Rohrer & Klingner Cassia

This is the last of my reviews of Rohrer & Klingner inks, and I’ve got another great color for you. This is their deep purple. The scan is a little lighter than I’d like, but it’s the best I can do while still keep the color relatively true to hue.

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know that purple is one of my favorite colors of ink. I own a lot of them from many different brands. This one is rich in color, vibrant, and well-behaved. The only thing it’s missing is some water resistance, but that isn’t necessarily a deal breaker. As it compares to the other purples I have, I’d say it is closest in color to Diamine Majestic Purple (note the mistake on the card. LOL). I quite like it, and recommend it to the purple lover in your life.

I’ve really enjoyed reviewing the inks from this line, and I can honestly say that I like them all. This is definitely a line that deserves more attention than it gets.

The Details:

• No feathering and bleed through
• Excellent flow and lubrication
• Dries relatively quickly
• Offers some shading on high quality papers like Rhodia and Clairefontaine.
• No water resistance whatsoever.

 

(Click to enlarge. Sorry for the mistake there.)

This ink sample was sent to my for review by Ryan at Pear Tree Pens. I am not otherwise affiliated with them. I’d like to thank Ryan for sending along the samples of these wonderful inks. I’ve really enjoyed testing them out. Many many thanks!

Rohrer & Klingner Alt Bordeaux

This ink is one of my absolute favorites from the R&K line. In terms of color, it sits between PR Burgundy Mist and Arabian Rose. It’s one of those dusky mauve sort of burgundy colors. In fact, I’d say it’s probably one of the closes interpretations of a wine stain that I have come across thus far. It’s not a super saturated ink, but it also isn’t watery.

Alt-Bordeaux is an all-around excellent ink with good behavior, excellent color, and a good price. I highly recommend it!

The Details

• Minimal to no feathering depending on the paper quality.
• No bleed through
• Very good flow and lubrication
• Dries pretty quickly
• Shade well
• Unfortunately, it is not waterproof.

(Click to enlarge and sharpen the image)

This sample was sent to me for review my Ryan at Pear Tree Pens. I am not otherwise affiliated with them.

I’m back! Rohrer & Klingner Scaboisa

Hey Guys! It’s hard to believe I’m been away from my blog and the writing community for nearly two months. My apologies for the unannounced absence. As most of you know, I’m a graduate student. I’ve had a string of major deadlines for school, and I had to step back from my hobby. It was taking up too much time, time I need to spend working on my dissertation project. I’m finally coming up for air, but I probably will not be able to be as active as I once was. I simply must put school first. At any rate, I have a mountain of finished reviews that I just need to get scanned in, edited, and written up, so there are many reviews to come including thirty or so Diamine ink and Noodler’s new Black Swan ink. Thanks for reading! 🙂

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I love dusky purples. I think I’m pretty open about that. Heck, my website is purple, and my custom-made Edison Glenmont is purple. So I’ve always wanted to try the Scaboisa.

I’ve got to say, I’m actually pretty impressed with this ink. In addition to the superb color. It goes down a dusky purple, but changes to a purplish brown over time.  It’s also relatively free-flowing for an iron gall ink. It flows better for me than Diamine Registrar’s Blue. An added benefit is, of course, it’s waterproofness.

All in all, an excellent iron gall ink that I’d definitely recommend to anyone who loves dusky ink colors and who is looking for a good waterproof ink.

The Details:

• No feathering or bleeding. (cheap paper friendly)
• Good flow, but it does have the dry feeling that is characteristic of iron gall inks.
• The drying time is average
• Offers good shading
• Waterproof

(click to enlarge and sharpen the image)

This sample was sent to me for review by Ryan at Pear Tree Pens. I am not otherwise affiliated with PTP.

Rohrer & Klingner Salix, Iron Gall Ink

Iron Gall inks are quite interesting. They are made from Iron Gall Nuts, which come from Oak trees. Here is a quick Wiki on Iron Gall ink. These types of inks were basically the standard prior to the advent of the fountain pen, and even through out the better part of the last century, blue-black inks were often made, at least in part, from iron gall.

Straight iron gall ink can be corrosive to fountain pens, so it is only used with dip pens. There are, however, several modern iron gall inks that are quite fountain pen friendly: R&K Scaboisa (purple not blue-black), R&K Salix, Diamine Registrar’s Ink, Mont Blanc Blue Black (bottle form only), and Lamy Blue-Black (bottle form only). Most other modern blue-black inks or going to be your average dye or pigment based ink.

You should know that Iron Gall inks are considered high maintenance. You are going to want to flush your pens more often than not and watch for clogs if the ink starts to evaporate some. You also want to be very careful when trying to mix these inks with regular FP inks. There are a few traits that can help you distinguish an iron gall ink from a standard ink. Firstly, it is going to feel dry on the page even if the flow is good. Secondly, it is going to go down a lighter version of itself and darken towards black, grey, or brown over time. Third, it is going to be waterproof when dry.

That waterproof aspect is what made me want to try R&K Salix. A lot of my work involves drafting and taking notes for my dissertation. I do all my first drafts by hand. It makes me much more comfortable knowing that my works will survive a spill. There is a story behind this. In short, a couple years ago I had a bottle of water in my bag, and unbeknownst to me the cap had worked its way off. By the time I noticed, water had gotten all over my binder, and I’d lost a semester’s worth of notes. From that point on, I’ve only used bulletproof, eternal, waterproof, and water-resistant inks for my notes.

