[dandelion]

This ink will absolutely be one of my regular inks - it has excellent properties, is waterproof, non-gushing, nice flow and an original colour.
Unfortunately the scans is somewhat pale (I didn't manage to adjust them) so it looks like the ink/pens skips here and there, but that is actually not the case - this ink has a very good - if somewhat dryish - flow. I prefer inks that are on the dry side - maybe my pens are wet writers - to wettish/gushing inks. The nib creep with this ink is nonexistent.






The flower Scabiosa. The ink doesn't have this bright, more lilac colour, but it is a beautiful flower.

[saintsimon]

Thanks for the excellent review. I too like this unusual colour and the iron gall properties of non-feathering and quick drying. It is the only available non-blue or non-blackish colour among iron galls.

But keep it out of sunlight, because it might fade.

This post has been edited by saintsimon: 13 August 2009 - 02:15 PM

[Cedar]

Thanks +1. I've had this on my "maybe" list for quite some time. Thanks to your review it will get moved to the "next purchase" list. I like it!

Cedar

[Gehaha]

Thank you very much for your review!
I like the color very much - and your Scabiosa

Regards,
Anna

[ampersand]

+1 for thanks. Love this colour.

[Ada]

+1 -- a good review, a good scan (on my monitor at least), and a good ink.

[Ondina]

Very nice review and ink. As Saint Simon says, some color in modern iron-gall based inks. Thank you.

[dandelion]

saintsimon, on Aug 13 2009, 04:13 PM, said:

Thanks for the excellent review. I too like this unusual colour and the iron gall properties of non-feathering and quick drying. It is the only available non-blue or non-blackish colour among iron galls.

But keep it out of sunlight, because it might fade.

Thanks, SaintSimon - I had no idea that it is so prone to fading. When journalling that would usually not cause a problem - not that much sun exposure - but for other things it is good to know. This has quickly turned into a real fave. The colour is very good for margin notes and notes. It doesn't stand out from the paper like a red, but it is still easy to distinguish from black print, and also mute enough being a good note, journalling, letter writing ink. I'm very curious on their Salix ink which I hope to try soon. I must say that R&K shares the throne with Diamine right now.

[Lloyd]

Hi Dandelion,
Can you test your ink's light-fastness? Just hang a written sample in the sunshine for a few days and see if any changes occur. If you have a bulletproof ink for comparison, write on the test page with that , too. I'd love to hear if the original finding was reproducible.

[Ada]

dandelion, on Aug 17 2009, 11:24 AM, said:

I'm very curious on their Salix ink which I hope to try soon.

Salix is lovely; it is currently my favorite ink.

[Aysedasi]

Thanks to Ondina, I've just got my hands on a bottle of Scabiosa - what a super colour! I was recently made a convert to Waterman Violet - which I still like, mind you, but Scabiosa is such a classy ink - I won't have any hesitation at all in using this in the office. It writes so well in my big-nibbed pens but I can also see from the note Ondina enclosed with my ink that it writes very well indeed in a finer nibbed pen too. (of course it helps when your writing is as full of elegant swoops and tails as hers!! )

This post has been edited by Aysedasi: 09 October 2009 - 07:49 PM

[WillSW]

Just bought a bottle after reading this review, and after a long desire. Very satisfied, especially in a slightly wetter pen. Lovely replacement for my 11:1 Violet VotexOMB.

[JakobS]

How does this ink oxidize overtime compared to the traditional blue black iron gall inks. Does it become blacker, or a darker purple? I think part of the fun with iron gall inks is watching them oxidize so am very curious to know how Scabiosa oxidizes, thanks!

[WillSW]

JakobS, on 09 October 2009 - 10:53 PM, said:

How does this ink oxidize overtime compared to the traditional blue black iron gall inks. Does it become blacker, or a darker purple? I think part of the fun with iron gall inks is watching them oxidize so am very curious to know how Scabiosa oxidizes, thanks!

I've been waiting on doing a review (I've only had the ink a week) so I can see how it does. I'll post one soon.

[Robert Hughes]

Love your avatar, Will! So sweet is love...

But I had a "potentially harmful software" notice pop up when I went to your site. What gives?

This post has been edited by Robert Hughes: 13 October 2009 - 09:14 PM