A Study In Gold: Comparison Of Several "gold" Inks

[lgsoltek]

It's hard to define what a "gold" colour in fountain pen ink really is. It can be yellow, orange, brown, green... I'm doing a comparison of 18 inks in my collection that could be called "gold" (or not).

 

These inks are in the following order in all the images:

1. Standardgraph Maisgelb

2. Sailor Kobe #22 Shinkaichi Gold

3. Sailor Kobe #21 Taisanji Yellow

4. Sailor Bung Box Ebisu Gold

5. KWZ Ink Honey

6. Noodler's Ink Golden Brown

7. J. Herbin Orange (scented)

8. J. Herbin Ambre de Birmanie

9. Diamine Shimmering Inks Golden Sands

10. Penbbs #111 Shanghai

11. Sailor STORiA Lion Light Brown

12. Akkerman #22 Hopjesbruin

13. Private Reserve Shoreline Gold

14. KWZ Ink Iron-gall Mandarin

15. KWZ Ink Iron-gall Gold

16. Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrün

17. Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-ho

18. Standardgraph Schilfgrün

 

First, the splashes!

 

Splashes

 

 

Writing sample 1

(Lamy Al-star 1.5 nib, Maruman B5 looseleaf)

 

 

Writing sample 2

(Lamy Al-star 1.5 nib, Rhodia A5 dotpad)

 

 

Water test

(Before and after)

 

Comments

There are some bad performers:

Noodler's Golden Brown: bad flow, appalling dry time, and it leaves a black film on your pen after rinsing (could be wiped away though).

J. Herbin Orange (scented): just look at that feathering.

Penbbs #111 Shanghai: I have a review of this Chinese ink. It doesn't have a good flow, and the particles in it seem to be not as fine as Diamine's or J. Herbin's, resulting in a higher risk of clogging.

Sailor STORiA Lion Light Brown: doesn't flow well, hard to clean.

Private Reserve Shoreline Gold: several of my PR inks developped slimy goo, including this one. So no, thanks.

 

About the water resistance:

Only Lion Light Brown survives untouched. Some others are water resistant but the colour changes. Golden Brown, IG Gold, Schilfgrün all do well here. And Maisgelb, J. Herbin Orange, Ina-ho are some pleasant surprises.

IG Mandarin doesn't do as well as I expected.

 

What I like:

I love Maisgelb, Taisanji Yellow, Honey, IG Mandarin, IG Gold.

I like Shinkaichi Gold and Schilfgrün as well.

 

I have no idea which one is more of a "real" gold ink. What do you think?

 

Finally, this is what a real "gold" ink looks like, in photo and in scan. This is R&K Calligraphy Ink Gold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[visvamitra]

I like most of them. Great staff

[Tas]

Lovely.

[lgsoltek]

Okay I've just received an email from KWZI saying they've probably made a mistake in my sample of IG Mandarin. I didn't know they read my reviews here!

They are going to send me a correct one (how kind and thoughtful of them!) and I'll post more photos when I have it.

[Tas]

That'll explain why I preferred the colour in your review to the one in amberleadavies (although that was nice too!)

[haruka337]

You're on a roll, Lgsoltek.

[mehandiratta]

  On 12/30/2015 at 9:07 AM, Lgsoltek said:

Okay I've just received an email from KWZI saying they've probably made a mistake in my sample of IG Mandarin. I didn't know they read my reviews here!

They are going to send me a correct one (how kind and thoughtful of them!) and I'll post more photos when I have it.

ha ha ha... they are spying you...

 

BTW... amazing comparison...

Also Sailor Lion... is it a store exclusive ink... >???

[Chrissy]

My favourite isn't here, but I accept that it's very difficult to find.

 

Pelikan Edelstein Amber.

[lgsoltek]

  On 12/31/2015 at 10:07 AM, mehandiratta said:

ha ha ha... they are spying you...

 

BTW... amazing comparison...

Also Sailor Lion... is it a store exclusive ink... >???

 

No, I think it's currently in production, from Sailor itself.

[migo984]

Lovely comparisons - thank you. Standardgraph Maisgelb is a favourite. The other amber-toned ink I like is Kyo-iro Moonlight of Higashiyama

[mehandiratta]

  On 12/31/2015 at 10:40 AM, Chrissy said:

My favourite isn't here, but I accept that it's very difficult to find.

 

Pelikan Edelstein Amber.

ooooh thats my fav also... lovely ink...

[Luma]

Migo! Can you please post a swab sample of the Kyo-iro Moonlight of Higashiyama? Please and thank you

[amberleadavis]

Great comparison! Thank you.

[migo984]

  On 1/2/2016 at 2:06 AM, LuMA said:

Migo! Can you please post a swab sample of the Kyo-iro Moonlight of Higashiyama? Please and thank you

Here are two of the new Kyo-iro inks. The Moonlight ink (bottom swab) is not as brown as it appears in this photo. It is definitely an amber-toned ink.

[Luma]

Thanks Migo!

 

Now the question remains... which of the two do you like the most?

[amberleadavis]

  On 1/3/2016 at 10:27 PM, LuMA said:

Thanks Migo!

 

Now the question remains... which of the two do you like the most?

 

 

She loves them all.

[Chrissy]

The second 'moonlight' ink looks nothing like gold on my screen. It looks like something between orange and terracotta.

 

The first ink looks more yellow than gold.

 

I prefer gold inks that show up a bit more when I write with them on the page. There are so many yellow inks that you can't read easily.

 

P.E. Amber is still by far the best gold I have seen, but Diamine Golden Sands, and J. Herbin Ambre de Birmanie are quite good. J.H scented Orange is A de B, that just has scent added. On the J.H web-site their ink code numbers are the same. I have both and can confirm they are the same.

 

I have Sheaffer Kings's Gold arriving shortly, but am reliably informed that it's not as nice a gold as P.E. Amber.

[migo984]

  On 1/6/2016 at 5:01 AM, amberleadavis said:

She loves them all.

I do! They are beautiful :-)

Granted these inks may not perfectly fit the colour theme of this thread but they are so idiosyncratic. I'm fascinated by their origins.

Edited January 6, 2016 by migo984

[Pensei]

Thanks for an elegant and enjoyable comparison. I'm very fond of Ambre de Birmanie, but your display makes me want to check out Golden Sands as well. I like the bright sunny looks.

 

Edit: What think ye of R&K Helianthus?

Edited January 7, 2016 by Pensei

[lgsoltek]

With the arrival of the correct version of KWZI IG Mandarin and a few other KWZIs, I'm updating this comparison with four more colours. In a wet pen IG Mandarin and IG Orange look quite alike. IG Orange is redder and IG Mandarin has more yellow.