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Apica Review of J. Herbin Eclat De Saphir Fountain Pen Ink

EF Lamy Safari Fountain Pen. I received this ink as a gift. The only previous experience I had with J Herbin inks was with a sample of Violette Pennse that I quickly dismissed as bleeding and feathering in my Moleskine. So when I received this ink, I didn't know what to expect.

And here's what I have to say about it.

*I love it*

It's the color of blueberries in a muffin.

I usually lean towards more saturated inks, but there's just something special about this one. For one, it behaves fairly decently in the Moleskine, and like a saint here in the Apica. It's smooth as silk, dries quickly and has a very sweet and delicate slightly floral scent that makes me instantly connect it with being a French product. It is not heavily shaded, which I find unusual for an ink of this saturation. (I don't like heavily shaded inks.) It's pricey at $8.25 for a 30 ml bottle, but maybe it's the sweet smelling ink in this bottle that's been manufactured for over 300 years that makes me like it so much.

I get this air of "Use me, don't use me, I don't care. I'll still be here in another 300 years...waiting for you to come back." and I just love that!

Enjoy your ink. I love it also but here in Canada it costs more than 12 dollars per 30 ml bottle. The The CAnadain Dollar was worth 93 US cents today, I believe.
Barry

Just when I thought I was done buying blue ink
Well, I'm always looking out for non-feathering/bleeding, so I appreciate all the data points!

Barry, Stylus in Edmonton sells J. Herbin for $10 a bottle, so still a bit pricey but not as bad as $12. If you happen to be in the area.

Thanks for reviewing this fantastic ink. For all of you that still don't know it, a professional seller which is also a member here, sells and ships Herbin inks anywhere in the world, 3 bottles of 30 ml per 18 euros. Penandco.com Jean is also as nice as one can wish and a true pleasure to deal with. (Usual disclaimer here...).

This is one of my favorite blues, period. It does reasonably well in fade tests, but is VERY washable.

I find it a pretty ink.

However, with my color vision I cannot easily separate it from Skrip Blue, so I go with the least expensive option.

YMMV

looks like on of Herbin's more saturated colors - thanks for the review

Kurt

I just ordered a bottle of this and am looking forward to it. I ordered a couple different blues in my quest to stop using Noodler's Legal Lapis.

Thanks very muc
Shiping would eat it up, but if I happen to be there.....
You know Edmontoin is rather farther North than Calgary, its almost in the Yukon. In fact there is a Yuke on every corner.
Not meaning to be offensive.
b

Your welcome Sophie. It definitely does better in some journals than others, but seems fairly well behaved in teh Moleskine, and that's what I currently care most about.

Your welcome. I want to try some of their other colors now....

Good to know - thank you. I have in my mind that if it's not a Noodler's Bulletproof product, than it's probably going to be pretty washable.

I understand. But it sure does smell nice!

Your welcome. Are you aware of what other of J Herbin's inks might be similarly saturated?

Yea, I've been having trouble with the blues myself. I used to write with Papermate Stick pens, and when I switched to a FP, I kept trying to find a FP ink to replicate that color. Noodler's Le Colour Royale seemed to fit the bill, but it bled so badly in a Mole that I got rid of it. This bottle was sent to me along with one of the Habana journals from Exaclair. I was'nt expecting it, and was pleasantly surprised when it arrived.

Is it a scented ink, or is this just the scent of the ink itself that you like?

This isn't one of their scented inks - it is just the smell of the ink that I like. It almost "seems" scented.

Review is most interesting & well written. Thanks.

Great review of a great ink.

I got a bottle quite a while ago - I found it to be a bit more on the saturated side than not, at least on Moleskine paper - I often dilute it with a little J. Herbin Gris Nuage if I want to soften it up. None the less, I really love this blue. When I saw it, I thought of royalty - why, I'm not certain, but that's the first word that came to me.

R.

J Herbin Eclat de Saphir is not "eradicable" by sulfate/sulfite eradicator markers like the Pelikan Super-Pirat (Bic makes one too, but it seems not to be distributed in the USA; I don't know about in Canada) and is not affected by high-sulfur paper.
The new Sheaffer Skrip Blue is eradicable (my favorite eradicable blue) and fades slightly on high-sulfur paper.

I received my bottle from Pear Tree Pens the other day. Just put it in a pen. It's really nice color. Almost reminds me of Baystate Blue, but not quite as bright.

FYI: I ran cold water over a writing sample for 60 seconds and then soaked it in cold water for 10 minutes. The writing sample is very readable.