Vert Empire - J. Herbin

[visvamitra]

http://www.jherbin.com/images/logo_ship.jpg

J. Herbin was established in 1670.

M. Herbin was a sailor, and from his many journeys to India he brought back to Paris formulas for manufacturing sealing wax. His special lacquer formula improved the quality of the seals in adhesion and neatness, helping him to become famous throughout the kingdom.

J. Herbin is also the oldest name in ink production in the world.

By 1700, the company was producing “l’Encre de la Tete Noire,” followed by “Perle des Encres,” (The Jewel of Inks) and “l’Encre des Vaisseaux” (The Ink of Ships).

J. Herbin made ink for Louis XIV, and a black ink for the sole use of Victor Hugo, author of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables. These formulas still reside in our company headquarters in Paris.

At the moment company belongs to Exaclair Inc, that has rights to brands like Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Brause or G. Lalo.

J. Herbin offers 30 standard colors:

http://www.zany.co.nz/Images/Assets/2555912/6/J+Herbin+Fountain+Pen+Ink++Available+in+30+Colours.jpg

1. Ambre de Birmanie
   
2. Bleu Azur
   
3. Bleu Myosotis
   
4. Bleu Nuit
   
5. Bleu Pervenche
   
6. Bouquet d'Antan
   
7. Bouton d'Or
   
8. Cacao du Bresil
   
9. Cafe des Iles
   
10. Diabolo Menthe
    
11. Eclat de Saphir
    
12. Gris Nuage
    
13. Larmes de Cassis
    
14. Lie de The
    
15. Lierre Sauvage
    
16. Orange Indien
    
17. Perle Noire
    
18. Poussiere de Lune
    
19. Rose Cyclamen
    
20. Rose Tendresse
    
21. Rouge Bourgogne
    
22. Rouge Caroubier
    
23. Rouge Opera
    
24. Rouille d'Ancre
    
25. Terre de Feu
    
26. Vert Empire
    
27. Vert Olive
    
28. Vert Pre
    
29. Vert Reseda
    
30. Violette Pensee
    

Vert Empire isn't bad but I'm not really keen on this color.

Ink splash

http://imageshack.com/a/img540/1508/SFA5rM.jpg

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/6687/cVBqLi.jpg

Wodoodporność

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/7401/NokAyE.jpg

Poljet, Kaweco Sport Classic, B

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/6144/gEdNca.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/4636/8xEjmj.jpg

Company notebook, Kaweco Sport Classic, B nib

http://imageshack.com/a/img537/1452/Cu0zzv.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img912/8792/vku6Dr.jpg

Edited May 6, 2015 by visvamitra

[lgsoltek]

I knew I wouldn't like this colour and I'm right.

[Cyber6]

Hmmmm... this doesn't do much for me. But, I think there are different iterations of this color.

 

I never cared much for it...but once in a while, someone post a sample writing of a nice dark green, and I am surprised to find out is Vert Empire. Wondering if pen/paper combo makes such a difference, or there are just different formulations of this particular ink.

 

 

Thanks for the review Vis !!!

 

 

C.

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the review.

Vert Empire is a very weird ink. It tends to fade to more of a grayish green. But it is pretty well behaved, as I recall. I don't use it much, but I do have it and like it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[torstar]

Thanks for a great review, I will take into consideration the other comments above by those who have earned my respect.

 

I'm just re-getting into my collection of Herbins and am enjoying them a lot.

[jasonchickerson]

Vis, is this review recently written or has it been fading in a drawer for a while?

 

The color presented here is much less saturated from what I've seen. I'm wondering if the ink fades on the paper after some days.

[visvamitra]

@jason - well the writing is quite fresh. I should have also sample on the Oxford optic paper. I believe the saturation will be stroner there. I'll try to find it and scan.

[wastelanded]

I tried this and it left me cold. Diamine Umber is verrrry similar, and much cheaper.

[DonLeone]

This doesn't look like my Vert Empire.

