Tag Archives: professional

Review: Lamy Blue-Black Ink

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Lamy blue-black is a classic blue black ink. It is readily available from almost any place that sells pens- from Amazon to Goulet to brick and mortar shops. Pricing is affordable and around $13 to $15 for 50ml.

On the page it looks like a blue gray, sort of stormy sky like. It is smooth with decent flow. There is no shading in the pens I used for testing. I did not notice a sheen with any paper. I don’t think this is a highly lubricated ink, but my pens felt smooth enough. It’s not going to make a scratchy nib feel like butter, but paired with a good nib it feels nice. Dry time on all papers was good- under 7 seconds on the nicest paper.

In the drip and wipe tests this ink did poorly. The drip test left little behind- lines were barely visible and color migrated. In the wipe test it performed better but not great. This ink will not survive the washing machine.

It feels good in my L1917, Confidant, and on cheap paper at work. It did okay in my Field Notes and much better in my Story Supply Co. If you want to use it in a Moleskine with a fine nib, it’s not going to be a great choice. I found lots of bleed through in my Moleskine.

I like this ink for professional settings. It’s not exciting but it’s very professional. No one is going to stop and ask you “What ink are you using?” with this ink. Ultimately when it comes to “professional” shades that is what we’re looking for- flying under the radar.

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Review: Diamine Chopin Ink

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Diamine Chopin was first introduced as part of the Diamine Music boxed set. The set had ten colors of ink in 30 ml bottles. In this case, the bottles are short squat squares rather than Diamine’s usual taller rectangular 30 ml plastic or 80ml glass round shouldered bottles. When sold individually the 30 ml bottle retails for roughly $10. The set is roughly $55.

This ink is a warm blue-grey, though most will classify it as a blue-black. I notice some shading on some paper, though not on most. The ink feels great on every paper I used- even Field Notes*! The ink is well lubricated and like most Diamine inks, well behaved. The flow is great in the pens I’ve tested. Currently, I’ve got it in a Wing Sung 3118. In the layered test on Baron Fig Strategist cards I found there to be a subtle red sheen. I didn’t notice this on any other papers. Granted my testing was mostly done with fine and extra fine nibs, given my search for professional inks.

In testing this ink was very well behaved, while lines may have spread on cheaper and more absorbent paper I didn’t notice any feathering. Dry time was about 7 seconds on most paper, except on the Field Notes, where it absorbed the ink quickly. I really loved this ink in my L1917 and Confidant. It looks great and stands out on the warm papers. It tends to blend in well with photocopies, so it wouldn’t be a good blue-black for making notes while reading articles.

In the drip and wipe test the ink proved to be more water resistant than I expected. The drip definitely migrated a lot of color all over the wet area. The wipe stood up better than expected. Both had legible lines left behind. I would not expect this ink to survive the washing machine but it would likely survive a coffee dribble or spill.

This is a nice sedate but gorgeous blue grey ink. I adore it. It’s sedate enough that my old boss would have mistaken it for black and not made a snide comment about my color choice. The ink feels great on everything, even Moleskine.

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Review: Akkerman Binnenhof Blues

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My new DayJob allows for blue or black ink* and I’m in search of inks that work well in my various pens, look good on nice as well as crap paper, and photocopies well. I’m looking for professional looking black and blue inks.

My RSVP Co-host, Lenore, sent me a package with a bunch of Akkerman ink samples and a few other inks. I’ve used a bunch of the inks for doodles and writing, but the Binnenhof Blues was a color that I hadn’t touched, until now. I filled my CaliArt Ego with the sample. I used it during my first full week at the new job. While in training I used it on the unknown paper** the main office uses for photocopies, my Baron Fig Vanguard, and my pocket notebook. The ink performed well on all papers*** with minimal feathering and bleed through.

For purposes of photos for the blog, I used the ink on a Baron Fig Strategist 3×5 card, Yoobi 3×5 card, and a Staples Stickies note. I’ve included an image from my Leachturm 1917. The dry time on good paper is slow but on copy paper, it was around 3 seconds, so not bad. I don’t do swatches but I did several layers of ink with a pen. It took 7 layers of scribbles for the ink to soak through. Though fibers lifted from the Strategist after 4 layers. On cheaper paper, it does have a tendency to bled through, though not badly. Thinner papers have some show through, but I didn’t have an issue in my L1917 or Confidant.

Performance of this ink is good on most papers. It photocopies well enough. I quite enjoyed this in my bullet journal and my work planner.

It isn’t waterproof though it does show some resistance. I did a droplet and wipe test. The wipe test showed some smearing but the lines are legible both after the wipes and droplets have dried. With the soak/droplets, the ink showed significant migration. I have no doubt that this ink would not survive the washing machine.

This isn’t a unique shade of blue. It’s been noted by many other and better reviewers that this is Diamine Saphire ink in a fancy bottle. It is a lovely shade of blue-ish purple that reminds me of most blue inks out there. If you want a sedate well behaved blue ink that doesn’t stand out- Akkerman Binnenof Blues is a great choice. Despite the fact that it is a shade of blue available in many forms- from ballpoint to gel to other brands of ink, I like it. There is something about blue-ish purple that I really enjoy. While it is obviously blue it is also warm-ish and in the right warm light could read as purple.

If you are looking for a nice, well behaved blue-purple ink this is a good choice. Maybe buy the Akkerman for the fancy bottle then refill it with Diamine?

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