*Since 1892* Fountain Ink - Royal Blue - 50ml

I have a lot of inks and a lot of pens but this quickly became my everyday favorite. I have a pen with a medium stub italic nib (a nib from an heirloom pen that I salvaged after it broke) and this ink works fantastic for that pen. The reason I like it so much is that of all the inks I own (21 different inks at the moment) this is the ONE ink I can use on cheap paper. It is the only ink that doesn't bleed through and there is never any feathering on any paper so I can use it on cheap legal pads, mini legal pads, various note pads, standard spiral bound/ring filler paper, Moleskine notebooks, TOPS Business Notebooks (neither the Moleskine nor TOPS products are at all "fountain pen friendly"), any paper at all. It behaves as well on cheap paper as it does on Rhodia or Clairfontaine.(NOTE!!!! When I say "use this ink on cheap paper", remember that if your pen writes excessively wet any ink will soak through any paper. This is why a lot of people prefer fine nibs, they do not lay down as much ink and tend not to feather and bleed through nearly so much as a medium or broad nib. I LIKE medium, italic, flex and stub nibs -- with a properly functioning pen and this ink I can write on cheap paper without it bleeding through. YMMV)It goes down nicely wet but dries very quickly. I never need to blot this ink no matter what paper I'm putting it on. By the time I could reach for and bring a blotter to bear on the page the ink is dry anyway. Though the drying time is in the single digits second-wise the ink doesn't seem to dry out in the nib as long as I remember to cap the pen when I stop writing. Years ago I trained myself to uncap when I pick up a pen and cap it right before I put it down, having forgotten to do that or after setting an uncapped pen down, getting distracted and then having to clean a pen out so it'll write again ...The color is nice, it goes down a deep and vivid blue but being iron gall ink it dries and oxidizes to a shade of blue-gray. The line characteristic when dried is what pen enthusiasts call "very dusty". With the right nib I get very nice shading and line variation but it's not glaringly obvious. The shade is perfect for formal writing - it's not going to give the wrong impression. It is a very tasteful shade when dried, It's not frivolous, flaky, fruity or flighty. It's great for just writing too so I don't save it for only formal purposes. From the right nib this ink most definitely says "I'm fountain pen ink and I was put here by a fountain pen!"This ink is as or more waterproof than any other ink I have owned. I use a couple of Noodler's Bullet-Proof inks that are as water-fast as this Salix ink is but those inks also penetrate paper like crazy (by design, they're supposed to do that) so I only use them for signatures and applications where their "bullet-proof" aspects are an asset.I have had no problems with this Salix ink staining pens or clogging them. I have seen no sign of corrosion on any pen this ink has been in. I am using this ink through both precious metal (gold) nibs that would be resistant to clogging and corrosion by nature anyway, really cheap steel nibs and everything in between -- but I have seen no evidence under high magnification that this ink is in any way damaging to my pens.A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE IRON GALL BUGABOO -- Iron gall is a very, very old style of ink, it's been around a long time. There are a lot of urban myths, legends and old wives tales that haunt iron gall ink. If you want to you can make your own iron gall ink from the insect galls in tree branches. This is where the "gall" in "iron gall" comes from btw. That traditional method is how ancient scribes made their iron gall ink. The method for doing that requires a strong alkali (EDIT: sorry, I should have said acid not alkali), which is where the "cautions" and "conventional wisdom" about nib and pen component rust comes from. Rohrer & Klingner's Salix and Scabiosa are modern formulations, they are no more and no less harmful to your pen than any other ink. (EDIT: see my discussion with "Jesse" below regarding corrosiveness vs. pH.) I have left these inks in pens that I didn't use and when I came back to those pens a full load in the converter had dried up. I flushed the pens properly and examined them with a jewelers loupe. There was no sign of rust, reaction, or any other kind of damage. The dried pigment was no harder to deal with than any other dried ink pigment. I do not advise allowing a full ink load to dry in a pen and that's abuse of the pen. For this ink to corrode a pen to the point of damage would probably take decades if at all. A year or few does not discernibly damage a modern pen in any way I can detect.The cost is very reasonable, it's cheaper than most inks I own. At around nine bucks and shipped free this is a very good price for a very good ink. The price fluctuates and I haven't been desperate for a bottle when the price was on the higher end of its range. Frankly, if it gets to where it costs the same on Amazon as it does at Gouletpens dot com, I'll buy it from the Goulets who are wonderful people.The only drawbacks to this ink that I have found to date are that it takes a while to get from Germany to my desk. I can live with that, when a bottle gets to about half empty I order another one. Also being iron gall ink it's in a deeply tinted bottle presumably to protect the ink from light. That does make it harder to see how much is left in the bottle but of course you can see the ink level when you fill a pen. These are by my lights very minor things that I mention just to be thorough.This ink cleans up very well too. I often manage to get ink where I don't want ink when I'm filling up a pen. On my fingers, on my desk, etc. This ink cleans up as well as any other ink I own and it doesn't stain the converter barrel in the pens that have been filled with it. I have had no more problem flushing this ink out of a pen to prepare the pen for a different ink than I have had with any other good quality ink. Even thought it's quite waterproof on paper it scrubs off skin with a little soap, water and a vigorous brush.This is my everyday, go-to, favorite ink for all-purpose use. I have and I use other inks, this didn't replace those inks by any means. What this ink does for me is to give me a very nice, tastefully mature looking ink that I can use anywhere on any paper at any time under any conditions and it does that at a very reasonable price. As far as inks go, that's a lot of checks in the "plus" column.

