EFNIR: Kaweco Pearl Black

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Kaweco Pearl Black

This is review #195 in my series.  Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Cleaning was fairly quick, but did require a couple extra flushes - lots of dye in this ink. Only needed plain water, though. This is a very cool black - all my others look warm or neutral in comparison - I have no others close to this cool.  You won't really notice the blue undertone in this fine of writing, though - you'll need a larger application for that, like on my swatch card.

Note on dry time - you may not be able to see the smears, but even the text above the marks smeared a little. In pre-video testing, it did worse.

The line width measurement is one of the lines used for dry time.  Magnification is 100x.  The grid is 100x100µm.  The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each.  The line width for this ink is roughly 320µm. (For the curious, with 195 inks measured, the average line width is 294µm.)

The slide separated out into black ink at the edges and blue in the center (see photo of the slide itself). In the blue portion, the ink was trying to build a city! (See photo.) Dark dots in the photo were red through the eyepiece.

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):

Line width measured via microscope at 100x:

Microscope slide at 100x:

Photo of microscope slide on a lightbox:

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

Previous Review: Diamine Shimmering Seas.

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

Hope you enjoy.  Comments appreciated!

[recluse]

Thank you for the review. By any chance, did you review (or maybe just have an impression of) Lamy Obsidian from the Crystal Ink line? It appears that these two are in the same category color-wise.

 

I have Kaweco Pearl Black on my to-buy short-list because of quite a few mentions of how good it is. Now I start thinking that the primary reason behind those mentions is the color. I still may get it eventually despite it's uninspiring performance on the so-so paper. I am a sucker for blue-tilting blacks. They have this aura of precision, typography and things like that.

[I-am-not-really-here]

Tempting for the unshaded look but that dry time means keeping a blotter roller handy.

 

Thank you for the review!

[LizEF]

58 minutes ago, recluse said:

Thank you for the review.

You're very welcome!

 

58 minutes ago, recluse said:

By any chance, did you review (or maybe just have an impression of) Lamy Obsidian from the Crystal Ink line? It appears that these two are in the same category color-wise.

No, and I don't have the Lamy ink, sorry.

 

1 hour ago, recluse said:

I am a sucker for blue-tilting blacks. They have this aura of precision, typography and things like that.

Yes! I know what you mean. It would probably also make for interesting washes. 

[LizEF]

58 minutes ago, I-am-not-really-here said:

Tempting for the unshaded look but that dry time means keeping a blotter roller handy.

Yes. Some of these inks make me think they should make blotters like paint rollers. 😆 

 

59 minutes ago, I-am-not-really-here said:

Thank you for the review!

You're very welcome!

[yazeh]

Great job @LizEF 

Eternal dry time, that's a no no in my book.  I'm sure there must be a black somewhere which will dry faster and have the same properties. Looking forward to the next review

 

 

[LizEF]

20 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Great job @LizEF  ... Looking forward to the next review

Thanks!

 

20 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Eternal dry time, that's a no no in my book.  I'm sure there must be a black somewhere which will dry faster and have the same properties.

Yes, most certainly.

[arcfide]

Wasn't this one of the inks that didn't have much sheen on someone's tests? If that's the case, then it might be one of the only cool leaning black inks with low sheen. The only other I can think of right now would be Jacques Herbin Noir Abyssal. All the others I can think of tend to sheen more (Take-sumi, Waterman, Sailor). Maybe there is a Diamine ink that has the same cool, low sheen behavior? If not, that would make this a pretty "rare" ink in terms of its particular properties. 

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, arcfide said:

Wasn't this one of the inks that didn't have much sheen on someone's tests? If that's the case, then it might be one of the only cool leaning black inks with low sheen. The only other I can think of right now would be Jacques Herbin Noir Abyssal. All the others I can think of tend to sheen more (Take-sumi, Waterman, Sailor). Maybe there is a Diamine ink that has the same cool, low sheen behavior? If not, that would make this a pretty "rare" ink in terms of its particular properties. 

Good question.  I didn't see signs of sheen, so I'd guess this is the rare one, if others tend to sheen.  As I have no practical experience with black inks, perhaps someone else can chime in.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Eternity is a lonnng time for this southpaw, especially as I am loaded with other blacks.  Thanks for the review, and the serial!  Oh myy!  What next?  😯

[LizEF]

39 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Thanks for the review, and the serial!

  You're very welcome!

 

39 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Oh myy!  What next?  😯

  You'll have to tune in next week.

[InesF]

Hi @LizEF, thank you for the review and for the drama!

 

Oh yes, it's a black!

 

But most interesting is it's micro-structure behavior: interesting on paper but fascinating on the glass slide. All the black at the border, as it would had been ashamed of being black ...  ... ?

 

[LizEF]

46 minutes ago, InesF said:

Hi @LizEF, thank you for the review and for the drama!

You're most welcome!

 

46 minutes ago, InesF said:

But most interesting is it's micro-structure behavior: interesting on paper but fascinating on the glass slide. All the black at the border, as it would had been ashamed of being black ...  ... ?

Perhaps the blue and black components have different surface tensions.   Perhaps the black feels very protective of the blue and has set up a barrier to protect it.

[InesF]

15 hours ago, LizEF said:

Perhaps the black feels very protective of the blue and has set up a barrier to protect it.