De​ Atramentis Königsblau

[Sandy1]

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http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/27ddb717.jpg
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= ♔ =

Fidelity
One may compare the appearance of the ink I used to the depiction on the DeAtramentis site de-atramentis dot com
Wiki 'Royal Blue' : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_blue

Figure 1.
Swabs & Swatch
Paper: HPJ1124.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK168_zpse3a7ec32.jpg

Figure 2.
NIB-ism
Paper: HPJ1124.
Depicts nibs' line-width and pens' relative wetness.
Distance between feint vertical pencil lines is 25mm.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK167_zpsc0b344db.jpg
L ➠ R: 45, M200, ATX, 330, Phileas, NNPS.


WRITTEN SAMPLES - Moby Dick
Ruling: 8mm.

Figure 3.
Paper: HPJ1124.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK175_zps00f35e89.jpg
Figure 4.
Paper: Rhodia.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK174_zps86df145f.jpg

Figure 5.
Paper: G Lalo.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK173_zpse209bf2b.jpg

Figure 6.
Paper: Royal.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK172_zps05c72893.jpg
Figure 7.
Paper: Staples.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK170_zps83ed0a12.jpg

OTHER STUFF

Figure 8.
Smear/Dry Times & Wet Tests.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK169_zpsaa430763.jpg
Figure 9.
Bleed- Show-Through on Staples.
(Reverse of Figure 7.)
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK171_zps1781ca41.jpg
HiRes Scans

45 on HPJ1124
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK176_zps73c412e7.jpg

ATX on Rhodia
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK177_zpsb8e5c19c.jpg
330 on G Lalo
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK178_zpsa34ac422.jpg
NNPS on Royal
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2013/Ink%20Review%20-%20DeAtramentis%20Konigsblau/INK179_zps5382a385.jpg


GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Type:

• Handmade dye-based fountain pen ink.

Presentation:

• Bottle.

Availability:

• Available when Topic posted.

Daily writer?

• On the list.

A go-to ink?

• When a well-mannered slightly snappy Blue is desired.

 

USE

Business:
(From the office of Ms Blue-Black.)

• For those who choose to work with an ink that is a side step away from the 'default' Blue through Black inks.
• As the perceived hue is influenced by value (light - dark), it may take a few trials to achieve the desired balance between animation and gravitas.
• My personal preference would be to run DKbl at the slightly darker values, (I am sooo boring), which is well within its performance envelope on typical copy/print papers.
• Well suited to personal work product. We are gifted with a very good writing experience, even with the very narrow XF nib on the toothy copy/print papers; and high readability that suits longer sessions of poring over whatever was scribbled.
• When run at a medium value DKbl has just enough snap for forms work and the occasional bit of mark-up & editing of material printed in Black.
• Not nearly enough zap for error correction or grading.

Illustrations / Graphics:

• A fair pick as a not-quite-Blue for both line and area formats. A good foil for Aqua-Turquoise. The low shading potential and good line quality support its use for lines & labels.
• As a watercolour, this ink retains its hue at all values, not flashing Violet or going mushy. The dye/s seemed to behave in a quite uniform manner, so supports gradients of uniform hue. Overworking with wet media is likely to leave a soft but distinct remnant.

Students:

• Another good pick.
• With high readability, a pleasant writing experience, good performance on cheap & nasty paper, plus enough water resistance for salvage, DKbl should find its way into the work horse pens of more than a few students.

Personal:

• Of course.
• An attractive ink that's called upon when there's something a bit different to write about.
• While unlikely to be conveyed to your monitor, there is an interesting softness that balances the amount of snap of the colour. (Not at all apparent from the Swabs.)
• The ink seems to reside at the visual plane of the paper, conveying the sense that it is light on its feet.
• Will certainly do the necessary for pro forma personal business writing; and allows one to use-up their FP-hostile paper without resorting to the iron-gall inks.
• DKbl brings some personality & sparkle to the page, which would be well suited for personal 'personal' writing, especially to enhance very routine matters.
• In my hand, shading is near-imaginary, so enlivening the line by use of shaped / flex nibs does not give a jumbled or over-active result. (I still hope to stumble upon a pen+paper combo that gives some shading.)

 

PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

Flow Rate:

• Just a bit wet.

Nib Dry-Out:

• Not seen.

Start-Up:

• Immediate.
• With confidence.

Lubricity:

• Pleasantly high.
• On the coated Rhodia there was a feeling that the pens were tempted to stray.

