Noodler's Shah's Rose ink review

A review of Noodler's Shah's Rose has been a long time coming. This is one of the first inks I had heard of when the fountain pen craze first struck, around 2011. By now, everyone and their grandma has reviewed Noodler's Shah's Rose. Perhaps because of that, I didn't feel a lot of pressure to review the sample I bought some time ago. Now its time has come.

I reviewed Noodler's Shah's Rose in my Kaweco Sport Classic with eyedropper conversion.

Bottle and pricing

Bottle capacity: 90 ml / 3 oz
Price: $12.50
Price / ml: $0.14

Color and saturation

Noodler's Shah's Rose is a magenta/rose/pink/red ink. There's a little bit of each of those words in it. It is vibrant and saturated, and strongly reminds me of roses, which makes the name very apt. At the same time, it's also a dark pink, depending how you choose to look at it.

In the photocopy sample (at the bottom of the review) I compared Shah's Rose to two of the red inks I own: Noodler's Nikita and J Herbin 1670 Rouge Hematite. I'm kind of comparing apples to oranges here but I just wanted to illustrate how this ink compares to neutral red.

A more apt comparison is the one below, where I'm pitting Shah's Rose against two other pink inks: Diamine Cerise and Rohrer & Klingner Fernambuk.

In this case you'll notice how Shah's Rose is the darkest of the three, while Cerise is brighter, and Fernambuk is the least saturated, as well as duller. Shah's Rose also seems to have better shading than the other two.

Shading

Noodler's Shah's Rose features some decent color variation. While not as pronounced as other inks, it's definitely there so if you want to experience that, you'll be better served by a thicker/broad nib.

Feathering

No.

Bleedthrough

No, but there's a little ghosting on cheap paper due to the high saturation.

Flow, lubrication, and smoothness

Noodler's Shah's Rose flows very smoothly in my Kaweco Sport. It feels just right, falling perhaps a little on the wet side.

Drying time

It dries quickly on cheap paper but on Clairefontaine it takes its sweet time. As you can see from the sample, depending how thick the line is, it can take 30 seconds or so for it to dry completely.

Smearing when dry

No.

Water resistance

Interestingly, Shah's Rose is not meant to be water resistant but it can stand up to water just as well. You'll notice in the sample below that exposing it to 1 minute under running water washed only a little bit away, while most of it remained perfectly legible.

Conclusion

Noodler's Shah's Rose remains the quintessential magenta ink for those who love the color. It is overall a well behaving ink, with no weaknesses that I can discern. It even features a little bonus water resistance. Personally I'm not very fond of magenta/pink inks so I wouldn't buy a bottle but I still think it's a beautiful color, and I highly recommend it.

Below are the two samples on photocopy and Clairefontaine 90g paper, respectively.

Diamine Coral ink review

Crazy as it may sound, I've been using Diamine Coral in my Kaweco Sport Classic with broad nib and eyedropper conversion at work for the past couple of weeks. Yes, a hot pink ink. What baffles me is how my co-workers can be completely oblivious to the fact. Oh well, I like flying under the radar.

So here's my review of Diamine Coral, specifically a small sample of it since I didn't purchase an entire bottle.

Bottle and pricing

Bottle capacity: 80 ml / 2.7 oz
Price: $12.95
Price / ml: $0.16

Color and saturation

Diamine Coral is essentially a pink ink with a twist. You see, there are some hints of orange in it, and even magenta. It's practically borderline orange. While I put "medium-low" for saturation on the photocopy sample, it is actually a pretty well saturated ink, bright and vibrant. I will thus upgrade the saturation rating to "medium-high".

Notice that I compared it to several inks I've tested in the past, including Noodler's Dragon's Napalm (orange classification) to which it bears the greatest resemblance, Iroshizuku Fuyu-Gaki, and even Diamine Orange, which I used as a control sample since it is the most neutral orange in the comparison.

Shading

While not evident at first, Diamine Coral shades subtly, with the aforementioned hints of orange. You'd have to use thicker lines or swabs to see it though.

Feathering

None.

Bleedthrough

None.

