Herbin has just announced Amethyst de l'Oural ("Amethyst of the Ural Mountains"), billed as the first ink in the new "Jacques Herbin 1798 Collection." Herbin fans will notice that both the packaging and the ink itself appear similar to the inks in the 1670 Anniversary collection, only this time the ink contains flecks of silver instead of gold! The end result is striking.
Herbin has widened the mouth of the bottle a bit, but otherwise the packaging will look familiar to those of you who enjoyed the Herbin 1670 Anniversary Inks.
Overall, Amethyste de l'Oural is a nice deep purple color, and the silver flecks complement the ink better than gold would have. Herbin has also widened the mouth of the ink bottle, making it MUCH easier to fill larger-diameter pens without having to decant the ink into another bottle or fill with a syringe. While I personally may not use these sparkly inks in my daily writing, I can't deny that they're gorgeous to look at, especially when used for folded nib lettering.
A shot of the silver sparkles and a bit of sheen
A couple of new interesting bits: Per Herbin, the date, 1798, marks the ascent of Napoleon and the end of the French Revolution, and also the time in which steel nib dip pens began to replace the traditional writing quill. You may also notice that J. Herbin has rebranded itself as "Herbin," the original name used by the company at the time of its founding in 1670.
Where to Buy
Amethyste de l'Oural is being shipped to retailers this month. It should be available for sale to the public by the end of September at any Herbin retailer, including our site sponsor Vanness Pens, which carries the line of standard Herbin inks, as well as the 1670 Anniversary inks.
Further Reading
I've previously reviewed Herbin inks from the 1670 collection, including Emerald of Chivor and Caroube de Chypre. Check them out if these kinds of inks interest you.
Disclaimer: Exaclair, Herbin's U.S. Distributor, provided me with this bottle of ink free of charge, for review purposes. This post also contains affiliate links.