Nib Creep:

• Not seen.

Staining (pen):

• Not seen after three days.

Clogging:

• Not seen.
• Seems unlikely.

Bleed- Show-Through:

• Staples showed a few freckles, but I reckon that wouldn't prevent most practitioners from using both sides of the sheet.
• All other pen+paper combos were fine for two-sided use.

Feathering / Wooly line:

• Not seen on papers used.

Aroma:

• The bottle released the inviting scent of inky goodness.
• Not noticed whilst writing.

Hand oil sensitivity:

• Perhaps just a bit. (?)
• See instances of the Phileas on Rhodia (circled) where the paper didn't absorb all the ink offered by the nib.

Clean-Up (pen):

• Quick and thorough with plain water.
• For recently charged pens, the use of a pen cleaning solution with dilute ammonia+surfactant did not release any visible residue after my OCD water-only cleansing regimen.

Mixing:

• No stated prohibitions.

Archival:

• Not claimed.

 

THE LOOK

Presence:

• Soft yet snappy.
• A wink from under a hat brim.

Saturation:

• A well-inked line was typical.

Shading Potential:

• Very low ;(

Line quality:

• Quite high for a simple aniline dye ink.
• Took the challenge of the hard textured surface of the G Lalo in stride.

Variability:

• Pen+nib combos used:
  • Quite a bit less than expected.
• Papers used:
  • Rather less than expected.

Malleability:

• Surprisingly little for an ink that appears to have a modest dye-load.
• The ink looks very much itself regardless of pen or paper chosen, which is very good thing indeed for a daily writer ink.
• Should one prefer a lighter value, dilution would certainly be an option.

 

PAPERS

Lovely papers:

• With my light hand, I prefer pairing with the slightly toothy / textured papers.

Trip-wire Papers: ☠

• I suggest run a sample before committing to papers with a slick surface, such as Clairefontaine Triomphe.

Copy/Printer Paper:

• Have at it!

Tinted Papers:

• No particular limitation, other than good taste.
• As the line is typically well inked, DKbl should retain its native colour on tinted papers.

Is high-end paper 'worth it'?

• Not so much.
• The penny-a-page HPJ1124 seemed sufficient to bring-out what DKbl has to offer, with the Staples 20lb looking pretty good too.
• As ever, I'll be toiling with smooth coated papers, trying to winkle some shading.

 

ETC.

Majik:

• 'fraid not, lacks malleability for conjuring.

Billets Doux?

• Not from yours truly, but perhaps an invitation for a workday lunch.

Personal Pen & Paper Pick:

• A bit of a departure - the Parker 45 on HPJ1124.
• While I seldom pick very narrow nibs, I like the additional lightness that the narrow nib brings when the % coverage is very low. (The nib is of normal wetness.)
• The slightly cool HPJ1124, with its dose of optical brightening agents, gives a pleasant 'loft' to what's written.

Yickity Yackity:

• A more than satisfying no fuss ink that goes about its business - conveying what's written to the recipient/s with well-mannered confidence and bounce in its step.
• Ah kushbaby, are you sure you don't need want just one more Blue ink?

= ==== =

NUTS BOLTS & BOILERPLATE

Pens
- Written Samples:
A. Parker 45 GT Flighter + 14K XF nib.
B. Pelikan M200 + g-p steel EF nib.
C. Cross ATX (Black) + steel nib.
D. Sheaffer 330 + steel M nib.
E. Waterman Phileas + two-tone steel B nib.
F. Non-Nudist Pink Safari + goosed 1.1 steel nib.
- Lines & labels: Omas Turquoise & Sepia from a Pilot Penmanship.

Papers:

• HPJ1124: Hewlett-Packard laser copy/print, 24lb.
• Rhodia: satin finish vellum, 80gsm.
• G. Lalo Verge de France: natural white, laid, 100gsm.
• Royal: 25% cotton, laser/inkjet copy/print, 'letterhead', 90gsm.
• Staples: house brand multi-use copy/print, USD4/ream, bears FSC logo, 20lb.

Other Inks

• This Review uses the same Written Sample format, atrocious handwriting and some pen+paper combos common to most of my previous Reviews of Blue inks. Consequently, ad hoc comparisons through manipulation of browser windows is supported.
• Should that functionality not meet your requirements, I welcome your PM requesting a specific comparison. Additional scans may be produced, but the likelihood of additional inky work is quite low.