Flow, lubrication, and smoothness

Diamine Coral flows liberally in the Kaweco Sport. While smooth, it may be a little too wet for some folks' liking. As the level in the eyedropper got low and the air inside expanded, it started spitting ink on the page, at a slightly higher rate than other inks. I'm used to that because it happens with every ink, but it's worth bearing in mind if you want to use this ink in an eyedropper fountain pen.

Drying time

It took a while for it to dry on Clairefontaine but I did use a broad nib, so it might vary for you. On cheap copy paper it dries quickly though.

Smearing when dry

None.

Water resistance

Diamine Coral is not water resistant.

Conclusion

I wasn't very keen on Diamine Coral at first but it grew on me as I used it. I guess the subtle shading played its part but I also liked how well and smooth it flowed. While I would personally not buy an entire bottle of pink ink, I'm sure it would be great for any artistic endeavor. There's one feature of Diamine Coral that I'm not too fond of: it tends to stain containers. The plastic vial it came in remained pink after I washed it, and my demonstrator Kaweco Sport is all pink, including the inside of the cap where the ink leaked. I'm preparing to give it a long and thorough wash when I'm done with it. But yeah, if you're looking for a pink ink, you can't go wrong with Diamine Coral.

Following are the two samples on photocopy and Clairefontaine 90g paper, respectively.

Rohrer & Klingner Fernambuk ink review

With Rohrer & Klingner Fernambuk I'm yet again stepping in unknown territory by reviewing a new ink manufacturer. It's been a while since I reviewed a pink ink and while I realize that perhaps not many folks may be interested in such an ink, this is what I decided to pick for my everyday "red" pen. This is just a Pilot Varsity filled with red (-ish) ink that I keep at work for underlining and making notes. Since this is not my main note-taking pen, it takes a long time to exhaust the reserve, hence the infrequent review of red/pink/magenta inks.

Bottle and pricing
Rohrer & Kingner's bottles are small and dainty and retro-looking. They hold 50ml / 1.7oz and cost $12, which makes the ink rather expensive at $0.24 / ml. Unfortunately I don't have a full bottle to photograph and show you since I'm testing a sample. But you can easily google it.

Color and saturation
Rohrer & Klingner Fernambuk is a hot pink ink, very similar to the other hot pink ink I reviewed a while back, Diamine Cerise. You can see a comparison below. While both are highly saturated, Cerise trumps Fernambuk for vibrancy of color. Fernambuk is more subdued, yet I can see how some might appreciate it more.

Shading
You might be forgiven to think that R&K Fernambuk is flat but it actually has some shading, though subtle. It is mostly evident in the q-tip sample but if you squint you might also notice it in the normal writing sample. In all, there's nothing to write home about.

Feathering
There's no feathering unless you count the glass dip pen which feathers with almost any ink.

Bleedthrough
Surprisingly for such a light colored ink, it actually ghosts a little on low quality paper, and it can even bleed through if applied liberally on said paper.

Flow, lubrication and smoothness
I love me a wet-flowing ink but this one doesn't seem to be it. Granted, the Pilot Varsity isn't a paragon of wet-flow but it performs consistently with inks that aren't too dry. With R&K Fernambuk it managed to write without skipping but the nib feels dry and I don't get much pleasure when writing. So, it flows without enthusiasm in the Varsity but it is perhaps suited to a thicker nib.

Drying time
Because it's such a dry-feeling ink, it translates into swift drying times on both cheap and more expensive paper, photocopy and Rhodia respectively.

Smearing when dry
None.

Water resistance
Fernambuk isn't a water resistant ink, plain and simple. After 30 seconds of exposure to flowing water most of it washes off.

Conclusion
I'm having a hard time finding anything that I like about Rohrer & Klingner Fernambuk. While the color is pretty, I can't get over the dryness of the ink (similar to J Herbin Diabolo Menthe), and this is a deal-breaker for me. Even the color is nothing out of the ordinary. If you prefer something more vibrant you can always go with Diamine Cerise which seems to be a much better (and far cheaper) substitute. While my first introduction to Rohrer & Klingner inks wasn't very successful, I'm not prepared to give up on the brand. There are other inks in the lineup that I am interested in reviewing.

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.