Franklin Christoph – Black Forest

[crahptacular]

Franklin Christoph – Black Forest

 

This is Franklin-Christoph’s newest addition to their ink lineup. I seem to recall it was listed as a “special edition” ink or something to that effect in the past, but I no longer see anything like that on their website, so it’s possible my memory is incorrect. In any case, based on the current information, it appears this is a permanent addition, temporarily being sold in a smaller (1 oz.) size than their other inks (2 oz.) According to Franklin-Christoph, this is a close match to their 2016 Philly Pen Show limited edition Franklin Green. I don’t have the LE ink to compare, but the pictures I found seem to corroborate this, with Black Forest being a touch richer (and more attractive, in my opinion). As with other FC inks I’ve used, performance has been great, including on cheap papers like no-name notebooks, legal pads, and some copy paper. This seems slightly more lubricated than my other FC inks.

 

The ink is a green on the darker, more saturated side, with a cool blue undertone. I somehow have ended up with quite a few blue-leaning-greens in my collection, and quite a few blue-green/teals as well. Black Forest straddles the line pretty nicely, with a hue that is unmistakably green, but with a hint of the sheen that many blue-greens (like Emerald of Chivor and various Robert Oster inks) are known for. As a fan of sheen, I therefore prefer Black Forest over the other close matches I have. For those who have used RO Tranquility, this ink sheens very similarly, both in terms of color and propensity. Although I generally prefer browner greens, I do enjoy colder shades like this one, especially during the colder seasons. Overall, the ink was not terribly exciting to me personally (because I already have similar colors), but if you’re looking for an ink in this color range, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed in this one.

 

(Also, I've just realized that I didn't cross my T in the title.)

 

 

Lubrication: Moderate-High*

Shading: Moderate*

Sheen: Red sheen visible with wet nibs (quite a bit visible on TR even with my fine nib, a tiny bit on Mnemosyne, none on the others)

Water Resistance: Medium

Other notes: *This is my first time inking up the Wingsung 3008 (fine). The ink seemed to be pretty wet/free-flowing in both of my pens, but that’s normal for my TWSBI and I have nothing to compare it against for the Wingsung so I’m not sure if it always writes this wet.

 

The following sample was done with a Wingsung 3008 (Fine) and a TWSBI Vac Mini (Broad) on Tomoe River (52gsm, white, loose-leaf). Doodle was done with a size 0 liner and a size 3/0 mop. Flex writing was done with a Leonardt Principal dip nib.

 

Bad Scanner Disclaimer: The actual appearance of the ink is somewhere in between the photo and the scan. The scan is a little more accurate, especially because the lighting on the photo was really bad today, so the color correction messed up the white balance quite a bit. The comparisons at the bottom are decent on the scan as well, with the left two swabs (Tranquility and EoC) appearing a little less saturated and less blue than they should, but the others are all fine.

 

Scan:

 

Photo:

 

Comparison inks from left to right (big smear is the featured ink):

Robert Oster Tranquility, J Herbin Emerald of Chivor (without particles), Papier Plume Forest Green, Robert Oster River of Fire, KWZ IG Green #1

 

Writing Samples (scans; no color correction), from Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giant.

 

Maruman Mnemosyne:

 

Tsubame Fool’s University:

 

Franklin-Christoph:

[titevm]

Very nice review, thanks!

[white_lotus]

Thanks for the review. I've found F-C inks to be very well behaved, and nicely wet. This particular green is a bit too bluish for my taste but I'm sure there are folks who will enjoy it.

[MrSwissCheese]

Not my taste of ink, but I might order another f-c ink when I finally order my 31 Antique Glass with Flex nib this month

[Uncial]

I love the colour but I actually found this one a bit dry in terms of flow. I found the same issue with Black Cherry which is also an interesting colour. It might be fine nibs being the issue.

[crahptacular]

@Uncial

That's interesting to hear. It flowed quite wet in my F nib as I was writing this review (you can see the F nib writing is much darker than the B nib writing on TR, where the ink was able to pool--it was wet enough to leave sheen on every stroke of the F nib). I also have it in a Japanese EF right now, which I didn't use for the review, but didn't find it particularly dry. I haven't tried Black Cherry, but compared to Terra Firma and Urushi Red I felt that Dark Forest was more free-flowing. I regularly use this ink in my finer nibs because its deep color and generous flow make it a good match for the thinner lines, but your experience sounds like the complete opposite! Perhaps there is some variation between batches or another factor that hasn't occurred to me.

[Midx]

This ink is on my list to get, I just wish it was easier to get it in the UK!

[Uncial]

@Uncial

That's interesting to hear. It flowed quite wet in my F nib as I was writing this review (you can see the F nib writing is much darker than the B nib writing on TR, where the ink was able to pool--it was wet enough to leave sheen on every stroke of the F nib). I also have it in a Japanese EF right now, which I didn't use for the review, but didn't find it particularly dry. I haven't tried Black Cherry, but compared to Terra Firma and Urushi Red I felt that Dark Forest was more free-flowing. I regularly use this ink in my finer nibs because its deep color and generous flow make it a good match for the thinner lines, but your experience sounds like the complete opposite! Perhaps there is some variation between batches or another factor that hasn't occurred to me.

 

 

I think it must be batch variation, which is unusual. The Black Cherry has a tendency to be a bit similar to Private Reserve's Black Cherry and oxidises in the nib and feed if left for a couple of days and comes out a kind of boring slate black colour.