16 replies to this topic

[phillieskjk]

As many of you likely already know, xfountainpens.com and its Chesterfield inks are no more.  The store has been rebranded as Birmingham pens, but there was no replacement for the inks.  Now though, it appears there is.  I checked the site tonight, as it still just redirects to the new one if you type in xfountainpens.com, and found a whole line of Birmingham inks named after influential people.  Here's an example of one of the new inks: https://www.birmingh...steel-blue-30ml .  I wonder if these will also be rebranded Diamene like Chesterfield were?

[OCArt]

Yes, I also miss the Chesterfield inks and the free shipping that the old store offered with a $15 order!

[ParramattaPaul]

I know that the Chesterfield inks were packaged in Chinese made tins and bottles while the inks were English made.  The question I have is who made the ink and branded it?

 

Sorry, but I'm an abstract thinker and I am naturally curious.

[inkstainedruth]

I know that the Chesterfield inks were packaged in Chinese made tins and bottles while the inks were English made.  The question I have is who made the ink and branded it?

 

Sorry, but I'm an abstract thinker and I am naturally curious.

 

My understanding is that the Chesterfield line were rebranded Diamine inks.  There have been posts in the past trying to correlate which Chesterfield ink matched which Diamine, but it wasn't a complete list. I'd also like to know which were which, for the sake of a friend of mine.  She's a tech writer, who uses her pens at work, matching the ink to the barrel colors on her 5 Levenger True Writers (she liked the Chesterfield inks because they came in small bottles and were more "jewel-toned" than the Levenger inks).  I keep meaning to find the list I wrote out in the end of September when I last saw her with the names of the different Chesterfield inks (although she couldn't remember the purple, and thought it might be Amethyst), so that when she runs out I can point her at the Diamine equivalents.

I've also been curious about the new "Birmingham" line, but haven't had a chance to stop in the store for a couple of weeks (and at the moment they still have kinda limited hours...).    Some of the colors looked interesting, and I like to support small businesses and local B&M stores whenever possible (read: financially feasible).

Xfountainpens used to also carry a line called Architekt, which IIRC were rebranded De Atramentis.  They were easier to match to the De Atramentis versions because the ink names carried over and weren't changed.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ParramattaPaul]

Thank you Ruth.

[zchen]

They had a sale over the weekend, $49.99 for all 10 colors in the series in 30ml bottles. I have placed an order but it has not been shipped.

Edited by zchen, 08 December 2016 - 18:18.

[ParkerDuofold]

I don't know who makes these new inks, but I think that Carnegie Steel Blue is going on my short list.

- Anthony

[zchen]

I got the bottles, they are glass and are marked made in UK on the label. I think it is reasonable to assume these are Diamine in origin.

Edited by zchen, 13 December 2016 - 02:12.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, I will probably stick my nose in there on my way to the next Steel City Nibs meeting and see if I can find out information about the inks.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[CAG_1787]

I bought the complete set and can report back.

[Sasha Royale]

Has anyone asked Burmingham, who makes the ink ?  

[inkstainedruth]

Has anyone asked Burmingham, who makes the ink ?  

 

Yes, I stopped in there today (decided that I didn't want to wait a week for the SCN meeting, especially since the weather is supposed to be really awful the next few days -- wind chill advisories tomorrow and Friday, followed on the weekend with snow, then snow & freezing rain, then rain, then a mix and then more snow showers on Sunday...  ).  

Nick told me that *they* are making the inks!  (I'm not sure if they're doing them from scratch or they're custom blending.)  I picked up a 30 ml bottle of Shadyside Walnut Street Brown (I dip-tested a few of the other colors, but they mostly were a little unsaturated for my taste; the brown is as well, but I'm going to see how sepia-toned it really is as a possible replacement for the leaking bottle of red-box era vintage Sheaffer Brown).  
I do like the names though; they are all Pittsburgh references (the one bottle I bought is named after Walnut Street, one of the main shopping districts for the Shadyside neighborhood, and Birmingham Pens is about half a block off of Walnut....  

In other news, Nick also told me that they are going to soon be carrying De Atramentis inks, and are getting a distributorship for R&K.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pepsiplease69]

I recently picked up a bottle of my one and only Chesterfield Ink: archival vault.

I love the ink a lot. Anybody know a replacement for it?

[coreyl]

I recently picked up a bottle of my one and only Chesterfield Ink: archival vault.

I love the ink a lot. Anybody know a replacement for it?

 

Chesterfield Archival Vault is Diamine Registrar's

[pepsiplease69]

 
Chesterfield Archival Vault is Diamine Registrar's

Thanks

[jmccarty3]

These Birmingham inks seem to have disappeared from the Birmingham Pens web site. A couple of them have been reviewed on the Serial Doodler blog, and they appear to be available only from Everything Calligraphy in the Philippines.

 

https://www.everythi...ant=34248292622

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong. This one looks attractive:

 

https://theserialdoo...dge-truss-blue/

[inkstainedruth]

These Birmingham inks seem to have disappeared from the Birmingham Pens web site. A couple of them have been reviewed on the Serial Doodler blog, and they appear to be available only from Everything Calligraphy in the Philippines.

 

https://www.everythi...ant=34248292622

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong. This one looks attractive:

 

https://theserialdoo...dge-truss-blue/

 

You're right.   I was hoping to get a back up bottle of the Shadyside Walnut Street Brown.  While not a complete match for some vintage (red box) Sheaffer Brown (sepia) it was a very nice color, and since they were small bottles I could easily see myself running through it.  Someone in SCN had a bottle of the green and it was a fairly nice color as well.

It does seem odd that the inks are on some site from the Philippines.  I'm hoping that there isn't a problem with the company.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth