.

I made the decision to give ink reviews their own site since it seems like there is less demand for them than other kinds of content, and as a result I was having a hard time justifying fitting them into the rotation. Also, I've set the Tumblr up so that you readers can submit your own ink reviews if you so desire. So far, nobody's taken me up on that offer, but the invitation stands!

If you follow me on Instagram, I periodically post ink-related stuff over there, and anytime the Tumblr is updated you should get a notification if you follow me on either Tumblr or Twitter.

Happy Friday!

The First Tumblr Review is Sailor Bung Box Tears of a Clown

Introducing the TGS Ink Review Tumblr!

February 26, 2016

I've been struggling to get ink reviews up regularly on the main site, and have been looking for a way to make it easier to write up quick posts in a form that's longer than TwInstagram and shorter than a full-on blog post. I also wanted to use a format that makes it easy for you all to share your own ink reviews if you so desire. That's right! The TGS Ink Review Tumblr is open to submissions. Check it out here. For now, the name will be "gentlemanstationer.tumblr.com", but if anyone has any creative ideas, please feel free to share them. I will pay you in ink samples.

Hopefully I'll be better about getting my inks posted and reviewed regularly if I'm not chained to having to do it on an actual computer. Sorry Squarespace, but your mobile editor isn't the greatest. Plus, Tumblr is easy to post to remotely, and submissions are easier to manage. Hope you enjoy!

Five Black Inks

January 23, 2016

Since pretty much everyone in the Eastern United States is snowed or iced in this weekend (well, except maybe you South Georgians and Floridians), I can probably guess what the readers of this blog have been doing. For my part, I inked up a bunch of pens with every black ink I own to do a comparison. I don't use a ton of black ink, but when I do, I want something that doesn't smear and isn't gray--nothing annoys me more than something being labeled a black ink and getting home and realizing that what I actually have is a washed out color that looks like water I used to rinse pens in. So here goes.

Sailor Kiwa-Guro Nano-Black. One of my top five fountain pen inks for everyday writing. I'll have to actually do a proper review of this ink one day, but this is my "writes-on-anything-and-is-permanent" black ink. It's pigmented ink, so you have to be diligent about cleaning it out of your pens on a regular basis, but it doesn't feather or bleed, and best of all, it holds an extra-fine line in my Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black. Kiwa Guro appears very dark once it's dry on the paper, and has a matte look to it once it's dry. I do try to avoid using this ink in pens with very wet nibs. Because it's a pigmented ink, the pigment can smear if it "pools" on top of the paper, so I use this ink nearly exclusively in my fine and extra-fine Japanese nibs.
Aurora Black. The blackest-of-the-black inks. If you pressed me to name one relatively inexpensive, well-behaved and widely available black ink that works well in all pens, both vintage and modern, I would tell you to go buy a bottle of Aurora black. For this same reason, if you forced me to pick a single ink--of any color--with which to be marooned on a desert island with a lifetime supply, it would probably be this one.
Lamy Black. This is where my list gets interesting, and where I'll preemptively answer the inevitable question: "Why the heck do you have five bottles of black ink, if they are all essentially the same color?" As most hard-core pen addicts know, however, even though an ink might be labeled "black," that doesn't mean there isn't any variation. Both Lamy Black and the next entry on this list, Delta Black, are "black" inks, but the Lamy has hints of green, and the Delta has undertones of dark blue/purple. Lamy inks offer excellent value, and they come in a cool bottle with a roll of blotter paper.
Delta Black. I have two bottles of Delta black, and I've paid for neither (at least not directly). A small bottle of Delta black ink is regularly given away as a "freebie" to pen show attendees, and more often than not a bottle is included with the purchase of higher-end Delta pens. Many people's reaction is that this is somewhat boring SWAG, but I carry one of these small bottles of Delta ink in my briefcase because it's a great go-to ink in a pinch. The ink behaves nicely and works well in every pen I've tried. I also really like the black with purplish undertones.
Roher & Klingner Leipziger Schwartz. I have a sample vial of this ink that I purchased from Goulet Pens, but I'm waiting for the next R&K Massdrop pick-three, because I'm going to stock up. I don't know how to even begin to describe this ink, other than as "complex." It's definitely a "black," but on the page it looks completely different from any of the other four inks listed here. It has the blueish/greenish/purplish undertones of the Lamy and the Delta inks, but it's much darker. I like it, and it may give Aurora Black a run for its money as the top "black" in my arsenal.

I've cycled through A LOT of black ink in this hobby. I've used up some bottles; sold off others, and settled on keeping the inks listed here, so I guess you could take this as my "Best Black Inks" list. On a final note, I expect that some people will be surprised that I have not included Noodler's Black and Noodler's Heart of Darkness on this list. These are extremely popular inks, and if you are looking for absolute permanence at a value price, you should consider them. Since I use a lot of celluloid pens, both vintage and modern, I try to stay away from super-saturated ink like Noodler's and Private Reserve. (I also avoid using pigmented inks such as Kiwa Guro in celluloid pens.) In my experience, these Noodler's black inks are so saturated with dye that they smear very easily and take an exceptionally long time to dry. You can dilute them with distilled water to make them manageable, but that's more trouble to me than it's worth. I do, however, really like Noodler's Dark Matter, which while not "bulletproof", has a cool story behind it, dries fairly quickly and I've found it well-behaved on most papers.

DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, through which I may be compensated a small amount if you purchase an item from certain of the sites linked to in this article. While I'd greatly appreciate it if you would support the site by using these links to purchase something you are interested in, you are, of course, under no obligation to do so. Many thanks!

Where to Buy

Further Reading

The Bad: The Bottle

Final Thoughts

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