Emma - Rohrer & Klingner Sketch Ink

[visvamitra]

Rohrer&Klingner produces wonderful inks. I think it's the company that's criminally underrated in fountain pen afficionados circles.

sketchINK® is a range of 10 inks for fountain pens. They are - as most pigment inks - exceptionally waterproof and lightfast.

R&K uses nano pigments to enable an optimal ink flow. However, it has to be said that waterproof inks can cause clotting in fountain pens. Therefore it's reasonable to clean pens filled with it regularly.

I bought two of these inks Lilly and Emma. Both are nice and behave fairly well for a pigment ink.

Bottle

The inks are sold in 50 ml glass bottle. While it's not as nice as some ink bottles are, it's practical.

Ink Splash

The ink feels well lubricated and flows well. Jinhao nib is quite dry and yet the ink flows well. Drying time is reasonable and water resistance is impressive.

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

Color ID

Color range

Copy paper, Jinhao x750, m

Fabriano, Jinhao x750, m

Rhodia, Jinhao x750, medium

Water resistance

[Jan2016]

Thank you for the review. I didn't think about this line to put in my FP, but I see i have to reconsider :-)

[Venemo]

Wow, wonderful shading!

[titevm]

Nice! Thank you for the great review!

[white_lotus]

Very nice.

[errantmarginalia]

Tempting. Thanks, Vis!

[lgsoltek]

Emma looks a bit pale for my liking.

[visvamitra]

It's a dryish pen. I plan to fill TWSBI 580 with it and see how intense it'll become when used in juicy stub.

[namrehsnoom]

I’m quite taken with Emma... lovely colour.

[ErrantSmudge]

Emma looks similar to Alt-Goldgrün in R&K's standard line of inks. It would be interesting to see a sample comparing the two.

 

Also, what are the differences between the "SketchINK" family of inks and R&K's "Dokumentus" line (which are also waterproof)?

Edited December 30, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[visvamitra]

I don't know. What I can say is sketch Inks behave better in fountain pens.

[Torrilin]

I’ve got a pen loaded with alt goldgrun now, and this review makes me really want a sample of this to compare. Because the washable ink is a delight for drawing trees, and it looks like this ink might have a lot of the same effect. You wouldn’t think green ink would be great for drawing but it’s surprisingly useful.

 

And it looks like the bottles are $12 for 50mL which is extremely nice for a permanent ink. Most nanopigment inks are very expensive. Worth it because it’s not like a Micron or other archival felt tip marker is cheap. But $12 is markedly cheaper, because it’d be around $150 locally to get that many microns at $3 each.

 

If you decide to review the others I look forward to it.

[displacermoose]

Wow. That looks lovely. I'd not heard of this line and will have to check it out. Thank you!

[Tas]

Whaaaa ? I missed this

[Lloyd]

Whaaaa ? I missed this

Me, too! I need to check out Jule...but I'll refrain from saying that in front of my wife.

Edited January 26, 2018 by Lloyd

[NicolausPiscator]

Thank you for this review, Emma is nice, not perfect as Defoe but a calm and friendly, mossy green.

[Torrilin]

Me, too! I need to check out Jule...but I'll refrain from saying that in front of my wife.

Jule is the purply one. Theres maybe a hint of pigment lifting, but it looks promising for watercolor. Kaweco caramel brown and sunrise orange are the two washable inks. Platinum Carbon Black is the black. You can definitely see pigment lifting, but not enough to be of use for shading.

 

Yes, thats evidence of sediment settling out in my sample of Jule and Lilly. I have no evidence of problems with the ink, but I cannot swear that my refilled Platinum Preppy cartridge is representative of the ink. I cant remember if I made sure to shake the ink vial before testing. And if youve got a clog prone pen, Id definitely be careful with an ink showing evidence of sediment like Jule. Theres a reason I tried it in a Preppy first.

 

I tried to get Carmen, Lotte and Emma to show evidence of sediment but so far, nada.

 

The waterbrush swabs are just super pretty so I had to share.

 

So far no drawing testing on watercolor paper, or with broad nibs. Winter in WI, all images are taken in a north facing window. I dont have sample images yet with different lighting. But this at least gives a taste.

[NicolausPiscator]

They look nice, indeed!

[AmandaW]

Emma looks similar to Alt-Goldgrün in R&K's standard line of inks. It would be interesting to see a sample comparing the two.

 

[Ada]

Thank you for posting the side-by-side swatches of Emma and Alt Goldgrun; I was wondering about that too.