INK REVIEWS

 

I have really taken to this ink. When my first bottles arrived, after I finished holding the bottle and admiring at its shape and feel, this was the first of the colours I tried.

Smooth flowing, no bleeding, a beautiful dark rich blue. It comes across on the paper darker than the ink sample shown on web sites and is relatively close to the colour shown on the box.

As visible in the large scan, there is some nice tones that taken place on the strokes. This is written with a Waterman Exception with Stub nib on Boise High Definition 80 pound paper (96 Brightness). Despite the price I have already ordered by second bottle!

From Pilot's web site, Moonlight is meant to represent a blue shade like the night sky, dimly illuminated by moonlight.

 

This colour was a bit of a surprise. I thought it was a blue grey, but later when I found the Pilot web site sure enough it is a mid grey. There is another darker grey available and I may be trying that next.

I have been using this on personal correspondence and it certainly looks very good on cards. A soft colour but enough depth for my use. Good flow, although on some papers I did have feathering that I have not found with other colours I have tried so far.

The samples above are written with a Waterman Opera with a Stub Nib on Boise High Definition 80 pound paper (96 Brightness).

From Pilot, the colour, fuyu-syogun is "Old Man Winter", a grey conjuring up the image of the cold, clear air of the severe winter season.

(Jan 2012) As an update, overall the colour is too soft and it has found its way to the very back of my ink cupboard. Good news in that no light reach the bottle and impact ink quality, but not one I would use.

 

I was expecting a slightly darker ink, but given that most of my writing to date has been with a broad or stub nib, the lighter tones on the strokes is expected.

This is a good flowing ink, and it has performed well in a number of pens that I have been using. Most of my use has been for personal writing, but I am going to be gold and slip this colour into my office!

The samples above are written with a Waterman Man 100 with a Stub Nib on Boise High Definition 80 pound paper (96 Brightness). Good performance also on 100 pound card stock.

 

 

 

Dew on Pine Tree (syo-ro) is an interesting green. Rich in colour, with a bit of blue tone this solid looking colour fits into both business and personal correspondence. I have started to work my way through the various colours. I must admit the stunning bottle is what pulled me to this ink. But now that I have been using them, it is really all about colour and performance.

 

I would rank this ink as one with a "reserved flow" - it seems slower than some of the other inks in the line. In fact, I used it in a new Aurora Talentum pen with an Italic Nib expecting great things. Not so so, good think I did not take the pen back as when I changed the ink, it was a different pen. In Pelikan and Waterman pens I have found the ink to be a bit better but still this is not one that is going to gush out over the paper.

ips

 

Iroshizuku's Peacock (ku-jaku is a tone that one would expect with the name, it is similar to many turquoise or South Sea Blues available. I found the ink to have more blue values than the colour swatches on the web sites.

The flow of this ink is acceptable, but what I would call "reserved" and it is one that you could try it in different pens with different results. I loaded up a brand new Aurora Talentum with a stub nib and I must admit I was not that impressed. Luckily before I blammed the pen I changed inks and found it to write totally differently. On other pens the Peacock ink has performed well.