Organics Studio Mark Twain Halley's Comet Blue

November 3, 2013

Not stated in the written review, I am alternating between the two mentioned pens, one paragraph per pen. Also not stated, but I used the Royal Resource 32lb White paper because a lot of inks feather a bit on it despite being a heavyweight paper (not a problem with the Natural color version of the same paper). About half the inks I try feather on it; this ink does not.

Text copy used in writing examples is from Nagasawa Stationery Center Co. promotional materials found in an eBay listing.

These scans are (unfortunately) not "color corrected". Here are some other inks for comparison using a couple 5x8 writing pads.

And here is the review in searchable text form:

Organics Studio Mark Twain Halley's Comet Blue

This is Organics Studio Mark Twain Halley's Comet Blue ink, from Organics Studio's Masters of Writing series. It comes in a 55ml plastic bottle that is smaller and lighter (and presumably more difficult to break) than the glass bottles OS was using when I purchased Manganate V in fall 2012. The bottle's label is very minimal with most of the information only on the box, which may annoy you if you don't like keeping your inks in the box. It costs about $14 US plus any shipping, which makes it a mid-priced ink.

The color is described as "Dark Blue that shades to indigo" on isellpens' website and that seems about right to me. I was hoping it would be more vibrant or electric than it appeared in scans I'd seen, and was initially disappointed that it was more a dark dull blue, more of a denim or night blue. However, during the first three weeks of having it inked in two pens, one M and one F, I found I was using it more than all my other inked pens combined. I had ten to fourteen pens inked at this time, including three other colors of blue. It has proved to be a good, useful, satisfying, and utterly inoffensive ink.

The Mark Twain was first used in a F nib cartridge pen that previously worked well using Levenger Gemstone Green, and since has worked well using Organics Studio Emily Dickinson Posie Pink, but was excruciatingly dry and fine of line with this ink. I've been using some very dry feeling paper, to be fair, but the pen worked using that same paper with the other two inks. I moved the cartridge to an M nib Targa and have had no flow problems on the same papers. I then inked an F nib Imperial and have had no dryness or flow problems using it on these same papers. I have had these two pens continuously inked for over three weeks and have used about two ml in each pen with no issues; they do feel a bit dry on the driest paper but not enough to annoy. I would compare the dryness of this ink to Pelikan Brilliant Black on the same paper (as I happen to have that inked in an F nib Pelikan Future now) and say it is not quite that dry but almost. Certainly no worse than that, and I find Brilliant Black to be a no problem ink.

The OS Mark Twain feathers less and on fewer types of cheap lightweight writing pad papers than the majority of fp ink samples I've tested. It is not the least feathering, but on the low end of the scale. It also is not a heavy bleeding ink, again on the low end of the scale. It is usable on several low end papers where only one in five or six inks I try will fail to feather or bleed.

In summary, Mark Twain Halleys Comet Blue is a nice, slightly dry, well behaved ink with a color that does not excite me but I quickly became quite fond of. It is a good conservative choice for a work situation, and also for general purpose personal use.

(signed) Charlie Clark

Disclaimer: I received this ink for free, second hand, with no more than 5 ml used. I neither paid for it, nor was given the ink by a retailer or manufacturer for review consideration. The first owner added some "phenol" to the bottle; I don't know how much of what exact product or chemical and can't say how it may change the ink's color or flow. The original owner claims it makes no difference in her opinion. Phenol was a common fp ink ingredient in the past.

Sheaffer Imperial 440 F.