Caran D' Ache Saffron

[Sandy1]

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Please Note: The template continues to evolve, so things may have been juggled or eliminated or presented differently.

 

Fidelity

• One can compare the ink I used to the depiction on the Caran d'Ache site. LINK
• Wiki 'saffron colour': LINK
  

Figure 1.

Swabs & Swatch

Paper: HPJ1124 24 lb. Laser Copy.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/172bb27f.jpg

Figure 2.

NIB-ism ✑

Paper: HPJ1124.

Depicts nibs' line-width and pens' relative wetness.

IMG-thumb:

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/th_a92fbe52.jpg

Pens: L ➠ R: Prera, Waterman, M400.

WRITTEN SAMPLES - Moby Dick

Ruling: 8mm.

 

Figure 3.

Paper: HPJ1124.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/8a4b7635.jpg

 

Figure 4.

Paper: Rhodia.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/312c42f0.jpg

 

Figure 5.

Paper: G Lalo, Verge de France, white.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/42fca1e9.jpg

Figure 6.

Paper: Royal - 25% rag.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/a49a389a.jpg

 

Figure 7.

Paper: Staples 20 lb. multi-use

Pen: Carene

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/a2e500e2.jpg

Figure 8.

Paper: G Lalo Verge de France, Ivory.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/2cff16bd.jpg

 

Figure 9.

Paper: Clairefontaine Triomphe.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/45dfaa36.jpg

Figure 10.

Grocery List

Paper: Pulp.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/fc71933a.jpg

 

OTHER STUFF

 

Figure 11.

Smear/Dry Times & Wet Tests. ☂

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/fa96a8a6.jpg

 

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

 

Type:

• Dye-based fountain pen ink.

Presentation:

• Attractive non-functional bottle.

Availability:

• Available when Topic posted.

Daily writer?

• Unlikely.

A go-to ink?

• When it is impossible to keep a straight face.

USE

 

Caution:

Do not use Saffron or similar colours for anything that must be clearly visible under various light sources. e.g. Maps that must be used at night and/or under artificial light.

 

Business:

(From the office of Ms Blue-Black.)

• Promoted to the role of exclamatory note - hopefully of the mega happy face variety.
• Far too wonderful to use for ephemera. e.g. Editing, error correction, grading, forms, graphs.

Illustrations / Graphics:

• Certainly.
• A likely pick when tasked to draw tutus & leotards for dancing bunnies.
• If working quickly, watch for the possibility of smudging due to longer than usual S/DT.
• Lack of water resistance encourages reworking with a wet brush; washes are likely to be mono-colour: remaining Orange, not fading to Yellow mush.
• At high density from a dry brush it does not seem to acquire a Brown aspect - thus avoiding a Burnt Orange hue.

Students:

• Not really.
  

Personal:

• This is my use of Saffron; short happy notes, greeting cards, etc.
• If I were to receive personal correspondence written with this ink, I would certainly pay attention - something wonderful is about to be revealed, there will be smiles aplenty!
• There is a tricky dynamic going on with this ink: the colour is very energetic, yet the persistent shading tends to slow the reading process. That has lead me to choose narrower nibs when writing correspondence, and increasing nib width as the word count diminishes to that of a greeting card.
• There is enough weight/stability to the ink - even with pronounced shading - that it remains anchored to the page.
• I will often increase the line spacing as nib width increases. e.g. Double-spaced for nibs generating lines over 1.0mm.
• Typically I use the more personal sheet sizes, such as 8x10" or A5.
• A good pick for invitations to wholesome outdoor occasions. e.g. Garden parties, sun-baked days of devil drumming, moonless starry nights of fire walking.

PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

 

Flow Rate:

• Moderate.

Nib Dry-out:

• Not experienced.

Start-up:

• Immediate.
• With confidence.

Lubricity:

• Just enough.
• Wide nibs remained sure-footed.

Nib Creep:

• Not seen.

Staining (pen):

• Not seen after three days.

Clogging:

• Not seen.
• Seems unlikely.

Bleed- Show-Through:

• Royal: Waterman, M400.

Feathering / Wooly Line:

• Not seen on papers used.

Aroma:

• Slightly inky.

Hand oil sensitivity:

• Not evident.

