Four more browns compared

[BillTheEditor]

We seem to be in a "brown" period lately in the ink reviews. Here are four more, one of which (Cafe des Iles) I don't think has been reviewed previously. Side-by-side comparisons make ink selection a little easier, I think.

 

No labels on this scan. The scan has been color-corrected on my monitor, and the samples all appear almost the same as on the page. They will be close enough for government work, and there's no telling what they are going to look like on other people's monitors.

 

None of these inks feathered significantly on this paper (Levenger Circa). None of them came through onto the back side of the paper, either.

 

Diamine Sepia applied with a Parker Sonnet using a stub nib. Noodler's Red Black out of a Lamy Safari Medium nib. Noodler's Eternal Brown from a Wing Sung 612 fine or extra fine nib. Herbin Cafe des Iles from a Rotring Core with an XM (broad-medium) nib.

 

Ink colors seem to vary depending on the paper. In this case, the Cafe des Iles looks a little darker than it does on other papers (e.g. Clarefontain). Or maybe it had just been in the pen too long. At any rate, I find most J. Herbin inks too pale for my taste, but not Cafe des Iles, which is a good button-down brown.

 

The Diamine Sepia seems best to me from a wider nib, so you can see the shading.

 

Noodler's Red Black I could take or leave, and yes I know some people totally love it.

 

Noodler's Eternal Brown is one of the inks I normally have loaded in the rotation.

 

I apologize for the crooked alignment of the page in the scanner. Don't have time to fix it this morning -- color correction was very difficult and time-consuming on this set of samples.

Edited July 22, 2006 by BillTheEditor

[Inkanthropist]

Thanks for the scan, Bill. I've been wondering what Noodler's Eternal Brown looks like, so your timing is perfect. And that Sonnet stub writes very nicely -- is it a standard Parker italic, or did you have the stub specially made?

 

Neil

[BillTheEditor]

Thanks for the scan, Bill. I've been wondering what Noodler's Eternal Brown looks like, so your timing is perfect. And that Sonnet stub writes very nicely -- is it a standard Parker italic, or did you have the stub specially made?

 

Neil

Neil, it's a stock 18k Parker nib. I also have a stock 14k stub nib on a Parker 75, and it writes even better than the one on the Sonnet. Both are very nice for personal notes and letters.

 

Glad you found the scan informative!

[Inkanthropist]

Thanks, Bill. It's good to know that the stock Parker nibs can be that distinctive.

 

Neil

[southpaw]

Thanks for another look at some inks. I have the Red-Black and have sampled the Eternal Brown. To me the EB is just too light, but the R-B is quite nice. Each to his/her own

[TMLee]

thanks Bill for posting the sample comparison.... the Noodlers Eternal Brown looks great to me... do you happen to have a sample paragraph written in this ink ?

[BillTheEditor]

thanks Bill for posting the sample comparison.... the Noodlers Eternal Brown looks great to me... do you happen to have a sample paragraph written in this ink ?

Posted reply to your request here in Inky Thoughts.

[Goodwhiskers]

Hooray, more browns! Thanks, Bill .

[Ruaidhri]

Drat and Curses.

 

Bill,

 

I was happy with my blue & black. I'm only into pens. Don't care much about messing with different inks.

 

Until I saw those scans.

 

Any idea where best to source these - Diamine Sepia and Herbin's Cafe des Iles - bearing in mind that I live in Ireland ?

 

Insert usual gags about bog water & Guinness here .................................

 

Seriously - any ideas appreciated.

 

Regards,

Ruaidhrí

[BillTheEditor]

Any idea where best to source these - Diamine Sepia and Herbin's Cafe des Iles - bearing in mind that I live in Ireland ?

 

Insert usual gags about bog water & Guinness here .................................

You can order Herbin and Diamine inks online from The Writing Desk and from The Pen Home; since the owners of both are FPN members, you can probably PM them with your order. Since they are in your back yard, I would guess these would be the best sources.

 

Closer to home, if they are still in business, maybe the staff at The Pen Corner, 12 College Green, Dublin (679-3641) could special order the inks for you (if they don't carry them).

 

It was the Yeats quote in the Noodler's Brown post that did it, right?

 

You're on your own for bog water and Guiness. I prefer Shiner Blonde or Shiner Bock, personally.