About a month ago, I undertook the “10 Fountain Pens” prompt challenge, in which I pulled 10 fountain pens from my collection that I would keep “if I could only keep 10.” Rather than just photograph them, I decided to ink or re-ink all 10 pens, since I hadn’t used several in quite some time. The inks I chose were a combination of new inks I picked up in my recent travels, potential new additions to the shop, and classic favorites that fit the “if I could only keep 10” theme. Today I’ll talk about 3 of the latter.
Note: This post is about the inks. If you’d like to learn more about the pens shown here, please see the original “10 Fountain Pens” post linked above.
Compare the dry Citrus Black shown here to the wet ink shown below.
Ink No. 1: Platinum Classic Citrus Black (Montblanc 146 with Medium Stub)
Sometimes a drier ink needs a wet-writing pen, and vice-versa. This Montblanc medium stub can be a challenge to use as an everyday writer given how wet the nib is, but with the Platinum Classic Series (which use iron gall), I can use this pen on all but the absolute flimsiest copy paper without significant bleedthrough or feathering. My favorite of the Platinum Classic inks is probably Citrus Black, which is a pale yellow when wet but dries to a dark green-gold. Iron gall inks are useful for taming ink flow in overly wet writing fountain pens, as they tend to be naturally dry. Don’t be fooled if they appear light or watery when first applied to paper - as the ink dries, the iron gall content bonds to the paper and not only darkens as it oxidizes but takes on a degree of permanence, so if your writing ever gets wet it won’t be entirely washed away.
Platinum Classic Citrus Black, when first applied to the page and still wet.
Note the small amount of “nib creep” (ink pooling on the end of the nib). This is a hallmark of some permanent inks, and does not affect how the pen writes. To learn more about permanent inks and how they might affect (or not affect) your pens, listed to On The Paper Trail Episode 13 where we have a fairly extensive discussion on ink permanence.
Ink No. 2: Maruzen Athena Blue (Pilot Custom 823 with Medium Blade Grind)
The Pilot Custom 823 is a favorite pen, but since it uses a vacuum-filling system it can be hard to clean thoroughly when changing ink colors. For that reason I rarely have this pen inked with anything other than a blue or blue-black ink, and it can be a challenge to find a variation that holds my interest. My current favorite is Maruzen’s in-house Athena Blue, which is a darker blue ink that flows extremely well, does not feather or bleed, and is permanent. How permanent? I ran a sheet of paper under the faucet for a full minute and the ink barely ran at all. The downside? You can only get this ink at the Maruzen shops in Tokyo, Japan, and they don’t sell the ink online.
The Maruzen Athena Blue doesn’t dry to as vibrant a shade of blue as the Taccia Ruri, discussed below, but on the other hand it flows well and is permanent.
Ink No. 3: Taccia Ukiyo-e Hiroshige Ruri (Pelikan M800 with Medium Perspective Grind)
Another blue ink? You bet. I’m a huge fan of the Taccia Ukiyo-e line, and while most of those inks tend to be on the muddier, subtler side, my personal favorite is Hiroshige Ruri, a vibrant blue. Taccia inks have a balanced flow works well in most pens, dry relatively quickly, and have some of the absolute best box artwork in the business. I tend to never save packaging, but I still have all my Taccia boxes.
While this particular ink can sheen red on certain coated papers, the sheen does not overwhelm the blue and importantly, the ink still dries relatively quickly with little smearing.
Are you interested in learning more about pairing pens and inks, including how to adjust the writing experience by switching up your ink? In the latest episode of our Podcast (On The Paper Trail, Epsiode 14), Lisa Vanness and I discuss how pairing the right ink with a “problem” pen can turn a pen you never use into an everyday workhorse. While changing ink and paper can’t fix all problems (sometimes you need a grind or a nib adjustment), you’d be surprised at how far it can take you. In any event, the never-ending quest to find the “perfect” ink for favorite pens is just plain fun.
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