EFNIR: ESS Registrars Ink

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: ESS Registrars Ink

This is review #128 in my series.  Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Missed the end quote after "It's the nearest portal to the palace."  And the "d" at the end of "need"...  Sorry.

The ink likes to cling to plastic, so cleaning took a little longer than usual, but cotton swabs and water were enough to do the job. Also, for those concerned, I had the ink in the pen for 5 days and I disassembled to examine the back of the nib and saw no evidence of corrosion.

 

See the video for water resistance - it's excellent, but not complete.

 

Color notes: When I first inked the pen, the color was a lot paler than anything you see, even in the video, because it darkened in the pen, not just after going on the paper. The scan is a little over-exposed, as usual, but not too far off - the ink color should be a little more muted and dark. The zoom image is pretty close. The screencapture has the right darkness, and the color is pretty close, but it's too flat - the shading is much easier to see than this picture suggests.  Maybe combine the screencapture and the zoom for a good idea of color.

And here is a screen of the final result, for those not interested in the video:

Scan of Completed Review:

Zoomed in photo:

Absorbent Paper Closeup (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper):

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap

Previous Review: Diamine Blue/Black.

Want to influence the inky sequence?  Take the "next ink" poll.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh?  Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy.  Comments appreciated!

[mizgeorge]

Oh! Thank you @LizEF - that was an unexpected treat  

 

I always have a vintage pen inked up with this - love the shading, love the behaviour and love the permanence. Watching the colour change is always a treat too!

 

The bonus bit is, of course the history of this legendary ink, but it's the company's choice to promote it as ESSR rather than by its old name, which is fair enough given that it's a newer company. The only thing I'm not hugely keen on is the bottles - I always end up decanting mine into something else (currently an Akkerman long neck), and the label design, which just begs to be more interesting!

 

 

 

[LizEF]

21 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Oh! Thank you @LizEF - that was an unexpected treat  

You're very welcome.  Not sure why it was an unexpected treat, but glad it was.

[A Smug Dill]

@LizEF Thanks for the review!

 

4 hours ago, LizEF said:

I had the ink in the pen for 5 days and I disassembled to examine the back of the nib and saw no evidence of corrosion.

 

I'm glad to hear that.

 

I left ESSRI ‘once’ in my gold-nibbed Aurora Tu Cento Italia (100th anniversary commemorative limited edition) for several months, as I'm wont to do with inked pens, and the results weren't pretty; but luckily it wasn't corrosion, just dried black precipitate that took a lot of effort to remove from the surface of the rhodium-plating (without any apparent chemical damage). Even though I don't think that pen is particularly precious or expensive, I won't be doing that again!

 

2 hours ago, mizgeorge said:

The only thing I'm not hugely keen on is the bottles - I always end up decanting mine into something else (currently an Akkerman long neck), and the label design, which just begs to be more interesting!

 

It's pretty much in the same style as and on par with Diamine Registrar's Ink (in 110ml bottles), which I think is it's most direct competitor in the UK and the fountain pen market in general.

[yazeh]

This inks makes me feel weak in the knees. It's so delightful... I have two vintage pens always inked with it thanks to @mizgeorge 

I'm just a bit confused, why didn't you named it as Essri instead of Ess? (Roll my shoulders with a sphinx on my knees   )

 

[LizEF]

3 hours ago, mizgeorge said:

the label design, which just begs to be more interesting!

You gotta figure this is because (as I understand it) the ink is basically a stock supply for clerks.

[LizEF]

45 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

I'm glad to hear that.

 

I left ESSRI ‘once’ in my gold-nibbed Aurora Tu Cento Italia (100th anniversary commemorative limited edition) for several months, as I'm wont to do with inked pens, and the results weren't pretty; but luckily it wasn't corrosion, just dried black precipitate that took a lot of effort to remove from the surface of the rhodium-plating (without any apparent chemical damage). Even though I don't think that pen is particularly precious or expensive, I won't be doing that again!

Thanks for the added details.  Glad it didn't  harm your gold nib - that's a data point we don't need.

[LizEF]

10 minutes ago, yazeh said:

This inks makes me feel weak in the knees. It's so delightful...

Who knew it was a swooning ink!  I should have used it to write a romantic interlude...

 

11 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I'm just a bit confused, why didn't you named it as Essri instead of Ess?

Isn't ESS Registrars Ink the right name?  (Googling suggests it is...)  Either way, we now need a talking snake made Essri.  Maybe after The Old Goat Adventure, we'll have the Sneaky Snake Adventure.

 

15 minutes ago, yazeh said:

(Roll my shoulders with a sphinx on my knees   )

Give your sphinx some fur-rubs from me.

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

Who knew it was a swooning ink!  I should have used it to write a romantic interlude...

Yeah, between, Quin and Mak's sis... or Mac and goat (that is if it's a she... 😛

 

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

 

Isn't ESS Registrars Ink the right name?  (Googling suggests it is...)  Either way, we now need a talking snake made Essri.  Maybe after The Old Goat Adventure, we'll have the Sneaky Snake Adventure.

You're right. Might bad...

Ess -ri  Ecclesiastical Registrar's ink

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

 

Give your sphinx some fur-rubs from me.

Have so...

[yazeh]

It might help to have some background history...

