Jump to content

Triple ink shoot-out : Callifolio Cassis vs Diamine Earl Grey vs Sailor chu shu


namrehsnoom

Recommended Posts

Triple Ink Shoot-Out : Callifolio Cassis vs Diamine Earl Grey vs Sailor chu shu

 

A couple of weeks ago I did a review of Sailor Jentle chu shu, and noticed I had some other purple-grey inks that look fairly similar in writing – Diamine Earl Grey and L’Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Cassis. All three of these inks are lovely, so a comparison is definitely in order. But which two of them to compare? Then @yazeh suggested to throw all three of them in the ring to fight it out. Interesting idea …

 

large.chushuvscassisvsearlgrey-titlephoto.jpg.7abbadb80660e864646158c779f0ab3a.jpg


Enter... the Triple Ink Shoot-Out – a special edition of the usual brutal fight. In five rounds, these three inks must engage in fierce battle to determine who is the winner. 

 

Choreographing a one-on-one battle is easy, but how to make it work with three contestants? Well… the triple shoot-out idea immediately brought to mind the iconic gun-fight in the final scene of Sergio Leone’s 1966 masterpiece “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”.  A memorable spaghetti western with an excellent musical score by Ennio Morricone. The ideal setting for a duel between three great inks.

 

large.good-bad-ugly-banner.jpg.50a949d1b841210698d45413553a5bcb.jpg


The hot summer sun shines brightly above the totally forgettable town Desierto in New Mexico. The shimmering heat creates wavering pictures of three lone riders that approach from different directions. Dust bowls blow through the only street in town when these strangers meet at the saloon. These are serious hombres that are not to be messed with. Tipping his hat, the tall blond stranger introduces himself – L’Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Cassis (“the Good”). The second rider – clearly a dark and silent type – simply nods his head in acknowledgement. Let’s introduce him: Diamine Earl Grey (“the Bad”). The third rider is the most extravagant of the bunch, and loudly and obtrusively makes his acquaintance: Sailor chu shu (“the Ugly”). Together they head for the saloon, eyeing each other wearily. Three dominant alpha males that come together… that can only mean trouble. A fight is in the air. May the best ink win …

 

Round 1 – First Impressions

 

large.chushuvscassisvsearlgrey-round1.jpg.cc984dbc542a8a340c74fc4385f7be0f.jpg


The three strangers head to the bar. “Whiskey” … “Make that two” … “Tequila”. In one gulp, the glasses get emptied. “Another one”. The barkeep refills the glasses. Gulp … “Another one”. Seems like we are in the middle of a drinking contest,  neither man willing to be outdone by the others.

 

All three of these inks make a stellar first impression. Wonderful colours, that look great on paper – both in written text and in swabs. These are inks that can be used for any occasion, both for personal journaling as well as in a business context where they make a great alternative for the more standard blue or black. Also technically solid inks: good contrast with the page, nice and aesthetically pleasing shading, smooth writing. Great looking stuff!

 

In this first round, the three champions give their best, and down their liquor without blinking an eye:

  • Cassis is at heart a grey ink with strong purple undertones that easily surface in swabs. Sailor chu shu is more of a grey-purple, where purple seems to be the base colour but muted and toned down (it gets a bit lost in the picture, but to the naked eye the purple is much more obvious). Earl Grey definitely is the odd one out: a cool blue-grey ink, but also with definite purple undertones. I personally like the looks of this one the best.
  • In swabs, both Cassis and Earl Grey show lots of depth: you can easily see the purple undertones that are prominently there just below the surface. In contrast, chu shu looks a bit flatter – there is that mix of purple and grey, but it’s all at the surface with less of a layered and multi-dimensional feel to it. Bonus points for the first two.
  • Shading is most prominent with Earl Grey and chu shu: strong but well balanced, enhancing your writing with some extra oomph. Cassis shows more subtle shading with a lot less contrast between light and darker parts. 