Imaging

• An Epson V600 scanner was used with the bundled Epson s/w at factory default settings to produce low-loss jpg files.
• No post-capture manipulation of scanner output was done, other than dumb-down by Epson, Photobouquet, IP.Board s/w, and your viewing gear.

Fine Print
◊ The accuracy and relevance of this Review depends in great part upon consistency and reliability of matériel used.
◊ Ink does not require a label/notice to indicate (changes in) formulation, non-hazardous ingredients, batch ID, date of manufacture, etc.
◊ As always YMMV, due to differences in materials, manner of working, environment, meteor showers, etc.
◊ Also, I entrust readers to separate opinion from fact; to evaluate inferences and conclusions as to their merit; and to be amused by whatever tickles your fancy.

-30-

Tags: Fountain Pen Ink Review Sandy1 De Atramentis Konigsblau Königsblau DeAtramentis Royal Blue 2012 2013

Edited October 20, 2013 by Sandy1

[WOBentley]

Another excellent review Sandy!

Thanks!!!

[Sandy1]

Another excellent review Sandy!

Thanks!!!

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

Many thanks for your kind words

 

Bye,

S1

[dunhamsa]

This is my idea of a real blue. I realise that it is a royal blue, but its purple quality is not overwhelming at all. It is bold, as well as a solid and stable line, which means it can be read easily in a variety of lighting contexts, which is good for my old eyes. And it likes paper with an egalitarian attitude that is refreshing. Are there other inks like this, especially with the judicious balance of low purple and bold blueness?

[Sandy1]

This is my idea of a real blue. I realise that it is a royal blue, but its purple quality is not overwhelming at all. It is bold, as well as a solid and stable line, which means it can be read easily in a variety of lighting contexts, which is good for my old eyes. And it likes paper with an egalitarian attitude that is refreshing. Are there other inks like this, especially with the judicious balance of low purple and bold blueness?

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for sharing your impressions of this ink.

 

Amongst the peloton of Medium Blue inks, this one has a lot going for it, especially for daily writer or casual carry pens.

 

There are many many too many inks of a similar hue, but Königsblau strikes me as having staked out its own patch.

 

Even though I've worked with a fair number of Medium Blue inks, there is a plethora that I have yet to explore, plus new ones coming to market on a routine basis. Sometimes there's some advanced hair-spitting involved to differentiate amongst them, but that doesn't discourage me in the least - the devil often is in the detail.

 

Bye,

S1

 

__ __

See also:

OOTT Summary : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/196998-one-of-the-ten-blue-inks/

11 2 20 : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/212759-11-2-20-blue-inks/

Edited October 23, 2013 by Sandy1

[IWantThat]

This is one of my absolute favorite blues! Like you say, it is always itself no matter which pen or paper you choose. Every time I use it, I enjoy it more. It's that little bit of brightness that makes if special, but still very appropriate to business and other correspondence.

[Sandy1]

This is one of my absolute favorite blues! Like you say, it is always itself no matter which pen or paper you choose. Every time I use it, I enjoy it more. It's that little bit of brightness that makes if special, but still very appropriate to business and other correspondence.

 

Hi,

 

Many thanks for sharing your opinion & experience with this ink.

 

I was quite surprised at the consistency of the appearance of DKbl, which is typically found only in highly saturated inks and some members of the Noodler's bulletproof family. I much prefer an ink that is consistent for the daily writer/s at the office, with the malleable inks kept for personal 'personal' writing when I have time to explore the results from various pen+paper combos.

 

Do you also find that that the clean-up is exceptionally fast?

 

Bye,

S1

[cybaea]

Thank you (again!) Sandy1 for a great review. Must try this one soon.

[Sandy1]

Thank you (again!) Sandy1 for a great review. Must try this one soon.

 

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

I could easily see someone giving this ink a whirl when their bottle of 'default' Blue is running a bit low, or when looking for something just that bit different without compromising performance.

 

Do let us know of your experience after you've used it for a while.

 

Bye,

S1

[Bo Bo Olson]

I find it a very lubricated ink, good for dry pens. I like the tone towards purple (Royal color).

I gave Waterman Blue away to a school kid, because to me this is better.

Not a shading ink.

[DrCodfish]

OK S1, you've done it again; Upon reading this great review, I went back through my stack of blue ink writing samples to reconsider DKbl. Looking at it through the lense of your informative yet slightly whimsical review, is like adjusting the color mix on the old TV; DKbl now Looks a lttle different.

