Private Reserve Invincible Aqua Blue

I haven't reviewed many Private Reserve inks so far, and Invincible Aqua Blue makes my third. It's also the most "exotic" of them, mostly because it has been discontinued (correct me if I'm wrong). This means that you won't be able to buy it anywhere, which makes this review almost pointless. However, since I managed to grab a sample before it disappeared completely, and because I tested it anyway, I thought it might be worth posting a review just for completeness' sake.

The other thing that makes Private Reserve Invincible Aqua Blue special is its water resistance, denoted by the term "invincible" in its name. I rather like this. I wish other brands followed a similar naming scheme. Noodler's Ink comes close with certain ink series (Hunter, Bad..., Baystate, etc) but it's still erratic.

But enough chit-chat. Let's get down to reviewing this now-defunct ink, which I tested in my Pilot Varsity.

Bottle
Back when you could still buy it, Private Reserve Invincible Aqua Blue retailed for... hmm... I don't know anymore, because I failed to record the price. However, going by the price of its surviving sibling, Invincible Black, you will notice that it costs about $9.75 for a 2 oz (60 ml) bottle, or $0.16 per milliliter. That's not very expensive at all for a waterproof ink.

Color and saturation
Invincible Aqua Blue is an aqua-bluish kind of ink. That means it is a lightly saturated light blue color. It reminds me in a way of Noodler's Polar Blue, which also happens to be a waterproof ink, with the special distinction that it is also cold-resistant. Although the two inks are distinctly different (with Polar Blue darker and more saturated), they both have the "faded jeans" look.

Shading
Invincible Aqua Blue is quite flat and doesn't show any shading.

Feathering
None.

Bleedthrough
Unfortunately this ink tends to penetrate the paper a little. It doesn't bleed heavily but it ghosts a little on cheap paper and almost shows through where the nib presses harder. In this case it's a good thing the ink is only lightly saturated.

Flow and lubrication
Invincible Aqua Blue flowed well in the Pilot Varsity, perhaps a bit on the wet side.

Drying time
One good feature of this ink is that it dried extremely quickly. As you can see from the two samples, it dried in less than 5 seconds even on the shiny Rhodia 80g paper.

Smearing when dry
None.

Water resistance
Private Reserve Invincible Aqua Blue was marketed as a waterproof ink and, true to its purpose, it casually rejected any attempts to wash it off with water. I didn't try other liquids.

Conclusion
I have no idea why Private Reserve decided to discontinue Invincible Aqua Blue. It's not a bad ink by any means. The only negative is that it bleeds a little on cheaper paper but that shouldn't be a major detractor. I'm sure they had their reasons for it and I'm not going to waste time googling it. Too bad it is not among us anymore but what can we do about it? If you are looking for a waterproof ink with these qualities, the closest I can recommend is Noodler's Polar Blue. You can even dilute it a little with water if you want to match colors.

Following are the two samples written on photocopy and Rhodia 80g paper, respectively.

Pelikan Brilliant Red ink review

3 months into 2013 I'm finally posting something new on this blog. I've neglected it for too long, but in my defense I've been concerned with my personal well-being and healthy living in general, which left me with very little time to test and review new inks. As for fountain pens, I haven't bought any in a long time and it's unlikely I will. Although, to be honest, I'm tempted by the new TWSBI Diamond 580. Who knows, I might pick one up with an italic nib. My own Diamond 530 is showing signs of aging in the form of stress fractures around the section, despite using it very lightly.

During this time I haven't been completely idle in regards to inks. I still have a sizeable collection of samples that I would like to test, before I can even think about buying new inks. These past few months I have tested 2 inks. Today's review is about Pelikan Brilliant Red, which is your run-of-the-mill red ink. I tested it in my hardworking Pilot Varsity.

