Birmingham Pen Co. - Waterfront Dusk

[Intensity]

Birmingham Pen Company is a store in Pennsylvania with its own line of budget-friendly, mysteriously complex dark shades of inks: https://www.birminghampens.com/pages/about-us

 

This is a review of Birmingham Pen Co. ink called "Waterfront Dusk". It is a grayed "blurple" (blue-purple), on the purple side.

 

Other review(s): https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/329368-birmingham-waterfront-dusk/

(this one is great, and you can see how the ink shines on Tomoe River paper used for art).

 

. . .

My favorite paper to write on, other than Tomoe River, is Fabriano Bioprima 85g/m², for the reason of its economical price, beautiful pale cream color, fountain-pen-friendly behavior, and also the way it seems to enhance ink appearance on the page in terms of color saturation and absorption. It's not the most feather-proof paper, however--not like Clairefontaine or Tomoe River, and slightly worse than Rhodia's standard paper in that regard.

 

With that in mind, some feather-prone inks are not as easy to deal with on this paper, unless I watch what pen and nib I use them with (for instance my firehose modded Lamy 1.1mm nib puts down entirely too much ink for feathering inks but works great with something like Waterman Absolute Brown, giving the nice outlining effect that ink has).

 

That disclaimer aside, I find that many of the Birmingham Pen Co. inks I've tried are prone to feathering on any paper that's more absorbent or not coated. This particular ink, Waterfront Dusk, is slightly prone to feathering. However, if you use appropriate paper OR if you use a drier pen, you should be okay.

 

Water resistance is there, as with other Birmingham Pen Co. inks I've tested. The magenta-purple component washes off, leaving the dark blue component behind.

 

Due to the high flow saturated nature of this ink, shading becomes more prominent on high quality paper only. It's best on Tomoe River, being very gradual and beautiful, and becomes less noticeable no more absorbent paper.

 

The mystery of this ink is in its color: it could be mistaken for a purple, but really it has a very strong blue component. In some ways it looks like a purple-tinted dark blue. It's also got a healthy dose of grayed appearance. I could see this ink being used for more serious communication with a twist. Normally I personally do not like purple inks, but this one is blue enough that it's growing on me. It is significantly more blue than all the purples I've compared it with.

 

Color-corrected photograph (using a custom profile with an X-Rite Color Checker Passport):

 

(it is also the first ink to finally stain the front of my Col-o-Ring pad )

 

 

 

Edited January 6, 2018 by Intensity

[lgsoltek]

Not bad! A dusty purple that kind of reminds me of the 2018 Pantone colour of the year. The water resistance is quite impressive. Thanks for the review!

[Intensity]

It's more blue and more gray than Ultra Violet 18-3838 Panone color.

Edited January 6, 2018 by Intensity

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the review. I have a bottle of this but haven't tried it yet.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ENewton]

This is my favorite of the Birmingham inks I have tried so far. I also like it best on Tomoe River, because of the shading and the fact that it is more clearly purple than on some other papers.

[Intensity]

Tomoe River paper is just amazing for pretty much any ink to look its best. Other than the super sheeny ones--the sheen can overwhelm the base color completely. If only there were other paper manufacturers using this kind of paper for common stationery everywhere and printer paper (doesn't need to be so thin and transparent, of course). Though of course the downside is long drying time: my vintage Sheaffer filled with concentrated Noodler's Walnut Brown writes a wet thin line, and it took probably something like an hour for the writing to dry and stop smudging, no exaggeration.

Edited January 7, 2018 by Intensity

[Dolor_encausti]

Having spent the largest part of my life in Pittsburgh, I can’t help but be charmed by this line of inks. The references for each color immediately call to mind years of memories. Purple isn’t typically my preference, but I like this one.

[KellyMcJ]

Wow! I haven't paid much attention to Birmingham inks but I really like the look of these and the price is right!

[finnegans]

Great review of a great ink. I agree that this shows its color nicely on TRP, too - it can be tough to differentiate from black on absorbent paper (I use Staples' Sustainable Earth (bamboo) and unless I use a European fine or finer, this looks black 90% of the time) on that paper). But like the other Birmingham inks, it has tons of personality that varies nicely with the nib size - in a Lamy 2000 fine (or wider) I find it very office-friendly, with just occasional suggestions of a dusty purple. It replaces the Salix/Scabiosa mix I'd been using to get this color previously for me (except when I want a pen with that color + waterfastness).

[Intensity]

Great review of a great ink. I agree that this shows its color nicely on TRP, too - it can be tough to differentiate from black on absorbent paper (I use Staples' Sustainable Earth (bamboo) and unless I use a European fine or finer, this looks black 90% of the time) on that paper). But like the other Birmingham inks, it has tons of personality that varies nicely with the nib size - in a Lamy 2000 fine (or wider) I find it very office-friendly, with just occasional suggestions of a dusty purple. It replaces the Salix/Scabiosa mix I'd been using to get this color previously for me (except when I want a pen with that color + waterfastness).

"Scabix" was what I thought of when I saw this color. I've never mixed Scabiosa with Salix (only own Scabiosa), but I've seen photos from those who have. That's where I got the "blurple" description, because it's pretty accurate for this ink. It's just purple enough to not be blue, but too blue compared to most purples.

[finnegans]

"Scabix" was what I thought of when I saw this color. I've never mixed Scabiosa with Salix (only own Scabiosa), but I've seen photos from those who have. That's where I got the "blurple" description, because it's pretty accurate for this ink. It's just purple enough to not be blue, but too blue compared to most purples.

 

Yeah, the huge difference for me would be the repeatability - I've got an eyedropper pen full of Scabix right now that took .... oh, three or four additions of one color or the other until it was the color I wanted. There's some fun in that - but if you really want your blurple (as I did this time 'round) it can take some doing. I picked up a bottle of the Waterfront Dusk when Birmingham had its recent sale and I'm keeping it in the rotation - much more reliable than my "how about a little more blue -- now maybe a little more red..." method of getting Scabix!

 

Incidentally, if you want to experiment with your Scabiosa, PM me and I'll be glad to mail you a sample vial of Salix, these jars are massive and I'll never get through them on my own.