 

I am not crazy about blue ink (yawn), but blue is such a world unto itself (more than a world, think sea and sky) that I acknowledge there should probably be room for several different hues in my little box. Sorting the keepers from the 'pass-alongs' is the trick and your reviews often help, and have done so in this case. I don't know what it is, perhaps I am a shallow person, or maybe I don't give enough thought to these inks when I lay them down on paper, could be I am in too much of a hurry (I usually get multiple samples when I order them) but it seems that I see these things in a dimension less than you do.

 

In my notes I did pick up the aforementioned royal aspect and the additional character above and beyond the typical 'shirt and tie' blue. I also mentioned it was strong on the page but not something to put one's eyes in a head lock. My sample was written with a Pelikan M800 BB nib, on Rhodia dot grid paper so that sample did produce slight shading (BB nib and slick paper being the significant factors here).

 

Thanks for putting so much thought into your reviews and most of all thanks for making them enjoyable reads. Your reviews are not just tech report writing, they are interesting.

[Sandy1]

OK S1, you've done it again; Upon reading this great review, I went back through my stack of blue ink writing samples to reconsider DKbl. Looking at it through the lense of your informative yet slightly whimsical review, is like adjusting the color mix on the old TV; DKbl now Looks a lttle different.

 

I am not crazy about blue ink (yawn), but blue is such a world unto itself (more than a world, think sea and sky) that I acknowledge there should probably be room for several different hues in my little box. Sorting the keepers from the 'pass-alongs' is the trick and your reviews often help, and have done so in this case. I don't know what it is, perhaps I am a shallow person, or maybe I don't give enough thought to these inks when I lay them down on paper, could be I am in too much of a hurry (I usually get multiple samples when I order them) but it seems that I see these things in a dimension less than you do.

 

In my notes I did pick up the aforementioned royal aspect and the additional character above and beyond the typical 'shirt and tie' blue. I also mentioned it was strong on the page but not something to put one's eyes in a head lock. My sample was written with a Pelikan M800 BB nib, on Rhodia dot grid paper so that sample did produce slight shading (BB nib and slick paper being the significant factors here).

 

Thanks for putting so much thought into your reviews and most of all thanks for making them enjoyable reads. Your reviews are not just tech report writing, they are interesting.

Hi,

 

You're welcome! Thank-you for your kind and generous comments - I am basking in their glow.

I'm glad you took the time to go through your written samples, and came away with a slightly 'enhanced' view of DKbl. I share your experience of going through the ink holdings in an attempt to make some clear-cut distinction. Yet it seems that in practice I wait until a bottle is nearly dry to decide if it'll be replaced or not, and by that time I'll have tried it with a variety of pen+paper combos which bolsters any decision. That said, some inks are sent into Mixing Corral limbo without delay.

 

Thanks for mentioning the pen+paper combo that generated some shading. I have an M640 BB from Classic Fountain Pens that I'll pair with some Rhodia the next time I take DKbl out for a whirl. Perhaps then I too will have the good fortune to achieve a bit of shading.

 

Bye,

S1

[IWantThat]

 

Hi,

 

Many thanks for sharing your opinion & experience with this ink.

 

I was quite surprised at the consistency of the appearance of DKbl, which is typically found only in highly saturated inks and some members of the Noodler's bulletproof family. I much prefer an ink that is consistent for the daily writer/s at the office, with the malleable inks kept for personal 'personal' writing when I have time to explore the results from various pen+paper combos.

 

Do you also find that that the clean-up is exceptionally fast?

 

Bye,

S1

 

Yes, the ink clean-up is also good. No difficulty at all.

[dunhamsa]

I have been using this ink in a fine nib (Eversharp, fwiw) lately (in fact, the ink has been in the pen for two weeks before I started to put it through its paces these past couple of days), as I engage in some heavy writing. I noticed that my notes on a Rhodia 'R' pad, which is one of the super smooth papers, have not always dried at the ends of letters. In those cases, where a small (teeny) deposit of ink occurs, even my blotter did not successfully pick up the deposit and the ink smeared. These are only a few instances (3 or 4 on a page), but it is curious that they were still wet blobs 15 minutes after having been written, and could not be picked up by the blotter paper. On the same page I Perhaps it is a combination of paper and soiling from hand oils, etc.? I used another fine-nibbed pen with Sailor Blue-Black for several lines and nothing similar has occurred on the same pages. At any rate, I offer up this observation on this particular ink.