Before I begin, a disclaimer. I would like to apologize in advance for the inaccurate color reproduction in the samples. Some inks are harder to transpose to a screen and this is one of them. Since my workflow consists of photographing the sheet of paper (as opposed to scanning it), and then correcting the colors in post-processing, additional errors are sometimes introduced. Additionally, I do the processing on my good monitor, which tends to reproduce colors more accurately (as far as my eye can tell) but when I view the image on my cheaper monitor, it sometimes looks awful. Just be aware that color reproduction varies from monitor to monitor and eye to eye.

Bottle
Pelian Brilliant Red is almost as cheap as Noodler's inks. It comes in a 62.5 ml / 2 oz bottle and costs $9.45, or $0.15 per milliliter.

Color and saturation
As the name suggests, this is a bright red ink. I didn't find it highly saturated but it is rather bright. This is where my samples don't quite reflect reality. To my eye, the samples tend towards orange, while in reality the ink is actually a very neutral red. In addition, the samples are more saturated than the actual ink.

I compared it to another red ink I own, Noodler's Nikita, and the difference is obvious: while Nikita tends towards pink, Brilliant Red has a warmer and more neutral red tone. Out of the two I believe I prefer the Pelikan ink.

Shading
Pelikan Brilliant Red doesn't have any shading, being completely flat.

Feathering
None.

Bleedthrough
Since the ink is not very saturated, it doesn't bleed either. Of course, there's some ghosting when applied thickly with a q-tip or the glass dip pen.

Flow and lubrication
Pelikan Brilliant Red flows well in the Pilot Varsity. It's not too wet, nor dry. I assume that, being produced by one of the big ink brands, its properties are engineered to be very dependable and this is definitely the case here.

Drying time
Pelikan Brilliant Red dries quickly on regular (spongy) photocopy paper, somewhere between 5-10 seconds. On better paper, such as Rhodia 80g, drying times are comparable.

Smearing when dry
None.

Water resistance
This is not a water resistant ink and it shows in the water test. Within 30 seconds of being exposed to running water from the tap, most of the ink has washed off. You can notice some pink undertones when this happens.

Conclusion
Pelikan Brilliant Red is a decent, well behaving, non-water resistant ink. I would call it fairly average because it doesn't distinguish itself in any aspect. It simply performs. If you need a no-fuss red ink that is guaranteed to work well with any fountain pen, but are not interested in water resistance or other exotic properties, I would heartily recommend Pelikan Brilliant Red.

Finally, here are the two samples on photocopy and Rhodia 80g paper, respectively.

Diamine Cerise ink review

Diamine Cerise is one of those inks that really stands out. You might need to blink several times after staring at something written in Cerise because it's bound to make your eyes water. If you're looking for a hot pink (novelty) ink, this might be the one for you.

Because Diamine inks are generally kind to fountain pens, I decided to test this one in my TWSBI Diamond 530 with the broad nib. I figured that this ink would benefit more from a thick line, allowing it to "shine" for your perusal.

Bottle

Diamine Cerise comes in the standard Diamine bottle of 80ml / 2.7 oz capacity which sells for about $12.75, which makes it $0.16 per milliliter. Since I'm only buying samples these days, a sample is what I used for today's review.

Color and saturation

As mentioned in the intro, Diamine Cerise is a hot pink ink and, boy, is it bright and saturated! It's what you might expect to come out of a fluorescent marker. As such, it makes good company with another ink I tested (of which I own a bottle), namely Diamine Orange.

Shading

Unlike its Orange cousin, Diamine Cerise shows a bit of shading. Not much but its there. I can see it with the broad nib. I can't say it makes a difference one way or another, because it's a bright, light-colored ink and I prefer to see shading in darker inks.

Feathering

None.

Bleedthrough

Apart from a little bit of ghosting on the cheap photocopy paper due to the high saturation of this ink, there is no bleed to speak of.

Flow and lubrication

Unfortunately I ran into a few flow issues with Diamine Cerise. I wasn't expecting this because Diamine inks flowed well for me, historically. What happened is that the TWSBI ran dry a few times and I had to pump the piston before the ink got started again. I doubt it was the pen's fault because it ran just fine until now. In fairness, those issues happened more often during the first few days, after which things became more or less normal.