Clean-Up (pen):

• Fairly quick and thorough with plain water.

Mixing:

• No stated prohibitions.

Archival:

• Not claimed.

Water Resistance & Smear/Dry Times:

• As shown in Figure 11 above.

THE LOOK

 

Presence:

• Enthusiastic.
• Cheerful.

Saturation:

• Moderate.

Shading:

• Outstanding!

Line quality:

• High.

Variability:

• Pen+nib combos used:
  • High.
  • Very responsive to pen wetness, and the nib width and shape.

  [*]Pen+nib combos not used:

  • I have also tried pairing with flexi nibs, but found that the high shading potential needs a far more skilled hand than mine to give a pleasantly consistent result, so I prefer a shaped nib when line-width variation is desired.
  • Those who opt for a dip pen for brief jottings and/or very wide nibs will be please to know the ink runs quite well. However as the ink is highly responsive to the nib and amount of ink being put down, I have come to prefer nibs with dual reservoirs for a fairly consistent flow: for round mono-line, the Brause Ornament series; for square-point Italic, the Tachikawa series.
  • Unfortunately, I found the Speedball nibs came up short when paired with Saffron. (?)
  • Fortunately, this ink is a treat to run from Pilot Parallel [plate] pens.

  [*]Papers used:

  • About as expected.
  • The Carene failed on the G Lalo, so choosing a similarly hard-surfaced paper may require a wetter pen - though the Prera did quite nicely. :blink:
    
  • As Saffron has persistent shading, the paper base-tint should be carefully considered so as not to diminish the essential character of the ink.
  • The base-tint is also significant for establishing the amount of p☀p on the page: the Prera on Ivory demonstrates such a change.
  • For those who work on ink-resistant coated paper and/or paper that has a lot of sizing, such as greeting cards, kindly consider using ponce or climber's chalk to prepare the paper. Post № 17
    

  [*]Malleability:

  • High.
  • Orange being a somewhat tricky colour to work with, the ability to tune the Look is very welcome indeed, and Saffron has what it takes. That said, I would suggest looking elsewhere if one does not care for shading, rather than trying to drive this ink to a fully inked line.

Hi-Res Scans:

Originals are 60x30mm.

 

As I do not wish to be known as 'Queen of The Bandwidth Bandits', these are IMG-thumbs.

 

Prera on HPJ1124

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/th_89181e6a.jpg

Waterman on Rhodia

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/th_b424b906.jpg

M400 on G Lalo White

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/th_0ed746d6.jpg

Prera on Royal

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/th_5174d3a6.jpg

M400 on Clairefontaine Triomphe

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/th_1de6fc2f.jpg

 

OTHER INKS

For my Reviews of inks of a similar colour, an effort was made to use several of the same pen+paper combos, and a format supporting side-by-side comparison through manipulation of browser windows.

I hope this is sufficient to meet most ad hoc comparison requirements. If not, I welcome your request via PM. Additional scans may be produced, but the likelihood of additional inky work is quite low indeed.

 

Swab Swami

IMG-thumb

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Caran%20d%20Ache%20Saffron/th_4531ffaf.jpg

Left ➠ Right: Private Reserve Shoreline Gold, Pilot yu-yake, Sailor Yellow-Orange, Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin.

PAPERS

 

Lovely papers:

• Those with a hard smooth surface and a natural base tint.

Trip-wire Papers: ☠

• Those overloaded with optical brightening agents (OBAs), or are not so absorbent.

Copy/Printer Paper:

• Performance was perfectly fine, but the use of OBAs can over-emphasise the ink's vibrancy.
• Two-sided use seems a reasonable expectation.

Tinted Papers:

• Very much a matter of personal choice, though I would keep to the neutral-warm tints as the cooler tints may produce a somewhat odd Green-Brown shift.

Pre-Printed Papers:

• Greeting Cards only.

Is high-end paper 'worth it'?

• Likely, especially if one chooses a wide nib.

ETC.

 

Majik:

• Not quite - but a 'wow' factor is built-in.

Billets Doux?

• More than just likely!

