Herbin Poussiere de Lune and Kaweco Summer Purple

[Mayo]

Quick comparison of two similar inks I happened to have. Both write and behave really well, although similarly not great on cheap paper. The swabs are pretty shabby because I only have Summer Purple in cartridge form, so I couldn't get much ink on the cotton swab. I made the Poussiere de Lune swab the same way by getting it from the converter instead of dipping in the bottle.

Both are great inks, I might prefer the color of the Herbin slightly more. Hard to tell on such wet fine nibs but the color differences are noticeable when they shade to their lighter tones.

 

School notebook paper, the color difference is a bit more noticeable. Both spread and bleed through almost exactly the same way (56g/cm³)

 

[InesF]

Thank you, @Mayo, for the ink comparison.

They look similar on paper, but the Kaweco inks seems to be more complex composed.

Both are purples I like.  

[yazeh]

Thanks for doing the comparison @Mayo . Poussière de Lune looks slightly darker, more elegant. though you're using different pens so it's difficult to say. I guess a chroma comparison would show us if they truly are different

 

[LizEF]

Thank you for the comparison!  I wouldn't have guessed.  Poussière de Lune has such awful lubrication that I put it out of my mind...   With a large and smooth enough nib, you wouldn't know, but with a Japanese EF it's like torture.

[Mayo]

9 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @Mayo, for the ink comparison.

They look similar on paper, but the Kaweco inks seems to be more complex composed.

Both are purples I like.  

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Thanks for doing the comparison @Mayo . Poussière de Lune looks slightly darker, more elegant. though you're using different pens so it's difficult to say. I guess a chroma comparison would show us if they truly are different

 

Thank you for checking it out! I'll be using these two inks on more papers and pens from now on so I hope I can update this post with some more pictures occasionally.

 

35 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Thank you for the comparison!  I wouldn't have guessed.  Poussière de Lune has such awful lubrication that I put it out of my mind...   With a large and smooth enough nib, you wouldn't know, but with a Japanese EF it's like torture.

Yeah, I checked your review on it shortly after placing my order! It scared me a bit, but I inked both my Majohn P136 with a M nib (which ended up making the ink look too dark) and the Platinum 3776 with the Soft Fine (which is also a very fine but medium-wet nib) and was glad that it worked pretty smoothly with both of them.

 

I tried using it dipped on my Pilot EF though and it really did pretty poorly on it, so wonder what that's about.

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Mayo said:

I tried using it dipped on my Pilot EF though and it really did pretty poorly on it, so wonder what that's about.

For whatever reason, it has poor lubrication.  I assume that's a natural consequence of the ingredient combo and they saw no reason to try adding a lubricant.

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

For whatever reason, it has poor lubrication.  I assume that's a natural consequence of the ingredient combo and they saw no reason to try adding a lubricant.

it could be the PIlot nib. If it's anything like the Kakuna, it has no tipping. And it's like dipping a needle into ink...

 

[LizEF]

4 minutes ago, yazeh said:

it could be the PIlot nib. If it's anything like the Kakuna, it has no tipping. And it's like dipping a needle into ink...

The Kakuno has tipping (other than if it comes in a stub nib).  The Kakuno EF is the same nib model as what I'm using for my EF reviews - just with a face etched on it.  While it's very fine and by definition feels rougher than a broader nib, Poussiere de Lune just has awful lubrication compared to other inks.  (If it were the pen, all inks would feel poorly lubricated - or none would feel well-lubricated - and that isn't the case.)

[yazeh]

3 minutes ago, LizEF said:

The Kakuno has tipping (other than if it comes in a stub nib).  The Kakuno EF is the same nib model as what I'm using for my EF reviews - just with a face etched on it.  While it's very fine and by definition feels rougher than a broader nib, Poussiere de Lune just has awful lubrication compared to other inks.  (If it were the pen, all inks would feel poorly lubricated - or none would feel well-lubricated - and that isn't the case.)

Thanks for the explanation. For me, it was a shocking experience. The only ink that has managed to make the writing experience pleasant was Herbin, Perle Noir.

Ironically my Pilot Elite Ef writes much more smoother. It's another EF experience.  

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Thanks for the explanation. For me, it was a shocking experience. The only ink that has managed to make the writing experience pleasant was Herbin, Perle Noir.

Ironically my Pilot Elite Ef writes much more smoother. It's another EF experience.  

  Pilot gold nibs tend to be wetter and write slightly wider than their steel counterparts (in my experience), which would explain the better performance of your Pilot Elite.  And yeah, that Japanese EF really feels the difference in lubrication - I rated Perle Noire at a little above average - which is tons better than Poussiere de Lune, which I rated as awful.

[yazeh]

19 hours ago, LizEF said:

  Pilot gold nibs tend to be wetter and write slightly wider than their steel counterparts (in my experience), which would explain the better performance of your Pilot Elite.  And yeah, that Japanese EF really feels the difference in lubrication - I rated Perle Noire at a little above average - which is tons better than Poussiere de Lune, which I rated as awful.

Thanks. I finally got it, yeah

[Mayo]

 

The picture I promised with some medium flow medium nibs. The differences in both inks is really evident here and I think both colors live up to their names, with Summer Purple being a brighter and livelier tone and Poussiere de Lune being more somber and dusty looking, while still well saturated.

[yazeh]

Thanks. That looks great 👍

I think colour wise I prefer Poussière de lune,  based on the photo. But I have too many colours in that hue

[Lithium466]

Thank you for this comparison!

 

I have been looking for a dusty purple, and discarded the Herbin for lack of lubrication. Now leaning toward the Kaweco, which I read is identical to the CdA Ultraviolet... Pretty bold claim, these two look similar but who knows?

 

Anyway I'll be headed to buy a bottle of Kaweco later today, we'll see what happens!

[Lithium466]

Got the Kaweco yesterday, and when I went to try it 🤮

 

[yazeh]

@Lithium466 Sorry to see that. It must be so frustrating. Now you have to make another trip to the store and maybe try Poussière de Lune or maybe Scabiosa

[Lithium466]

I was thinking CdA Ultraviolet... Scabiosa and Poussière de lune apparently have poor lubrication  Or maybe Diamine Damson?

 

The CdA was $27 more than the Kaweco, for what I suspect is the same ink, so I went with the Kaweco, poor choice. At least CdA bottles have plastic lids!

[jayKellner]

I wonder if the Kaweco ink is also made by Sellner...like Montblanc and possibly 3/4 of the market...

 

Anybody knows?

Thank you for sharing !