Private Reserve Plum

[musicman123]

Well I was on a quest for some good reddish-purple inks because I like red, and I like purple—I also like green, but that's a different story. After a long and arduous trek through the mythical FPN Reviews section, I bore witness to the color known as Private Reserve Plum. The long sought-for gem of a red-purple ink was finally uncovered from the depths of the Inky River.

 

Ok enough story time. So I got a bottle and I'm doing a review. Duh.

 

This review will follow my normal standard format for reviews, with pictures following a small blurb. The pictures were taken with an iPhone 6, back camera, in artificial lighting. Effort has been made to show the true color, but your milage may vary depending on your monitor. If you would like to see all my ink images, you are free to go to http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews

 

Here is a preview of the ink. It is a red-purple ink that I was looking for. Some would argue that it is a dark magenta but I like it.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Ink.jpg

 

The review was written with my favorite, the Nemosine Singularity Demonstrator, in a TWSBI B nib. The TWSBI B is slightly finer than the Nemosine B, but not by much. It's only a hairline difference.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Pen.jpg

 

The review was written on HP 32lb Premium Laser Paper, which can be found at Staples for the whooping price of $19.99, or on Amazon for $15.39. This is my new "standard" paper I will be using for all my reviews, writing, and comparisons. I still have a bit of HP 28lb, which is now discontinued, but I am going to be moving to this one now, as it is much better, IMO.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Paper.jpg

 

Here is the swab of the ink. It was made with the back of the nib, as I didn't have my Q-Tips handy.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Swab.jpg

 

The ink is a very nice ink with good characteristics and a beautiful color. The ink is wet, but can sometimes be a little dry in some conditions. After writing super quickly, it seems a bit dry and like the feed doesn't keep up as well. This is only the second ink I experienced this with. The ink provides a decent amount of lubrication when wet, and is not too shabby when dry either. There is a bit of shading, from a lighter color to a medium-hue color. Not many of my inks shade to a medium-hue color, so that is cool. Most of them go from Medium to dark, or light to dark. The ink is extremely saturated. Like EXTREMELY saturated. To the point of the ink splash on 3 of my fingers to make me keep looking at it. There is no feathering, bleed through, or show through, like expected. There is no dry smear. There is a little bit of staining on my clear demonstrator cap, when ink flipped out of the nib, and I haphazardly wiped it all around. Rookie mistake. Phew, that was a long rant.

 

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Characteristic.jpg

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Characteristics%202.jpg

 

The ink takes an average amount of time to dry, at roughly 15 seconds, close to my other inks on this paper. However, this isn't a big problem for me as I'm a strong overwriter.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Dry%20Time.jpg

 

Here is a poorly drawn plum to show how the ink looks with sketching, and coloring.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Plum.jpg

 

Here is a comparison with other ink colors. Use this as a calibration for your monitors and the photos. I did not intend this to show similar colors.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Comparison.jpg

 

Here is a water test. The top grid had drops of water placed for 10 seconds, then vigorously wiped downwards. The bottom text did not receive any drops of water and was only wiped with in the same motion as the grid. The ink did not perform well in this test. There is very noticeable lifting of the ink. The grid lost a LOT of ink, with lines barely being visible. There is also quite a lot of wet smear, making it a bad performer. Sorry for the blurry first picture. I had no idea what happened. Sorry sorry sorry. You get the idea though.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Water.jpg

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Water%20After.jpg

 

Lastly, here is a scan of the review. Use the scan to read the rest of the review. I did not intend for it to show color accuracy. The pictures are the most accurate representation of the color.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Private%20Reserve/Plum/Scan.jpg

 

That's all folks! I would give this ink a 7/10. If you liked this review, stay tuned for more to come!

[PS104]

Thank you for the review. Like you say it's not an eye-searing red but a nice purple-red

I like it as a change-up from the usual blue-black-green that I usually dabble in

[musicman123]

I agree! I like switching it up, so I have tons of vibrant colors to liven the mood.

[visvamitra]

Hmmm. Joyful color but I wouldn't use it often.