Efnir: Waterman Harmonious Green

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Waterman Harmonious Green

 

(Decided to do all my Waterman inks first.) This is review #3 in my series, with 100+ to go... Here's the YouTube video:

 

And here is a screen of the final result, for those not interested in the video:

Scan of Completed Review:

 

Previous Review: Waterman Inspired Blue.

 

Want to influence the inky sequence? Take the "next ink" poll.

 

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[I-am-not-really-here]

I have the Japanese distro of Waterman Green and it looks the same. I like that it is a 'green Green' neither light nor dark. It's a fast dry on Mnemosyne, a paper that can make a mess of many otherwise wonderful inks.

[inkstainedruth]

Interesting. Would you call this a blue-leaning green, a yellow-greening one, or smack in the middle of the spectrum?

Also, after having watched the video (was there no sound, or did something go wrong with my laptop?) it appears to be a relatively fast dry time. Is that the case? I'll admit that I've never seen that done that way -- it seems backwards to me; when I am testing inks, I will do a line and count 1 second, than another line (each) for 5, 10, 12, 15 (etc.) seconds, checking for smudging after every line, and marking what that particular dry time -- or not -- was for the ink (and those are on really absorbent cheap sketchbook paper. (It also helps, for timing purposes, that I'm generally doing stuff like that in the living room and can listen for the ticks on the wall clock.).

But thanks for the review. Not sure I need a "middle of the road" green -- my tastes tend to run a titch towards the yellow side of the spectrum) but that (depending on other factors like water and UV resistance) could be one for me to check out. [i picked up a bottle of vintage Quink Green a while back, and it's way too blue-leaning for my taste; I have arguments with my friend Karl all the time about what color "emeralds" really are: he keeps insisting they've got a blue cast to them, and I say "Not the ones in a necklace I saw in the Harry Winston's store window on Fifth Avenue years ago!]

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Early on I tried a sample of PR Spearmint, and hated it....

Edited March 27, 2020 by inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

Interesting. Would you call this a blue-leaning green, a yellow-greening one, or smack in the middle of the spectrum?

Also, after having watched the video (was there no sound, or did something go wrong with my laptop?) it appears to be a relatively fast dry time. Is that the case? I'll admit that I've never seen that done that way -- it seems backwards to me; when I am testing inks, I will do a line and count 1 second, than another line (each) for 5, 10, 12, 15 (etc.) seconds, checking for smudging after every line, and marking what that particular dry time -- or not -- was for the ink (and those are on really absorbent cheap sketchbook paper. (It also helps, for timing purposes, that I'm generally doing stuff like that in the living room and can listen for the ticks on the wall clock.).

But thanks for the review. Not sure I need a "middle of the road" green -- my tastes tend to run a titch towards the yellow side of the spectrum) but that (depending on other factors like water and UV resistance) could be one for me to check out. [i picked up a bottle of vintage Quink Green a while back, and it's way too blue-leaning for my taste; I have arguments with my friend Karl all the time about what color "emeralds" really are: he keeps insisting they've got a blue cast to them, and I say "Not the ones in a necklace I saw in the Harry Winston's store window on Fifth Avenue years ago!]

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Early on I tried a sample of PR Spearmint, and hated it....

I would say this green is slightly blue-leaning, but nowhere near teal and I'd say it's pretty much what most people think when they say "green" - like what you'd expect from the Crayon labeled "green". I didn't think to compare with non-like greens so that one could see that.

 

No sound on the first 4 videos - my phone mic wouldn't pick up the sound and it took me a while to find a good directional mic for my phone, but starting with video 5, there's good sound.

 

All the Waterman inks so far have dried pretty quickly:

• Audacious Red had the slightest smudge on the 10 second mark - slight enough that I'd say 10.1 seconds dry time.
• Inspired Blue had a larger smudge on 10 seconds, so let's say between 10 and 14 seconds.
• Harmonious Green did not smudge at 10 seconds, so between 5 and 9 seconds - probably closer to 5 as the 5 only smudged a tiny bit.
• SPOILER ALERT! Mysterious Blue didn't even smudge at 5 seconds.

Yeah, I didn't want to have to wait a separate duration for each dry-time duration, so I just went backwards, used a count-down timer and wrote the number of seconds when it was hit, then when the timer hits zero, swipe across.

 

You're welcome. And yeah, today I wouldn't buy this ink. I've fallen for murky greens and ridiculously cheery greens like Caran d'Ache Delicate Green. Hmm. Emeralds. I suspect there's a range for them, but I happen to have a ring that belonged to my mother ... BRB ... yeah, Harmonious Green is very close in color to the emerald on her ring.

Edited March 27, 2020 by LizEF

[LizEF]

I have the Japanese distro of Waterman Green and it looks the same. I like that it is a 'green Green' neither light nor dark. It's a fast dry on Mnemosyne, a paper that can make a mess of many otherwise wonderful inks.

I agree, definitely a "green green". And yes, only next week's ink (of the Watermans I have) beats it for dry time. Of course, with a nib this fine, everything dries pretty quickly.

 

Thanks for commenting!

[Jamerelbe]

Thanks for this review (or maybe not?) - I've been toying with the idea of buying this ink, but was worried it might be too blue. I bought a whole bottle of Visconti Green a while back, which is supposed to be similar to this (?), and *still* can't bring myself to like it... Waterman is one of the few ink ranges I can buy cheaply in Australia, so I might just go ahead next time I'm in Sydney! [Right now, that doesn't look like it'll be any time soon ]

[LizEF]

On 3/27/2020 at 9:15 PM, Jamerelbe said:

Thanks for this review (or maybe not?) - I've been toying with the idea of buying this ink, but was worried it might be too blue. I bought a whole bottle of Visconti Green a while back, which is supposed to be similar to this (?), and *still* can't bring myself to like it... Waterman is one of the few ink ranges I can buy cheaply in Australia, so I might just go ahead next time I'm in Sydney! [Right now, that doesn't look like it'll be any time soon ]

Perhaps this will (or won't) help. It's 3 teals and all my greens (except the disposables that were used in the video):

[LizEF]

Interesting. ..

