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Ink Review- Krishna Lyrebird Water Sapphire


Arijit

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So, two or so months back, Dr. Sreekumar of Krishna Inks told me he was planning a new line up of waterproof inks. They won't be IG inks, he said, but would be pigment-based.

Finally, a month back, the first few inks were released. Krishna Water Blue Black was released the earliest- The Pelikan Hubs all over India received review samples. Mid October, the Lyrebird Water series was officially launched with four inks- Water Blue Black, Water Red, Water Green and Water Sapphire blue. (Yeah, the nomenclature is a bit confusing) They are relatively cheaper- Rs.140 for 30 ml, which brings it to about 2$ for an 1 fl oz bottle. So, obviously I ordered both the Water Sapphire and the Water Blue Black inks.

Now, to the Water Sapphire ink.

The bottle arrived in a nondescript white cardboard box, with an equally nondescript 30 ml glass bottle inside.

 

It works well enough for me- I don't really care much for extravagant packaging personally.

post-132715-0-71752900-1575020698_thumb.jpeg

 

Now, back to the ink.

The ink doesn't have the foul Noodlers smell, or the iron smell of the IG i ks. It doesn't really smell of..... anything. The inks don't _seem to_ stain pens, but I can't affirm to it one way or another. I am using it in my ASA mist, whuch is an acrylic demonstrator, but everything seems okay. For now. I would not recommend it, myself, till I find out one way or another.

The ink is a rich cobalt blue with a hint of sapphire. In an abysmally dry pen, it has a watery turquoise shade, which transforms all the way to a rich dark sapphire in extra wet nibs. This gives it some excellent shading characteristics. It doesn't have any sheen or shimmer I noticed.

On coated paper- like the Krishna FPF (fountain pen friendly) paper I used to review it, it dries rather slowly. Thankfully, normal moderately absorbent paper, like 80 GSM A4 printer paper, allows it to dry quite fast.

However, the main selling point of this ink is water resistance. And that it is. It does feather a little, and smear some, but legibility should hardly be an issue.

I am attaching my own written review here

post-132715-0-42624800-1575021405_thumb.jpeg

In conclusion, I don't have much to complain about this ink. Pen safety is not something I can talk about this soon after the ink was released, but unless the ink eats pems for breakfast, there's not much to criticize about this ink.

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Thanks for the review, I like the color!

PAKMAN

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Addendum-

Quoting Dr. Sreekumar himself,

"its not mixable with any other inks which can lead to loss of colour . Even traces of left over inks can lead to that ."

So, this ink might need a strict washing cycle, especially if we want to change inks.

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That's very good to know. It's an interesting color, but given this extra fact, I do not expect to be ordering this all the way from India...

But it seems a very nice color, and something else in your review struck me: your mention of Krishna FPF paper. Tell me more about that, please?

a fountain pen is physics in action... Proud member of the SuperPinks

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That's very good to know. It's an interesting color, but given this extra fact, I do not expect to be ordering this all the way from India..

There are other options too- I think Vanness pens sell it in the US.

 

As far as the paper goes, it's kind of new. It's not officially released with their official distributor in India, I bought it directly from Dr. Sreekumar (the proprietor). It works well with all of Krishna's sheening inks, but acts like generic paper with some others. It feels like an 80 gsm sheet. It's Rs. 180 (around 2.5$) for 1 ream of 100 pages.

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Thanks. Hopefully he follows up and makes it available... Will wait and see. If you have any news in this regard, I'd be interested.

(though it's not as if I don't already have more paper than I can use... still, a specifically FPF one is always welcome news.)

a fountain pen is physics in action... Proud member of the SuperPinks

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For samples or full sizes you can buy them from an online seller on ebay called stationeryshop-scotland; I think Goulet pens might have them too. So if the UK or US are better options for you, maybe check them out?

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Thanks.

