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I use black ink from Bril or Camlin and write with a fine nib. I feel that they give a lighter shade on paper than I expect, especially when soft pressure is applied. I need more darker hue to my ink. Are any other brands of ink available in India that have very dark black colour?

Hello again to all my FP friends, [This review has been sitting on my desk for months and I finally got around to posting it. Stay tuned for a comparison of Diamine Cornflower and Penbbs #116 Cornflower.] Diamine needs no introduction on this board. Suffice it to say that they have been making inks for over a century and produce many, many beautiful hues, a lot of which are prone to feathering and bleed through on everyday office paper. This ink up for review is from Diamine’s Flower Series. It is named after the cornflower (centaurea cyanus) which can be various shades of blue or lavender. I’ve never seen the flower in person, but by just comparing with various photographs online, the ink looks like a pretty good match to the flower. Diamine Cornflower is a deep and very saturated blue with a dash of purple. This ink dries quickly on absorbent paper, but has an average dry time on nicer papers. Sheening is nice and shading possible with wet nibs on good paper. It can be quite a stunning color with the write combination. Unfortunately, this ink’s downfall as a daily work ink is its tendency to feather and bleed through. Although feathering with finer nibs wasn’t too bad on copy paper, even the Japanese fine nib produced noticeable bleed. Water resistance is passible; a dark purplish line remains legible. This is a lovely vibrant color that reminds me of a dark counterpart to Noodler’s Baystate Blue. The color is also standard enough that it could be used in most professional environments. They only thing that keeps me from buying a bottle is that the feathering and bleed through make it impossible to use on any paper I would run into outside the house. However, if you like saturated, slightly purplish dark blues and mostly use good paper, then this is not an ink you’ll want to miss. *A special thanks to lapis for sending a sample of this ink to me! Pens used (in order): 1. Pilot 78G Fine 2. Lamy Safari Broad 3. Pilot Plumix Italic 4. Noodler’s Nib Creaper Flex 5. Hero 5028 1.9mm Stub Swab Paper Towel Drop 80gsm Rhodia Tomoe River *Many thanks to Lord Epic for kindly sending me some of this paper! Check out that subtle sheen! 70gms Deli Copy Paper Moleskine Water Resistance Comparison (More blues to be added later) Thanks for reading! SDG

Penbbs No.152 Mix Set Violet Penbbs is a Chinese online fountain pen community similar to FPN. They not only talk about inks but also produce their own inks every year. Each series consists of ten to fifteen inks and 2017 marks the release of Penbbs’ fifteenth ink series. Due to Chinese postal restrictions, these inks are virtually impossible to obtain outside of China. Within China they are extremely affordable (21 RMB or about US$3 per 60ml bottle) and can easily be purchased through the Chinese online shopping giant Taobao. This ink up for review is from Penbbs’ twelfth series. It is one of seven “Mix Set” inks in this series that are designed to “mix to create miracle.” The color is true to its name, giving a nice deep violet. This ink is rich and deeply saturated with virtually no shading. It’s a beautiful vibrant hue that I enjoy seeing on the page. Judging purely from scans in other reviews, I have a feeling that Penbbs No. 152 may be a good contender for a Lamy Dark Lilac substitute. [bTW, If anyone is interested in selling me their bottle of that precious elixir please let me know!! :puddle: ] It also seems to be darker and more saturated than Pelikan 4001 Violet, but I don’t have any on hand to compare. No. 152 also has some great writing properties. There is a little feathering and bleed through on copy paper and Moleskine, but it isn’t significant. This ink also dries quickly and has good water resistance. When exposed to water the red component will lift, but the remaining dark purple line is still very legible. This is the first of the Penbbs inks I’ve reviewed so far that has actually impressed me. It’s a nice color that behaves well and is a joy to write with. If you like purples/violets and are able to get a bottle of this, you won’t be disappointed! Pens used (in order): 1. Pilot 78G Fine 2. Lamy Safari Broad 3. Pilot Plumix Italic 4. Noodler’s Nib Creaper Flex 5. Hero 5028 1.9mm Stub Swab Paper Towel Drop 80gsm Rhodia 73gsm Chinese Tomoe River Wannabe (brand unknown) 70gms Deli Copy Paper Moleskine Water Resistance Comparison Here is Penbbs’ image of the bottle and label for reference: SDG

