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Koh-I-Noor Black Ink Review


rochester21

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This is my first ink review, so don`t expect too much from it. I`m reviewing a Koh-i-Noor ink, black colour. These can be found in eastern Europe and they sell for about 2 usd for a 50 g bottle. As you might know, this company is located in the Czech republic and they specialise in writing- related items and accessories. And now, to the actual review.

 

I never bothered much ink reviews, simply because reviewing a ink is much more difficult than rewiewing a pen. This is because ink behaves differently according to the pen and paper that are used. I have even noticed that the ink saturation varies a lot in different pens, making the ink look quite different.

 

For instance, I know some parker pens, like the vector, have the tendency to run very wide, making the ink look brighter than it really is.

I have been pleasantly surprised by this ink, which seems to be quite a competitor for better known inks, such as the pelikan ink or even quink. The water resistance test results was somewhat of a surprise, the ink resisted quite well to water drops, and it has almost no feathering on a medium nib.

 

In this regards, think it surpasses the ink made by pelikan which I often use and which dissapointed me on some ocassions. Also, the ink made by koh-i-noor has responded well when used on several pens I have(c/f, imperial, 51, 45, and others), and all wrote well when filled with this ink. The only drawback that I can see is that the black version is not very saturated, but that`s not an issue for me. It`s a good ink for the money.

post-36434-0-72612500-1347526624.jpg

post-36434-0-25383600-1347531735.jpg

Edited by rochester21
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I see the markings on the bottle to lead me to believe it a recently made in but I am wondering if it been exposed to a lot of Sunlight or something? Back in the early 1980's Koh-I-Noor made a fountain pen in that to my memory was a nice saturated black on par with their drawing ink. I use to buy it at a college book store and use it in my piston filler Rapidographs (Saturation difference could I was using it in Rapidographs or maybe memory fade) . It was a good alternative to India ink if you did not need properties because it did not dry out in the pen. I still have my old Rapidographs and now fill them with Noodler's Bulletproof inks, noting like a 3x0 for writing very small.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety

Benjamin Franklin

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The only place where it could have been exposed to sunlight is the store, but that is still unlikely. It may appear less saturated because of the scanning process. If i take a photo of the sheet of paper, the colours will be slightly different.

Edited by rochester21
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The only place where it could have been exposed to sunlight is the store, but that is still unlikely. It may appear less saturated because of the scanning process. If i take a photo of the sheet of paper, the colours will be slightly different.

 

A point well made about the difference between a scanned item and a photographed one.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety

Benjamin Franklin

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Just got a bottle of their blue. Has the same characteristics, the only thing is I wish it were a little more saturated and darker... but it behaves well on a Leuchturm 1917 journal so I can't really complain. Super cheap too, may have to find an extra bottle to take home with me.

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Great review!

I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.

Oscar Wilde

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Thank you for the review. I use K_N coloring pencils and had not seen the ink.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 years later...

Ha! This is the brand we've used to fill in our fountain pens at elementary school (no surprise - it was the only one available). I've just bought all the available colours (again - no surprises: black, blue, green, red) and will try them over time and maaaybe I'll push myself to a short (and first!) review.

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Well, I did acquire the blue document ink and it's quite nice. Tritrek, we look forward to your reviews too!

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 year later...

Ha! This is the brand we've used to fill in our fountain pens at elementary school (no surprise - it was the only one available). I've just bought all the available colours (again - no surprises: black, blue, green, red) and will try them over time and maaaybe I'll push myself to a short (and first!) review.

 

Well, I did acquire the blue document ink and it's quite nice. Tritrek, we look forward to your reviews too!

 

I'm researching permanent inks right now and I am interested in how this one compares against Parker and Montblanc alternatives. For the price, it is hard to beat but, the Parker inks aren't too much more when you factor shipping into the USA as part of the overall cost (~$5 versus ~$7).

 

Montblanc looks attractive but, boy is it expensive compared to the other two options!

Edited by sidpost

On a quest for better pencils and pens in rural East Texas. :)

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  • 6 months later...

Has someone tried mixing this ink? I bought myself few inks to try (first time buying bottled inks) and this black is too light for my liking... Is it a good idea to mix it with Hero blue or K-I-N document blue, to make blue-black?

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  • 1 year later...

Back in April I mixed the Document Blue and Black. I tried Blue:Black 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 and 10:1. These all look pretty similar -- like a 1950s low saturation blue-black. I arbitrarily settled on the 4:1 mix. I have been using it for writing checks and the like. I am just now on my second filling. Sitting around for that length of time the mix is now closer to black and bleeds through a bit more than any of the inks (including unmixed) did when new, so I might suggest starting with 3:1. I have been quite happy with the 4:1 mix, though. However, I doubt mixing two low saturation inks together will ever result in a high saturation ink;-) I prefer the 4:1 to either of the unmixed inks. The fact that many bargain ink lines do not include a blue-black, along with the unusual permanence of these inks, makes this very attractive.

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