Kaweco Smokey Grey (cartridge)

[yazeh]

Kaweco Smokey Grey

Ink review #195

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 🧾 Description

 

I got a pack of cartridges of Smokey Grey. Boy, I was in for a surprise; it refused to write in both pens, even after priming (Kaweco Sport and the Karas Vertex), until I forgot it for a few days. Moral of the story, if you can’t get a sample, pop in the cartridge and let it be. Or syringe it., which worked fine in the Lamy Safari. 

 

Ink has low lubrication, and the flow is dry. However, with a Medium Kaweco Sport, when the pen finally wrote it was pleasant. The color reminds me of an HB pencil, However, with a Lamy Safari Ef, it was yucky and pale, more like 4 nib. 

 

In the Karas Vertex, however, it was inconsistent—the cartridge just couldn’t keep up with the ebonite feed and the FPNibs flex nib.

 

 

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 🧪 Chroma

 

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 ✍️ Writing Samples (scan)

Rhodia  / Iroful

Note that the Karas Vertex is fitted with an FPNIBS, featuring an Ebonite feed with a very generous ink flow. Normally, I add a Japanese Ef nib to line up, here I used the Karas Vertex’s Bock Ef nib. The colour is darker because of the ebonite feed.   If you want to see what the Japanese EF looks like, check @LizEF’s excellent review. 

 

 

 

 

 

Midori  /Tomoe River 68gsm

 

 

 

Hammermill 20lb  

 

 

 

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 📸 Photo

Rhodia/ Iroful

 

 

Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm

 

 

 

Hammermill 20lb copy paper

 

 

 🔍 Comparison

I lost my Kaweco swatch, so I redid it again, that’s why it’s repeated twice. 

 

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 💧 Water Test

 

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 🎨 Artwork

Global Warming 

Talens mixed media paper 

 

 

Memories 

Inspired by an intricate sketch/gravure with my cat and mouse thematic. 

Talens Mixed media paper

 

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- Pens Used: Kaweco Sport (EF/F/M/B/ BB), Karas Vertex FPNibs with ebonite feed. 

- What I Liked:  When it flowed from the cartridge.  Sketching. 

- What I Did Not Like: The cartridge. Ink flow. Not for writing. 

- What Some Might Not Like: Low lubrication, dry flow, pale colour. 

- Writing Experience: With the right nib, it was very pleasant. 

- Pros: Great for sketching.

- Cons: Not the best cartridges.

 

 🧷 Ink Characteristics

 

- Shading: Ok. 

- Ghosting:  Faint depending on nib. 

- Bleed Through: There are spots. Don’t use a wet pen on cheap paper. 

- Flow Rate: Dry

- Lubrication:  Scratchy with EF nibs pleasant with a M Kawco nib. 

- Nib Dry-out:  Did not notice. 

- Start-up: Temperamental with a cartridge. Otherwise ok. 

- Saturation: Not. 

- Sheen:  No. 

- Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line:  Did not notice.

- Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice.

- Staining (Pen):  Nope

- Clogging:  No.

- Cleaning:  Easy

- Water Resistance: Good.

 

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 🛒 Availability

 

- [ ] Available in 50 ml bottles or cartridges. 

 

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 💬 Closing

 

My experience was tainted by the temperamental cartridges. If I’d known, I would have syringed it right away. 

 

No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review. ;) 

Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier. :)  

[lapis]

Nice! Very elaborate coverage as always. I like this one. I even have it (in a 50-ml glass bottle, 'frigzample available at least here) but would have liked it even more if it weren't so dry. Its tick of brown and green somehow reminds me of a pencil-lead grey and/or slate feeling.

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, lapis said:

Nice! Very elaborate coverage as always.

🙏

1 hour ago, lapis said:

I like this one. I even have it (in a 30-ml glass bottle, 'frigzample available at least here) but would have liked it even more if it weren't so dry.

Same here. It needs a wet pen and My nib.

1 hour ago, lapis said:

Its tick of brown and green somehow reminds me of a pencil-lead grey and/or slate feeling.

Yes. Very reminiscent of pencil. I believe I added pencil lines in one of the swatches for comparison.

 

[LizEF]

I'm grateful for reviewers who use multiple pens and report the ink behavior across a range - that information you included is very valuable for potential users of this ink!

 

Cool chroma!

 

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

 If you want to see what the Japanese EF looks like, check @LizEF’s excellent review. 

 

Fun quotes!   Love the shading in some of the writing.

 

That's a seriously fun set of swatch cards you got there!

 

I'm surprised how well it held up against water.

 

Kitty seems quite happy with the global warming.  It's amazing they put up with us and our air conditioning. Every now and then, Klaw has to go lie in the sun - it's shocking how quickly he heats up (black fur, after all).

 

Is Mousey in a bird cage?  I'm going to imagine he's as clever as Tweety, coming and going at will.

 

Thanks for another great review, @yazeh!

[Sailor Kenshin]

@yazeh, thanks for the review!  💝

 

I don't recall how dry mine is; I have this Kaweco Grey in a bottle.  I blame Youtube inksters.  And I got it mainly for artwork.  It appears to be a bit water resistant?  

 

Big fan of gray inks, though.  JH Gris Nuage is the only one of your comparisons I have.  My all time favorite gray ink is 'Sailor's Greystoke,' my own mix.

 

The chroma is interesting in a stealthy way.  Like like like all your artwork!  And the cat who wants a Bar Mitzvah made me giggle.  

I sometimes wonder if cartridges actually contain the same ink as bottles.  😹

[Mechanical]

Nice review, as always, @yazeh!  