I write in my bible journal with this. I wanted a green ink for "ordinary time". This is one of my favorite inks. It is not a permanent ink, so it will run if water gets on your page. I was using a Stayology notebook, available on Amazon. I used a fine nib, and the shading is still beautiful.

This ink is interestingly inconsistent for me. I've tried this in a few pens and different nibs. As mentioned by others - wet writers are better for a more saturated, darker line. I've tried this in a Monteverde Invincia stub, Prera calligraphy, Prera Medium, and a Safari fine. For these pens, which I find on the dryer side, the flow was good and line width was consistent, but the color was towards a lightish pink-purple (not to my taste). I also tried this in a Safari Broad, and 1.9. Here is where the inconsistency came in for me and why I am still saying that I like this ink. When left overnight in these, wet writing, pens, the ink that was in the feed seems to have changed (not sure if it is due to drying and becoming a bit more saturated or oxidizing (which is my guess), but the colour that I started writing with was the nice dark scabiosa colour that I was expecting. Writing a paragraph flushed out the feed and I transitioned to the light pinkish colour again... until the next day.Maybe what I will try is to pipette a few ml into a sample vial and let it sit uncapped for an hour (like a fine wine), then fill my pen and see if that changes the colour?Other properties for water resistance, and flow are good. I soaked a sheet of paper in the sink for a few seconds and while a portion of the ink washed off, there was a layer of readable dark writing quite clearly visible. I probably still wouldn't use this for an envelope since water drops will make the ink bleed (portion of ink that is not bonded with the paper) into the surrounding paper. The only paper used was a standard 20lb printer/copy paper... A better writing medium would probably yield different (maybe better results).Leaving this ink in a pen for few days didn't seem to have any negative effect on pen start-up in comparison with other inks for the same pen. I have not left this ink for any significant length of time, so cannot comment on what it would do if left to dry.The shade of colour is really the only reason that I am taking a star away. If this was consistently the darker colour that I was expecting, this would really be a great ink for me.

When buying my first fountain pen, I researched an ink to accompany it. Something that didn’t feather, something that didn’t bleed-through paper, that’s when I came across Rohrer and Klinger’s Black ink. As a student, I write a lot in low or generally average quality paper and R&K’s supposedly feather-resistant qualities of iron gall inks ( even on low quality paper! ) definitely pushed me to buy this.The colour of the ink itself is quite amazing, a deep dark black with hints of green. It also dries extremely quickly (do take this with a grain of salt, the higher the paper quality, the slower it dries) and that’s about where the positives end for me.While this ink may be faultless with high quality paper, I’m basing this review on my own experience and the experience others may have using this ink with average to low quality paper. First of all the ink feathers horrifically ( see pictures ). Note that in the pictures I used only an extra fine nib which further prevents feathering. The amount of feathering with this ink renders it completely unusable with everyday paper. The bleed-through also makes the other side of the page useless. I understand that fountain pens and their inks are not exactly suited towards average paper but for this ink to be completely impractical with everyday use is quite absurd.This ink was overall very disappointing, if you are willing to use it solely on high quality paper then go ahead but if you plan to use this as an everyday ink or in school/work, I recommend you stay clear!

