INK REVIEW: BIRMINGHAM PEN COMPANY'S NEW FORMULA VICTORIAN PLUM (CRISP FORMULA)

[DrDebG]

INK REVIEW: BIRMINGHAM PEN COMPANY'S NEW FORMULA VICTORIAN PLUM (CRISP FORMULA)

INK REVIEW: BIRMINGHAM PEN COMPANY'S NEW FORMULA VICTORIAN PLUM (CRISP FORMULA)

 

 

 

 

Background:

Birmingham Pen Company (BPC) started as the brainchild of two brothers – Nick and Josh. Initially, Nick and Josh worked with third party ink producers in England and Germany to produce their inks. BPC started making their own inks over a year ago. While some changes have been made, their new formulations include “Crisp” inks designed for everyday use on all papers, “Swift” inks that are a bit wetter, starts up quickly and works well on premium papers, “Rich” inks which have high sheen and saturation, “Everlasting” inks that have high water resistance, “Twinkle” inks with shimmer and “Wishy-Washy” inks that are designed for performance but a washable from fabrics and surfaces.

The glass bottles with tight-fitting plastic lids bottles are very nice and functional. My largest pen fits nicely into the bottle for a full fill. BPC offers three sizes: 30ml, 60ml and 120ml for all inks except the Twinkle inks which are only available in 60ml. The 120ml bottles have an eye-dropper lid instead of the regular lid.

Review in Brief:

Saturation: Low to moderate saturation
Sheen: None
Shading: Medium shading from fine to wider nibs
Haloing: Medium depending upon paper
Lubrication: Medium lubrication
Wetness: Moderate wetness
Water Resistance: Not resistant
Feathering: minimal feathering on lower quality papers
Bleedthrough: minimal only on lower quality papers and with high ink application
Showthrough: minimal on all papers tested
Price: reasonable for 30mls, very good for 60ml and exceptional for 120ml which is the best value.

While some inks retained the same name (or an abbreviated version), they may be slightly different. Ana at the Well Appointed Desk discussed this very well in her January 2021 blog (https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/20...-company-inks/)


Pens: Waterman Carene fine nib and Leonardo Momento Zero with 1.1 stub
Papers shown: Rhodia Dot pad, Tomoe River 52gsm sheet paper, Cosmo Air Light notebook, Cambridge and Kokuyo notebook papers

Rhodia Dot Pad

The ink has low to moderate saturation with no sheen. The ink flows very nicely in both pens, and has just the right amount of wetness for the pens used. The ink does dry reasonably quickly on all papers tested.

Cambridge Notebook Paper - Action Planner Notebook

Feathering and bleeding are not seen on Rhodia, Tomoe River, Cosmo Air Light. There is some minimal feathering on the Cambridge and Kokuyo papers. No bleedthrough or showthrough was seen on any of the papers.
 

Tomoe River 52 gsm sheet paper



Cosmo Air Light Notebook (photo)


Kokuyo Campus Notebook Paper

Color Comparisons:

 

 

This is a very nice ink. It shines in every way - in the pens that I have used and on the papers I have used. This is, by far, my favorite of the Birmingham Pen Company inks that I have used. I love the color. On ivory colored papers, it has a antique effect that is reminiscent of Grandmothers and days gone by. Yet, on white papers, the ink has the distinct and subtle tones of roses, gladiolus, and peony. This ink is perfectly wet with just the right amount of lubrication, equal to the "Swift" inks I have tried (remember this is a "Crisp" ink). I love the color, but even more so I love the behavior of this ink in every pen I have used it in. While it may not have sheen, it has very nice shading from the finer nibs and especially the wider nibs. I highly recommend this ink.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink directly from Birmingham Pen Company. Any photos, opinions and thoughts regarding the ink are my own and are not sponsored by Birmingham Pen Company and do not necessarily reflect their opinions.

[namrehsnoom]

Thank you for this review. At first sight, I liked the ink. But then I got to the comparison pic with the violet/lavender on the bottom line, and I was “OK - battle is over. Violet/Lavender has rules the day” 😉

[LizEF]

Thank you for the review!  I'm loving your on-going contributions.

 

I'll balance out @namrehsnoom and say I prefer the top row of comparisons to the bottom.   Now we just need a tie-breaker.

[ENewton]

Thank you for this helpful review.

 

Seeing the comparisons, I again wish that Violet Blue were not so exceedingly dry.  I love the color, but a sample made it clear that a bottle would give me more consternation than joy.

