I’m guessing that ole Tchaikovsky here is a twin for another De Atramentis gray ink, but I don’t know which one.
I have a fantasy that one day I will sit down and figure all of them out – in my copious amounts of (nonexistent) spare time.
Hofvijver Grijs is a nice middle-of-the-road gray (unless you prefer that it be grey) ink from PW Akkerman.
If you’ve been searching for a US source for Akkerman inks and their iconic bottles, check out Vanness Pen Shop. I’ve only ordered from here once, but had a good experience.
It has been forever since I’ve added to my Fifty Shades of Grey collection!
De Atramentis Cinnamon is from the scented line of De Atramentis inks for fountain pens. The scent is definitely cinnamon with no stinky undertones that I could detect. The ink is dark grey (or is it gray?) with a maybe a hint of green. I don’t see as much green in it as a I saw in De Atramentis Cement, and so I don’t think they are De Atramentis Twins, but they are definitely close, with Cinnamon being just a touch lighter.
The ink writes wonderfully. No hard starts, no feathering, show-through, or bleeding on either Clairefontaine or Rhodia paper.
Cinnamon won’t replace Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun as my favorite gray ink, but I do like it quite a bit and find myself picking up the pen inked with it regularly.
I scanned the handwritten review before I remembered to complete the water test – oops. Having later completed the test, you will have to trust me when I say that it behaved wonderfully. Not perfectly, but definitely better than what I expected.
My bottom line is that this is an ink that many people will like. The color is good and the writing experience really couldn’t be better. Winner, winner!
Have you tried this one? What is your favorite gray? Or do you spell it grey? Have you seen the movie Fifty Shades of Grey? Or read the book?
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| Handwritten Review: J Herbin – Stormy Grey |
There has been so much chatter in the fountain pen community about J Herbin’s Stormy Grey ink. So much anticipation. It’s all about that gold sheen, baby.
When Goulet Pens finally announced that they had it in stock, it was sold out in under an hour – and I missed it. Arrrrgh.
I hurried over to Amazon to see if I could find it there – score! It’s the same price at both places – $26 for 50 ml.
Above: Like the other J Herbin special editions, this bottle is extra special, sealed with wax, and quite lovely. Except that only the smallest pens could fit into the opening of the bottle. And my wax on the screw top is already cracked – whomp whomp.
Below: The sheeny bits came to a rest at the bottom of the bottle. You’ll want to shake well before using this ink.
Below: Sheen on the towel that I used to wipe my nib. Crazy, right?
All of that Stormy Grey sheen is just fine, but how does it write?
Looking for the sheeniest sheeny picture of them all? Check out my friend rubengamez’s feed on Instagram. It’s crazy good sheen!
https://instagram.com/p/uEbTlGBafn
Oh. Goodness.
Gracious. Me.
Oh. My.
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| Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun Swabs (3, 2, 1) |
Have mercy.
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| Fuyu-syogun Shading |
It writes great. No smearing. Maybe a little dry, but not bad. Some nice shading.
You’ll have to believe me when I say that it handles highlighting very well. (What is up with me and all of the failed highlighting tests?)
The water test is pretty amazing. Even on the original, I have to squint to see where I dragged the web cotton swab across my writing.
Overall, this is a gray I dig and I could see using it on a regular basis. That is, if I hadn’t already fallen in love with another gray. Stay tuned . . .
All so different and I’m in love with each!
Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun A perfect gray. Lovely shading. Great color.
Diamine Flamingo Boom-Boom Wow color!
Diamine Majestic Blue True blue!
I like gray inks. Always looking for that perfect shade. It’s been a long time since I’ve added an ink to my Fifty Shades of Grey line-up or talked about the spelling of gray -vs- grey. Too long if you ask me!
Unfortunately, I’m not wild about Cement Gray from De Atramentis. (Thank goodness it doesn’t stink like cement, though!)
The problem seems to be that there’s a lot of green in the ink.
Admittedly, it’s difficult to see the green with my scans, but it’s there. It’s there so much that I pointed out to Mr. Pentulant that he might want to consider this ink as his dark-nearly-black-but-still-green choice. He tried it for a short while, but didn’t love it.
The green is most apparent when looked at along side other inks…
As usual, I wrote with this ink for about a week after the review. It wrote fine – a little hard-starting at times even in a medium nib Lamy Safari.
The problem (for me) was the color. What do you think? See the green? Like it? Hate it?
Seems like gray inks are a love ’em or hate ’em kind of thing. Me? I find that I’m picky about my grays (or greys, if you prefer). I like either true gray – or perhaps a bit blue leaning like J Herbin’s Gris Nuage or Pilot Iroshizuku’s Fuyu syogun (Old Man Winter).
Before we dive into the review of Montblanc’s Albert Einstein ink, you have seen the pen, yes? It’s the cap that does me in, makes me swoon, gives me heart palpitations. Love, love, love.
But it’s this part that turns me off . . .
The metal. The sharp drop-off between the barrel and the grip. Bleh.
I had the opportunity to hold one of these at the Montblanc Boutique in San Francisco when they were first available. I just didn’t love it. I mean, I’d take one if someone wanted to gift it to me (duh), but I’m not buying one for myself.
Anyway…the ink review..
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| Clicky here for the biggy big version of the review. |
And a closer look . . .