 

large.chusshuvscassisvsearlgrey-chromatography.jpg.5de2850dec3f859fd60f9ae85093e7ef.jpg

 

The chroma comparison clearly shows that Earl Grey is the odd duckling – a totally different combination of dyes, resulting in a cool grey ink with a subtle purple undertone. Cassis and chu shu share a similar lineage, with chu shu having more purple in the mix. Of these two, I prefer the darker grey looks of the Callifolio ink.
All three inks stand up well to one another, with neither of them giving in. They are all technically solid inks, with great looks both in writing and in swabs. Any of them would be a good choice, but the rules of the game demand that we express a preference. For this first round, Diamine Earl Grey must be the winner – it’s overall the best looking of the three. Second place goes to Callifolio Cassis, simply because of its grey-er looks, and that extra depth in the swabs. Sailor chu shu finishes third – not last, because that makes it sound inferior, and that’s certainly not the case. 

 

Round 2 – Writing Sample

 

large.chushuvscassisvsearlgrey-round2.jpg.9b0056cba582f38ed7b2224a7d3aebb9.jpg


“Ola amigos! Fancy some cards?” Locals and strangers gather around the tables, cards are shuffled, a friendly game of poker starts. Money changes hands until suddenly… five aces on the table… that can’t be right?!? “Cheating bastardos!” Tables get overturned, fists get clenched and a serious brawl develops.

 

The writing sample was done on Rhodia N°16 Notepad with 80 gsm paper. All inks behaved flawlessly, with no feathering and no show-through or bleed-through. With the EF nib, Cassis feels a bit “grippy” on the page, with sub-par lubrication. This improved considerably when using broader nibs. Earl Grey delivers solidly throughout: smooth and well lubricated in all nib sizes, with good contrast and some really nice shading. Sailor chu shu is also excellent, but a touch less smooth than the Diamine ink. 

 

At the start of the fight, “the Good” got a blow to the head, but quickly recovers; “the Bad” immediately grabbed a chair and is mostly untouchable. Chu shu “the Ugly” turns out to be a dirty fighter, dealing some serious damage. Overall, a memorable saloon fight that will be the talk of town for many weeks to come.  Counting the points, Earl Grey is the clear winner, followed closely by chu shu and Callifolio Cassis.

 

Round 3 – Pen on Paper

 

large.chushuvscassisvsearlgrey-round3.jpg.871eb83fa3d08cdb4dee0c46d45bed85.jpg


After the fight, our trio feels no longer welcome in town. “I heard rumours about a stash of gold hidden by a soldier of the Confederates. Let’s move in with the military to find out more. They have a camp just a couple of miles from here.” The threesome mount their horses and depart town. “Last one at the camp buys the cold beers!”… and the race is on.

 

This round allows the batlling inks to show how they behave on a range of fine writing papers. From top to bottom, we have : Clairefontaine Triomphe, Midori, Tomoe River 52 gsm, Paperblanks and Original Crown Mill cotton paper. All scribbling and writing was done with a Lamy Safari B-nib.

 

All our champions did well, with no show-through nor bleed-through. But this round is not about technicalities, it is about aesthetics and beauty. Are the fighters able to make the paper shine ?

 

One thing is immediately apparent: these inks might all share grey & purple, but they have totally different characters. Cassis is a purple-grey with the grey dominating. Earl Grey is a cool blue-grey with a purple undertone and Sailor chu shu is clearly a purple ink but toned down and muted. All three of them look superbly on the high quality papers in this writing sample. 

 

Earl Grey’s bronco consistently takes the lead. Wonderful shading, and lots of depth in the swabs. I love the looks of this ink. Next up rides Callifolio Cassis, closely matched by Sailor chu shu. Very close these two, but the darker hue of Cassis looks just a bit better on the page.

