Jump to content

Ultra Violet - Caran D'ache


visvamitra

Recommended Posts

When I got sick few years ago (virus called pens and inks), I started picking different inks. I was amazed by Caran d'Ache Color of the Earth inks.

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/2926/Vi7las.jpg

The thing is the inks were discontinued before I had a chance to try all of them. I was disappointed to hear Colors of the earth were replaced by Chromatics.

http://imageshack.com/a/img661/4222/n8Zvpm.jpg

OK, the bottle is cool, colors seem nice, so what's the problem?

One - no more Amazon and Grand Canyon! I can get over Amazon, with time I started to prefer murkier greens, but Grand Canyon was in my top 5 of browns.

Two - the price. OK, Chromatics bottles are 50 ml compared to Colors of the Earth 30 ml bottles yet the price per ml increased by 25,7 % (I compare prices in Poland : 55 PLN / 30 ml vs 115 PLN / 50 ml).

Are they really worth it? Well, I like the way Caran d'Ache market their products, I like the bottle and the brand. If I'll be able to try all of these inks, I'll review them here. It will take time though. At the moment I have only sample of Organic Brown and Ultraviolet bottle. Some time ago I've reviewed Infinite grey which was cool.

  1. Cosmic Black
  2. Delicate Green
  3. Divine Pink
  4. Electric Orange
  5. Hypnotic Turquoise
  6. Idyllic Blue
  7. Infinite - Grey
  8. Infra Red
  9. Magnetic Blue
  10. Organic Brown
  11. Ultra Violet
  12. Vibrant Green

Ultra Violet is rather "dry", moderately saturated and unreasonably expensive ink. It doesn't provide optimal lubrication for all nibs. It works well with wet writers but when used in dry nibs / pens with moderate flow the color looks washed-out.

http://imageshack.com/a/img537/173/ZP2gg6.jpg

I have mixed feelings about this one. The color is similar to Storm from Colors of the Earth series that I enjoyed a lot but somehow the writing experience is not as good as it used to be with Storm. Still I enjoy the color. It has some water resistance, it doesn't cause any bleedthrough but price/quality/writing experience ratio is rather low (it's subjective but the ink I had in Kaweco before Ultra Violet - Sailor's Ink of the Witch, Bung Box series is so much better in every way: lubrication, saturation, waterproofness). Happily the bottle of Ultra Violet was a gift so I can enjoy it for free :)

If anyone of you having other Chromatics colors would consider selling me / trading samples (1,5 ml is enough) so I could complete the comparison of full series, please, PM me.

Ink Splash

http://imageshack.com/a/img661/9206/Kryhay.jpg

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

http://imageshack.com/a/img537/526/DNkqjN.jpg

Waterproofness - weak / moderate

http://imageshack.com/a/img912/3695/57Fn1D.jpg

Software ID

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/5158/ZdDjOi.jpg

Color Range

http://imageshack.com/a/img540/1460/OvqimB.jpg

Oxford Recycled ( 90g, satined paper ), Lamy 2000, medium nib

http://imageshack.com/a/img661/7430/JgPhgV.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img909/6783/ovLY17.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img540/1727/6INdhm.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img540/6850/FWVASO.jpg

Copy paper, Kaweco Sport Classic, B

http://imageshack.com/a/img661/4787/A8uP0O.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img905/1614/xfwHSw.jpg

Comparison (scribbles made with Kaweco on absorbent paper)

http://imageshack.com/a/img912/3586/x9yQtF.jpg
Edited by visvamitra
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 10
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • MHBru

    2

  • amberleadavis

    1

  • visvamitra

    1

  • lgsoltek

    1

Another stunning review. Thank you.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great review. The color is quite nice, but without some exceptional properties, the price is too high.

 

I don't think I'm the only one that thinks Caran d'Ache had a stellar lineup of inks and replaced them with inferior colors.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love the shape of the bottle, as well the previous line's too. To be honest its basically like J. Herbin Pussiere de Lune, which is much cheaper, but in less appealing bottle. Thought I buy it, but still have doubts... anyway definitely will have at least one bottle from the new line. I can judge Caran d'Ache based on the previous line, which had really good properties.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the very informative review.

 

btw, 2015 is 100 year anniversary for Caran d'ache. Do you think there's something special?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice review as usual. Thanks! Yes, they are embarrassingly too expensive so whether we'll go along with that -- or not -- that remains our problem. But I sure wish they would have left the 9 oldies on the market.

 

Mike

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 years later...

I purchased this ink a couple of years ago and have been disappointed ever since. My ink looks far less saturated than these samples and is quite muted by comparison. I know screen that screen images vary a bit but has anyone else experienced this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've had six of these inks in samples and been disappointed with every last one. They all felt a bit boring and uninspired. This 'ultra' violet ink was more washed out for me than what appears in this review, but I suspect it might be scans which can sometimes intensify a colour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A lot of inks put out by pen manufacturers, especially the European ones, are designed for easier pen maintenance. These inks can be left in the pen for a lot longer and are easier to clean out. That generally means less pigment and if required a touch of lubrication. Which means most of they are dry, tend toward shading and quite de-saturated colors.

 

They have to be correspondingly used in pens that are quite wet. Fire hose pens make these inks come to life. If you were to use these in very fine pens with very controlled flow or Japanese pens, they are disappointingly weak and lifeless looking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

more recently I have tried mixing it with other inks to get a more pleasing color... so far adding some Monteverde Purple Reign has made a difference but not enough to make me love it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...