Now, the ink flows ok but I'm not 100% thrilled with how it feels on paper. It doesn't have the smoothness I have come to appreciate in other inks. It feels a little bit dry, in fact.

Drying time

Drying times are on the long side, especially on Rhodia 80g paper. Sometimes, the ink is wet even after 30 seconds. But this could also be attributed to the broad nib. This obviously improves to a great extent with cheap paper.

Smearing when dry

None.

Water resistance

This is obviously not a water resistant ink but, as you can see from the sample, some of it still remains after being subjected to 1 minute under running water. Whether you can recover whatever was written in case of a water accident remains a toss-up. I wouldn't count too much on it.

Conclusion

Diamine Cerise seems, to me, like a niche ink. It can be very useful for artistic purposes though I doubt you'll be able to use it at the office for official business (unless your office is an art studio). It might not have the most desirable characteristics (slow to dry, not water resistant, potential flow issues) but I think it makes up for that with its very vibrant color. Personally, if I were in need of a hot pink ink, Diamine Cerise would be at top of my list.

Here are the two writing samples on photocopy and Rhodia 80g paper, respectively.

Noodler's Green Marine ink review

I think it's bad form to start any review with the conclusion but I'm afraid I can't help it in this case. In a nutshell, I absolutely love Noodler's Green Marine and it is definitely the best green ink I have tested so far. If your tastes are similar to mine, you can stop right here and confidently buy yourself a bottle or a sample. If not, read on to find out more about this ink.

Before I start, I'll just mention that I tested a sample of this ink (and not a whole bottle) in my long-suffering Pilot Varsity.

Bottle

If you buy a bottle of Noodler's Green Marine, it will come to no surprise that it costs the usual $12.50 for 3oz / 90ml, or $0.14 per milliliter.

Color and saturation

One of the reasons why I like Green Marine so much is the dark color. I've been looking for a dark green ink and this one is almost exactly what I was hoping for. While it comes very close to Noodler's Gruene Cactus and Noodler's Hunter Green, it is darker than both of these, with Hunter the lightest and Gruene Cactus in the middle. As for the saturation, it is on the high side, as you can see (scroll to the bottom for the samples).

Shading

The second reason why Noodler's Green Marine brings me so much joy is the shading. I certainly wasn't expecting it but this ink really likes to shade, even with the Varsity's medium/fine nib. To me, shading gives an ink character and personality and this one has plenty of both.

Feathering

None that I could see.

Bleedthrough

Because this is a dark ink, a small amount of ghosting is inevitable on cheap paper. However, the reverse side remains usable. I can attest to this because I've been using this ink daily at work for the past couple of weeks on cheap copy paper.

Flow and lubrication

Number three reason for loving Green Marine is the way it flows. I never tire of saying it: I am a big fan of wet flowing inks. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this one a 8/9. It flows beautifully in the Varsity and glides like butter across the paper. It makes me want to pick up the pen to write something, even when I don't have anything to jot down.

Drying time

Noodler's Green Marine isn't perfect in all aspects, but nothing in this universe of ours is. Perhaps as a consequence of its wetness, it dries rather slowly on high quality, glossy paper such as the Rhodia 80g I tested it on. As you can see from the sample, it took close to 40 seconds to dry and even then it still smeared easily when I rubbed it. I suggest giving it ample time to dry if using it on more expensive (and less absorbent) paper.

On the other hand, it dries fairly quickly on regular copy paper, under 10 seconds. Either way, this doesn't bother me in the least; the benefits outweigh the slight inconvenience of a longer drying time on specific types of paper.

Smearing when dry

While there's no smearing on photocopy paper, Noodler's Green Marine is likely to smear if rubbed, when used on paper such as my Rhodia 80g, even after it has had ample time to dry (like 2-3 weeks). But many dark, saturated inks also have the same tendency so this isn't a quirk exclusive to this ink.