Personal Pen & Paper Pick:

• Another tough one.
• The Waterman on the HPJ1124.
• The nib-width is enough to give good balance of vibrancy, readability, % coverage and showing-off the shading.
• The paper gives good absorbency to support the range of shaded tones. The base tint is slightly cool, boosting the vibrancy from the M nib.

Yickity Yackity:

• Another seldom used but oh-so-wonderful inks!
• Ah kushbaby, perhaps if Ghandi were to sit one out?

======

 

NUTS & BOLTS

 

Pens

• Written Samples:
  • Pilot Prera + steel M nib.
  • Waterman Carene + 18K M nib.
  • Pelikan M400 + Binderised g-p steel 1.0 Stub. ‡

  [*]Lines & labels:

  • Pilot Penmanship + EF.

‡ A hand-ground stock nib from richardpens. (OooLaLa!)

Papers:

• HPJ1124 24 lb. Laser Copy.
• Rhodia.
• G Lalo, Verge de France, White.
• G Lalo, Verge de France, Ivory.
• Clairefontaine Triomphe.
  
• Royal, 25% cotton rag.
• Staples 20 lb. multi-use.
• Pulp. One-a-Day calendar page.

Imaging:

• An Epson V600 scanner was used with the bundled Epson s/w at factory default settings to produce low-loss jpg files.
• Figures shown were scanned at 200 dpi & 24 bit colour.
• Hi-Res Images linked were scanned at 300 dpi & 24 bit colour.
• No post-capture manipulation of scanner output was done, other than dumb-down by Epson, Photobucket & IP.Board s/w.

Densitometer Readings:

HPJ1124

• Red 255
• Grn 162
• Blu 74
• Lum 163

Fine Print

The accuracy and relevance of this Review depends in great part upon consistency and reliability of matériel used.

Ink does not require labelling/notice to indicate (changes in) formulation, non-hazardous ingredients, batch ID, date of manufacture, etc.

As always, YMMV, not only from materials, methods, environment, etc., but also due to differences between the stuff I used, and that you may have; and manner of working.

Also, I entrust readers to separate opinion from fact; to evaluate inferences and conclusions as to their merit; and to be amused by whatever tickles your fancy.

 

-30-

Tags: Fountain Pen Ink Review Caran d'Ache Saffron Orange Sandy1

Edited June 20, 2012 by Sandy1

[The Good Captain]

I think I'll stick to turmeric - cheaper and tastes just about the same.

[Sandy1]

I think I'll stick to turmeric - cheaper and tastes just about the same.

 

:roflmho:

[mgm1988]

Thank you for that incredibly detailed review. I have my Visconti Van Gogh Sunflowers filled with Caran d'Ache Saffron and the smoothness of its medium nib allied to the harmony of pen and ink make writing things with this ink a daily 'must' at the moment!

Edited June 20, 2012 by mgm1988

[Sandy1]

Thank you for that incredibly detailed review. I have my Visconti Van Gogh Sunflowers filled with Caran d'Ache Saffron and the smoothness of its medium nib allied to the harmony of pen and ink make writing things with this ink a daily 'must' at the moment!

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

Have a brilliant day!

 

Bye,

S1

[reval]

I am always glad to see a new review by Sandy1. Not only are her reviews among the best on FPN, I love the understated humour.

 

Based on the review I would probably buy a bottle of this ink. Unfortunately a person of whom I have, erm, mixed memories used this a his to go ink. It is a tainted ink for me.

Edited June 20, 2012 by reval

[pelman]

There is a tricky dynamic going on with this ink: the colour is very energetic, yet the persistent shading tends to slow the reading process. That has lead me to choose narrower nibs when writing correspondence, and increasing nib width as the word count diminishes to that of a greeting card.

 

 

 

I have never really thought about this when writing a correspondence note. Thanks for making me think of how a receiver might react with respect to the color of the written note and not just the content.

 

Thanks for another thorough and wonderful review.

[goldiesdad]

Wow what a review ... Thanks for posting a lot of info to take in ...

[Sandy1]

I am always glad to see a new review by Sandy1. Not only are her reviews among the best on FPN, I love the understated humour.

 

Based on the review I would probably buy a bottle of this ink. Unfortunately a person of whom I have, erm, mixed memories used this a his to go ink. It is a tainted ink for me.

