But wait! A differing opinon from an American Express Mag, Departures.
QUOTE
Ink
The ink you use can be as personal a choice as that of stationery, but in this case the focus is on viscosity and color palette. "The challenge for fountain pen ink manufacturers is to create brilliant inks that aren't too washy," says Weden. "When ink is wet it looks one way, but it can often look faded when dry. The best artists' inks—that is, those used with brushes and artists' pens—are highly pigmented and of excellent quality. But they are also waterproof and colorfast. Ink for fountain pens has to be non-waterproof or it won't flow through the ink feed of the pen. The best inks are those that look brilliant even when they are dry."
As a result, Weden says, fountain pen inks tend to be watery compared to artists' inks, and they have much less brilliance and less interesting color. Says Pollack: "A nice ink is characterized by its rich color pigment and density. But its quality also depends a lot on the way it works with the pen. If you have an 18-karat-gold soft nib on a fountain pen with great ink, it will most likely perform very well." (See Great Penmanship.)
Most pen manufacturers produce their own ink to match their pens, and some papermakers manufacture ink to complement their paper. The type of ink you work with—liquid or paste—depends on the type of pen you have. "About fifty percent of our clients use a fountain pen," says Caponi, "but some people can't be bothered and use a rollerball instead. It still has liquid ink, but with a ballpoint mechanism. Rollerballs cause less hand fatigue because they use liquid ink. Ballpoints use an oil-based paste ink, so you have to apply more pressure to the paper."
Weden, whose store Signatoré carries a wide selection of inks, believes that the ink you use makes a big difference. "Just as there are different levels of paint, there are different levels of ink," she points out. "If a fine painter uses low-quality paints, his art will be limited." The ink you use also makes a difference when it comes to life span—of both the ink itself and possibly the pen. "What's left of an ink should be discarded after one year because the pigment tends to pull away from the base," Weden explains. "The best inks last longer, but you still will want to use only fresh ink. Bad inks can clog a pen and result in irregular ink flow."
The top ink manufacturing company in Weden's opinion is Rubinato, based in Italy. (Signatoré imports it.) "Rubinato inks are highly pigmented, and feature beautiful, unique colors," states Weden. "They are made from plant pigments and are very high grade. Rubinato is more experimental with its colors, more artsy." Those colors include turquoise, brown, purple, and Bordeaux. Rubinato also makes scented inks, such as lavender, violet, honey, and mint. The highest of the high-grade inks, Weden believes, is Rubinato's Gnocchi, a deep black ink.
Of the fountain pen manufacturers that also produce ink, Weden cites the Italian manufacturer Omas as the best. "They are fabulous," she says. "They produce an incredible gray ink that no one else makes. It's very translucent, and it makes interesting shading, creating both dark and light within the letters. It has a very old-fashioned look, and it's wonderful on parchment paper. When you write with it, the ink takes on a character all its own." Another great Omas color, according to Weden, is sepia. "It really looks like the coloring in old photographs," she says.
"Omas ink is organic, and among the purest on the market," Caponi remarks."It is made from a vegetal color base. Many other inks are made with chemical detergents, which can be quite harsh and can even erode the inside of a pen over time. And the organic compounds make the ink more fluid. It has a much smoother flow due to the fact that there are fewer particles in it, especially carbon, to block the fountain pen feeder, which is a very thin channel." According to Caponi, four of the most popular Omas ink colors are Vespucci red ("it's a very deep red, not fire-engine red or burgundy"), Roma blue ("it's extremely vibrant"), violet, and sepia brown.
"Omas ink is wonderful," agrees Pollack, who also admires ink by Montblanc. "You can find Montblanc colors such as reds, turquoise, greens, browns, burgundy, and South Sea blue." Pollack also favors inks by the French manufacturer J. Herbin. "They have some beautiful, fun colors, such as aubergine."
Another top choice is ink blended by S.T. Dupont. "S.T. Dupont's ink, which comes in bottles and cartridges, is exquisite," Weden says. "It's the finest ink from France, better than Cartier's. Its viscosity is thick and rich, and yet it flows beautifully through a fountain pen. And the cartridges are "international-size," so they can fit in a Waterman, Montblanc, Jorg Hysek, and Cartier pen as well. But the colors are traditional." S.T. Dupont's best ink colors, in her opinion, are Bleu Nuit, a midnight blue, and sienna brown.
While the superior inks are considerably more expensive than the lesser ones, they are still quite reasonably priced. For example, Rubinato's Gnocchi costs $32.50 for a 100 cc bottle, Bordeaux is $12, and its flower-scented inks are $14.95. "But it is relative," Weden notes. "Normally a bottle of ink costs about $10." (In fact, S.T. Dupont ink sells for just that; Omas ink is priced at $10.95 for a 2.6-ounce bottle.)
All I can say is.... blehhhhhhh!
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