Water resistance

Here's another surprising fact about Noodler's Green Marine. Though it isn't marked as water resistant in any way, it is a lot more water resistant than most regular inks I've tested. Just look at the sample. It's amazing. After being exposed to running water for more than a minute, only a little ink washed off and the text and drawings remained perfectly legible. If this is a "hidden" feature and I'm ignorant of it, someone please let me know. In any case, it makes me even happier to get this unexpected bonus.

Conclusion

If I sound ecstatic about this ink, it's because I am. Noodler's Green Marine may well be the perfect green ink I've been searching for. I just love how it flows and glides on paper. I love its dark color and nice shading. To top it all off, a little water won't intimidate it. If you are looking for a dark green ink, I don't see how you could go wrong with Noodler's Green Marine. I highly recommend it!

Here are the two writing samples on photocopy and Rhodia 80g paper respectively.

Private Reserve Tanzanite ink review

It's been a long time since I wrote a review and here I am now, typing this from an airport waiting-lounge on another continent. In truth, I haven't been using other inks save for the one I'm reviewing now: Private Reserve Tanzanite. In what has almost become a tradition, I tested this new ink in my trusty Pilot Varsity.

Private Reserve is a new brand for me and Tanzanite may just be that perfect purple ink I've been searching for. Let's find out if it really is. But before that, I'd like to mention something. Ever since I heard about the Private Reserve brand, I made an automatic association in my mind with old cognac. Am I the only one who makes this connection?

Bottle
I'm only testing a sample, but Private Reserve Tanzanite comes in a 50ml (1.7oz) bottle which retails for $8.75 or $0.18 per milliliter. This makes it middle-of-the-road, neither cheap, nor prohibitively expensive.

Color and saturation
I have a strong suspicion that the name Tanzanite comes from the semi-precious stone of the same name. As such, this is a purple ink. Dark purple, to be precise. This ink reminds me strongly of another purple ink whose color I liked, Noodler's North African Violet. However, as you might remember, that ink contributed to the ruination of one of my fountain pens so in the end I wasn't that fond of it. Private Reserve Tanzanite is darkly purple but pleasantly so. I really like its color. It is also highly saturated.

Shading
You might be forgiven to believe that PR Tanzanite doesn't shade very well, especially with a thin nib (I guess everything short of broad or italic). Well, you would  be surprised. It actually has some very nice shading, especially when applied liberally, such as I did with the q-tip. Tilting the paper towards the light will reveal the beautiful golden-red accents.

Feathering
None to speak of.

Bleedthrough
Being a dark ink, PR Tanzanite ghosts a little on cheap paper but otherwise behaves nicely and I can testify to that since I used it daily for over a month at work, on the cheapest copy paper possible, on both sides, without issues.

Flow and lubrication
Generally PR Tanzanite flows well in the Pilot Varsity but that pen is very well behaved as a rule. However, it seems to me that flow isn't consistent all the time. Sometimes it's wetter, other times drier. It's hard to pinpoint the exact cause of this and I very much doubt it's the pen. Still, in the overwhelming majority of cases PR Tanzanite flows impeccably.

Drying time
Happily, the drying times are short, between 5 and 10 seconds on photocopy paper and 10-15 seconds on Rhodia 80g.

Smearing when dry
None.

Water resistance
Though this ink isn't labelled as waterproof, it is surprisingly water resistant as can be seen from the sample which was exposed to running water for 1 minute. Notice that the text remains completely legible even though some of the color has washed off.

Conclusion
Private Reserve Tanzanite has been a pleasant introduction to PR's line of inks. I'll be sure to try others from the brand. I love the color and the general behavior and I especially appreciate the added bonus of water resistance. The latter does come at a price though. It makes the ink harder to clean than your garden variety watery ink. In all, I highly recommend this ink if purple is your color.

