Troublemaker Abalone

[lgsoltek]

Just as its sibling Petrichor, Abalone is a fascinating colour. It ranges from a light blue grey to a muted pink. The lighter touches lean towards blue grey and where the pink pools it shows a dirty pink colour. The colour matches the name perfectly.

Sadly just like Petrichor, this ink is very unpleasant to write with. A moderate flow without any lubrication. Unless you use a dripping wet pen like a Pelikan M1000, any other pen will suffer from the lack of lubrication. Even in a Pelikan M1000 this ink feels scratchy and sandy even though the flow is better.

Thank you inkantadora for the sample!

Splash

Sample

(Pens: a dripping wet Pelikan M1000 Broad and a normal to wet Lamy 2000 Broad.)

(Rhodia)

(Close-up: Pelikan M1000 Broad)

(Close-up: Lamy 2000 Broad)

(Tomoe River)

(Close-up: Pelikan M1000 Broad)

(Close-up: Lamy 2000 Broad)

(Midori MD notebook)

Comparison

(Maruman looseleaf)

Chroma

(paper towel)

[Karmachanic]

If I live long enough I may be able to purchase some of these inks.

[migo984]

I had a few Troublemaker inks and gave most of them away. Had quite a few issues, such as Hanging Rice causing bad staining, the unpleasant dryness of Petrichor and Abalone mentioned here by the OP, and severe bleed-through with a couple of the inks. It’s a real shame as initial testing was very promising. But after extended trials and in regular writing I can do without the problems.

 

I think the “cult” status, and rationing of, these inks is blinding people to the actual quality.........or lack of. I’m sensing very variable QC, although I’d like to be proved wrong.

 

Thanks to OP for an honest review.

[JulieParadise]

Having had the chance to test 6 of the Troublemaker inks I have unfortunately come to the conclusion that I am glad to only have gotten samples. I found these inks (Abalone, Foxglove, Kelp Tea, Milky Ocean, Petrichor, Sea Glass) all too dry and/or staining converters so I have used up the samples and will not buy whole bottles after that.

[nibtip]

Thank you for your accuracy and stunning pictures. This ink look beautiful in the same way of Sailor ink studio #123.

But after your review i will not buy or try any of the eloquently named Troublemaker inks.

[namrehsnoom]

Thank you for showing these inks. I love the colour, but being mostly an F/M user, this is obviously not an ink for me. And the experiences in the comments seem to confirm the technical shortcomings of this ink. A real pity, because the colour is just great.

[AntiqueApprentice]

Thank you for this review. Very helpful

[lapis]

Bein' a freakin' M1000 and M900 [(BB] user, their wetness might in fact pull it off. I do love your duo-streak findings, but the whole crowd still seems to be rather unconvinced of such magic.

[Tas]

Spot on

[carolee45]

Agree with this review.  I found it easier to use in a Serendipity  Broad nib.