Rohrer & Klingner Dokumentus Ink - Braun

[visvamitra]

Rohrer & Klingner is one of my favourite Ink makers. They offer nice and reasonably priced (especially in Europe) standard inks as well as two gall inks (Salix and Scabiosa). It seems the company is a little underrated among fountain pens aficionados. I believe their products should receive more attention.

 

 

Few months ago the company’s introduced a line of six Dokumentus Inks sold in 50 ml glass bottle. Dokumentus ink is the world's first fountain pen ink that conforms to the requirements of DIN ISO 12757-2 (the standard that determines archival quality). Rohrer and Klingner Dokumetus inks has been certified for use by registrars on official documents, they’re ph-neutral, permanent and archival.

 

Some criteria of this certification require color to remain readable after a defined dose of sunlight and under the influence of water the ink may only extend so far that the text line remain visible. ISO 12757-2 requires legibility and the ability to be stored for long periods of time. These inks should show resistance to water, light, ethanol, hydrochloric acid, ammonia, and bleach. I’ve tried only water. Test was positive. Water won’t do any harm to the text written with one of Dokumentus inks.

 

 

 

 

The line consists of six colors:

 

1. Braun (Brown)
2. Dunkel Blau (Dark Blue)
3. Grun (Green)
4. Hellblau (Light Blue)
5. Magenta
6. Schwarz (Black)

 

Braun is the best ink of the pack. Not only it has all archival ink properties, it also has stunning colors. That's precisely the kind of brown I enjoy most.

 

 

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

Software ID

Tomoe River, Kaweco Sport Classic, broad nib

Leuchtturm1917, Kaweco Sport Classic, broad nib

Oxford notebook, Hero 5028, stub 1,9

Water resistance

(white balance is slightly off - artificial light, shot taken 5 hours after putting this page into water)

[swanjun]

I like this one. Perhaps (as with Kobe Sumiyoshi Brown) I just really like the greyish browns!

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the review. I like the water resistance. But I'm not sure I care for the color. This one I'd have to try a sample and decide.

Do you know how the R&K document inks compare to the De Atramentis ones? I've tried a few of those and they didn't wow me because there is a lot of spread (and the Document Red is a simply *awful* color).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[visvamitra]

In my opinion R&K inks are much better than DA Document inks. DA Document inks tend to feather on almost every single paper. R&K inks have no such issues.

[Manalto]

¡Caramba! I always enjoy your reviews, and this one is no exception. I agree R&K is underrated (Alt Goldgrün is a big favorite); I've found prices to be reasonable here in the U.S. as well. This news about 'Dokumentus' is particularly welcome and must be to others here who have inquired about archival inks.

The brown is a soothing color I call 'Elephant Gray' - I have no idea why, although it makes sense to me. Nice - must have.

[T4TEXAS]

Yes, I will get a bottle.

[J85909266]

In my opinion R&K inks are much better than DA Document inks. DA Document inks tend to feather on almost every single paper. R&K inks have no such issues.

I can second this. I have tried samples of many DA inks because I was attracted to the color,only to find atrocious feathering issues on every paper.

Edited December 22, 2015 by J85909266

[T4TEXAS]

Yes, I will get a bottle.

 

Uh, I will if someone will tell us where we can buy them in the US and elsewhere.

[lgsoltek]

Thank you for the review. But none of the colours in this line appeals to me at all.

[Manalto]

Thank you for the review. But none of the colours in this line appeals to me at all.

 

I'm so glad you spoke up; I was just about to mail you your Christmas present.

[lgsoltek]

 

I'm so glad you spoke up; I was just about to mail you your Christmas present.

 

I guess I'm spoiled by all those Sailor inks.

[mehandiratta]

I like this brown... probably I will end up buying these

[Tas]

I agree with you visvamitra, R&K make wonderful inks and have a few must have colours.

 

I think this brown is a must have for me. Thanks again.

[swanjun]

 

Uh, I will if someone will tell us where we can buy them in the US and elsewhere.

 

Anderson Pens has them.

[jmccarty3]

I like these greyish browns very much.

[DrDebG]

Thank you for taking the time to review this ink, Vis! This is a nice brown, but it is a bit too grey for me.

[Patrick L]

Thanks for this great review vismamitra. On my screen this ink does not look brown at all. It looks grey and nothing else.

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for the review. But none of the colours in this line appeals to me at all.

 

We share the same ink tastes. This ink reminds me of coffee unfit for consumption.

 

Vis, thanks for another great review.

[pictogramax]

Thanks for the review, looking very interesting. I love R&K Scabiosa, but it is not fully waterproof. This seems to solve that issue.

 

Anyone tried it for sketching and washing over with watercolors?

 

Interesting comments by inkstainedtruth, visvamitra and J85905266, prefering it to De Atramentis Document inks. I have been using DA Document Brown for sketching for some time without any problems, in fact, it has been great for me (although I used it always on quality watercolor paper where bleeding was never an issue).

 

If the majority claims that R&K is better, maybe I should give it a try?

[rudyhou]

it looks greyish sepia. an interesting shade of brown.