Penbbs #111 Shanghai

[lgsoltek]

Penbbs.com is a Chinese fountain pen and ink forum much like FPN. Its owner started creating his own ink brand a few years ago and now there's over 100 inks.

Some say some of these Penbbs inks are not very well behaved. I've heard people talk about clogging, SITB, feathering, etc. but I'm not certain of this since I've never had any experience with these inks. Their colours don't interest me and there are better ink brands out there like Sailor.

This one, #111, Shanghai, is the first and only one I've tried, since it's very special as you will see soon in the review. It has a huge amount of golden particles in it, like the J. Herbin 1670s but even more. It's not risk free as it will quite probably clog your pen. But it's gorgeous. And it costs only 21 CNY that is less than 4 USD. So I figured, why not try it in a pen that is easy to take apart?

 

Packaging

Comes in a decent paper box. On the box there's a label warning the user not to use it in expensive pens.

 

The bottle is quite nice indeed, functional and not ugly. The ink looks innocent and harmless until you shake the bottle. The amount of particles is crazy.

 

 

Splash

From left to right: high and low angle shot, scan. I just can't resist this bling.

 

Writing sample

It's an orange-yellow ink. No sheen. Decent flow. I forgot to do the water resistance test before scanning. And it's not water resistant. When dried the gold particles will still smudge on your fingers. Scroll down for more close up shots at lower angle. This writing sample is written with Pilot Falcon SM on Maruman loose leaf.

 

 

 

R&K glass dip pen. Unshaken, shaken and on onionskin paper.

 

 

Conclusion

It's a "fun" ink. Not practical for everyday use of course. And it's not risk-free. But it's worth giving a try, if you can get hold of one.

Purchase

They sell the inks on their Taobao web store. But they've sold out. And they probably don't ship overseas.

 

[visvamitra]

The bottle is nice but I would be afraid to pour it into one of my pens

 

It's good to know there's such a brand though.

[VivienR]

Oh wow!!!! Its really interesting. Thought hardly usable in everyday situation, but still can offer a lots of fun.. .

[dylim1]

Less orange or red compared to Apache Sunset but so much more bling to it. Looks pretty cool. Would be interesting to try it in a less expensive pen.

[Barkingpig]

Thank you for posting both this review & also the link to their web site. A lot of the colors are appealing BUT especially the graphics of the labels! Very much like some of the Noodlers BUT almost ALL of these are appealing to me. I am probably better off NOT being able to try them BUT I surely appreciate your sharing them. If I could have a "wish" fulfilled it would to see J Herbin make a 1670 similar to this!

[Cyber6]

Very cool!!!

[abstract49]

Wow! What a color!

[Violetmo]

It's happy to see someone from China. I really love 111, but I am also worrying about that it will stuck my pen