In my ever ending quest to find the perfect ink I decided to try ebony purple from Private reserve. I really like Diamine imperial purple and hoped it would be something similar but darker.

Well it turns out I was right on the darker front - in the wrong light this can look like pure black and im sure it could give some of the "black" inks a run for their money in terms of intensity and saturation.

This is is pretty damn dark, but i still like it. I like to keep my Pelikan M600 for my "sensible ink" (usually pelikan black) but this is so dark i thought i would give it a spin.

Now Diamine purple is definitely on the "wet" side of things in the waterman expert II i generally use it in but I love the smoothness of which it flows. I was very surprised to see how wet PR ebony purple was in the M600 since I don't consider this pen a wet pen (its pretty in between).

The ebony purple practically gushes from the pen and takes probably about 45 seconds to dry. I guess this will need filled regularly at this "burn" rate.

Overall i like this colour a lot but time will tell if I get fed up of the wetness

Saturation : Very Saturated
Wetness : Wettest ive tried out of about 14 inks
Shading : Not much to note with my pen/paper combination

Overall the Jury is still out when compared to imperial purple.

Click to view attachment

ps - Deep Purple - "Burn" - geddit anyone ?

Wow, I need to scan by Heart of Darkness/Cactus Fruit mix. . . it looks almost exactly like this.

For completeness - here is a smear test from 60 seconds to zero
Slightly more scientificly this suggest a dry time of 35-40 seconds for my pen/paper combination.

I did them all in a single batch so i expect the tiny smears on 40+ seconds could be residual ink on my finger

Click to view attachment

whooooooooooooooa!!!! that is sssssssssssssssssloooooooooooooooooow drying time!!!

beautiful ink, though... even as saturated as you say it is, i see some shading, but it could be the scan/monitor thing???!!!

i should say that Diamine IP is quite lovely too!!

I'm new to the routine use of FPs, but I got a VP about 2 weeks ago and was looking for "daily wear" ink. I wanted something a little distinctive but not too weird since my notes become legal documents. I stumbled upon the Ebony Purple and fell in love. I have it on three different FPs that I carry around all the time. It is a little wet, but I've not had any problem with smearing. I just wait a couple of seconds before turning the page over. Because it flows so easily it makes my fine points much easier to handle for me as a newby. The saturation makes for a very dark distinctive mark, but in the lighter strokes you can see that subtle shade of distinction. Totally love it

I like that purple! It's interesting too because even though it's dark, it still looks different than PR-Tanzanite (which is a staple ink for me). Thanks for the review. I'll have to give this one a try.

Dave

Love the depth and saturation of this ink. Thanks for the review. It's officially on my list.

Thanks for the review! It definitely looks like a good "sensible" ink now. But given the other issues with it, try adding some distilled water. That should improve the drying time and bring out the purple tones. Maybe make a small batch first, to figure out how much water you need for the best color / flow.

You might actually find you have two inks for the price of one: a darker professional color and a lighter smoky purple for fun.

Thanks for the scan of this lovely colour.

Neil

Ordered some last night after reading this review! Gorgeous color, especially for a purple junkie like me.

Thanks for the scan.

Tricia, make sure to report back on how you found it....

D

edited for spelling (how you *g*ound it !!)

Wondering does anyone have both Noodlers Purple Wampum and PR Ebony Purple.
If so I be keen to know how they compare.

Ive mostly avoided Noodlers for "safeness reasons" esp for my "treasured" Pelikan M600.
But Noodlers Purple Wampum seems close(ish) to Ebony purple with reportedly very fast drying.

Thoughts anyone ?

I don't have EP, but I've seen quite a few scans and it's much darker than the PW that I use often.

WOW!!!
That is one dark purple color.

That compares well with Aurora Black for flow and saturation.

declanh,

Wow, Pear Tree Pens has already shipped! I should receive it this coming week. I'll definitely report back. And I have Noodler's Wampum - it's one of my favorite inks - so I'll compare them. If a dip pen comparison would be ok, I can also add in Caran d'Ache Storm and MB's Violet.

(Hey, when I said purple junkie, I meant purple junkie! )

Edited to add: I've had Noodler's Purple Martin in a Pelikan demonstrator for years (uh, lots of fills over the years ) and nary a problem. Pels are always great writers, ime, and this one with PM is no exception. Gorgeous color, too. A bit lighter than Wampum.

I would love to see a comparison of all the purples

Especially the Darker types like the folllowing

1) Purple Wampum
2) PR Ebony Purple
3) Caran d'Ache Storm
4) MB's Violet
5) Diamine Damson
6) Diamine Imperial Purple
7) FPN Tulipe Noir
8) Noodlers Purple Martin
9) Baystate Concord Grape
10) PR Purple Mojo
11) Pelikan Violet

I only have 2,6,11 in the above list

Here you can find some swabs: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=47659

Here's a quick comparison of four of my purple inks (the darker ones). The scan shows less of the differences than are there - the MB Violet is the redder of the four (though just) and the Ebony Purple is the blackest.

Oh my gosh! I recently mixed some Private Reserve Tanzanite and Parker Black Quink and I gotten the exact same colour!

Is Ebony Purple at all water-resistant?

Just an addendum to my review...
Ive just bought a Pelikan M800 fine nib.
Tried PR Ebony Purple in it and its very different to my Pelikan M600 or Waterman ExpertII Or Lamy Safari
Its a much drier line that dries faster and it comes out less black and more purple (still pretty dark tho).

This just shows the significant diff pen and nib can make to ink colour.

I love PR Ebony Purple and use it in my main pen (Lamy Al-Star, M nib) - my only issue with it is that its waterfastness is basically zero. I have Noodler's Polar Black in my second pen for cheques and such.

Thanks -- that's useful information that I've been looking for!