 

Hi,

 

Many thanks for your kind words!

 

I am flattered . . .

 

How unfortunate that such a cheerful ink has been tainted with 'mixed memories'. I hope that as time passes the good memories will shine the brightest.

 

Bye,

S1

[Sandy1]

There is a tricky dynamic going on with this ink: the colour is very energetic, yet the persistent shading tends to slow the reading process. That has lead me to choose narrower nibs when writing correspondence, and increasing nib width as the word count diminishes to that of a greeting card.

 

 

 

I have never really thought about this when writing a correspondence note. Thanks for making me think of how a receiver might react with respect to the color of the written note and not just the content.

 

Thanks for another thorough and wonderful review.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

As this is a 'special use' colour for me - well outside my typical Blue thru Blue-Black home range - I ran a lot of trials with Saffron, so I thought it worthwhile to pass along my findings, especially lessons learned from a bulging folio of failed samples.* Consequently, my personal preferences are expressed quite a bit more than usual in this Review.

 

I'm quite certain that others have wonderfully divergent ways of using Saffron.

 

Bye,

S1

 

* Edit - to clarify: The ink did not fail - it was my attempt to generate a Look appropriate to my [OCD]-fussy taste, and limited by my atrocious hand writing. - S1

Edited June 20, 2012 by Sandy1

[Sandy1]

Wow what a review ... Thanks for posting a lot of info to take in ...

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

Bye,

S1

[saskia_madding]

In an old review I did of this ink, I noted that using this ink is like writing with a flickering fire, and it totally is! So far, I'm pretty sure this is my favourite orange. Followed closely by Kin-Molusei, of course!

 

Thanks for the closer look.

[georges zaslavsky]

very interesting orange looks like private reserve tangerine dream

[Sandy1]

In an old review I did of this ink, I noted that using this ink is like writing with a flickering fire, and it totally is! So far, I'm pretty sure this is my favourite orange. Followed closely by Kin-Molusei, of course!

 

Thanks for the closer look.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

'Flickering fire' - what a great description!

 

Bye,

S1

[Sandy1]

very interesting orange looks like private reserve tangerine dream

 

Hi,

 

Thank-you for mentioning the similarity between Saffron and PR Tangerine Dream.

 

Those who enjoyed PRTD before it was discontinued will be glad there is a replacement!

(Now if someone would do the same for MB Racing Green!)

 

Bye,

S1

 

- - -

 

Links:

• Unlisted Review of PRTD : http://www.fountainp...post__p__654403
• Why PRTD was discontinued : http://www.fountainp...ost__p__1583379

Edited June 21, 2012 by Sandy1

[raging.dragon]

I like the look of CdA Saffron on the bright white papers. Certainly not subtle, but some days I'm in the mood for eyesearingly bright with extreme shading. One of these days I'll get around to buying either this or Noodler's Apache Sunset or PR Shoreline Gold.

[wastelanded]

I'd never use this, but all the same, wow! "Flickering fire" indeed: I was immediately reminded of flames by the shading.

 

As always, Sandy, excellence

[leod]

shading is really nice on this ink

[Sandy1]

I like the look of CdA Saffron on the bright white papers. Certainly not subtle, but some days I'm in the mood for eyesearingly bright with extreme shading. One of these days I'll get around to buying either this or Noodler's Apache Sunset or PR Shoreline Gold.

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for sharing your preference!

 

I find that I try to mange the overall impact of the ink by working with nib width, paper tint, and set-up of the page (spacing, margins, etc.)

 

I certainly agree that Saffron on bright white papers under daylight is 'certainly not subtle' - but hey, choosing any ink of a similar colour seems contrary to an overall effect of subtlety.

 

Whee!!

 

Bye,

S1

Edited July 2, 2012 by Sandy1

[Sandy1]

I'd never use this, but all the same, wow! "Flickering fire" indeed: I was immediately reminded of flames by the shading.

 

As always, Sandy, excellence

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for your compliment!

 

It is not often that I have a hankering for an Orange ink, but when that happens, nothing else will do. Definitely a niche ink for me.

 

Perhaps this is an instance when purchasing just a wee sample may . s t. r. e. t. c h .your comfort zone to include an Orange ink.

 

Bye,

S1