Platinum Classic Ink - Sepia Black Iron Gall

[julia239]

 

Sepia Black is one of the six colors in Platinum's new Classic Line of iron gall inks. The press release for the Classic Line says that Platinum focused on the color change "with the aim to enhance the joy of using fountain pens." They also tried to emphasize shading to offer rich writing. Each of the colors are intended to write a bright color and then gradually darken to black.

 

Initially, I wasn't interested in this particular color; however, I ordered several other things from Vanness, and they very kindly sent me a free sample of Sepia Black. So, after reviewing Cassis Black and Lavender Black, I inked up a pen with Sepia Black...and it was green! I checked the bottle; no, I wasn't imagining things, it was Sepia Black. I squinted - still green. I flushed the pen, cleaned it, and refilled it - still green. I looked at some other brown things to make sure I could still see brown - I could (that was a relief). Then I looked at the Platinum site; I should have started with that because it seems that Sepia Black starts out green. The olive green color showing the nib sizes next to the bottle is a reasonable accurate representation of what this ink looks like wet.

 

The color change on Sepia is slow; I didn't notice anything until the next day, and anything closer to brown than green took several days. The review, Rhodia, Clairefontaine, and Tomoe River pages have all been finished for about a week. The other samples have had about 4 days to darken. So far, none of them have gotten to the rich brown of the swab under the bottle in the Platinum promotional material. I can still see green undertones in most of them, especially on the Tomoe River. I think the nicest browns are on the Clairefontaine Triomphe with the Pilot 92 & the TWSBI Eco B and also on the Original Crown Mill Laid Paper with a glass dip pen; however, this is a matter of personal preference.

 

There is a lot of color variation between pens and paper, which also occurred with Cassis and Lavender. I experimented a bit with different papers (and one not-paper paper - the Ogami Repap Stone Paper, which is ground limestone with plastic as a binding agent) and a glass dip pen. These are all papers I actively dislike, but I thought maybe they could provide some insight on the color variation (since they range from high quality and super absorbent to low quality and absorbent to not at all absorbent). They did not provide any insight except that the OCM LP seems to darken more than the others.

 

Somehow I left the Saturation and Water-Resistance blank in the review. I know the WR is because I was waiting for the test to dry; it performs well in a drip test. As for the Saturation, maybe it was unconscious; the variation between pens and papers makes it difficult to rate. On average, I'd say it's a medium-high saturated ink.

 

 

 

Rhodia Writing Samples

 

Clairefontaine Triomphe Writing Samples

 

Tomoe River Writing Samples

 

Various Writing Samples, including Original Crown Mill Laid Paper and Pure Cotton, Ogami Repap Stone Paper, cheap office notepad, and generic copy paper. (I mislabeled the notepad and the copy paper - the pen was a TWSBI 540, not a 580.)

[visvamitra]

I like the way it looks.

[tinta]

Thank you for your thorough & informative ink review.

I have a real weakness for sepia/brown inks. This one looks like a dandy, with water resistance & the permanence of iron gall to boot. I already have a bottle of the Cassis Black.

Sepia & Khaki Black are next on my list. (We now have a source of these inks close by, in Toronto .)

Edited April 3, 2017 by tinta

[fountainpagan]

Another great review.

 

I think I will have to put this one on my wishlist. It looks very interesting.

 

Thank you.

[chingdamosaic]

Looks to me like a mix of J. Herbin Cacao du Brésil & Lie de thé. Lovely!

And thanks for yet another great review!

[Tasmith]

Really enjoy reading your reviews!

 

This is on my wishlist now too.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Many thanks for contributing such a fine Review

 

But now my bottomless ToDoList has grown by one...

 

Bye,

S1

[mmg122]

Excellent review. Many thanks. On my wish list.

[BBU]

Thank you for the review. The use of multiple paper types was wonderful.

 

Ever since swabs of this ink started appearing online, I've been confused. Most of them looked more like a greenish-grey than anything that could be called sepia, and your sentiments seem to echo that. It's almost as though Khaki Black would function more effectively as a conventional sepia (albeit a bit warmer) to some people than Sepia Black does.

Edited April 5, 2017 by BBU

[inkstainedruth]

This one looks interesting. I'm fond of sepia inks that don't lean too green. Do you have any idea as to what the eventual oxidized color will be, or is this it?

