Wow, Parts 1 to 3 of my Rohrer & Klingner inks seem to be going pretty well especially with the giveaway! Here is to continue the series, and of course, another 3 inks will be given away at the end of it. This has been made possible thanks to Fook Hing Trading Co., so do drop by their website and Facebook page to say hi if you have a minute. All opinions of the inks are my own and have not been influenced by the sponsor. Yesterday we talked a bit about the bottle design, and I’ll go into a little more detail today. Around the bottle is a simple white label which describes the ink. In four languages – German, English, French and Italian, the label describes the name and use of the ink. It claims to be “for fountain pens, steel nibbed pens, dip pens and individual writing utensils for calligraphy”. With the pretty colours I would be tempted to use it for brush lettering for sure, but calligraphy with a dip nib might not fare so well because a number of the Rohrer & Klingner inks (as with many other fountain pen inks) do not cling well to […]
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This is part 3, the next 3 inks in the Rohrer & Klingner series. In this part, I introduce Helianthus, Königsblau, and Leipziger Schwarz. Before that, let me just talk a little bit about the ink bottle design. I do rather like the Rohrer & Klinger ink bottle design as it is very simple, easy to grip in the hand, does not topple over easily, is weighted enough but not so much that it gets heavy. At the base of the bottle there are serrated marks to give it a little more grip when you set it on a surface. On the top, the aluminium cap screws firmly around the bottle enough to seal it, preventing leakages, but does not make it so tight to be difficult to open. Helianthus • Sunflower • Tournesol • Girasole The Helianthus is the sunflower, but it isn’t the German name of it. The German name for sunflower is “Sonnenblume”. I suppose this shade of yellow is as sunflowery as it can get, reflecting pretty well the actual colour of the petals of a Helianthus. I seldom explore bright colours, but I actually like this one very much. The yellow is bold and strong, and while it is […]
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I hope you liked the first part of the Rohrer & Klingner Ink series. Today we have the next 3 inks in alphabetical order, being Blu Mare, Cassia, and Fernambuk. Rohrer & Klingner ink bottles are made of amber-coloured glass with an aluminium screw cap. The reason why some ink suppliers like to fill their inks in amber glass is that some inks may be photosensitive, which means that they might degrade or change in colour over time, when exposed to light. It usually isn’t as bad as it sounds, but if you are very particular about it, just don’t store your inks under bright sunlight and you would do just fine. Blu Mare • Sea Bluish • Bleu Marin • Blu Mare I get a little confused over the naming of the Rohrer & Klingner inks at times. Here we have Blu Mare, which sounds like Italian for “blue sea”. But maybe a name is just a name. Blu Mare is a delightful cyan, a very bright and attention-grabbing colour. I would associate the colour to some of the gel pens we used during high school days to write girly notes to one another. In a more picturesque manner, […]
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Rohrer & Klingner Leipzig Co. was a cooperation between Johann Adolf Rohrer and Felix Arthur Klingner in 1907, in the German city Leipzig. The company specializes in making inks using natural materials and methods, and today, already the fifth generation of employees are keeping the company running. Rohrer & Klingner produces 2 kinds of inks which are safe to use with fountain pens: writing ink and document ink. Many of their other ink types are pigmented inks, and not likely suitable for fountain pens. In this new series of ink introduction, I’ll be talking about the writing inks that come in 18 different colours, and I will run through them in alphabetical order. As this is just an overview, I am not going into the depth of the ink, but just providing a description of each ink and my own thoughts of each. I’d like to extend my thanks to Fook Hing Trading Co. for generously sponsoring me this entire set of inks to showcase on OFP. As usual, all opinions here are my own. Alt-Bordeaux • Old Bordeaux • Bordeaux Vieux • Bordeaux Antico This ink is reminiscent of wine, and judging by the name given to it, it is not […]
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This is my fourth and final part of the Iroshizuku Inks And Their Meanings series of reviews, where I reviewed 6 Iroshizuku inks per part. In this last instalment, I will review the remaining 6 inks: Murasaki-shikibu, Chiku-rin, Ina-ho, Ama-iro, Take-sumi, and Shin-kai. To read about how I log my inks, click on this article. It may be helpful for you to read that to understand some of the terms and references that I make in my post below. Iroshizuku Murasaki-shikibu Murasaki-shikibu (紫式部) has a couple of meanings. Most call it “beauty berry” but Murasaki Shikibu is also the nickname of a famous Japanese poet/novelist from the Heian period. She was from the Imperial Court in Japan and served as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress then. In fact, when I asked my Japanese colleague about the meaning of “murasaki-shikibu”, this lady was the first to cross his mind. Other than that, the Japanese beautyberry (Callicarpa japonica) is a tree that has purple berry fruits, a plant native to Japan. Ink Characteristics This is the only purple ink in the whole Iroshizuku series, a bit of a pity because I love purple inks myself and hope that there might have been more purple options. But at times, […]
