Sailor Kobe #37 Island Blue

[saskia_madding]

Another shout out to cool-japan on ebay who sold me all my Kobe inks. I consider buying a ton of inks and putting up reviews to be a major part of my contribution to FPN, so hopefully some people can be enabled into buying gorgeous inks they otherwise wouldn't buy.

 

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/Ink%20reviews/Sailor/Kobe/DSC09599-1_zps5b3dcf17.jpg

 

 

Now THIS is what I'm looking for in a blue - a colour that pops, that has that extra oomph! It looks amazing on Rhodia dotPads and CF paper ...

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/Ink%20reviews/Sailor/Kobe/DSC09602-1_zps86fd90fb.jpg

 

 

 

 

... and has really interesting shading ...

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/Ink%20reviews/Sailor/Kobe/DSC09607_zps3a7c95cd.jpg

 

 

... and even sheen (where the ink pools)!

 

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/Ink%20reviews/Sailor/Kobe/DSC09600-1_zpse7a10fff.jpg

 

As with most super highly saturated and wet inks, this one has a long dry time. But that doesn't stop me from loving this ink a lot!

http://i997.photobucket.com/albums/af97/Saskia_Madding/Ink%20reviews/Sailor/Kobe/DSC09601-1_zps0e5f65d9.jpg

 

 

 

More photos in my Kobe sub-folder here.

[cybaea]

+1 @saskia_madding for posting all of these.

[swanjun]

Yes, thank you! I have had a dozen of these in my eBay watch list for weeks, too hesitant to pull the trigger. Your reviews have been extremely helpful.

[da vinci]

Another great review, thank you.

[Eclectica]

Wow!

 

Uuntil I read it, I thought 'is something wrong with the pen with the colour changes mid word?' - what an unusual shading effect indeed!

 

Now, being of a scientific inclination, I am asking - what makes an ink do that?

 

Might have to try a bottle now!

 

Thank you.

[saskia_madding]

You're welcome, guys! As I said, as an inky mod, this seems like part of my job description, but it's one I'm HAPPY to do. I am totally obsessed with ink and trying out different brands and comparing them.

 

I have no idea what it is chemically that makes ink shade, but it's a very important category for my favourite inks to have. Looking at a full page of writing with ink that has no shading puts me to sleep by the third word.

[swanjun]

I concur. And that's why an ink that's not even super stunning, like the Shioya Blue, makes my wish list because it *does* shade (and behave) so well.

 

I hope you're planning to do the rest of the Kobe inks you got! There must be at least ten left in the pipeline.

[saskia_madding]

I will do the rest, I promise. It just takes a long time and I'm detouring to do the Bung Box inks next. But there are 10 left for me to do, I believe. I bought 18 inks, but one was a repeat colour. 7 down, so 10 left to go. And one is a green that is the closest I've seen to MBRG so far.

[drmom777]

I just got this ink in the mail- and in my preliminary test with a broad italic, it bears a remarkable resemblance in color, saturation and general feel to my old bottle of Parker Penman Sapphire. Anyone else notice this?

[amberleadavis]

OOH, this one is really pretty. Which color was this? -- oops I see #37. I think this one shall my inky acquisition. I use blue when I fill out banking applications for clients. I love when I can get a good shader and mess up the bank copy machines. jk Inks dry really fast in the Nevada desert.

[amberleadavis]

BTW, have you compared this to the Lapis color?

[bluejay]

I find this blue very similar to Visconti blue with more sheen and dries a bit saturated than Visconti blue

[XiaoMG]

Reminds me a bit of PR DC Electric Blue from my fine nibs. Drying time too. In bad light PRDCEB looks boring but in good light the shading pops out. I might try this sometime if I can find it more conveniently.

[XiaoMG]

BTW, have you compared this to the Lapis color?

I just ordered both. I may post impressions or a comparison when I get them.

[amberleadavis]

Ooh, I'm excited. I just received an email and he's sold out of #37 right now.

[XiaoMG]

My first impression of the ink is a little lukewarm. Perhaps it's due to my use of finer nibs...it doesn't shade terribly much and seems a bit washed out in most light. When laid down very wet it seems pretty saturated, but I cannot get much out of the ink so far in Tomoe River, Rhodia, or IPaper.

 

Maya Lapis is a little less saturated in the lighter parts and a lot more purplish. I don't keep many blues in this range so I don't have much to compare to.

Edited June 26, 2013 by XiaoMG

[amberleadavis]

Oh .. thank you for the update. I like super saturated obnoxiously bright colors. Any suggestions?

[georges zaslavsky]

very nice ink, thanks for sharing

[penultress]

I love this blue! Thank you for posting! This blue is a want/must have for me!

 

I had only heard about this line from someone at the DC pen show. Is it difficult to clean?

[Masque]

But... but... images...

 

This review was much more useful before, I suspect.

 

Given that, could someone perhaps compare, in words, this ink to, say, Jentle Ultramarine?

Edited October 11, 2013 by Masque