Let’s take a look at De Atramentis Virgo!
Background information
I’ve talked about the De Atramentis brand on this blog before, and I don’t have anything else to add to that blurb! But if you’re new to the brand, there’s nothing wrong with an introduction, right?
De Atramentis is like the German Noodler’s: it’s owned and operated by one person who makes everything! And just like Noodler’s, De Atramentis has a massive catalog. They have a ton of different colors, some scented, some repackaged as “specialty” inks (like the popular Alexander Hamilton being Aubergine in a different bottle).
All De Atramentis inks come in the same bottle so far, and Virgo is no different. It’s a glass bottle with a simple paper label on the front that has the name of the ink. Since Virgo is a specialty ink, it also depicts an illustration of the Virgo constellation. You get 35 ml per bottle. It’s shaped a bit like a spool of thread, with two “rims” on it. Just like De Atramentis Pisces, Virgo comes in the Astrology line.
The bottle says “olive green,” and I would pretty much agree. I think it’s a bit less yellow than the color I think of when I hear “olive,” but it’s very close.
Taking a look: the scan
Virgo has a surprising amount of water resistance, particularly because of how light it is! I would say that this ink is water-resistant. You will lose a small amount of dye, but not enough to interfere with readability.
This ink took quite a bit to dry, but it was getting close to dry to the touch by the 60 second mark on this paper, Midori MD. On Tomoe River paper, I would say that it took about a minute in a moderately wet pen for me to feel comfortable turning the page. It is quite a wet ink, flowing very readily in my wetter pens, but as someone who enjoys that I don’t mind at all. If you love super extra fine lines, you might want to put Virgo in a pen that writes pretty dry.
The last five lines of this text was written with a TWSBI Diamond 540 (broad nib). The ink doesn’t reveal much shading at all. It also doesn’t have any sheen. Interestingly enough, it seems like the tone of the ink is slightly different from the first five lines, which were written with a Jinhao fine nib. It seems more green and less olive. I don’t know if this was an issue with my pen, but it certainly is something to keep in mind. However, I think the TWSBI lines are the most accurate.
Taking a look: on paper
I compare Virgo to two other inks: Sailor Jentle Tokiwa-matsu, and Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrün. The closest is probably Alt-Goldgrün, but even this ink is much more of an olive color. Tokiwa-matsu, on the other hand, is a far deeper pine green. Virgo is lighter and a bit seems a bit “softer,” if that makes sense.
I took this ink for a test run in my TWSBI Diamond 540 with a broad nib, and it was a fantastic writer. It was quite wet; my Diamond 540 certainly isn’t a dry writer, but I think it was wetter than usual with this ink in it. Though it didn’t shade much, it had a “halo” effect around my letters where the ink was darker.
Virgo is another ink from De Atramentis that I enjoyed, but maybe I’m biased; I’m a Virgo! If De Atramentis really wanted to appeal to me, they could make a Pacific teal ink, one of my favorite colors. If you had an ink that was based on you, what color would it be?
ahh. Virgo That explains your critical eye!
Haha, I’m definitely the kind of person who pays attention to little details! Thankfully, De Atramentis Virgo passes my test!