J. Herbing 1670 Emerald Of Chivor/ Emeraude De Chivor (An Extremely Photo-Heavy, Structureless, And Biased Review)

[chingdamosaic]

J. Herbin is a French ink brand whose history claims to date back to 1670. Beside the 30 regular colors, there is also a 1670 Collection, released in 2010, in order to celebrate J. Herbin's 340th anniversary.
Up to this date, there are 4 inks in the 1670 Collection, listed in order by date of release:

1. Rouge Hematite- Red ink with gold shimmer

2. Bleu Ocean- Blue ink with silver shimmer

3. Stormy Grey- Dark grey ink with gold shimmer

4. Emeraude de Chivor/ Emerald of Chivor - Teal ink with gold shimmer (released in August, 2015)

 

All though I'm not a big fan of J. Herbin inks, I actually quite like how they design and sell their products--- the idea is clear and the image depicted is exquisite. All J.Herbin inks are revolving around one theme: a reminiscence of 17th-19th Europe/France.

According to their official site, the idea of the 1670 Collection and Emeraude de Chivor is as below:

The 1670 Collection celebrates the rich life and adventures of J. Herbin, an enterprising French sailor of the mid-17th century. He made a number of voyages to India, collecting ingredients and formulas for his sealing wax and inks. He began making pen inks in his Paris workshop beginning in 1700 with the "Ink of Ships" and the "Jewel of Inks." Today, Herbin inks are widely used and internationally renown.

 

J. Herbin is said to have kept an emerald in his pocket during his voyages as a good luck charm. These precious gemstones have been treasured for centuries for having magical healing properties and as protective talismans. One of the purest emerald deposits in the world, the Chivor mine in the Andes was discovered in the middle of the 16th century by Spanish conquistadors.

Chivor emeralds were much in demand, and the royalty of India, Persia and Turkey sought the New World treasures once the gems arrived in Europe. Emeralds were enormously popular in the Mughal Court of India, whose rulers referred to them as "Tears of the Moon" because of their opaque transparency.

To be honest, I only bought this ink on a whim. I'm not crazy about shimmery inks, and I already have a similar color, Private Reserve Ebony Blue(which I LOVE... if you've read my other review ), and overall, EoC doesn't beat it.

Anyway, I'll try to introduce this ink( with loads of pictures I don't know how to organize).

Box & Bottle

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald01_zpsrcnkoqie.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald02_zpsjtjnv8gp.jpg

This little golden-rimmed gemstone got me!

Gold flecks at the bottom

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald03_zpsjkisqjoj.jpg

Chromatography

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald12_zpsxnetgjte.jpg

A highly saturated blue-green. Nothing more. (I prefer a more complicated ink....)

Writing Samples with Dip Pen(Blue Pumpkin)

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald04_zps0m4mwmyo.jpg

I always test new inks with a dip pen first, and my first attempt with EoC.... wasn't very pleasant. The ink either refused to descend to the paper, or flushed out all of a sudden and caused significant feathering and bleed-through, even on fp friendly paper. The color and the sheen are nice, though.

As for the gold flecks, I like them when they sprinkle here and there along the contour, or form a thin layer of gold. However, the thing is, I can never control/predict the amount of flecks I actually get. Some time it's none, and some time it's too much, like below:

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald09_zpsymcx6aoh.jpg

The shimmer on the swab is OK, but the shimmer on the words "肥肉" is so thick it covers the ink, and smudges everywhere when dried.

I attached a piece of tape to the nib(some tip I learnt from other fp user), and with some more practice we finally got along.

Here is another sample done on sketch paper:

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald08_zpswx8wkwot.jpg

Like what's often mentioned in EoC review, this ink indeed is a crazy sheener---it even sheens on rather absorbant paper!

Writing Samples with Dauer-feder pen

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald05_zpsrhpvvcy2.jpg

Although I filled the pen right after shaking the bottle, I got no shimmer with this pen. And it is unusual that with this wet writer, it shows no sheen here. But the shading is really nice. I like the vivid contrast between the darker and lighter parts.

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald06_zpscvd5bswq.jpg

Writing Sample with Noodler's Creaper

I successfully got quite a lot of gold flecks this time!

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald14_zpsysaev7hg.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald15_zps1ylttfn8.jpg

You can see from this pic that this ink is highly saturated, and not water-resistant---only the glitter survived the water wash.

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald10_zpszhyvspex.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald20_zpsxsmgocv7.jpg

(On sketch paper)

A whole page with EoC:

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald16_zps4f7mw8ua.jpg

My Creaper has some skipping/inconsistency problem. It's not EoC's fault.

