Birmingham Pen Co. Ink Swatches

[ENewton]

I think the bottles are very cute, but it is tricky to fill a pen from them. What are you doing? Filling with an eyedropper? Filling a converter separately and then attaching it to the section?

[crahptacular]

Yeah, they're definitely impractical for regular filling. I fill the converters from the bottles, which I normally do for samples anyway, as it lets me ration out the ink between pens more accurately.

[ENewton]

Thank you. I'll do the same.

[dragorsi]

Thanks for the swatches!

Tbh they had me at Jeff Goldblum Independence Gray I need the ink that has Jeff's name on it

But for some reason, like others said it, I would like to have them all, even though there are a lot of colors really close to each other.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

Masterful comparison, thank you. I love the names of the colors, although I'd like to see some more (in quantity) bright options, such as more pinks, very light greens and blues, and oranges. Their catalogue tends a bit towards the Dark Side^TM in my opinion.

[Ainkforalloccasions]

They all look gorgeous. I really like the subtlety and thought that went into the names. Any water resistance tests available?

 

Thanks for the post!!

[Intensity]

Look for individual ink reviews. In my experience almost all their inks I’ve tried leave a clearly legible line after dabbing away a splash of water with paper towel.

[crahptacular]

So far, my experience has been the same as Intensity's. All of my reviews should have notes on water resistance if you look for them. For most of the inks in the line, a substantial amount of dye will wash off, but will leave enough to be legible. There have been a few inks with worse water resistance (off the top of my head, Walnut Brown, Duquesne Station Red, and Lilac Wind) and some with better (Gunpowder Black, Smoked Iron, Steel Blue, Boiler Steam BB).

[arellano81366]

Thanks for this post. As for today July 2018 he has launched a new ink suscription option were you can choose receive samples or full size bottles.

[crahptacular]

So, I’ve finally finished doing full “first impression” reviews of all thirty of the Birmingham ink samples from the 30-color sample pack. Since I began the project, the Birmingham Pen Co. has been busy expanding its ink line, which I believe now contains over 50 colors, and is currently growing at a rate of 5 new inks per month (though I’m not sure how long this pace will be kept up). I don’t know if I’ll go on to review all of the new inks (that’s a lot of inks…), but hopefully these first thirty reviews will be of some use to those interested in this relatively new brand.

 

I can no longer edit the first post of this topic, but I figured I would update with links to each of the reviews for easy access, in alphabetical order (hopefully I got all these links right):

 

1 Allegheny Arsenal Gunpowder Black

2 Allegheny River Twilight

3 Andrew Carnegie Steel Blue

4 Andy Warhol Pop Art Purple

5 Billy Eckstine Blues for Sale

6 Bloomfield Red

7 Davild O. Selznick Lilac Wind

8 Duquesne Incline Station Red

9 Edgar T. Steel Works Coking Coal Black

10 Emerald View Park Oxidized Brass

11 Forbes Field Green

12 Fort Pitt Blockhouse Sepia

13 Frank Gorshin Riddle Green

14 Fred Rogers Cardigan Red

15 Frick Park Fern Hollow Creek

16 Gene Kelly Raspberry Rain

17 George Westinghouse Alternator Crimson

18 Grandview Avenue Midnight Horizon

19 Honus Wagner Infield Brown

20 Jeff Goldblum Independence Gray

21 Pennsylvania Railroad Boiler Steam Blue-Black

22 Phipps Conservatory Verbena

23 Point Park Fountain Turquoise

24 Schenley Park Thicket Green

25 Shadyside Walnut Street Brown

26 Smithfield Street Bridge Truss Blue

27 Southside Park Fern Moss

28 Steel Building Smoked Iron

29 USS Requin Navy Blue

30 Waterfront Dusk

[ENewton]

Thank you for this fine resource.

 

I look forward to whatever you do next.

[Tas]

So, I’ve finally finished doing full “first impression” reviews of all thirty of the Birmingham ink samples from the 30-color sample pack. Since I began the project, the Birmingham Pen Co. has been busy expanding its ink line, which I believe now contains over 50 colors, and is currently growing at a rate of 5 new inks per month (though I’m not sure how long this pace will be kept up). I don’t know if I’ll go on to review all of the new inks (that’s a lot of inks…), but hopefully these first thirty reviews will be of some use to those interested in this relatively new brand.

 

I can no longer edit the first post of this topic, but I figured I would update with links to each of the reviews for easy access, in alphabetical order (hopefully I got all these links right):

 

1 Allegheny Arsenal Gunpowder Black

2 Allegheny River Twilight

3 Andrew Carnegie Steel Blue

4 Andy Warhol Pop Art Purple

5 Billy Eckstine Blues for Sale

6 Bloomfield Red

7 Davild O. Selznick Lilac Wind

8 Duquesne Incline Station Red

9 Edgar T. Steel Works Coking Coal Black

10 Emerald View Park Oxidized Brass

11 Forbes Field Green

12 Fort Pitt Blockhouse Sepia

13 Frank Gorshin Riddle Green

14 Fred Rogers Cardigan Red

15 Frick Park Fern Hollow Creek

16 Gene Kelly Raspberry Rain

17 George Westinghouse Alternator Crimson

18 Grandview Avenue Midnight Horizon

19 Honus Wagner Infield Brown

20 Jeff Goldblum Independence Gray

21 Pennsylvania Railroad Boiler Steam Blue-Black

22 Phipps Conservatory Verbena

23 Point Park Fountain Turquoise

24 Schenley Park Thicket Green

25 Shadyside Walnut Street Brown

26 Smithfield Street Bridge Truss Blue

27 Southside Park Fern Moss

28 Steel Building Smoked Iron

29 USS Requin Navy Blue

30 Waterfront Dusk

I've said it before and I'll say it again, especially if anyone from Birmingham Pen Co. is listening, a book. They need to me made into a book of some sort.

