INK: J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor 1670 - (Part 1)

Brand: J. Herbin

Type: Emerald of Chivor 1670

Cost: $26.00 give or take

Colors: Mostly Blue/Green with some Red and yellows sparkles .

It finally arrived! I ordered my bottle from GouletPens the day they came in stock. Supposedly it went out as fast as it came in, so that must mean that this ink was heavily desired. Therefore, as I have been writing with this ink now for the last 4 or 5 days, I figured it was time to do a review on it.

Pen used: Conklin Duragraph Amber w/ a stub nib 

Paper: Tomoe River and plain copy paper

I have a new favorite ink on my list! J. Herbin Emerald Chivor. Like it says on the bottle, this is a heavily saturated ink.The sheen on this ink, the saturation, the....wow. This ink does impress me!

So let's get down to the nitty gritty...

First off and foremost: it is important to note that this ink should be shaken before being used in a pen, as the gold specs do tend to settle at the bottom of the bottle. I should have taken a picture of this when I started to take pictures for my blog. I looked at the bottom of the bottle, and sure enough, the bottom of the bottle was covered in gold specs. Shake it up, and problem solved!

It is recommended by many that this ink be used in wider nibbed pens (Broads, italics, stubs, etc). I have not tried this ink in a Fine or Medium nib yet, however I hope to do so very soon and will update this post accordingly. I have read/heard, however, that if it is used in a a pen with anything less than a Broad size nib, you will not get as much of the glitter and appeal/shading as you would with a larger nib.

As you can see from above, the photo clearly displays the sheen, glitter, shading, and ... there is red! Yes indeed. This ink reminds me of an oil slick - ya know, right after a nice rain storm, you walk across the parking lot and see all those oil spots with the red, yellow, and greens swirling around in a dark black puddle of oil... Yea, that is what this reminds me of. However, this ink is much more gorgeous and beautiful than the puddle of oil (and you won't smell like oil if you accidentally get some on you).  I think it is amazing the variety of colors that this ink has in it.

How well does it write after not being used for a few days?

This ink performs well in my Conklin Duragraph (stub nib). It starts right up with no fuss. I have not tried cleaning the pen yet, so I cannot say how easy it is to clean this ink from a pen, but that will be happening in the near future.

I am hoping to experiment some more with this ink in the coming week, thus leading to Part 2 of this post. I will test how this ink performs in a more narrow nibbed pen and see how easy (or difficult?) this ink is to clean from pens. Until then, have a wonderful day my fellow pen and journal friends....

Super 5 Dublin

Super 5 Dublin is definitely different than the many other inks I have tried. It has taken me some time to fiddle with it, write with it, and finally get picture for a review. So let the review commence...

Brand: Super 5

Color/Type: Dublin

Cost:  $27.95 for a 50ml Bottle at Goulet Pen Co.

Pen Used in: Lamy Al-Star Blue/Green Fine point

Paper used: Tomoe River and various other paper types

Color Shades: Green, Moss, Avocado, Swamp.

My experience with this ink has been fairly pleasant. In the sample bottle, it tends to look kind of pasty. That said, I was left a bit hesitant on how it would write.

This ink is free flowing, smooth, and beautiful when it comes out. It dries a bit a lighter than what it starts out as and has decent shading.A fairly light-weight ink.

Dry Time: What I really noticed about this ink was the dry times. This ink  dries impeccably fast! In about 5 seconds, it's 99% dry. It dries fast on just about any type of paper (Tomoe, Staples Tablet, and a Medium to Heavy weight copy paper). I have even been using this ink for my note-taking at work, and I absolutely enjoy using it because it does tend to dry much faster than my other inks.

Feathering: I also noticed that this ink really does not tend to feather very much. Where I did notice some very slight feathering was with light weight copy papers. Not sure if it is just the brand of paper or something else. However, I did not notice any feathering on a Medium/Heavy weight copy paper from Office Max (will have to locate the brand), nor did it feather on the Staples Tablet or Tomoe River paper.

Side Note: I did notice, by mistake, that this ink does not tolerate water very well and bleeds very badly when water is dripped on the ink, even after it has dried for quiet some time.

Price: This ink costs approximately $27.95 for a 50ml bottle of ink. This is right up there with Pilot Iroshizuku and Pelikan Edelstein. My personal opinion, I think that is a bit high for a bottle of ink, especially since it is in a comparable price range to Pilot and Pelikan inks (and a few others).

Here are some images from the web to help assist you in identifying what the color looks like...

via: Goulet Pen Co.

Well, being my first review in a while, it feels good to be back. Between work and family (and the farm) it has been very hard to find time to do what I enjoy - and that is blogging about Pens, Inks, and Journals! Writing is food for the soul! Take care everyone and I look forward to another review in the near future.

A long time gone...

It definitely has been quite some time since I last wrote. Life definitely had a way of keeping ya busy... especially during the summer months! However i wouldn't trade it for anything.

My hopes is that in the near future i can do some ink reviews with the new J.Herbin glass pen I got a while back. What an experience it had been to write with this pen... something new, something fun. 

Hope everyone had been having a wonderful summer!