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Platinum Classic Ink — Cassis Black #15 Review (Note: Due to FPN's compression standards, I've had to compress the images to less-than-favorable quality. To view them in full, high resolution, please click here to be redirected to my blog.) Platinum announced a new series of Iron Gall Inks—the Classic Inks—in January with six colors: Cassis black, Forest black, Citrus black, Khaki black, Sepia black, and Lavender black. And ever since they came out earlier this month, I’ve wanted to give them a try, and I could not have been more happy with them. The first ink of the bunch is Cassis black (#15), a really pleasant magenta-red ink that over time fades darker, and over a period of years, should fade to black. The ink, although sold by Platinum, was actually created by an iron-gall mastermind by the name of pGary who had created a blue-black iron gall for Platinum in the past. Modern iron-gall inks are a bit of an enigma. For the most part, they are safe for use in pens, but often are some of the more high-maintenance inks available, as, without cleaning, they can corrode the metal of a pen or leave a really difficult to remove sediment in the feed. For a really detailed read on IG inks written by the creator of KWZ inks, click here, (I highly recommend it). Anyway, the ink itself comes in a very pleasantly-designed 60 mL bottle—Its shape resembles that of a tall rectangle with convex sides, and it is very nice for storage (similar to Noodlers). The bottle also has a decently wide neck, so most pens should fit inside. However, there is a plastic secondary reservoir which might prove a bit of a challenge for larger pens—although it is quite tall so most nibs should be able to fit inside. Nevertheless, it can be removed if you find it annoying. The ink itself is astonishingly pretty. Going in, I—based off of my previous experiences with iron-gall ink—was rather pessimistic as I thought the ink would be rather dark and dreary. However, the Cassis is almost the opposite. Named for the liquor made from a blackcurrant, the ink is quite colorful and vibrant without being eye-piercing. Cassis black has very nice shading (but no sheen) and is extremely well behaved on almost all papers (I have used it on papers anywhere from Clairefontaine to news-stock and, even on the worst paper possible, it didn’t feather at all and it barely bled through. As a student, this particularly helpful as, often, the paper made available to me is over a rather low caliber—but this ink tackles it without an issue. The ink is also decently water-resistant, and likewise, I found it somewhat difficult to wash is both off my hands and my desk when it spilled (so try to keep it safely inside the pen at all times). However, far and away, the coolest thing about the inks its color change. The ink looks like a bright red from inside a converter. However, after touching paper, the ink rapidly transforms from an almost cherry-candy red to a deep magenta. (The entire process takes about forty seconds or so to go through fully). However, on more absorbent papers, the effect happens immediately so it is not as obvious. On top of this, the ink also shades beautifully in any nib from extra fine to double broad. The ink is currently available only in Japan (I purchased it from Rakuten who ships to the US). However, it seems to be coming soon to the US by way of Goulet Pens. The ink costs ¥2160 on Rakuten or $25.00 from Goulet when available (Goulet also will also have samples for $1.75). If you’ve enjoyed this review, please consider taking a look at my blog and subscribing—every subscription helps immensely and I promise not to spam your inbox. Also, if you subscribe, you’ll also be alerted of giveaways (I plan to give away a couple samples of this ink so click here to be notified. I hope you’ve enjoyed this review.

Platinum Classic Ink #11 Forest Black Review So far, I have had the pleasure of using half of the Platinum Classic Iron Gall inks, and, with two of them (Cassis Black, and Citrus Black), I have been quite impressed; however, one has proven to be a little less spectacular than the others: Forest Black. Forest Black is a interestingly-colored green ink—it is what I call a ‘Safari-green’ color—halfway between a light green and a yellow shade. (It looks very similar to a lighter Diamine Evergreen). To be honest, Forest Black is not really my color—it is not dark enough to be professional, and has barely any saturation in color. Additionally, the ink doesn’t really look like it can decide if it wants to be a yellow or a green. Part of this is due to the Iron Gall properties; when first on a page, the ink appears like a very bright green (this lasts for about a minute—see this video for the color shift in action); however, in a period of about twenty minutes after the original color-shift, the ink changes shade the half-yellow half-green color that is on the scan. Although some people may really like the shade, I must admit that it really is not my cup of tea. Forest Black—being an iron gall—also has its fair share of maintenance problems: it is definitely one of the more corrosive inks I’ve used. (It was seemingly more corrosive than the Cassis and Citrus Black inks as Forest managed to create a film on a stainless steel nib that took a decent amount of cleaning to remove.) And, while it may just be an extremely corrosive bad batch, I am now somewhat wary of using this in any pen where any exposed component is not plastic or gold. However, on the bright side, the ink is relatively water resistant and will dry decently fast. It is also very good on cheap papers and can be used on newsprint without feathering and only barely bleeding through. It also shades just as well as its other iron-gall cousins, however, it does not have much in the way of sheen. The ink comes in pleasant packaging, with a nicely decorated green box and a well made bottle—if you would like to see my opinion of the packaging and bottle, see one of my other Platinum ink reviews here. Although this ink was certainly not pleasant for me, I can see how some people may enjoy it, so if barely saturated green safari inks are your thing, this ink may be the color for you. However—it certainly isn’t the color for me. Nevertheless, if you would like to purchase it, it is available in 2mL samples and 60 mL bottles from Goulet. I hope you enjoyed this review. If you have, please consider taking a look at some of my other reviews at my blog PensOnPark.com.