 

large.chushuvscassisvsearlgrey-round3b.jpg.be81fb6dd44afbcd5bb863fe7aa3087f.jpg


When looking at crappy paper, we see that all three inks behave unexpectedly well with no visible feathering. There is some bleed-through – as is to be expected with Moleskine – but minimally so with Cassis. So in this race, Callifolio Cassis manages to enter camp just before chu shu. Earl Grey is already sitting at the bar, awaiting his first cold beer…

 

Up to this round, Earl Grey is defnitely in the lead with Cassis and chu shu coming closely behind. I wonder whether the following rounds will change this picture?

 

Round 4 – Ink Properties

 

large.chushuvscassisvsearlgrey-round4.jpg.d71c025891c01d068a92fe79fe0558ae.jpg


Given their experience as outdoors-men, the lieutenant asked our trio to tame some broncos. Fierce horses that are not to be trifled with. Given that this will most surely allow them to gain the soldiers’ trust and thus find out more about that stash of gold, our heroes agree. With some soldiers firmly holding the reins of the semi-wild horses, our heroes mount the saddle. Once the reins are released, the buckling starts…

 

The inks have drying times in the 15 to 20 second range, with chu shu being the faster drying ink. On the smudge test, the text always remains easy to read, but with the Callifolio ink a lot of the dyes are rubbed off. The droplet test is the most conclusive: Earl Grey shows no water resistance at all, while chu shu easily survives a 15 minute soak in water. Some of the dyes get displaced, but what remains on the paper is certainly easy to read. Cassis retains just enough ink to be able to reconstruct your writing.

 

After only a few seconds, Earl Grey is thrown from his bronco … not a good show! After a minute or so, Cassis’ bronco starts rolling on the ground, and “the Bad” must quickly jump aside in order to avoid getting crushed. But Sailor chu shu demonstrates his prowess and remains firmly in the saddle, calming the bristling horse until it follows his every command. Nicely done!

 

The outcome leaves no doubt: chu shu solidly wins this round in spades. And Earl Grey is the obvious loser – horse-taming is clearly not his forte.

 

Round 5 – The Fun Factor

 

large.chushuvscassisvsearlgrey-round5.jpg.e67f39c93adecb7b78bae5cc254d2fc4.jpg


Welcome to the final round. Here I give you a purely personal impression of the three inks, where I judge which of them I like most when doing some fun stuff like doodling and drawing. And for this round, these inks are simply amazing. I did the drawing on HP Advanced Photo paper. The background uses heavily water-diluted ink. The flowers were added with a glass dip pen and pure ink. 

 

Their investigations led our trio of inks to a forgotten graveyard and a nameless tomb. Within lies buried the stash of gold. But which of them will take the treasure home? In the spirit of Christmas, they decide that instead of simply trying to kill one another, they will demonstrate their prowess with the revolver by shooting at canteens instead. Each will throw a canteen in the air and try to hit it as often as possible. Three… two… one… go!

 

All three inks masterfully show their purple undertones that easily surface when drawing. Choosing between the inks will be difficult. The revolvers blast, and the canteens get a real pummeling, careening through the air with each solid hit. Unexpectedly, Sailor chu shu shows some really nice red-pink undertones surfacing among the more dark purple hues. Really nice. Cassis is also a really nice drawing ink, with more grainy grey showing in the drawing. I really liked the warmth showing in both these ink drawings. Earl Grey looks great, but looks a bit too cold compared to the other two. 

 

After the canteens have fallen to the ground, we start counting holes. Three holes for Earl Grey, four for Cassis and a whopping 6 solid hits for Sailor chu shu. By all rights, the gold is his! 

 

The Verdict
All three inks in this shoot-out are winners in my book. But a choice has to be made, and so I will tally up the points as they were gained in each round:

  • L’Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Cassis: 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 9 points
  • Diamine Earl Grey: 3 + 3 + 3 + 1 + 1 = 11 points
  • Sailor Jentle chu shu: 1 + 2 + 1 + 3 + 3 = 10 points

The heroes of our story have been through a lot together – chu shu therefore decides to split up the loot. After all, there’s enough gold for the three of them! And even though the points indicate that Diamine Earl Grey is the ultimate winner of this triple shoot-out, the difference in outcome is small. Each one of these inks is a solid and beautiful one. You owe it to yourself to try at least one of them. Satisfaction guaranteed!