Finally, here are the two samples of Private Reserve Tanzanite on photocopy and Rhodia 80g paper, respectively.

Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher ink review

For my next Warden-series ink I tested a sample of Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher, as usual in my Pilot Varsity. Incidentally, this will be my shortest ink review yet. Why, you ask? Because Bad Belted Kingfisher and Bad Blue Heron which I tested a while back are almost identical twins, differing only in color. All the other features are a straight match.

Because of this, I will only list the few minor differences between the two inks and then show you the written samples.

Color and saturation
Bad Belted Kingfisher is definitely a darker shade of blue than Bad Blue Heron. It is also a little bit more saturated.

Water resistance
While both inks are water (and forgery) resistant, Bad Belted Kingfisher seems to wash out a tiny bit more. Whether this is normal behavior or just a variation in my particular sample doesn't really matter to me.

Conclusion
I found both these inks to be almost exemplary in their behavior. With the small caveat that they may bleed/ghost a little on cheap paper, I would heartily recommend either of them. Which one is better? It all boils down to personal taste. If you like a darker blue, go with Bad Belted Kingfisher. If you prefer a lighter and less saturated color, go with Bad Blue Heron. Personally I prefer Bad Blue Heron because, to my mind, its subdued nature gives it a bit more personality.

Here are the two samples on photocopy and Rhodia 80g paper, respectively.

Platinum Carbon Desk fountain pen review

I decided that 2012 would be the year when I stopped buying fountain pens, concentrating instead on reviewing the many ink samples that I have accumulated. Jetpens decided to spoil my resolution by sending me a fountain pen for review. I'm not one to refuse such an occasion so here I am, reviewing my first fountain pen this year: the Platinum Carbon Desk.

I don't have a lot of experience with Platinum pens, the only other that I have tried being the cheap (and almost-disposable) Platinum Preppy. The Platinum Carbon costs a lot more than the Preppy ($13.50) but it also seems to serve a different and more specialized function. From what I gather, the "Desk" designation suggests that it is a good companion for a... um... desk. In fact, Jetpens also sells a stand for the Carbon pen which replaces the cap if you choose to use it instead. The stand is also more expensive than the pen itself but that shouldn't be an objection if you want to make your desk look classy.

At $13.50 don't expect fancy packaging and the Carbon doesn't break the norm. It comes in a simple plastic sleeve, together with a black ink cartridge. There are instructions written in Japanese all over the packaging but I threw it away nonetheless.

In my view, the Platinum Carbon looks like one of those old pens that I would expect to see on my grandfather's desk and it is very reminiscent of a dip pen. The black plastic body is long and sleek, tapering down to an almost sharp point. This, of course, completely negates any desire to post the cap. For me that's not a biggie because in general I don't like to post caps anyway.

The Platinum logo and "Carbon Pen" are embossed in gold on the barrel and there's gold trim where the cap stops.

Speaking of the cap, it is friction-fit and quite plain. It tapers slightly at the top and has a thick hexagonal rim which undoubtedly is meant to prevent the pen from rolling across your desk, since it doesn't have a clip. Interestingly, the included ink cartridge also has the logo and "Carbon Ink" embossed, only this time in silver.

Removing the cap reveals a "gold-plated" nib which reminds me a lot of those classic hooded nibs, even though it isn't one, though it is narrow and thin enough to give the impression. The fact that it's gold plated plays in tune with the other gold trim found on the pen but frankly it leaves me indifferent. I doubt gold plating has any effect over the way it writes, as opposed to an actual gold nib. And I'm not saying that I was expecting a real gold nib for $13, goodness no. Personally I prefer silver (iridium) nibs and trim but that's just me.

A close-up of the nib shows how thin it is. Apparently this is an XF nib which is exciting for me because I've never tried a true Japanese XF. Of course, I have my Lamy AL-Star EF but, being European, it compares more favorably to a Japanese M/B. The underside shows the odd-looking plastic feed which for some reason is blue.