Penbbs is a Chinese online fountain pen community similar to FPN. They not only talk about inks but also produce their own inks every year. Each series consists of ten to fifteen inks and 2017 marks the release of Penbbs’ fifteenth ink series. Due to Chinese postal restrictions, these inks are virtually impossible to obtain outside of China. Within China they are extremely affordable (21 RMB or about US$3 per 60ml bottle) and can easily be purchased through the Chinese online shopping giant Taobao. This ink up for review is from Penbbs’ eighth series. It is named after Chinese architect Lin Huiyin (known as Phyllis Lin in the West). She is famous in China for being the first female architect in modern China and for her involvement in designing the flag and national emblem of the People’s Republic of China. You can read more about her here. I love my purples, and this one doesn’t disappoint. No. 95 is a deep purple very similar in color to Noodler’s La Reine Mauve but much better behaved. To my eye it looks like a pure purple, leaning neither red nor blue. It is quite saturated but does shade a tad with wet nibs on non-absorbent paper. This ink dries quickly, but also displays some feathering and bleed through. However, it doesn’t feather or bleed nearly as much as the other two Penbbs inks I’ve reviewed (Nos. 132 and 157). Also unlike those inks it has passable water resistance. Penbbs No. 95 could be someone’s perfect dark purple for daily use with a fine nib on regular paper. My conclusion is that this is a decent ink I can live without and we could all use a little more Waterman Tender Purple in our lives. Pens used (in order): 1. Pilot 78G Fine 2. Lamy Safari Broad 3. Pilot Plumix Italic 4. Noodler’s Nib Creaper Flex 5. Hero 5028 1.9mm Stub Swab Paper Towel Drop 80gsm Rhodia 73gsm Chinese Tomoe River Wannabe (brand unknown) 70gms Deli Copy Paper Moleskine Water Resistance Comparison Because I ordered so many samples, the Taobao seller kindly gave me a free empty ink bottle that just happened to be for this ink. Chinese inks bottles are usually quite ugly and impractical, but this one is neither. The octagonal shape and decent-sized opening allow for you to trap the last drop of ink in a corner to suck up with a pipette. The full color label is also a nice change from the typical boring design. You can tell these inks were made by and for fountain pen enthusiasts.

For some of my writing (journaling, mostly) I like sheen. However, the ink that I have with the most sheen is Bungbox 4B, which is quite dear ($$$.) What are some good options- color doesn't matter too much as long as it is on the darker end of the spectrum- for a good sheening ink on Tomoe River paper that is of a less expensive make? Thanks for your suggestions! greg

My ink and pen preferences seem to be at odds with one another... It happens all the time: I see an ink whose reviews/swatches look just amazing and right up my alley, and when I get my hands on a sample, it looks like a completely different (sadder, drabber, un-sheeny) creature, because I really prefer using EF nibs. Because of course, most people don't do ink reviews with fine/extra fine nibs. They don't show inks off to their best advantage (unless you're trying to show that a particular ink is super-saturated no matter what nib it flows out of...). Now, I know if I just learned to love broader, wetter nibs, I wouldn't have this problem anymore. And I promise I'm going to try! I ordered a Jinhao with the bent "calligraphy" nib, and I'm eyeballing a TWSBI mini-vac with a stub nib, and I'm curious how well a flex nib would play with a left-hander like myself... but for daily use, I love my EF/XF, neat, well-behaved nibs. SO! The question at hand is: Can I get some ink recommendations for colors that shade nicely in fine nibs? Thus far, I've been most impressed with Noodler's Black-Red (my two ultimate ink wants: shading and intense color, even in an EF!), and a diluted sample of Noodler's Navy. I've got some ink samples in the mail, a couple of which are supposed to shade nicely (Liberty's Elysium & one of the Iroshizukus)... Any others you fine folks can think of offhand with all these seemingly elusive traits? I've tried the "Black Swan in Whichever Roses", and they're OK... I forget which one I like better, but I don't think either would become a go-to. TIA for any tips anyone has to offer!

I would like a nice, dark, saturated purple, but don't know much about anything other than your blues and blacks. Does anyone make a purple-black ink? If so, who and is it any good? Otherwise, what is a nice dark purple? Thanks, Tom.

Hi, Mini introduction first: After recently picking up (or rather buying) a couple of cheap fountain pens, I have had great use of these forums, and kind off rediscovered writing. It is an amazing feeling to actually write something by hand again. It has even given me the mental kick in the but to get writing on an idea for a paper I have had in the pipeline for a long time, although that is, for practical purposes, done electronically. To the question: I am looking for a dark green, professional looking ink. After reading in this subforum, I decided on the Diamine Sherwood Green - and I absolutely love it! The shading is wonderful yet discrete, and the flow is good in the Jintao X750 with very little feathering even on cheap paper. A collegue hinted the other day, though, that it might not be dark enough to sign official outgoing letters. I kind of agree. So I am looking for something darker. The problem is, after looking at the samples on Goulet Pens, I can't really find any. Private Reserve Ebony Green looked up to it, but after reading reviews of it here, it seems no darker than Diamine Sherwood in the writiing samples. Faber-Castell Moss Green looks like a "maybe", but it surely is expensive for a maybe. And that's about it (I don't really count Noodler's Zhivago as a green.) except for De Atramentis Black Edition - Black-Green, which is sold out and doesn't look THAT dark. Does anyone have any experience with a darker ink than Diamine Sherwood that they have compared to Sherwood on the same paper? I was hoping I didn't have to start mixing inks so soon, even though I was planning on trying it eventually. Maybe a black blue would look good mixed with the sherwood? Or even brown? Any suggestions after reading this long, rambling first post?

Hello, I recently decided to work on my penmanship and bought the inexpensive Parker Vector, with which I am thus far pleased. I do not care for the ink accompanying the pen and would love a recommendation on another ink that is ... black, opaque, thick, less watery, quick drying, waterproof. I'm sure you all have your preferences and certainly know exactly what would work for me, so please, if you would, share. Thanks in advance.

My bottle of this great ink arrived this morning so I've only had chance to get a simple scan up. Also, I've no inks to compare it with so I'll wait for others to do that. Water/soak test scans will follow later. It's quite a wet ink which is great in a way as I'd planned it to go in my Pilot Custom 823 F and I was really pleased as I think it makes it up to a MF thickness, which I've just got on a couple of Sailor 1911s (but more about those later.) So, another great ink from Cult Pens in conjunction with Diamine of course. Enjoy!