Fountain pen Ink review ~ Sample Smash 2
This is a bunch of inks I have really enjoyed using!
Diamine Night sky with Leonardo Officina Italiana Furore (B)
If you’re like me and don’t really understand why there are so many black inks out there or why people get so excited about finding the blackest of black inks, then this is the black ink for you. Honestly, how hard can it be to make a black ink? This is a black ink, but with shimmer! To me, a far more interesting concept. Naturally, it’s still water soluble so it’s not exactly document ink or legal/non-tamper ink but if you don’t care or need that function, this is a black that’s just far more interesting.
Like most Diamine inks, it’s very well behaved, It wrote wonderfully, no hard starts or inconsistent shimmer and flow was good. I’ve used it journaling and this doodle is on a ClaireFontaine notebook, it’s never bled through or even ghosted to the other side.
Here’s the chromatography:
I am DEFINETELY not a chemist and so my understanding of chromatography is limited. I do it mostly because it’s pretty! Using my basic understanding, I am fascinated at how many colours and components go into making this ink — I see 3: the glitter, black and yellow(?). Naturally the “heavier/insoluble” glitter is left where I pasted it on. Whereas, the other components travelled nicely with the water solute. It’s interesting to note that this ink’s disc size is also smaller than the other Diamine inks I’ve tested, similar to the Robert Oster Rose Gilt Tynte I tested. To me, this is therefore a “heavy ink” — it wasn’t long before the water surpassed the ink. But unlike the unruly RO ink this is well behaved, so there goes my crappy theory out of the window!
Colorverse Andromeda with Leonardo Officina Italiana Furore (B)
This is another fantastic ink from Colorverse. Initially I thought it was just another pink ink, but it’s so much more than that! Using a juicier nib this ink shades wonderfully. Even in my doodling you can see how by putting layers on top of each other the shading looks great. Great art ink. Apparently this ink is supposed to sheen, my ink sample didn’t and I definitely couldn’t appreciate any sheen with simple writing. I really enjoy long form writing with this ink, it’s very pleasing and gentle to the eye, especially on good paper. Both this ClaireFontaine and my TomoeRiver notebook show this ink beautifully and I really enjoy it.
Have I been using it at work? Yes. You can see from the doodle it contrasts really well against the RO Tranquility ink and our prescription paper is basically this colour, so yeah, my signatures “POP” beautifully. From the smear you can also see it dries pretty quickly, so little chance of smudges on docs.
Forgot to chromatography this guy — I used it all up! Sorry!
Robert Oster Tranquility with Leonardo Officina Italiana Furore (B)
As much as I didn’t initially like Rose Gilt Tynte I really enjoyed this right out of the bottle! It’s a very good writer, but naturally you need a juicy wide nib to show off the pink sheen along the edges of its’ greeny/blue oceanic colour. With my Furore Broad nib, I could appreciate some shading and certainly when I write long form in my journal it’s really pleasing and gentle on the eye with lots of shading.
I’ve never had bleeding, ghosting or feathering issues with this ink on both ClaireFontaine and my TomoeRiver notebook. Neither on crappy copy paper either to be honest.
Here’s the chromatography:
I honestly think this chromatography pic is a thousand words. The darker blue on the outside must be the reason it shades so wonderfully and the earthy greeny/blue colour is surely the reason it’s so pleasant to the eye. And here’s my stupid theory again — it’s a “light” ink (unlike Rose Gilt Tynte) hence no flow/hard start issues? I dunno… just my stupid theory…
Definitely an ink to pull the trigger on.
Organic Studios Santiago Sea Blue with Leonardo Officina Italiana Furore (B)
What can I say? Wow! Now that’s what I call sheen! This ink is one of the best and best of all it actually dries and doesn’t smudge weeks later.
Writing regularly with this, it’s a darker version of the RO Tranquility teal colour but most of your writing will just be glaring into your eyes from this colossal sheen. Don’t get me wrong, it looks fantastic on the page, but one couldn’t write with it exclusively. My journal is a concoction of many many inks and pens I use and as I flick through the pages, it’s always these pages that catch my eye. Naturally, with all the sheen it’s a little slower to dry than other sheens even. My smear kept going to the next page!
Here’s the chromatography:
Remarkably similar chromatography to Robert Oster Tranquility but darker. Again, a “light” ink, the chromatography on this just kept going right to the edges of my discs. There were almost no spots where the water solute was leaving the ink behind. You can see from the writing in the corner, even with normal writing how much shading and sheen you get. For me this ink behaved well, wrote well, actually dried after a while, and was easy enough to clean out of my pen too.
Concluding thoughts
None of the inks above exhibited any ghosting, feathering or bleeding on both ClaireFontaine or my TomoeRiver notebook. On crappy copy paper they do really well, and I do enjoy using them day-to-day.
Of these 4 the one I’ve used least in office is the Santiago Sea Blue for reasons I’ve mentioned above, it’s just not practical in the office setting, let alone on wards or on the move. Andromeda I’ll stick to doodling with and Night Sky adds just the right spice to an otherwise boring colour.
Are these inks for GPs? Andromeda you could use for our green prescription paper but I have multiple pens inked with more sensible colours for forms and documents, pink just doesn’t scream “professional” when writing to a lawyer or insurance company. That’s what Night Sky is for!
Overall, this sample smash was fun!
Thanks so much for reading and remember no matter who you are, “first, do no harm.”