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This is the third instalment of my Iroshizuku ink review series, where I talk about Iroshizuku inks and their meanings, and also observe their characteristics. Here I will review Fuyu-gaki, Kiri-same, Fuyu-syogun, Tsukushi, Yama-guri, and Kosumosu. For a brief on how I log my inks, read this article. It may be helpful for you to understand some of the terms and references that I make in my post below. Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki Fuyu-gaki (冬柿) translates to “winter persimmon”, which is an orange fruit that can be found worldwide, but mostly in China, Japan, and Korea. These fruits turn ripe and are ready for harvest in autumn, and most of the persimmons that are available at the end of the year are of the fuyugaki type, with softer and juicier flesh (as opposed to the jirogaki, which has a harder and crunchier flesh). Ink Characteristics As expected from the name, the ink is a bright orange colour, the colour of fresh, ripe persimmons. It’s a very attractive orange, especially when the first layer of ink is swabbed on the paper. Interestingly, when the second layer of ink was laid down (refer to the top half of the swab area), the colour turns into a duller […]
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Welcome to Part 2 of my Iroshizuku Ink review series. This time I will be looking at Shin-ryoku, Tsuki-yo, Yu-yake, Yama-budo, Ku-jaku, and Syo-ro. For a brief of how I do my ink logging, have a look at my write-up here. It may help to understand some of the references I make and the terms I use. Iroshizuku Shin-ryoku Shin-ryoku (深緑) means “dark green”. I can’t find a direct reference to a part of the Japanese culture from the name of this ink, although I noticed that some online sources mention this as a “forest green”. I have also found out that a certain type of Japanese green tea is called “Sencha Shinryoku”. It may be related, or not. Ink Characteristics Looking at this green ink, it feels to me like a very solid, typical green colour. I would call it a primary green. I tend not to like greens very much, and this is a less interesting green to me. This ink is quite a saturated and wet ink, but some sheen can be observed while writing. It doesn’t do well with water resistance, but you can see it either ways – the yellow parts of the ink […]
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Pilot has launched their Iroshizuku range of fountain pen inks for some time now, and it is a very popular range among fountain pen enthusiasts and collectors of inks. Following the success of their 50mL glass bottled Iroshizuku inks, Pilot has recently launched the Mini Iroshizuku inks that come 3 in a set. Each mini glass bottle contains 15mL of an ink, and you can mix and match your preferred colours for each set. I decided to dive in and let myself be tempted by the inks, as I had held back from buying them long enough to jump onto the opportunity to buy all 24 colours when the Mini Iroshizuku inks came out. I didn’t need 24 bottles x 50mL of inks, as I was sure I wouldn’t have been able to finish them all! So when the 15mL were out, it was perfect for me. All 24 bottles fit into a little box which I tucked away nicely in my cabinet. Iroshizuku inks are named in Japanese, so while I found it exotic and attractive, it was really quite difficult to remember. I haven’t found a way to remember the ink names yet, but I have decided to take […]
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Everyone does ink logging in different ways. I have come across a variety of interesting ways that people record their inks. Some techniques may be good representations of ink being laid down on paper when writing with a fountain pen, some may not. For me, my method is not perfect, but I like it anyway. Here’s sharing with you the procedure by which I log my inks. Materials used: Memo word cards, 90mm x 38mm Round paper stickers (Sun Flower Brand Labels, #1013) Cotton swabs Kitchen towel, cut to desired size (mine is about 25mm x 50mm) Plastic dropper/pipette (for inks and water) Inks (here I am using the Rohrer & Klingner Viridian Green) Water Dip nib holder and dip nib (I use a WM Mitchell Pedigree Fleetwing #0528) The Process Step 1: Dip the cotton swab into the ink and let it soak for 5 seconds or so. This is to ensure that the cotton is well saturated with ink. If you do not soak it well enough, the swab may turn out paler than what it’s supposed to be. Step 2: Perform your swabbing on the word card. I do it from left to right and trying not […]
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Caran d’Ache produces quite some nice colours of inks, and while I have done a couple of ink samples late last year, I haven’t gotten down to reviewing them on this site yet. The brand has had a range called the Caran d’Ache Colors of the Earth inks, which has been discontinued and replaced with their Chromatic range. I was lucky enough to have snatched up 3 of the old inks before they were all out of the market. Before I start my ink review, I’ll have to disclaim that the colour of the ink that I scanned for this review may not be the same as the actual colour perceived. I have tried my best to adjust the hues to be as similar as possible to the real thing, based on what I see on my Macbook laptop screen. Your computer may output a slightly different hue, depending on the settings of your screen colours. Just search on Google Images for any of the ink names, and you will see how vastly different the colours look like for each type of ink! Caran d’Ache Colors of the Earth: Saffron I have a great weakness for certain colours for inks. One […]
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