"Rohrer & Klingner *since 1892* Fountain Pen Ink - Old Golden Green - 50ml" is an unusual yellow-green ink with no known close alternatives in any other range. There are many other green inks but most are far bolder; this is muted and consequently more attractive and usable.Rohrer & Klingner are Leipzig based and have manufactured fountain pen inks since the 1950s but, being located behind the Iron Curtain, they were unknown outside of the relevant countries. They are now widely exported and available through several on-line and high street specialist sources. The inks are mostly dye-based and considered wet although they are very well-behaved. Others have been used in fountain pens considered to be moderately wet writers without any significant problems. This is no less free-flowing than others were found to be and therefore a pleasure to use.The ink is not a green that is 'in your face' but is ideal for personal use, not for business as it is too informal. It could work for note-taking, invitiations etc and probably for the marking of papers by a teacher or by a book editor when marking-up a manuscript. Although having yellow elements, it is a true green but a bright one. It may work well as a contrast to the same brand's Old Bordeaux, a soft pinky-mauve, as they are similar in strength of tone but neither is especially well-suited for use on coloured papers where greater visual contrast would be expected. Although not tested with a photocopier, it is unlikely to copy well.It should work well in a wide range of pens but preferably those with medium and broader nibs for greatest legibility. With Fine and Extra Fine nibs, it will probably be least successful and least legible. In that event, R&K have a deeper green that could be a more successful alternative. The bottles are tall and fairly narrow but quite safe from tipping over during filling.

I have always (13 years) used moleskine diary's but although they suite my needs the paper is shockingly thin and rubbish .Fine for a biro or gel pen. However I like fountain pens so using one was nigh on impossible with collosal bleed thru and spidering (bleed across the paper). In a review elsewhere I heard of this ink . Initially the cost was a bit of a issue as 'what if its no better ' Well its excellent . I can write on the moleskine toilet paper and there is NO bleedthrough at all and no spidering . I have four fountain pens and even the wide nibbed one which puts a lot of ink out is fine so for all intents and purposes this ink is perfect for my needs Also its a bit of a novelty as it starts light blue and after about a minute it darkens to a royal blue as it has iron in it which reacts with the air and the paper apparently.

"Rohrer & Klingner *since 1892* Fountain Pen Ink - Leipsician Black - 50ml", otherwise Leipzig Black, is the deepest of two blue-black inks from within this brand. Because of its depth of tone, it is probably best reserved for narrower grades of nib, possibly up to and including Medium but may over-power if used with Broad or Italic nibs and take longer to fully dry due to the wider lines. It may be best described as 'Midnight Blue' as it is almost black in tone; its blue elements are mostly subdued.Most of R&K's inks are dye-based and moderately wet-writing. Their easy-flowing character will work well with any dry-writing pen but this and most others can also be used with some that are considered wet although not exceptionally wet. Correctly used, it will photocopy extremely well. It could easily be an alternative to a true black ink as it has sufficient tonal depth.Used in a pen with a Fine nib, it was an ideal companion and should also work well with most Medium nibs. Although the specific brand of pen is regarded as generically 'wet', that mostly applies to its Medium and wider nibs; the Fine and Extra Fine versions will definitely benefit from the ink's easy-flowing properties as it provides extra lubrication and prevents them from becoming too dry or scratchy. That should also apply with most pen brands.For use with broader nibs, and possibly Mediums that are generously-tipped, R&K's Verdigris may be a better choice of blue-black; it is considerably lighter, has a stronger blue content and a hint of green, but is still fairly photocopier-friendly. In other respects of their usability, both inks perform similarly and personal preference may help decide between them.With several of their inks purchased and used, R&K's inks have proven very easy to use with no issues discovered to date. Best-known in the old Iron Curtain countries, R&K inks are now widely distributed worldwide with several UK sources including Amazon. Alternatively, there are several on-line suppliers and specialist high street dealers.

Typically, Verdigris is the bright green colour that copper assumes once exposed to air and moisture. In Germany where this ink is produced, it may have another meaning as this is a fairly standard blue-black ink with a dark green tint when wet but which is short-lived. When first considering this, several external reviews and colour samples appeared to show this as a true blue-black with no hint of green. It is when dry!Thus far only used in one pen, it worked well and is sufficiently deep in tone to photocopy well. R&K have another blue-black, Leipzig Black, which is far darker and probably more accurately described as Midnight Blue. "Rohrer & Klingner *since 1892* Fountain Pen Ink - Verdigrease - 50ml" otherwise written as 'Verdigris', is probably better-suited to Medium-nibbed pens and broader whereas the darker ink will often overwhelm when used with broad and italic nibs and is therefore best reserved for Fine and Extra Fine nibs. If you only want a single blue-black, Verdigris is the more useful.Rohrer & Klingner have been producing fountain pen ink in Leipzig since the 1950s but, then behind the Iron Curtain, their products were only available eastwards but are now more widely distributed. The majority of their inks are dye-based, fairly wet and usually best matched to dry-writing pens which is where this ink fits within their range. They are however well-behaved and mostly usable even with moderately wet pens although probably not one that is excessively wet, otherwise a gusher.The bottles are tall and fairly narrow but not too likely to over-balance. The ink range is of good quality and the range includes several very usable and popular colours, some of which were previously purchased and often used.