I emailed Tay at pensinasia.com (no affiliation, just a happy customer) asking him to tell me a bit more about the Singapore Colours, since it's a bit difficult to see what colors some of them are from the pictures of the bottles. He emailed me back this picture after soaking for 10 days (they're all supposed to be bulletproof):

Click to view attachment

Hope this works! I have Vanda Miss Joaquim, Lotus Grace, and Majestic Orange--if I find a few minutes, I'll do a handwritten review of each of those three inks and send it to the guy who's doing calibrated scans (anyone remember who that is?).

Anyway, in the meantime, Majestic Orange looks redder on my monitor than it does in real life, and Lotus Grace is more magenta-ey to my eye in real life. Vanda Miss Joaquim has more of a pinkish undertone, not dissimilar to Noodler's Russian Lermontov (which I also have).

Any other comments about similarities to other Noodler's colors readily available in the US?

If any of you get one of the other Singapore Colours (especially Singapore Sepia, Honourable Blue, Spirit of Bamboo, or Esplanade) and want to do an ink trade, PM me!

Do I understand correctly that these inks are mxied by Nathan specifically for the Singapore market? I think it is pretty nice that he will do that kind of customizing. I confess to feeling a bit left out as I do really like some of those colors. I think the "Majestic Orange" is a killer color, but I wonder what it looks like without the 10-day soak.

Thanks for the post.

I really really want the majority of these inks. Thanks for the scan. Unfortunately they are bit to expensive for my taste. I e-mailed Tay as well, he needs US$20 for each bottle of ink and shipping is roughly $25 he said. I had considered selling off a pen or two to finance just buying the whole lot with shipping included. I still haven't shunned that idea.

Penguin

I crave them as well. I've noticed that Pendemonium carries other international Noodles, but they don't list the Singapore series.

I wonder if it would be possible for some enterprising US seller to get the US exclusive on these inks as Pendemonium has with the Russian and UK inks. I think it would just be the Samsui Red for me.

I'd pay a few bucks to get 1-2 samplers of each...

If that interests you, pm me!

nick

Yeah, I came to the same conclusion, thus my pathetic mewling for samples in my signature.

Very interesting, thanks!

If Luxury Brands was smart about this, they'd package up a gift box of all of the non-domestic inks, and make it available exclusively via their website. The "Singapore Sling" gift box. I know they don't want to get into the retail business, but this is a fantastic opportunity for all of us ink junkies to get some rare inks, and for Luxury to turn a tidy profit with very little effort on their part.

Oh man, talking about starting a lemming - I want a couple of these bottles! Is there a real store presence in Singapore? Maybe I'll get my S'porean friend to bring some back for me the next time he goes home to visit his family!

Aesthetic Bay also sells these (I think I read that they were the ones who originally commissioned these colors). I think they also have a B&M store. Here's their website (no affiliation, never purchased anything from them): http://www.aestheticbay.com/about.htm. The last time I looked, though, they only had Honourable Blue in stock (though I've seen that they've had the whole set at other times).

This got me thinking--I really want to try the other colors I don't have, but yes, shipping is prohibitively expensive for one bottle. To raise funds, I was thinking of selling off some small samples of my existing Singapore colors (Vanda Miss Joaquim, Lotus Grace, & Majestic Orange) to get new ones! Or sell "dibs" on small samples of the ink I order. Kinda like the Pear Tree Pens samplers (except with ink trading vials). Any fellow ink junkies interested?

Aesthetic Bay has the whole range in stock at the store, but for some reason they've removed them from their website. Pretty expensive though; S$30 a bottle(~US$22)

I'd be interested, but to save on shipping, I'd like to get all samples in a single envelope.

nick

Singapore Sepia is my favorite of them all. Hard to describe it, really - it is barely brown, barely purple, and it shades beautifully. All Noodler's Singapore inks tend to feather, IMHO, but the feathering can be controlled depending on nib and paper. My second favorite is Spirit of Bamboo. I like these "vague" colors. Judicial Black has major nib creep and takes forever to dry. Sentosa Tranquility - the description is accurate, it's like sand on the beach. I got all of mine at Aesthetic Bay - being able to try the inks in person was a big factor in my purchase.

*sigh* Due to a very sad lack of self-restraint (and some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket ), I went ahead and purchased the rest of the inks I don't have. They should be here in ~4 business days....