Unscrewing the barrel reveals the metal threads and this fact alone immediately dashes any hopes that this pen could be converted to an eyedropper. Well, this and the fact that the thin end of the barrel isn't sealed. But that's alright, I don't see any reason why someone would need the extra capacity for such a thin nib. As it is, the ink cartridge is hefty enough.

Just for fun, I decided to compare the Platinum Carbon pen to my other thin-nibbed Japanese pen: the Sailor HighAce Neo which features an F nib. I thought that the Sailor was thin as a needle, but when you put the two side by side, it looks as thick as a tree trunk compared to the Carbon. Now you can truly see how sharp and precise the Platinum Carbon's nib is. This is the point where I got scared because I didn't know if I was capable of using such a thin nib. I'm only partially kidding...

Moving on to the writing experience, I produced this sample (written on Clairefontaine 90g paper). Please excuse my poor attempts at doodling but I thought such an exercise would be perfect for the XF nib.

Before discussing the actual writing experience, let me talk a little bit about the ink itself. The included cartridge holds no ordinary ink. This is Platinum's Carbon ink which is waterproof and also resistant to forgery. As far as I know, there aren't many inks like that which come in a cartridge. To boot, it is also pigment-based, which apparently makes it more suitable for this type of pen.

After plugging in the cartridge it didn't take long for the ink to flow. It took me a couple of minutes to prime it but after that the pen wrote very smoothly. The flow is good but because the nib is so thin, it feels just a tiny bit grippy on the side-to-side strokes. It doesn't surprise me, because it's like writing with a sewing needle.

Did I mention the nib is sharp and precise? I'm not sure I did, but to reiterate, it is definitely the most precise nib I've laid hands on. It's amazing what detail you can draw, provided you have steady hands. I'm not used to such precise nibs and my handwriting tends to become spidery.

Comparing the Platinum Carbon to the Sailor HighAce Neo, I've come to realize that there's quite a difference between them. Before the Carbon, I thought the Sailor's nib was sharp. Boy was I wrong. Even though it might not be entirely obvious from the sample (look closely at the spiral), the Sailor feels a lot thicker and less precise.

Going back to the ink, I used Noodler's Heart of Darkness in the HighAce Neo. As you can see, there's virtually no difference between the two inks. Since HoD is already a very dark ink, we can infer that Platinum Carbon is also very dark. Personally I like deep blacks. The interesting thing, though, is that Heart of Darkness feathered on the Clairefontaine paper. I was very surprised by this because normally it is a very well behaved ink, but there you have it. Platinum Carbon, on the other hand, didn't.

I also ran a basic water resistance test, once again comparing the two inks. It turns out that Platinum Carbon beats Noodler's Heart of Darkness in this aspect. I placed a drop of water inside each grid and waited for it to dry. The Platinum sample looks virtually untouched. The HoD sample shows a little shadow where the drop evaporated. This means some of the water washed off and makes Platinum Carbon the winner in this informal contest.

I should mention one last thing which almost slipped my mind. The Platinum Carbon is a very light pen but it is comfortable to hold. The balance is optimal for me thanks to the long barrel. I didn't feel any fatigue while creating the sample.

Conclusion
To wrap this up, Platinum Carbon surprised me in a number of different ways. While the design of the pen is nothing to write home about (though it would look classy on a business person's desk), and personally I'm not very partial to the gold trim, the real beauty lies in the nib. This incredibly precise needle seems to be perfectly suited for drawing very fine details, especially when paired with the Carbon waterproof ink. For example you can use it to trace a drawing and then paint it with watercolor without fear.

Myself, I'm not a big fan of fine nibs. I thought I was, that's why I bought the Sailor HighAce Neo, but then I realized that I prefer broader strokes, where the ink can show its full potential. But that's just me. If you have a preference for fine nibs, I'm sure the Platinum Carbon has one of the finest you will find, and all that for a pittance.

Finally, thanks again to David at Jetpens for providing this opportunity!