De Atramentis Dark Reseda Green

[visvamitra]

De Atramentis fountain pen inks are hand made in Germany by Dr. Franz-Josef Jansen, and come in a 35ml glass bottle. The company has been producing inks for about 30 years so there is a proven track record here. These inks are said to be hand made – the entire production process is done manually in the manufacturing center. The thing that influence their quality and, sadly, price is the fact that Dr. jansen uses only dyes from well established german companies like BASF.

De Atramentis inks are sold in 35 ml glass bottles. I enjoy the way this bottle look and I find them practical. Some of DA inks come in black glass that’s supposed to protect the ink from light.

I enjoy trying products of smaller companies, especially the ones that creators put a lot of heart and energy in developing their business and products. I believe Dr. Jansen is such a person. He’s developed literally hundreds of inks indifferent categories. I’ve tried just a small quantity of his inks. I’ve enjoyed some and disliked some. It’s normal. I'm still eager to get to know most of DA inks.

De Atramentis inks are grouped into categories like Standard inks, Document inks, Black Edition inks. Also on De ATramentis website you can find a lot of topic related inks (places, signs of zodiac, history, business, music, literature etc.). Most of them are renamed standard inks.

Dark Reseda Green is, undoubtedly, one of wettest inks in my collection. It flows generously from both finer and broader nibs. While the color is not really my first choice I rather like it. It's quite similar to Sailor Miruai but lighter. The lubrication is satisfying, drying times are reasonable unless you write with double broad nib on unabsorbent paper. In this case, you'll have to wait a bit.

There's some water resistance to this ink. I would say this is ink with character that may be suitable for most everyday uses.

Ink splash

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

 

 

Software ID

Color range

Rhodia, Visconti van Gogh, fine nib

Leuchtturm 1917, Kaweco Classic Sport, B

Leuchtturm 1917, Omas Paragon Grand, medium nib

Water resistance

[lgsoltek]

I panicked at the sight of the word "reseda", luckily it's not like J. Herbin's Réséda, at all.

[Tas]

Ooo, the photos look larger and clearer

Thanks again for your sterling work.

[cleosmama]

That's nice. I really like that one. Thank you for the review!

[jmccarty3]

I like this one. Might be good for addressing Christmas cards.

[pgcauk]

This looks quite intriguing!

I love De Atramentis' Cement (=Charles Dickens), which pips the also impressive J. Herbin Vert Empire for me.
I haven't yet tried Diamine Umber, but that seems to fall into the same ball-park?

Would you say this Dark Reseda has its own distinct quality in relation to these three?

 

I am a bit worried that once I find an ink that I like, I start collecting more in the same zone as possibly-not-quite-justified variations! Green and Brown are particularly alluring in this regard - and De Atramentis have a good selection of both (how can you distinguish Sahara Grey/Umber/York Brown without buying them all?) that can be hard to discriminate!

[lapis]

Nice review of an interesting ink, color-wise, of course; De A's inks are always interesting (and affordable), IMO. Reminds me more of Air-Corp Blue-Back with less blue.

FWIW, the box (shown up top) is included only when you order/buy an ink (any ink) from De A, directly/personally. All of the other retailers I've ever bought De As from never included these boxes. The boxes themselves are good, thick and sturdy, but don't have any printings anywhere on them, disclosing which ink is inside.

[gmax]

It look similar to Hieronymus Green 01, except for the price!

 

Thanks for your review

[minddance]

This looks quite intriguing!

 

I love De Atramentis' Cement (=Charles Dickens), which pips the also impressive J. Herbin Vert Empire for me.

I haven't yet tried Diamine Umber, but that seems to fall into the same ball-park?

 

Would you say this Dark Reseda has its own distinct quality in relation to these three?

 

I am a bit worried that once I find an ink that I like, I start collecting more in the same zone as possibly-not-quite-justified variations! Green and Brown are particularly alluring in this regard - and De Atramentis have a good selection of both (how can you distinguish Sahara Grey/Umber/York Brown without buying them all?) that can be hard to discriminate!

Diamine Umber is way lighter/paler, unless you use it in a super wet pen.

[inkstainedruth]

Interesting. From the reviews I've seen, I think I would pick this over the new Edelstein Olivine.... How would you say the two compare for color and behavior?

Thanks for the review. And maybe not....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[mzoeller]

I love De Atramentis' Cement (=Charles Dickens), which pips the also impressive J. Herbin Vert Empire for me.

I haven't yet tried Diamine Umber, but that seems to fall into the same ball-park?

 

I love using grey inks and have been looking at the Dark Reseda Green - this review helped me decide that I must have it!

 

pgcauk, I use Cement and love it too. It is darker than I expected, but it is great for everyday use and is fairly water resistant (learned from experience).

 

Thanks for the great review Visvamitra!

[pgcauk]

Any chance of a side-by-side of Dark Reseda with Organics Studio Walt Whitman?

Edited May 13, 2018 by pgcauk

[pgcauk]

Walt Whit (="Deep Dark Green", but might as well be grey or blue - I think of it as the color of ambiguous eyes!) is one of my favorite colors, but unfortunately I have my suspicions about its behavior as an ink (not for the first time with OS - shame as their colors are terrific!)

Edited May 13, 2018 by pgcauk

[pgcauk]

Thanks for the clarification with Diamine Green Umber!

 

There is now a great first step in exploring all De Atramentis' Standard Inks here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/322431-de-atramentis-comparison-of-all-standard-inks/

. . . as usual though it raises as many questions as it answers, with Dark Reseda looking quite close to not only Pine Green (not too much of a surprise) but also Irish Green (which is a shocker, must be a mistake, surely?).

 

Also, (off topic) does anyone know if De Atramentis' Auburn really exists?!?

[pgcauk]

So I proceeded with caution on this one!

I read a review of Franklin Christoph's Loden Green after it had been discontinued, and that brought me back around to here. In the meantime I had settled on Birmingham Pens' Southside Park Fern Moss as my new "Stone Green" (it's "softer" than De Atramentis' Cement, while not quite as ambiguous but more trustworthy than Organics Studio's Walt Whitman), so wasn't sure if I needed another blue/grey/green. I ordered samples of Dark Reseda, Pine and Olive greens, of which Dark Reseda was by far the more complex/interesting. I did indeed write my Christmas Cards with this, alongside my traditional Rustic Brown, did a whole series of comparisons (especially KWZ IG Green #4 and the Fern Moss) and decided this has enough character and interest to earn it's own place in my green palette. Phew, that's quite an audition!

Although it is a dark color, it is not too saturated so has a good amount of shading. I am happy with it!

. . . . my only worry is, having succumbed to the siren call of Kobe #45 Hashibuse Silhouette (winging its way from Cool Japan) whether this will continue to hold its own, but I think this is blue enough to remain distinct.

[pgcauk]

I now have all three of the following, but most people would probably only choose one!

[georges zaslavsky]

Very interesting, looks close to MB Racing green