Classic Black - Franklin-Christoph

[visvamitra]

Please,allow me to start by saying thank you mmg112 for sending me samples of all new Franklin-Christoph's writing fluids (and much more!). I appreciate it a lot and I hope the reviews I've prepared are enough to repay you

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Franklin-Christoph is one of fairly new pen makers. I had three of their pens and they were all good writers. The company is headed by Scott Franklin and operates from North Carolina. I like company's approach to clients (sales directly to us) and they're designs.

Franklin-Christoph offers not only pens but also notebooks, pen cases, wallets and inks. I was huge fan of Olde Emerald from first generation of their inks. It used to be my favourite ink for a while. At the moment however the bottle's long gone and I keep fond memories of this exceptional writing fluid.

I was surprised to hear they've stopped producing first generation of their inks, especially after I took a look at new colors. First generation colors were rather unique, second generation colors are rather generic. And that's not an advantage to my eyes. Being boring in ink market may be safe when you're Pelikan or Sheaffer, but for smaller player it's risky. Just my opinion.

If you happen to know who makes they're ink, I'm eager to know.

The second generation of FC inks counts eight inks with uninteresting names (Black Magic, Dark Denim, Olde Emerald - those were cool names; Blue 72, Emerald 357 are NOT cool names)

1. Blue 72
2. Brown 732
3. Classic Black
4. Dark Chocolate
5. Emerald 357
6. Midnight Emerald
7. Noir et Bleu
8. Red 187

Classic Black is decent black that's rather well-behaved (I haven't observed feathering or bleedthrough) with none waterproofness. It's not the smoothest black around. Basically If - for whatever bizarre reason - you use black, I wouild rather choose Aurora or Rohrer & Klingner or Privete reserve's Velvet Black because they offer smoother feel. Basically this one is OK, but as the color in itself is boring, I guess you pick blacks for the writing feel, right?

Verdict: for me - meh. For people who use black - why not? There's nothing wrong with it. There are better, "smoother"blacks but there's a lso a lot of blacks inferior (feathering, bleedthrough, flow, saturation) to it.

Ink splash

http://imageshack.com/a/img537/1729/7C9EzH.jpg

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

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Waterproofness

http://imageshack.com/a/img909/2880/Ll7ucz.jpg

Software ID

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Semikolon, Kaweco Sport Classic, B

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/3008/Ap3k5I.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/2492/NOTKuK.jpg

Midori, Hero 5028, stub 1,9

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/9531/deFKS7.jpg

Edited June 29, 2015 by visvamitra

[J85909266]

I like the tone of this black. It has a nice bluish lean as opposed to the brownish lean of Noodler's Black, which is my current favorite.

[mmg122]

Vis...excellent review as per usual for you. I'm also a big fan of their first generation colors. Apparently they discontinued most of them because of behavior problems, although they seemed pretty well behaved to me.

I asked who made their inks and they're not saying...only that it's not the "usual suspects" ie Noodlers or Diamine, I guess.

 

ETA: I really don't understand why a company that specializes in making pens (and not ink) is so reluctant to divulge who makes their ink. Since FC is noted for their awesome customer response, maybe they'll consider upping their ink game.

[Frank C]

Thanks for the review. I use a lot of black ink, but it would have to be something special to replace my regulars: Aurora, Noodler's, Sailor, Pilot, Montblanc, and Pelikan. I don't think this rises to that level.

[ethernautrix]

I LOVE my Noodler's Black, so it's on a whim that I looked at this review.

 

First reaction: No. No, no, no. Nope.

 

Second reaction: Huh, well, maybe. Looks like Waterman Black, which used to be my favorite [black] ink more than ten years ago.

 

So, yeah, this one's nice, but not a game-changer.

 

 

 

...

 

Just checked for waterproofness. Oops, that an automatic disqualification for me.

[delano]

I think this is a good, utilitarian ink. I think it might be the ink you purchase for casual daily use when brighter colors might not be in appropriate.