Graf Von Faber-Castell Moss Green

[TLab3000]

I was surprised when I saw ink with the label Graf von Faber-Castell in a local store. According to the salesperson, GvFC just started making inks and only two colours are available so far - Moss Green and Garnet Red - more are going to follow over the next couple of weeks. There's nothing on the GvFC web site, yet, but some vendors already offer up to six different colours.

 

Moss Green looked nice, so I bought a bottle. According to the date sticker it's been produced a couple of days ago - so it's about time for a review on FPN!

 

The cardboard packaging is okay, the bit with the colour and ink name is a sticker.

The bottle is, in my own personal opinion, one of the most beautiful bottles on the market right now!

http://www.bibu31.de/tmp/gvfcmg/gvfcmg01.jpg

It might not be the most practical bottle... Well, it's neck is wide enough to even fill really thick FPs. But it's just a standard bottle, there's no fancy dispensing mechanisms like the one on the Akkerman bottles, there's no immersion they way the Lamy or Iroshizuku bottles have it, there's no way of tilting the bottle like a Waterman flacon - it's just a simple bottle. Not the worst one, not the best one, but so beautiful that I cannot resist posting another photo:

http://www.bibu31.de/tmp/gvfcmg/gvfcmg02.jpg

Isn't the logo on the cap nice?

 

Much more important: How does the ink look and how does it behave?

Considering the bottles price of 25€ (USD 34) for 75ml, I expected more than just a nice bottle. 25€ sounds like a lot, but if you break it down to a price per ml, it's not so bad. It's cheaper than iroshizuku, of course, or Montblanc's LE inks. But here in Germany, it's just about as expensive as Noodler's, Edelstein or Kaweco ink.

 

Of the 18 different green inks I have, Diamine Sherwood Green is the only one that comes close in colour, but behaves completely different and never gets as bright as the GvFC can be.

 

GvFC Moss Green is in my opinion an ink particularly suited for medium wet to wet pens for several reasons:

• It has some shading, but only in wet pens. In dry pens, it looks rather uniform and a bit boring.
• This is not a very highly saturated ink.
• It dries fast.
• There is a nice, red sheen, but once again - only in wet pens.
• Flow, feathering and bleed-through are good to excellent.

All in all, in a dry pen you'll get a well-behaved with overall nice properties (apart from the saturation, maybe). In a wet pen, you'll get the full advantage of all the nice qualities the ink offers.

 

Here's a sample. Please bear in mind that my Baoer 79 is an extremely wet pen and that in the writing sample I wrote the way I usually do - hence the bad handwriting - to show the ink's properties when writing at a normal speed with normal pressure and so on.

http://www.bibu31.de/tmp/gvfcmg/gvfcmg05.jpg

GvFC Moss Green seems to be quite water-proof! I'll make more tests to confirm that.

 

And finally, a comparison with inks that don't look too different. Please bear in mind that the glass dip pen gives a rather wet and saturated line.

http://www.bibu31.de/tmp/gvfcmg/gvfcmg06.jpg

 

I'm glad I bought this ink. It's well behaved and has a nice shade that I can really use. I can wholeheartedly recommend this ink.

[The Blue Knight]

It's a really nice ink, I really like the shading it has and the bottle. Good review, nice to see some direct comparisons.

[The Good Captain]

This really does look like a colour I should consider.

[cybaea]

Oh! Pretty Must resist the urge to buy more ink!! Thanks for the early review

[MisterBoll]

Thanks for the review. This is a lovely shade of green.

 

The box looks very much like the boxes of Iroshizuku.

[attika89]

Very nice color with nice shades and sheen! Who could ever want more than that?
Seems to be impressive! Thank you for the review!

 

The only thing I don't really like is the thick base of the bottle

The cap is beautiful though!

Edited November 4, 2013 by attika89

[cybaea]

Been googling and found:

 

The fountain pens in the Graf von Faber-Castell collection are precision writing implements and could be adversely affected if used with unsuitable ink. We recommend using exclusively Graf Faber-Castell ink or ink cartridges.The ink is available in an attractive glass with the finely fluted surface: unmistakable style of Graf von Faber-Castell, or also available as a cartridge. The end consumer has the choice between six colours, which have been inspired by nature: Carbon Black, Cobalt Blue, Hazelnut Brown, Stone Grey, Moss Green or Garnet Red color. They are distinguished by a very unique colour depth and are partially document proofed (black, blue, green and grey).

Source: http://www.fabercastell.com/en/products/more-products/eraser/RoundspareeraserGvFC/188606 (obvioulsly!?)

 

For your shopping pleasure: http://www.penboutique.com/p-11277-graf-von-faber-castell-design-ink-bottle-75-ml.aspx - at USD 30 per 75ml bottle.

