Standardgraph Kohlschwarz/coal Black

[Cubane]

This is the first of several Standardgraph ink review I have coming up, and also my favourite!

 

Pen: Lamy AL-Star (M nib)

Paper: Oxford spiral pad

 

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/VBuswEF.jpg?2

 

 

(I'm adding a close-up of the shading as soon as I can catch a bit of sunlight. It's not really visible when writing with a normal fountain pen, but add a little flex and a nice, wet line and it's definitely there!)

 

 

So, bottom line:

 

 

Colour: 5/5.

 

Shading: 5/5 - enough to be interesting to look at, but not so much it gets distracting.

 

Flow/Lubrication: 5/5.

 

Feathering/Bleedthrough: 5/5 - the dots in the top right corner are actual DROPS OF INK I let dry on the page and there isn't a single feather or spot of ink on the other side of the page. Not bad!

 

Dry time: 5/5 - 5s on a paper where most other inks take up to 15s.

 

Water test: 3/5 - not great, but also not terribly important to me.

 

Price/Availability: 3/5 - on the cheap side, ca 4€ for 30ml. However, I'm deducting one point for being hard to find online and another for being potentially expensive when shipping costs are included.

 

 

Overall impression: 5/5.

I am very, very impressed with the behaviour of this ink, especially for the price. The colour is nice, too, and suitable for a wide variety of tasks. It has become pretty much my default workhorse ink for university, and I have a pen filled with it at practically all times.

If you like dark grey inks with shading, I can definitely recommend this one!

 

 

 

I hope this was helpful to some of you

Edited February 14, 2013 by Cubane

[wastelanded]

Excellent review, Cubane, thank you! I have more black inks now than I know what to do with, but I will give this a go another time.

 

I look forward to more reviews from you of these inks. This weekend I'll be getting the Fliederrosa and Kaffeebraun myself.

[Uncle Red]

Wow, never heard of this brand. Where are they from?

Good review BTW.

[Cubane]

Thanks

They're a German brand. TLab3000 mentioned in another thread that they're quite famous for their stencils, rulers and the like, but apparently, their inks aren't that well known (which is a shame because some of them are great).

 

wastelanded, be careful with the Fliederrosa. It seems I was a little too quick with my colour assessment over at the swabs thread - it does write lilac, but shifts to more of a pale lavender colour after a while. It looks nothing like the "official" swatches.

Will you show us how the Kaffeebraun turned out? (mmmh... ink and coffee... )

[wastelanded]

wastelanded, be careful with the Fliederrosa. It seems I was a little too quick with my colour assessment over at the swabs thread - it does write lilac, but shifts to more of a pale lavender colour after a while. It looks nothing like the "official" swatches.

Will you show us how the Kaffeebraun turned out? (mmmh... ink and coffee... )

 

Thanks for the notice! Maybe I will try another colour then. I will do something with the Kaffeebraun when I get it. I assume it will be a bit warmer than Feigenbraun, which is very grey to my eye.

 

Yes, ink and coffee, both indispensible!

[Cubane]

Finally had some decent light and got a picture of the sheen!

Here it is:

 

http://i.imgur.com/M04tsB0.jpg?1

 

 

(Feigenbraun has some, too, btw. It's bright green and awesome.)