J Herbin Éclat de Saphir (cartridge)

[yazeh]

J Herbin Éclat de Saphir (Cartridge)

 

Thanks to @Lithium466 for the cartridge. 

 

 

It’s difficult to review an ink which leaves your indifferent, when writing with. However, I truly enjoyed drawing and doing washes with it. It’s an happy blue

 

It’s like most Herbin inks, it doesn’t like copy paper.

 

I didn’t bother to ink up a flex nib for this one, and @LizEf has done an excellent review of this ink for a Japanese Ef nib. 

Let's start with the lovely chroma:

 

 

Writing Samples:

 

Photo:

Comparison:

Water test:

 

 

and finally an artwork, Loving Blue

 

The background is Éclat de Saphir, the darker blue is J Herbin Bleu Myosotis, and the outlines are done with Noodler's Polar Brown.

and this one was done in homage of  @LizEF new kitten, Smoke:

the other inks are:

Sailor Kiwa guro (Cats
J Herbin Bleu Myosotis (Water)
J Herbin Éclat de Saphir (Bathtub)
J Herbin Bouton d'or
Noodler's Polar Brown

 

 

·      Pens used: Kaweco (EF/F/M/B, BB) 

·      What I liked: Chroma, Doing washes. 

·      What I did not like: Writing with it.  

·       What some might not like: The colour

·      Shading: I didn’t see much. 

·      Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper. 

·      Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper.

·      Flow Rate: Wet 

·      Lubrication: A bit on the dry side

·      Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. 

·      Start-up:  Ok

·      Saturation:  Pastel royal blue

·      Shading Potential: Nope. 

·      Sheen: No. 

·      Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. 

·      Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice.

·      Staining (pen): No. 

·      Clogging: Did not notice.

·      Cleaning: Easy

·      Water resistance: Ok

·      Availability: cartridges, 10 ml, 30 ml bottles.

 

Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier  

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks as usual for the stellar and comprehensive review.

While this is not my favorite blue ink (not by a long shot) I did buy a larger (50 ml?) bottle of it a while back because it's so well behaved in my capillary fill Parker 61s.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

Love the review, @yazeh!  The chroma has more purple than I would have expected (though I expected some).  Love the memory quotes.   Swatch card drawing is too sweet!   So is the water-test sketch (though Kitty looks a bit unsure how to react ).  And the artwork is fabulous!   Love the way the washes came out and the use of different blues.  They work really well together.

 

Thank you for another great review!

[yazeh]

57 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Thanks as usual for the stellar and comprehensive review.

A pleasure 🙏

57 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

While this is not my favorite blue ink (not by a long shot) I did buy a larger (50 ml?) bottle of it a while back because it's so well behaved in my capillary fill Parker 61s.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Glad to know that. It's the 30 ml 

 

[yazeh]

25 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Love the review, @yazeh! 

🙏

25 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

The chroma has more purple than I would have expected (though I expected some). 

 

25 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Love the memory quotes.   Swatch card drawing is too sweet!   So is the water-test sketch (though Kitty looks a bit unsure how to react ).  And the artwork is fabulous!   Love the way the washes came out and the use of different blues.  They work really well together.

Glad you like the quotes. I just kept the ones from Bleu Myosotis. Simplicity

I had some fun with different proposals  The colours look so nice in washes. I can paint a wall in this colour

 

25 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Thank you for another great review!

A pleasure 🙏

[LizEF]

49 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I can paint a wall in this colour

Yes, this would make a nice wall color!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Love the chroma, the sketches, and the detailed review!  

 

I have this ink in bottle form, not cartridges, so I wonder if it differs in any way.  Never would have suspected the turquoise element.

 

I can see painting a summer pergola in this color, though, and planting scattered marigolds around.

 

Thanks, @yazeh, for another great Ink-Sploration.  👏🏻

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

Yes, this would make a nice wall color!

[yazeh]

12 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Love the chroma, the sketches, and the detailed review!  

Thank you!