R&K Salix is a bit of a departure from Diamine Registrar’s ink or Mont Blanc Blue-Black in that it stays mostly blue even after the color change. The end result is a nice blue gray not unlike Diamine Prussian Blue.

 

The Details

• No feathering or bleeding even on cheap copy paper. This is definitely a good choice if you have to use poor quality paper for work or other situations.
• Good flow, but feels very dry on the page. This ink is still very usable, but it is not lubricating.
• The drying time for this ink was slow at 25 seconds on this note card and 20 seconds on HP LaserJet 24# paper. This may have been because of the wet writing pen I used, but either way it is slower than you average ink. Lefties take note.
• Saturation is low to moderate even after the color change.
• Shading is decent.
• This ink is waterproof. You will lose the slightest bit of blue when wet, but not enough to cause any problems.

(Click to enlarge and sharpen the image)

 

This sample was sent to me for review by Ryan at Pear Tree Pens. I am not otherwise affiliated with them.

Rohrer & Klingner Blu Mare

This is a nice enough turquoise blue. I was hoping for something with a bit of green in it, but this isn’t at. This ink is bright and well behaved. In that way, it reminds me more of the turquoises of old:  Skrip Peacock Blue/Turquoise, Pelikan Turquoise, Mont Blanc Turquoise, etc.

If you are looking for a straight turquoise blue that exhibits wonderful behavior this may just be your ink.

The Details

• No feathering or bleeding
• Good flow and lubrication
• Saturation is average (think Herbin)
• Drying time is reasonable at 5 seconds on this card and 7 seconds on HP LaserJet 24#
• Minimal shading
• Not even slightly water resistant let alone waterproof

(Click to enlarge and sharpen the image)

This sample was sent to me for review by Ryan at PTP. I am not otherwise affiliated with them.

Rohrer & Klingner Morinda

After putting up my last R&K review, I realized that some of you may not be familiar with this line of inks. Below is a blurb from their website:

With this range that contains 18 tones of writing inks for fountain pens and quills, Rohrer & Klingner continues an old tradition of ink production. Apart from classical tones (including two iron gall inks), several new colors are
available, that have been developed for the primary purpose of calligraphy. On a traditional basis, R & K inks are produced with modern raw materials.

Rohrer & Klingner inks feature high-class, brilliant colorants, specially treated water and minimal amounts of additives. This well-balanced composition causes the optimal capillarity of the inks and the accordingly good writing conduct. It is suitable for pens, quills and other calligraphy utensils. Economical and ecological reasons make piston-filler pens and
convertible pens particularly attractive. The convertible pen features a separate tank with a piston-filler.

On most writing surfaces (including paper) R & K ink adheres well and, according to its capillarity, quick. Each of the Rohrer & Klingner inks are treated with high quality, pleasant dyes, that feature both a high brilliance and a well-balanced intensity. The colors of the iron gall inks intensifies when it oxidizes on the air; Hence, writings with those inks are considered permanent, the historical term being “archivally safe”.

I’m not the biggest fan of reddish inks, so the first time I tried this ink I did not like it. I’ve since warmed up to it quite a bit.

As with all reds in my ink collection, this one is destined for use as a grading, marginalia, and editing ink. I just can’t see red any other way. As a grading ink I’d say this one is pretty good. It’s not overly bright, but stands out in a sea of black. The only problem is that it can be washed away with ease.

I’m not sure I’ve ever tried a color like this. There’s something vaguely orange about it, but not enough to really call it a red-orange. Perhaps it can be described as a lighter redder duskier version of Diamine Monaco Red? Or a duskier darker version of Iroshizuku Fuyu-Gaki?

The Details

• No feathering or bleeding
• Good flow and lubrication
• Saturation is average to medium high.
• Fast drying time with this very fine nib
• Little to no shading (at least with this pen)
• Not waterproof or water resistant. Washed dead away.

(Click to enlarge and sharpen the image)

This ink sample was sent to my for review by Ryan at Pear Tree Pens. I am not otherwise affiliated with them.

Rohrer & Klingner Magenta

The other week I received samples of several Rohrer & Klingner inks from Pear Tree Pens. I’ve been eying this brand for a while. I already have and quite enjoy a bottle of their Sepia ink.

In general, I am quite liking this brand. They have some great colors and the inks behave quite well. So far as saturation is concerned, I’d say they are about like J. Herbin or Diamine’s Old English line.

The Magenta is one of my favorites along with Scaboisa and Alt-Bordeaux (reviews forthcoming).

The Details:

• Minimal to no feathering
• No bleed through
• Fast flowing and super smooth writing
• Average to slow drying times at 5 seconds on this card and 12 seconds on HP LaserJet 24# paper
• Unfortunately there is only minimal shading at best.
• Another draw back is that it isn’t even very water resistant, so if you are prone to spills this may not be the ink for you.
• Similar to Iroshizuku Yama-Budo, ND Saguaro Wine, PR Plum, and Diamine Amaranth.

I’d definitely consider getting a bottle of this once I run out of my other similar inks. I also wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to fans of the magenta color range.

(click to enlarge and sharpen the photos)

This sample was sent to me for review by Ryan at PTP. I am not otherwise affiliated with them.