But thanks for the review. Not sure I need a "middle of the road" green -- my tastes tend to run a titch towards the yellow side of the spectrum) but that (depending on other factors like water and UV resistance) ..

Forgot to mention - while UV resistance would take a long time to test, I dripped water on my review page, then dabbed it up, and nearly everything was gone (under the water). There was a slight grey left behind - enough for me to read - but all the green was gone.

[LizEF]

Perhaps this will (or won't) help. It's 3 teals and all my greens (except the disposables that were used in the video):

Ooops! I missed Emerald of Chivor, which is more blue than Waterman Harmonious Green, but not as blue as the three teals. FWIW. Not gonna take another pic, already put the swatches away. Going to bed.

[Jamerelbe]

Ooops! I missed Emerald of Chivor, which is more blue than Waterman Harmonious Green, but not as blue as the three teals. FWIW. Not gonna take another pic, already put the swatches away. Going to bed.

 

Thanks for that - will have to check it out before I buy, but you've got me interested again either way!

[dennis_f]

Thanks for your continuing efforts Liz.

 

That photo you posted of the teals and greens is a great resource. It's amazing how different an ink can look in a different sized nib. For example, Eau de Nil and Yama Dori have never been inks that I've been interested in, but having seen your photo, I'm definitely going to have to investigate. They look great.

 

D.

[LizEF]

Thanks for your continuing efforts Liz.

 

That photo you posted of the teals and greens is a great resource. It's amazing how different an ink can look in a different sized nib. For example, Eau de Nil and Yama Dori have never been inks that I've been interested in, but having seen your photo, I'm definitely going to have to investigate. They look great.

 

D.

I just finished recording my Yama Dori review and am going to do Eau de Nil next. (That's why the cards were out.)

 

SPOILER ALERT:

 

The next inks are:

• Waterman Mysterious Blue
• De Atramentis Steel Blue
• De Atramentis Pigeon Blue
• Sailor Yama Dori
• Diamine Eau de Nil

...After that, I do the top-rated in my poll from week to week.

[dennis_f]

Can't wait... for all of those. I've had a sample of Steel Blue sitting by my desk for several months now, and haven't gotten around to it... Your review will probably beat me to it.

[dan in montreal]

Thank you for this review. I came here wondering what the word 'efnir" meant. While I seldom use EF nibs, I'm often underwhelmed by the way inks turn out when using fine® nibs. I like the format. I've got a bottle and it's been sitting in a drawer for ages. I will have to give it a whirl. I wonder if the formulation has changed since the whole renaming business happened.

[LizEF]

Thank you for this review. I came here wondering what the word 'efnir" meant. While I seldom use EF nibs, I'm often underwhelmed by the way inks turn out when using fine® nibs. I like the format. I've got a bottle and it's been sitting in a drawer for ages. I will have to give it a whirl. I wonder if the formulation has changed since the whole renaming business happened.

You're welcome! Hopefully I can help you pick inks that don't underwhelm. From everything I've heard, Waterman only changed the name, not the ink itself, but I can't personally confirm that as I've only been in the hobby since the start of 2016 (with a brief exception in the early 1990s, when I only used black cartridges - silly me).

[LizEF]

Can't wait... for all of those. I've had a sample of Steel Blue sitting by my desk for several months now, and haven't gotten around to it... Your review will probably beat me to it.

Next one will publish on Tuesday. I'm going to do more than one per week as often as I can, but can't guarantee the frequency. Tuesday will be my normal day. Thursday or Friday if I can do a second one in the week.

[LizEF]

I came here wondering what the word 'efnir" meant.

I wanted an easy way for someone to find all the EFNIRs in a search - I tried putting it in all caps, but apparently the site has some logic that forces words in all caps to just initial caps. Oh well.

[namrehsnoom]

Thank you for these EFNIR-s - I like the format of them. Often it’s difficult from the name of the ink or from online pictures to get a good idea of what an ink really looks & feels like. This Waterman Green turns out not to be my kind of ink ... it’s too blue a green for me. I am more attracted to yellow-greens or real teals. So a useful review - I now know that I don’t have to try this ink.

[LizEF]

Thank you for these EFNIR-s - I like the format of them. Often it’s difficult from the name of the ink or from online pictures to get a good idea of what an ink really looks & feels like. This Waterman Green turns out not to be my kind of ink ... it’s too blue a green for me. I am more attracted to yellow-greens or real teals. So a useful review - I now know that I don’t have to try this ink.

You're very welcome! I love your reviews, but couldn't bring myself to attempt matching them, so went with "filling this little niche" instead.

 

Glad I could rule out an ink for you - that's as important as sparking an interest in one, I think. Harmonious Green turns out not to be for me either, but it took a kind FPN-er's gift of a sample of Montblanc Jonathan Swift Seaweed Green for me to figure that out!

[LizEF]

...Often it’s difficult from the name of the ink or from online pictures to get a good idea of what an ink really looks & feels like. ...

PS: For some reason, I find the video format gives me a better idea of the color of an ink than photos do. Mike Matteson's ink reviews have the closest color match (for me) to what I see in real life. So I decided to do the videos in case other people feel the same way.

 

And I'm hoping sound will give a hint of how well the ink lubricates the nib - time will tell on that one (starting with review 5, De Atramentis Steel Blue).