The funny thing is, even though India is farther away than either the US or even the UK, getting stuff here from India is much less expensive than either Europe or the US... go figure. I'm in the Caribbean, btw. That makes me very far away (at least in people's perception) from almost anywhere else. Even Florida, which sometimes wants to be seen as part of the Caribbean...

a fountain pen is physics in action... Proud member of the SuperPinks

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Thanks.

The funny thing is, even though India is farther away than either the US or even the UK, getting stuff here from India is much less expensive than either Europe or the US... go figure. I'm in the Caribbean, btw. That makes me very far away (at least in people's perception) from almost anywhere else. Even Florida, which sometimes wants to be seen as part of the Caribbean...

I get them from the good doctor directly. I can ask him about any Caribbean dealers.... You can directly talk to the Indian dealer too- The Pen World- and see if they can help you out. Both Dr. SK and the proprietor of The Pen World are helpful.
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Indeed they are, and I have dealt with them before. That's how I got my earlier batch of Krishna inks, via the Pen World. And the pens I did get directly from dr Sreekumar. Very doable.

My point was, right now I have so many great inks, I'm not going to invest in yet another great ink, especially since it has to come from half a world away... I feel I should use up a little more of my stash before (again) adding to it...

but thanks, everybody, for your kind suggestions. They are appreciated.

Edited by mhguda

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Indeed they are, and I have dealt with them before. That's how I got my earlier batch of Krishna inks, via the Pen World. And the pens I did get directly from dr Sreekumar. Very doable.

My point was, right now I have so many great inks, I'm not going to invest in yet another great ink, especially since it has to come from half a world away... I feel I should use up a little more of my stash before (again) adding to it...

but thanks, everybody, for your kind suggestions. They are appreciated.

That's nice to hear. If and when the paper comes out officially, you can use these channels for it too.

Or you could directly ping Dr. Sreekumar now. He has quite a few reams available on hand.

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Thank you for taking the time to prepare this review! Very nice color.

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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I have two krishna inks, the orange iron gall (amazing) and jungle volcano (also amazing)

 

The only thing that lets them down is the junk bottles. He needs to up the ink volume to like 40-50mL and get a better bottle.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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I have two krishna inks, the orange iron gall (amazing) and jungle volcano (also amazing)

 

The only thing that lets them down is the junk bottles. He needs to up the ink volume to like 40-50mL and get a better bottle.

He does have 100 ml bottles, though. All Lyrebird inks come in them, and even standard inks are now available in 100 ml.

As for as junk bottles.... It's not something I care much about unless it leaks. Beautiful bottles add nothing to the ink except to the MRP.

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He does have 100 ml bottles, though. All Lyrebird inks come in them, and even standard inks are now available in 100 ml.

As for as junk bottles.... It's not something I care much about unless it leaks. Beautiful bottles add nothing to the ink except to the MRP.

 

Pilot gives us gorgeous bottles for $20 and a premium ink.

 

Even simple glass bottles like noodlers or hero or waterman can do a lot without jacking the MSRP up.

 

As it is, krishna inks are pretty competitively priced with other premium inks. They just don't have a good bottle

 

Where can I get the 100mL bottles? I'd be interested.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Here is a pic of a 30 ml bottle of Water Sapphire, and a 100 ml bottle of After Dark I got in the last group buy I organized. post-132715-0-87781700-1576174864_thumb.jpeg

This is where I got most of my inks- group buys and Dr. SK directly. In fact, Dr. SK sold only 100 ml bottles of Lyrebird inks in India till, say, two months or so back when he introduced 30 ml bottles. It's surprising that no seller outside India is keeping 100 ml bottles.

You *can* contact Dr. SK directly, and work out a deal. That's the only way I can think of

post-132715-0-91509400-1576174926_thumb.jpeg

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I have two 30ml bottles of After Dark, which I got when it first came out. I have used it sparingly. Because I love it a lot. I filled a pen with it last week and am using it again (sometimes one needs to be reminded of a favorite ink!) besides some more teal-leaning, darker blues. Thanks for reminding me!

a fountain pen is physics in action... Proud member of the SuperPinks

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