12 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

I have this ink in bottle form, not cartridges, so I wonder if it differs in any way.  Never would have suspected the turquoise element.

Me neither. I'm guessing they're quite close

 

12 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

I can see painting a summer pergola in this color, though, and planting scattered marigolds around.

That would be lovely. Heavenly... Maybe a touch of clematis tangutica, or an orange honey suckle

 

12 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

Thanks, @yazeh, for another great Ink-Sploration.  👏🏻

A pleasure 🙏

[InesF]

Thank you, @yazeh, for the extensive review and for the adorable and entertaining drawings! 

 

While I could look at kitty in the bowl and at kitty engagement all day long , I had to scroll quickly when seeing kitty after the heavy rain 😱 

 

 

But all that doesn't change my mind about not liking the colour of Éclat de Saphir. 🤷‍♀️

 

Trivia: You can make your own variation of Royal Blue by adding pink in small amounts to turquoise ink (use inks of at least somehow similar pH-value). The more pink you add the deeper the blue until it tilts over into a blurple.  And, I think, that's how Éclat de Saphir is composed.

[Lithium466]

After the boring bleu myosotis, that's more like it  You didn't like writing with it, and after seeing your amazing sketches, I understand that better! Thank you for another excellent review!

 

I admit I like EdS, flow and lubrication are good enough for Japanese EF ; it's kind of unsaturated straight out of the box, but give it a few days in a not-so-well sealing pen and it becomes a deeper blue/purple. Or you can skip the waiting part and just get Diamine Sapphire blue instead  But then you loose all that snobby French charm...

That said, I think it works well in broader, wetter nibs. It's as if they had Pelikan pens in head... I wish I had known that ink in my royal blue days, like Rotring Ultramarine, it could be a good contender for "the royal blue, elevated".

 

 

1 hour ago, InesF said:

Trivia: You can make your own variation of Royal Blue by adding pink in small amounts to turquoise ink (use inks of at least somehow similar pH-value). The more pink you add the deeper the blue until it tilts over into a blurple.  And, I think, that's how Éclat de Saphir is composed.

Now that's a good suggestion to try! I see some use for Pelikan Edelstein Rose Quartz in my future.

[yazeh]

5 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @yazeh, for the extensive review and for the adorable and entertaining drawings! 

🙏

5 hours ago, InesF said:

 

While I could look at kitty in the bowl and at kitty engagement all day long , I had to scroll quickly when seeing kitty after the heavy rain 😱 

 

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

But all that doesn't change my mind about not liking the colour of Éclat de Saphir. 🤷‍♀️

That's understandable

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

Trivia: You can make your own variation of Royal Blue by adding pink in small amounts to turquoise ink (use inks of at least somehow similar pH-value). The more pink you add the deeper the blue until it tilts over into a blurple.  And, I think, that's how Éclat de Saphir is composed.

That's fun to know. Thanks 🙏

[yazeh]

3 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

After the boring bleu myosotis, that's more like it  

 

3 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

You didn't like writing with it, and after seeing your amazing sketches, I understand that better! Thank you for another excellent review!

 🙏

3 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

 

I admit I like EdS, flow and lubrication are good enough for Japanese EF ; it's kind of unsaturated straight out of the box, but give it a few days in a not-so-well sealing pen and it becomes a deeper blue/purple. Or you can skip the waiting part and just get Diamine Sapphire blue instead  But then you loose all that snobby French charm...

 

3 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

That said, I think it works well in broader, wetter nibs. It's as if they had Pelikan pens in head... I wish I had known that ink in my royal blue days, like Rotring Ultramarine, it could be a good contender for "the royal blue, elevated".

[TSherbs]

Your artwork utilizes this ink much better than standard writing does. Thanks for the review. I don't do art, so I still won't get this ink....

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, TSherbs said:

Your artwork utilizes this ink much better than standard writing does.

🙏🙏

2 hours ago, TSherbs said:

Thanks for the review. I don't do art, so I still won't get this ink....

😊