[rockydoggy]

Thanks so much for all the work you put into this.

I've purchased maybe 15 of these inks but I can see that I've nowhere near kept up.

 

My mother's from Pittsburgh (from Duquesne really, with relatives in Homestead), so a number of the ink names resonate with me.

Besides that, I'm partial to smoky, murky colors.

Places in the Pittsburgh area have great names. I had a college classmate from Aliquippa--we'd call him "Quip."

[benjitzu]

Slow-clapping-standing ovation for the time, energy, and thoroughness you've put into covering these inks.

 

Until yesterday, I didn't know a Birmingham Pen Company existed let alone that they have a plethora of amazing inks. I randomly saw Shadyside Walnut Street Brown referenced on an ink review which sent me on a down-the-rabbit-hole search to learn more about the company.

 

Though I have more bottles of ink than I could ever use the rest of my life, I'll be adding a few more now.

 

Thank you for putting this together and sharing!

 

Your ink reviews are stunning too. Again, THANK YOU!

[ENewton]

Slow-clapping-standing ovation for the time, energy, and thoroughness you've put into covering these inks.

 

Until yesterday, I didn't know a Birmingham Pen Company existed let alone that they have a plethora of amazing inks. I randomly saw Shadyside Walnut Street Brown referenced on an ink review which sent me on a down-the-rabbit-hole search to learn more about the company.

 

Though I have more bottles of ink than I could ever use the rest of my life, I'll be adding a few more now.

 

Thank you for putting this together and sharing!

 

Your ink reviews are stunning too. Again, THANK YOU!

 

And your timing is perfect: just a few days ago, the maker announced that he has lowered the prices on his inks.

 

Right now I have my favorite Birmingham ink, Waterfront Dusk, in a pen with a medium cursive italic. It is a beautiful dusky color, purple black in this pen, and nicely wet.

[inkstainedruth]

Now if he just announces he's found another storefront location.... Preferably one with more convenient parking than the old store. I miss having a real B&M store locally. I used to like going in there just to see what new that Nick had in stock.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ENewton]

Now if he just announces he's found another storefront location.... Preferably one with more convenient parking than the old store. I miss having a real B&M store locally. I used to like going in there just to see what new that Nick had in stock.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

It seems he has found another location, although he doesn't make promises as to when he'll be able to open a showroom there:

 

https://www.birminghampens.com/blogs/birmingham-blog/a-new-year-a-new-location

[SallyAA]

On 10/27/2017 at 6:27 AM, ParkerDuofold said:

Hello crahptacular,

 

Thank you very much for this... it's great! I've had a fascination with these colors for a while... it's nice to see some coverage on them with fresh swab samples.

 

You mustn't chide yourself on your inability to spell "Duquesne" correctly... I've met Pittsburghers who couldn't spell it correctly. Two constant banes for Pittsburghers are spelling Duquesne and the correct pronunciation of the Mononoghila River... which is often referred to as "The Mon" just to prevent riots in the streets.

 

The colors do seem to have a "gloomy" and "moody" look to them... I think that's in keeping with the city's heavy industrial lineage... there was a time in Pittsburgh's not all that distant past when the streetlights burned 24 hrs. a day because of the pollution from all the steel mills that had once operated there.

 

Btw, I know these things because my brother Pietro lived there for a while and married a native.

 

I must say, several of those colors have my name on them... the turquoise, the Penney RR b/b, Carnegie Steel, the Sepia, the Verbena and a couple others.

 

I'm guessing that DeAtramentis had a hand in these... are they "wet" and well lubed? That's the way I like my inks.

 

Thanks again. Be well and enjoy life.

 

 

- Anthony

The Mon River: Monongahela; Mon County: Monongalia, West Virginia. Neither is Mononoghila, n'at.

[taimdala]

@crahptacular, I can't thank you enough for this thread and all the hard work you put into it. Here I am in 2021, trying to find the ORIGINAL names to many of the inks that BPC renamed/reformulated, as well as the names of their discontinued ink. I fell in love with the names and their unique dusky, smoky, industrial grunge shades .... and foolishly thought they'd be available forever.

Silly rabbit, forever is for kids.

I really should have been archiving BPCs inks from the bigging, but I didn't think it far enough ahead. No longer. I'm making a list and checking it twice for the original versions of the names. Your list and your reviews are a godsend toward that endeavor.

Thank you SO MUCH! ♥

[TSherbs]

First time I've seen this thread. Those are lovely looking ink swatches, for sure. And thank you for the effort of making them and getting them into this thread to share with others.