 

http://www.graf-von-faber-castell.com/~/media/Graf-von-Faber-Castell/teasers/schreibgeraete-Teaser.jpg

^^^ Contender for most banal opening line for a love letter?

 

 

More "document" inks - seems to be the new trend. Thank you Noodlers and De Atramentis.

Edited November 4, 2013 by cybaea

[attika89]

http://www.graf-von-faber-castell.com/~/media/Graf-von-Faber-Castell/teasers/schreibgeraete-Teaser.jpg

I would gladly live with that combo

 

I hope the inks will show up at more places soon! (like cultpens or the writing desk)

[TLab3000]

Source: http://www.fabercastell.com/en/products/more-products/eraser/RoundspareeraserGvFC/188606 (obvioulsly!?)

The weird thing about that link is that I get it when I google for it and I can see the text you quoted in the google preview. But once I click the link, it leads me to the "round spare eraser" product page.

[MisterBoll]

[TLab3000]

Cool! Thank you!

http://www.bibu31.de/tmp/gvfcmg/irofab1.jpg

http://www.bibu31.de/tmp/gvfcmg/irofab2.jpg

[Masque]

The samples provided here are beautiful. They look like Jentle Epinard on antidepressants. I would be happy to trade you 4mL of Epinard for 2mL of this, so that we each might compare....

[lapis]

Been googling and found:

 

Source: http://www.fabercastell.com/en/products/more-products/eraser/RoundspareeraserGvFC/188606 (obvioulsly!?)

Hi there and thanks! Can you -- and/or anybody else -- elucidate as to what the differences are (in production) bdetween those "six" and the two "normal GvF-Cs" Royal Blue and Black, both of which are not in 75 ml but the 62.5 ml (2 oz) bottles which look stunningly similar to those of Pelikan's?

 

Thanks, Mike

[cybaea]

Hi there and thanks! Can you -- and/or anybody else -- elucidate as to what the differences are (in production) bdetween those "six" and the two "normal GvF-Cs" Royal Blue and Black, both of which are not in 75 ml but the 62.5 ml (2 oz) bottles which look stunningly similar to those of Pelikan's?

 

Thanks, Mike

 

Don't know, but I notice that all the colours are now available in cartridges and soon in bottles (source: https://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Graf-von-Faber-Castell-Bottled-Ink-for-Fountain-Pens.html#a29495 and https://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Graf-von-Faber-Castell-Ink-Cartridges.html). So maybe I will do something unusual and get a handful of cartridges.....

[attika89]

 

Don't know, but I notice that all the colours are now available in cartridges and soon in bottles (source: https://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Graf-von-Faber-Castell-Bottled-Ink-for-Fountain-Pens.html#a29495 and https://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Graf-von-Faber-Castell-Ink-Cartridges.html). So maybe I will do something unusual and get a handful of cartridges.....

 

I saw them at cultpens yesterday. I'll wait till they have the rest of the colors and get the Moss Green and an other one (grey or black).

 

[RGH]

Been googling and found:

 

Source: http://www.fabercastell.com/en/products/more-products/eraser/RoundspareeraserGvFC/188606 (obvioulsly!?)

 

For your shopping pleasure: http://www.penboutique.com/p-11277-graf-von-faber-castell-design-ink-bottle-75-ml.aspx - at USD 30 per 75ml bottle.

 

http://www.graf-von-faber-castell.com/~/media/Graf-von-Faber-Castell/teasers/schreibgeraete-Teaser.jpg

^^^ Contender for most banal opening line for a love letter?

 

 

More "document" inks - seems to be the new trend. Thank you Noodlers and De Atramentis.

 

 

Well, she has her engagement and wedding rings on her right hand ... which means she must be German (or possibly Russian), and she's trying to write a letter in English.

[cybaea]

This is probably not important to most of you, but I thought I would share that after a moderate spill of this ink on my hands from a pen that really doesn't like cartridges, no amount of Reduran or Amodex will remove the last remaining blue-purple-green stains on my hands. (Amodex did a good job on the table. Don't ask, and you possibly do not want to try this at home.)

 

For me, that rules it out for office use. Accidents happen, which is OK as long as I know I can contain them. Now where did I put that bottle of Pelikan 4001 Königsblau…?

 

You may also like the Cult Pens water test of these inks; see http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Graf-von-Faber-Castell-Bottled-Ink-for-Fountain-Pens.html for the pictures.

[meiers]

Thank you. I am going to start looking for a bottle.

[attika89]

Thank you again for the review!
Beautiful ink! And the bottle is even nicer in real life!

The sheen is pretty nice!
http://www.kepfeltoltes.hu/140102/P1170560_www.kepfeltoltes.hu_.jpg

[WOBentley]

Mine is here and I really think these are very well behaved inks. I like the color and think the photos above are accurate on my monitor. The bottles are spectacular!