 

Best wishes to you all for a splendid 2025 !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 9
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • LizEF

    2

  • yazeh

    1

  • namrehsnoom

    1

  • Carrau

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Thank you for once again doing the heavy lifting in providing this excellent comparison.  I have two of these inks, and never realized how similar Earl Grey and Chu Shu were ( in color, I would have believed Chu Shu was much darker than Earl Grey).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

55 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

The hot summer sun shines brightly above the totally forgettable town Desierto in New Mexico. The shimmering heat creates wavering pictures of three lone riders that approach from different directions. Dust bowls blow through the only street in town when these strangers meet at the saloon. These are serious hombres that are not to be messed with. Tipping his hat, the tall blond stranger introduces himself – L’Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Cassis (“the Good”). The second rider – clearly a dark and silent type – simply nods his head in acknowledgement. Let’s introduce him: Diamine Earl Grey (“the Bad”). The third rider is the most extravagant of the bunch, and loudly and obtrusively makes his acquaintance: Sailor chu shu (“the Ugly”). Together they head for the saloon, eyeing each other wearily. Three dominant alpha males that come together… that can only mean trouble. A fight is in the air. May the best ink win …

:D :D :D

 

58 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

Sailor chu shu finishes third

Ouch!  My ugly hero, falling behind in the first round! :(

 

1 hour ago, namrehsnoom said:

chu shu solidly wins this round in spades

:bunny01:

 

1 hour ago, namrehsnoom said:

a whopping 6 solid hits for Sailor chu shu. By all rights, the gold is his! 

:bunny01::lol:

 

1 hour ago, namrehsnoom said:
  • L’Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Cassis: 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 9 points
  • Diamine Earl Grey: 3 + 3 + 3 + 1 + 1 = 11 points
  • Sailor Jently chu shu: 1 + 2 + 1 + 3 + 3 = 10 points

So close!  That darn Earl! 

 

1 hour ago, namrehsnoom said:

chu shu therefore decides to split up the loot.

Ha!  Extra points for generosity!  I declare Chu Shu the real winner! :P

 

Thanks for a wild ride, @namrehsnoom!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@namrehsnoom thanks for taking up the challenge, and creating a fabulous ink western: Ink review, screenplay and sketches of a mysterious flower growing in the desert of "New Mexico/ Spain[the scene of New Mexico were shot in Spain]) :D  :thumbup:

My eyes went directly for Diamine Early Grey each time and disregarded the other two. In the beginning, I didn't like grey inks, until I started drawing, sketching and doing ink washes. Now, I have a few pens filled with different grades of grey.  

You might find this video interesting, as you do art work. Not so surprising, early Grey is one of those inks :)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@namrehsnoom Thanks for doing this!  I have Diamine Earl Grey and like it very much, but was not familiar with the other two (and it's very interesting to see how similar the chroma is for those two, as opposed to Earl Grey's chroma).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you, @namrehsnoom, for this tripple shoutout! What a great idea! :thumbup: I love the story you tell and how you set up the comparison. Well done! 👍

 

From the overall colour impression I would go with the Sailor ink before Callifolio Cassis. Luck me, not needing to buy either of them, as I have found my personal grey spot ( :) , @LizEF) already with Lamy Agate. :) 

 

All the best for 2025! 🎉

One life!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@namrehsnoom, I have a growing list of "I should get a sample of this" inks, and since Earl Grey and Chu Shu are both on that list, I came here hoping your shoot-out would help me pare the list.  That hope has been dashed. :) 

 

But what a review! Not only informative, but entertaining, and I really like the artwork.  Thank you!  

"To read without also writing is to sleep." - St. Jerome

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now







×
×
  • Create New...