In my obsessive search for the perfect journal, I tried out many of my inks on lots of different types of paper (mostly the usual suspects--Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Derwent, hand*book, Markings for C.R. Gibson, Pentalic, Apica, etc.). I use XF nibs only, which might explain it, but I didn't have too much of a problem with feathering. Lotus Grace feathered a very tiny bit in the Pen+Ink journal & the hand*book journal (like one little fiber every several words or so--yes, I'm very picky about feathering). I haven't had any problem with the cheap copy paper I use. But I've also had good luck with a couple in the Russian series that others have had trouble with, so YMMV!

Anyway, my journal quest is another post for another time.....

Of course! I'll let you know when they come in!

Does anyone know where Aesthetic Bay is located?

Aesthetic Bay:
109 North Bridge Road, #02-14, Funan Digitalife Mall, Singapore 179097
Tel : +65-6735 6788, +65-6339 6388 ; Fax : +65-6235 6788
Email : sales@aestheticbay.com
Website : www.aestheticbay.com

Pensinasia:
Tay G. H.
BLK 236, Lorong 1, #06-78
Toa Payoh, S(310236)
Singapore

And....the fleating dream that this company was US based issssss....gone with the wind! Thanks for the info though. Man I'm really looking at my pens trying to figure out which one I can let go for $270 to cover the cost of all 12 bottles!

-penguin
-penguin

I just wanted to say thanks for posting this! I'd been looking at these inks on the pensinasia site, and was really hoping to be able to have a better sense of what these colors are, so this is really helpful!

Of course, now I desperately want several, although the cost of shipping is a definite deterrent. I think I might have to have Spirit of Bamboo though. I think it's the green I've been in search of, and it's waterproof to boot! (I am pretty much incapable of not getting my notes wet, somehow)

kookychick -- if you're still willing to sell small samples, I'd be more than happy to send a few bucks + shipping to get some samples of the colors I really want to try. Thanks!

youblue9--You're welcome! I'll PM you about the ink samples!

penguinmaster--Sorry to burst your bubble. I wish all Noodler's inks were readily available in the US!

Are you serious? $20 per bottle? Why so high when a pen can be shipped for so much less? Wouldn't some bubble wrap pretty much protect the bottle from breaking? j

My understanding is that the price for the ink is $20 per bottle. Shipping is around $25, and that more than one bottle (don't know how many max, though) can be shipped for that $25 price.
At least, that's how I read the email I got from Tay.

Thanks, greg

Well, that makes a little more sense. I guess my brain was not turned on when I was reading an earlier post.

The ink in the photos on the pensinasia looks like it has a unique consistency. Interesting colors, for sure. j

Just wanted to post an update--THANK YOU to everyone who PM'd me to help me out with my ink overflow problem!

I've run out of vials, so until I get more in, I'll have to hold off on sending samples out (unless you want to send me an empty vial to fill--I'll credit you for it)! This DOES NOT apply to those who have already PM'd me before this post--there are enough vials for your order!

Watch my signature for updates, and thanks again, everyone!

Got someone else to scan this for me. Here are the Q-tip swab squiggles I made while filling vials for people:



I went over each squiggle twice with a Q-tip that barely had any ink on it. It looks reasonably accurate on my monitor, but everything is a little bluer. Majestic Orange isn't as red in real life, and Vanda Miss Joachim isn't as blue--on my monitor, it looks closer to Iraqi Indigo/Violet Vote, and in real life it's much more purpley-pink. Lotus Grace isn't quite as light pink--it's a little darker and a touch more magenta. Spirit of Bamboo and Peranakan Brown have a touch more yellow to them than on my monitor. Honourable Blue isn't quite as bright in real life, though it's not as chalky and dull as the sample of Luxury Blue I saw, IIRC.

I haven't had a chance to put anything in a pen yet, but I think Esplanade might become one of my new favorite inks, if it behaves properly--it's reminiscent of Legal Lapis, but not nearly as blue (or as dark). I have a sample of Verdun, but not Lakeshore Spruce--I'll see if I can do a comparison later.

I hope to do some more in-depth reviews when I get back!

Damn, now I want a sample of Esplanade as well!!!

I'm out of town for a week, so I'll respond to any PMs/posts when I get back! Just didn't want people to think I was being rude or ignoring them!