Thanks for the review. And, well, not (my ink shopping database just keeps getting larger...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[julia239]

Thank you for the review. The use of multiple paper types was wonderful.

 

Ever since swabs of this ink started appearing online, I've been confused. Most of them looked more like a greenish-grey than anything that could be called sepia, and your sentiments seem to echo that. It's almost as though Khaki Black would function more effectively as a conventional sepia (albeit a bit warmer) to some people than Sepia Black does.

I wouldn't say that it is grey, but there is definitely green to it. I'm probably wouldn't call it Sepia, but Noodler's has Burma Road Brown, which I also think is green.

 

This one looks interesting. I'm fond of sepia inks that don't lean too green. Do you have any idea as to what the eventual oxidized color will be, or is this it?

Thanks for the review. And, well, not (my ink shopping database just keeps getting larger...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I'm not sure you would like this one; the scans are quite close to what I saw on the paper - there is definitely green in it. (My other hobby is photography, so color consistency is important to me & my scanner and monitor are both calibrated to be as accurate as possible.) The main samples had at least a week to oxidize & they seemed fairly stable after about 4 days. I'm sure they'll darken more over time, but I expect it will be much slower. I'll wait a few weeks and then rescan them & post them in the comments.

I think Goulet has samples in stock right now if you don't want to wait; I was curious enough to get samples of Citrus and Forest when I ordered a notebook.

[Jazini]

Nice one. Will buy a bottle.

[amberleadavis]

This color was unexpected. Thank you for all the work you have been doing. Now I'm going to have to do more work myself.

[Ada]

Thanks for posting this review. It confirmed my impression that it is close enough to R & K Sepia, which is my perfect sepia, that I can skip it. (Which will make me feel less guilty when I break my ink moratorium and buy some of the other Platinum iron galls you've reviewed).

[julia239]

This color was unexpected. Thank you for all the work you have been doing. Now I'm going to have to do more work myself.

 

You're welcome; it's fun. I've had a few of these done for a while but been waiting on my scanner to be repaired; once it was, I scanned a bunch when I started finishing the IG reviews. I've got the Forest Black coming soon.

[ENewton]

I also have R & K Sepia and don't feel compelled to buy this ink, but it's a fine review, and your printing is extraordinary.

[namrehsnoom]

Your reviews have convinced me that I have to try out these inks, and I even happen to like all of the colours. I haven't used any IG inks yet, and am a bit worried about pen maintenance (typically it takes me about 10 days to empty a pen - I usually have 2-3 of them inked up).

[julia239]

Your reviews have convinced me that I have to try out these inks, and I even happen to like all of the colours. I haven't used any IG inks yet, and am a bit worried about pen maintenance (typically it takes me about 10 days to empty a pen - I usually have 2-3 of them inked up).

 

I had a TWSBI 580 inked with one of these (I think the Cassis) for over 2 weeks & didn't notice any damage to the steel nib when I cleaned it. For about 4 days of that I was out of town & didn't use it.

 

It's hard to say what the iron content in Platinum's ink is; however, Platinum does describe them document inks that are suitable for preservation, which could mean that the iron content is higher than some other brands of IG (like KWZ's iron gall light). I didn't have any discoloration of the demonstrator barrel either.

 

I do use a pen flush with any IG ink, just to make sure I haven't left anything in the pen or feed. KWZ has a pretty good set of instructions for IG use and cleaning a pen after using an IG ink here.

[DwarvenChef]

I just received a bottle from Goulet, I can't seem to get enough Sepia inks I have it inked up in a new Lamy Safari M, it's not bad but having used Bold nibs for the past few years I find everything smaller to be crazy thin LOL.

 

I also noticed that I have way to many Lamy Safari pens LOL...

 

I bought this ink because of it's Iron Gal association (something I have been attracted to lately) . I have not tested it next to Whalemen sepia yet but it is soon to happen. So far I like the color and don't mind the green shade. Looking at the range of Sepia tones leaves one just as confused as to what the color is SUPPOSED to look like. My understanding is that squid ink mix was the basic idea of the color and we all know what a color change biological items can go through.

Edited September 3, 2017 by DwarvenChef