[DrDebG]

7 hours ago, namrehsnoom said:

Thank you for this review. At first sight, I liked the ink. But then I got to the comparison pic with the violet/lavender on the bottom line, and I was “OK - battle is over. Violet/Lavender has rules the day” 😉

 

Thank you for your comment!  I do love the bright lavender of DeAtramentis Lavender, but I have always loved DeAtramentis Pearl Violet, and I was thrilled that Victorian Plum was close, but just a bit more muted.  

[DrDebG]

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

Thank you for the review!  I'm loving your on-going contributions.

 

I'll balance out @namrehsnoom and say I prefer the top row of comparisons to the bottom.   Now we just need a tie-breaker.

Well, I am not tie-breaker since I have them all.  But thank you for your nice comment! 

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the review!  I have to say I really like this color (whereas I was disappointed in Monteverde Rose Noir, which looks more brown on some papers).

What I fear, though, is that unless Victorian Plum is in a broad or wet nib, it may be too light to be legible (in a stub, of course, like in the review, it seems to be a really an awesome color).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[DrDebG]

2 hours ago, ENewton said:

Thank you for this helpful review.

 

Seeing the comparisons, I again wish that Violet Blue were not so exceedingly dry.  I love the color, but a sample made it clear that a bottle would give me more consternation than joy.

Thank you for your kind comment.  I did purchase an entire bottle of GvFC Violet Blue recently mainly because the ink was on sale, but also because I just love the color.  And I have been surprised that it isn't as dry as the sample I had before.   I thought maybe it was wishful thinking, but I tried it again with the same pens I used to sample it before and it seems to be not as dry.  But, I had also decided that if it was too dry, I would just add a drop of Vanness White Lightning.  

[DrDebG]

1 minute ago, inkstainedruth said:

Thanks for the review!  I have to say I really like this color (whereas I was disappointed in Monteverde Rose Noir, which looks more brown on some papers).

What I fear, though, is that unless Victorian Plum is in a broad or wet nib, it may be too light to be legible (in a stub, of course, like in the review, it seems to be a really an awesome color).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Thank you for your comment.  Rose Noir was a bit of a disappointment to me as well.  Victorian Plum is light, but it is fairly legible even with a fine nib. The top half of the Rhodia writing sample was done with a fine nib.   It might not be with an EF.  Actually I haven't tried it an EF since I don't normally use them, but I will write a sample just to see how legible it is and post it here. 

[ENewton]

27 minutes ago, DrDebG said:

Thank you for your kind comment.  I did purchase an entire bottle of GvFC Violet Blue recently mainly because the ink was on sale, but also because I just love the color.  And I have been surprised that it isn't as dry as the sample I had before.   I thought maybe it was wishful thinking, but I tried it again with the same pens I used to sample it before and it seems to be not as dry.  But, I had also decided that if it was too dry, I would just add a drop of Vanness White Lightning.  

 

How interesting.  Thank you.

[DrDebG]

Here is a writing sample using a Platinum EF nib.  It is quite light and perhaps not very readable.  

 

[Audrey T]

On 9/5/2021 at 12:11 AM, DrDebG said:

It shines in every way

It looks a bit faded -- is that what you mean by "reminiscent of Grandmothers and days gone by"?

[DrDebG]

On 1/30/2022 at 11:25 AM, Audrey T said:

It looks a bit faded -- is that what you mean by "reminiscent of Grandmothers and days gone by"?

Thank you Audrey T for the comment.   You are correct that the ink does look a bit faded.  IMHO, I think the color gives an feeling of antiquity.  I intended my comment "reminscent of Grandmothers and days gone by" to reflect this.  It is that the color reminds me of my grandmother.  This was her favorite color.  In fact, she was my matron of honor at my wedding and she chose this color for her dress.   I also meant that the ink reminds me of the antique colors of flowers painted on teapots, soft shawls, etc.  

 

When I stated that "it shines in every way", I meant that the ink performs very well.  

[Audrey T]

2 hours ago, DrDebG said:

Thank you Audrey T for the comment.   You are correct that the ink does look a bit faded.  IMHO, I think the color gives an feeling of antiquity.  I intended my comment "reminscent of Grandmothers and days gone by" to reflect this.  It is that the color reminds me of my grandmother.  This was her favorite color.  In fact, she was my matron of honor at my wedding and she chose this color for her dress.   I also meant that the ink reminds me of the antique colors of flowers painted on teapots, soft shawls, etc.  

 

When I stated that "it shines in every way", I meant that the ink performs very well.  

What a lovely set of associations -- I'm very glad to hear how they reverberate for you. It's one of the things that can make handwriting so richly tactile.

[DrDebG]

4 hours ago, Audrey T said:

What a lovely set of associations -- I'm very glad to hear how they reverberate for you. It's one of the things that can make handwriting so richly tactile.

 

Yes.  Thank you.  I love how you put it.