I've read all of the reviews of R&K ink, and after visiting Pendemonium yesterday, I'm very interested in these inks. I do have a question though. In my mind, I group inks as heavily saturated, modern inks (Noodlers, Private Reserve, Penman) and more tried-and-true, thinner inks (Waterman, Diamine, Aurora).

Does anyone have an opinion of where R&K should fall? From the pictures, I'm hoping it's like Diamine - great colors, maybe a bit more saturated than Waterman, but still a thin, worry-free ink.

I'll be very interested to hear opinions!

I put it in with Diamine.

I'd be interested in hearing if the PENquin thinks this ink is okay to use.

Yes, me too! I very much trust Rick Propas, so I'd love to hear his opinion on this ink. Not to mention that the Alt-Bordeaux would look great in my 400NN

I think they are a bit more saturated than Diamine, but still on the Diamine end of the spectrum. I have Alt-Bordeaux in a Bexley right now and love it. It starts out pretty wine red when when, then dries down with a bit of shading and vintage appeal.

-- Jeff

My experience is limited, but I've found it more saturated than Diamine but not so saturated as Noodler's or PR.

There was an alarming report from, ummm, KCat? Marina? about an apparent reaction with metal bits using R&K Verdigris. I'd be interested to know the pH.

Not from me. I've only tried a couple of samples of the ink thus far. I'd put it in the Diamine style also.

The reaction was from me. I had Verdigris in a Pelikan M300 for a long time, and it went gross... this was alarming - but in hindsight shouldn't really be taken too seriously, as I was practising poor housekeeping with that pen.

Anyway, I have 8 bottles of R&K ink. It is closer to the Diamine saturation than PR etc.

I also left one of the iron gall colours in a Duke pen for four months to see what it would do. I expected eaten pen innards, but the converter actually rinsed almost clean after a couple of days in a gentle ammonia soak, and while the nib was 'stubborn' to clean, that was it!

I have Alt-Bordeaux, Alt-Goldgrun, Scabiosa, Salix, Magenta, Solferino, Helianthus and Verdigris. I plan on buying all the R&K colours, as I like the quality of the ink very much. It shades beautifully, flows very well and feathering isn't an issue.

Sorry Phthalo! I knew it was someone who had a cool login, and more than that I could not remember. Glad to hear that in hindsight you're not as concerned. I flushed out my silly old Go! after hearing your report, as even though it's a cheapo, it's also a reliable workhorse and I am very fond of it. I could probably run battery acid in it and it would be ok, though.

I love the shading on Alt Bordeaux and would like very much to try other colors. I have a Verdigris sample which I like also, but I found it a bit too saturated to show the delicate, lovely shading that AB does. (Then again, the Go! is something of a fire hose.) Really curious about Alt Goldgrun and how it might compare with my Golden Greener mix. (If you would like to trade a vial or two for something of mine, you know where to find me. )

sonia_simone: You are right; Verdigris is a bit intense for any real interest.

Magenta has the nice shading characterises of Alt-Bordeaux, albeit more subtle. In a drier nib Alt-Goldgrün is lovely, but in a wetter nib it's superb and shades even better than Bordeaux. Alt-Goldgrün is a remarkable ink which appears to age the instant you lay it down.

Oh, dear, that sounds like something I need desperately.

Rohrer & Klingner Sepia is a fantastic color. It is a very dark brown with as little as possible red in it.

Alejandro

Alejandro,
Good to see you back!
I hope all is well with you.
Jeen

Scabiosa is an iron gall, is that right? The color looks fantastic.

Phthalo, what's Solferino like? I'm looking at that with some desire, also the Cassia, which looks a bit bluer.

(edited to spell Phthalo properly)

I agree, Phtahalo, this ink is a lovely color. I received this ink in an ink trade and absolutely love it! I look forward to a purchase of this ink in the future.

Have a look at the ink review I did on Solferino. Solferino review
Someone did one on Cassia, too, and you're right--it's a bit bluer.

HTH,
Ann

As Ann's review states, Solferino is almost identical to Pelikan's ink. Cassia is too blue for my liking, so I don't know much about that one...

Scabiosa and Salix are the Iron Gall inks. Scabiosa is really nice! It doesn't do the cool shading very much, but this subtle colour is aged in itself - it’s a dark purple-grey with a brown undertone. Salix is a lovely steel blue that looks quite a bright blue when the ink is wet, but it dries a much more subdued shade.

I made quick scribble with a dip pen, to show Scabiosa and Salix. The colours are true on my monitor.

Pretty ink blots! My monitor must need adjustment because your Scabiosa swatch looks almost identical to the Alt-Bordeaux I'm using today.

Can anyone compare Scabiosa to DeAtramentis Aubergine?

I really like that Scabiosa color, but I'm a bit chicken about iron gall. Maybe I will try it in the Go! or something similarly indestructible.

They are similar, but Scabiosa lacks the red tones of Alt-Bordeaux. Of course, as Alt-Bordeaux darkens in the pen over time, it looses that redness, and does begin to become quite close Scabiosa.

sonia_simone: I left the the Salix in a Duke pen for four months. Happily, it did no damage, but was a bit stubborn to clean because I let it get quite dry.