 

Is it one of the older batches?

 

My bottle has the new serial number sticker on the back of the bottle.

 

My ink looks greener than this.

[Frank C]

I have a bottle of this somewhere. I don't know if I ever used it. Now I know why.

[VivienR]

Thanks for the great review! Seems was a good idea to not buy this ink instead of buy Diamine Sherwood Green and Sailor Jentle Epinard. I like them both, but I'm not sure, that I could like this one, despite the fact that I like Herbin inks.

[Dhruv_Sood]

Just FYI, this ink available in a fancier bottle and is called "Napoleon ink"

 

http://www.lacouronneducomte.nl/webstore/main/herbin-napoleon-bottle-p-6899.html

 

I was stupid enough to order 2 bottles from the above seller. I'll change the order to 2 normal bottles of vert empire. It's the same bottle as 1670 anniversary ink bottles with same design made on a paper and wrapped around the base.

[Boniface]

I have this ink but it looks different. Mine is more green, less grey. It's not a bright green, but definitely green rather than grey.

 

I usually only use dark blue and blue-black inks, but this is my one exception to that. I like it as a subdued green that looks old-fashioned. It doesn't distract even though it is green.

 

Perhaps this is the green ink to get for those who usually only write with blue-black ink.

[josefa]

I have a bottle of J. Herbin Vert Empire, that is my favourite green ink.

When I bought the bottle, I also bought some cartridges, which I did not use until today. I'm very disappointed with the colour in the cartridges, that is a completely different colour.

How is it possible that there is such a difference between the two?

[Cyber6]

How is it possible that there is such a difference between the two?

 

HHmmmm.... You see the yellow tint on the bottle swab?... That makes it a lot more interesting to me. The cartridge color is more similar to Vis review.

 

 

This ink is not very consistent...

 

 

 

C.

[inkstainedruth]

Could the ink have been reformulated? I remember seeing some posts complaining about the "new" Poussierè de Lune, as compared to the original.

Now I'm wondering if that *is* the case, because from my recollection (I don't have my ink review notebooks with me) the version from leftyjo's cartridges look a lot closer to what my initial sample of the ink looks like. And now I'm wondering what the ink in *my* bottle of Vert Empire looks like....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dan in montreal]

Could the ink have been reformulated? I remember seeing some posts complaining about the "new" Poussierè de Lune, as compared to the original.

Now I'm wondering if that *is* the case, because from my recollection (I don't have my ink review notebooks with me) the version from leftyjo's cartridges look a lot closer to what my initial sample of the ink looks like. And now I'm wondering what the ink in *my* bottle of Vert Empire looks like....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

The bottle I currently have was bought a couple of years ago. I quite like it but to really shine it needs a wet writer and a fat line - and as of late, I've mainly been using finer nibs. Anyways, my stuff seems to be right in the middle of leftyjo's samples.

I'm pretty sure it has been reformulated a number of times. Super saturated inks seem to be in favor these days, but I really enjoy muted, vintage looking inks and a few of the Herbin inks, like this one, as well as Poussière de lune, Éclat de Saphir and Lie de thé are all very much to my liking. Soft, calm and super well behaved. As long as bottled Vert empire is greener than it is gray, I'll be pleased.

[josefa]

I called J. Herbin and they send me a small metal tin with six cartridges of Vert Empire. I was susprised to see that three of the cartdriges were green-green, and the other three yellow-green.

 

[wastelanded]

I called J. Herbin and they send me a small metal tin with six cartridges of Vert Empire. I was susprised to see that three of the cartdriges were green-green, and the other three yellow-green.

That's not good: I wouldn't use the yellowish ones. The fact that three bottles of their ink have gone bad on me led me to use their cartridges instead, my logic being that the cartridges would be airtight until I used them. This leads me to wonder if I was wrong.

[josefa]

 

Here are samples with the yellow-green cartdrige. After a few minutes it turned green-green, a very different color.