Close-ups

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald17_zpsyq1rvu3x.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald18_zpsxiolsnzr.jpg

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald19_zps2mrlgxcd.jpg

I'm used to re-read what I've just written after finishing one page. When reading this page, it took me twice the time than usual, because I kept being distracted by the sheen, shading, and shimmer......

On yellow ROSSI paper:

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald13_zps79hsi7hb.jpgWith those gold flecks and feathery brown sheen, this look like a universe with star dusts and nebulae.

I also did a comparison to my beloved Private Reserve Ebony Blue:

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald21_zpsviti58jj.jpg

Ebony Blue: darker, greener, with brown undertone and wine-red sheen. Water-resistant.

Emerald of Chivor: lighter, bluer, with copper-red sheen. Not water-resistant.

On Tomoe River -- Dip pen & LAMY Safari Ef

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald22_zps4kotbtvi.jpg

close-up

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald23_zps0ppniog2.jpg

On Cheap Copy Paper--- Dip pen & LAMY Safari Ef

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald24_zpssd2ozy9h.jpg

close-up

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald25_zpswwjmokae.jpg

The Elusive Pink Sheen

What prompted me to buy this ink was the neonish pink sheen shown in some reviews. However, you may have noticed that in the above pictures the sheen is all brown. Maybe some reddish brown, especially when still wet, but never anything near pink.

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald11_zpszasjiwcn.jpg

I've tried all kinds of pen/paper combinations I have, including tracing paper, but still no pink sheen....

Until I tried thermal paper.... ahhh, finally, this pink sheen..... but I don't want to keep writing on receipts....

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald26_zpsxi1huso3.jpg

Also, my latest discovery is that if you smeared the writings with water, the sheen turns from brown to pink!

http://i651.photobucket.com/albums/uu239/chingdamosaic/1670emerald27_zpsl7dulha4.jpg

Overview

"Too much going on, like a circus." I remember reading such comment somewhere here, and I'd like to salute that fpn member for his/her penetrating insight. This ink is gorgeous indeed, but sometimes too distracting at the same time. The poor performance on cheaper paper and the lack of water resistance also make it less suitable for daily use.

BTW, the flow is OK, not dry, but not especially lubricant either.

Thank you for reading this review!

[lapis]

Now that is one huge review! Thanks!! Excellent information. Now I know a lot more than I did even after I opened up and tried all bottles. Your drawing is unsurpassable! Only thing I really don't like here is Herbin's reissuing of colours (particularly the red) without any numbering (and/or re-numberings) like at least MB does....

 

Mike

[lgsoltek]

Great review, thanks!

 

I bought this ink during the whole "new 1670 sheen monster!" frenzy. But I really don't like it. Too much feathering (although much better than Stormy Grey), smudges easily, doesn't work with dip nibs... And most importantly I don't really like this colour.

[chingdamosaic]

Now that is one huge review! Thanks!! Excellent information. Now I know a lot more than I did even after I opened up and tried all bottles. Your drawing is unsurpassable! Only thing I really don't like here is Herbin's reissuing of colours (particularly the red) without any numbering (and/or re-numberings) like at least MB does....

 

Mike

Thank you for the kind words and extra information!

I do remember reading somewhere that there are at least 4 editions of Rouge Hematite, and 2 editions of Bleu Ocean(one being without silver glitter?), but I wasn't sure so I didn't include that in the review.

One thing I do like about the 1670 Collection is that they are NOT limited. Special edition, but not limited.

I hate limited/discontinued inks (Rikyu-cha, Cigar, Hot wine.... )

 

 

Great review, thanks!

 

I bought this ink during the whole "new 1670 sheen monster!" frenzy. But I really don't like it. Too much feathering (although much better than Stormy Grey), smudges easily, doesn't work with dip nibs... And most importantly I don't really like this colour.

I agree with your opinion about this ink.

BTW, just want to let you know that it was your beautiful pictures that compelled me tot get this ink... lol

[Newjelan]

Fabulous review, thanks.

 

I love this ink and find myself admiring a page of writing simply for the beauty of the ink. I'm even using it for everyday work-related note taking as it gives me so much aesthetic pleasure.

[Chrissy]

Great review, thanks. Fabulous ink!

[zaddick]

Thank you for the entertaining review.

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the review.

While the sheen is pretty amazing, and the gold particles just add to the fun, I really detest the underlying color. And I love love love Stormy Grey. I don't recall any feathering offhand, but it's been a while since I used it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[visvamitra]

Great work Thank you.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Indeed! I love the little mermaid.

[chingdamosaic]

Thank you everyone for the kind comments!

[white_lotus]

Thanks for the review. I've never been into the sheen/shimmering inks, so never bought this ink. Your page of Chinese characters looks wonderful, however.