Stephens, a one time roommate of Keats, created the original blue black iron gall, (in 1834 I believe) for the new iron nibs that were replacingquill pens. Supposedly by adding Indigo to his formula, the corrosive effect of the ink, on iron nibs was attenuated. I have used a blue/black iron gall ink, for dip pens and the effect is striking from a sky blue the ink turns into a shiny black. 

In 1976, Stephens stopped producing ink and one of the people who worked for him created Essri. 

The rest is history..... 

[LizEF]

13 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Yeah, between, Quin and Mak's sis... or Mac and goat (that is if it's a she... 😛

  Yesterday I was considering adding another character with a significant part (perhaps turning them into a trio) but realized that would just drag things out too much - telling the story in short bursts takes long enough without giving yet another character screen time, so I've decided to stick with just the two of them.  All other characters will be "bit parts", even if they recur.

 

16 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Have so...

 

10 minutes ago, yazeh said:

It might help to have some background history...

Stephens, a one time roommate of Keats, created the original blue black iron gall, (in 1834 I believe) for the new iron nibs that were replacingquill pens. Supposedly by adding Indigo to his formula, the corrosive effect of the ink, on iron nibs was attenuated. I have used a blue/black iron gall ink, for dip pens and the effect is striking from a sky blue the ink turns into a shiny black. 

In 1976, Stephens stopped producing ink and one of the people who worked for him created Essri. 

The rest is history..... 

Thanks for the background.  ESSRI was really quite pale to start with, and I think it was brighter, though it's hard to remember color.  But it's also not darkening to black, at least, not yet.

[yazeh]

1 minute ago, LizEF said:

  Yesterday I was considering adding another character with a significant part (perhaps turning them into a trio) but realized that would just drag things out too much - telling the story in short bursts takes long enough without giving yet another character screen time, so I've decided to stick with just the two of them.  All other characters will be "bit parts", even if they recur.

That makes sense. The trick is to have them want something superficial but find what they truly need. ... For ex. they want to fall in love, they learn to love themselves.... Easier said than done...

 

1 minute ago, LizEF said:

 

 

Thanks for the background.  ESSRI was really quite pale to start with, and I think it was brighter, though it's hard to remember color.  But it's also not darkening to black, at least, not yet.

On thick absorbent paper it turns black quite fast.... in a couple of days or so...

If you twiddle your thumbs for a day or two you might see it

 

[LizEF]

2 minutes ago, yazeh said:

That makes sense. The trick is to have them want something superficial but find what they truly need. ... For ex. they want to fall in love, they learn to love themselves.... Easier said than done...

I'll let the back of my brain work on that.

 

3 minutes ago, yazeh said:

On thick absorbent paper it turns black quite fast.... in a couple of days or so...

If you twiddle your thumbs for a day or two you might see it

Apparently my swatch cards aren't thick enough - I just checked, and it's still blue-black there.

[A Smug Dill]

4 hours ago, LizEF said:

Apparently my swatch cards aren't thick enough - I just checked, and it's still blue-black there.

 

Depends on the paper stock used. Iron-gall inks don't darken much over time on the Arttec Como Sketch Pad 210gsm mixed media art paper from which I cut swatch cards.

 

5 hours ago, yazeh said:

Ess -ri  Ecclesiastical Registrar's ink

6 hours ago, LizEF said:

Isn't ESS Registrars Ink the right name?  (Googling suggests it is...)

 

 

[inkstainedruth]

I keep hearing good things about ESSRI.  But since it seems to only come in 100 ml bottles, I'd be afraid I wouldn't go through it fast enough, even if it was the only ink I used (especially since my bottle of Akkerman IJzer-Galnoten seems to have started precipitating the IG content out ).  Plus, it is only available directly from them, and shipping charges from the UK seem to have gone through the roof recently (even before that happened, I had considered ordering a pen from them to split the cost of shipping somewhat).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[LizEF]

3 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Depends on the paper stock used. Iron-gall inks don't darken much over time on the Arttec Como Sketch Pad 210gsm mixed media art paper from which I cut swatch cards.

 

 

 

  Mine are just cheap-o cards from Mal-Wart:

 

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

I keep hearing good things about ESSRI.  But since it seems to only come in 100 ml bottles, I'd be afraid I wouldn't go through it fast enough, even if it was the only ink I used (especially since my bottle of Akkerman IJzer-Galnoten seems to have started precipitating the IG content out ).  Plus, it is only available directly from them, and shipping charges from the UK seem to have gone through the roof recently (even before that happened, I had considered ordering a pen from them to split the cost of shipping somewhat).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I'm with you - there are enough other great inks that I feel no need to acquire this one, which I also couldn't possibly use up.

[namrehsnoom]

Looks like a great ink. Thank you for showing it.  Colourwise it seems to be a dark blue-grey…  I love grey-leaning inks that start from another base colour. This one is a very fine example. 

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, namrehsnoom said:

Looks like a great ink. Thank you for showing it.  Colourwise it seems to be a dark blue-grey…  I love grey-leaning inks that start from another base colour. This one is a very fine example. 

You're welcome!  I agree, more blue-grey than blue-black, and very nice, once it shifts to its darker color.

[Sailor Kenshin]

'You shouldn't shrug with a sphinx on your shoulder.'  Quote of the day!  👍🏻

 

This ink is right up my color ally, but I'm afeared of iron galls.    😢Thanks once again for a fascinating review!