 

Love the sketches!

[yazeh]

 

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

I'm grateful for reviewers who use multiple pens and report the ink behavior across a range - that information you included is very valuable for potential users of this ink!

Thanks! Glad it was useful.  

 

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

Cool chroma!

Isn't it? 

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

Fun quotes!   Love the shading in some of the writing.

I forgot to mention that the whole review was inspired by Smoke and her Mama, and her land of grey saga. Hence all the feline-centirc quotes.   

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

That's a seriously fun set of swatch cards you got there!

They look quite fun.  

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

I'm surprised how well it held up against water.

 

 Before I did the water test, I spent an hour doing intricate hatching and crosshatching on Memories, and then applied the water brush. All my lines disappeared into uniform Smokey Grey.   When I did the water test I was surprised.  I'm guessing that in my drawing, the ink didn't have the time to dry and bond completely to the paper. 

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

Kitty seems quite happy with the global warming.  It's amazing they put up with us and our air conditioning. Every now and then, Klaw has to go lie in the sun - it's shocking how quickly he heats up (black fur, after all).

They love the heat. Ours goes out whenever there's heat warning. 😎

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

Is Mousey in a bird cage?  I'm going to imagine he's as clever as Tweety, coming and going at will.

 

No. It's a Chinese lantern, hence the title. 😿

3 hours ago, LizEF said:

Thanks for another great review, @yazeh!

Thank you for your kind comments. Much appreciate the repartee. 🙏

[yazeh]

3 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

@yazeh, thanks for the review!  💝

🙏

3 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I don't recall how dry mine is; I have this Kaweco Grey in a bottle.  I blame Youtube inksters.  And I got it mainly for artwork.  It appears to be a bit water resistant?  

Yes, but not immediately after. You need to wait until it dries, if you apply the brush, right away, the ink will melt, or at least it did on the Mixed Media Paper.  

Ink is good with a nib M nib, bearable with a Lamy Ef nib.  

3 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

Big fan of gray inks, though.  JH Gris Nuage is the only one of your comparisons I have.  

I was planning to do a whole series of grey. But I think, I'll wait as have a bunch of fun, wacky inks lined up.  

3 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

My all time favorite gray ink is 'Sailor's Greystoke,' my own mix.

That must be lovely.  

3 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

The chroma is interesting in a stealthy way.  Like like like all your artwork!  

Thanks! 

3 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

And the cat who wants a Bar Mitzvah made me giggle.  

It's from a series of graphic novels called the rabbi's Cat. It's an irreverent talking cat that debates with the rabbi about the meaning of life and humanity. Very well done and highly recommended.  

3 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I sometimes wonder if cartridges actually contain the same ink as bottles.  😹

They are the same. I think cartridges need more cajoling and patience.  

 

[yazeh]

3 hours ago, Mechanical said:

Nice review, as always, @yazeh!  

Thanks!  

3 hours ago, Mechanical said:

 

Love the sketches!

 🙏

[LizEF]

23 minutes ago, yazeh said:

No. It's a Chinese lantern, hence the title. 😿

Aaaah.  Kitty was looking very Chinese.  Blame my lack of cultural education.

[yazeh]

9 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Aaaah.  Kitty was looking very Chinese.  Blame my lack of cultural education.

I copied a lovely print, and then anthropomorphized it.  

[Black16]

Another ink I really wanted but was afraid it will be too boring but from what I see here it is absolutely not, IMO! Also after getting a pen that can work only with the driest inks I totally must order a bottle for myself. Many many thanks for this reviews!

 

I also noticed you have a Hosia swatch. i was eyeing their inks for a few months already, do you by any chance have writing samples or reviews on any of them?

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, Black16 said:

Another ink I really wanted but was afraid it will be too boring but from what I see here it is absolutely not, IMO! Also after getting a pen that can work only with the driest inks I totally must order a bottle for myself. Many many thanks for this reviews!

Glad it was helpful. Incase you buy the cartridge format note that you need to forget the pen for a few days, until the ink flow is regulated. If you buy a bottle or syringe it you won't have any problem. I'll be reviewing another grey ink soon, also dry flow, quite similar.

 

1 hour ago, Black16 said:

 

I also noticed you have a Hosia swatch. i was eyeing their inks for a few months already, do you by any chance have writing samples or reviews on any of them?

Yes, I did a Hosia ink studio review:

Hosia Ink Studio - Shing Tong;

 

 

[Black16]

17 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Glad it was helpful. Incase you buy the cartridge format note that you need to forget the pen for a few days, until the ink flow is regulated. If you buy a bottle or syringe it you won't have any problem. I'll be reviewing another grey ink soon, also dry flow, quite similar.

I'll have to go for a bottle as the pen in question is a vintage lever filler, but thanks! Long ago I considered buying a set of their cartridges of all available colours but that wouldn't work out for me.

 

18 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Yes, I did a Hosia ink studio review:

Hosia Ink Studio - Shing Tong;

Thank you very much!

[yazeh]

41 minutes ago, Black16 said:

I'll have to go for a bottle as the pen in question is a vintage lever filler, but thanks! Long ago I considered buying a set of their cartridges of all available colours but that wouldn't work out for me.

 

41 minutes ago, Black16 said:

 

Thank you very much!

Most welcome. Note this is only one review. If you're interested I can try to review the one in question in advance.  That'll still mean it'll take a month or so to be published. 

[Black16]

On 8/7/2025 at 9:39 PM, yazeh said:

 

Most welcome. Note this is only one review. If you're interested I can try to review the one in question in advance.  That'll still mean it'll take a month or so to be published. 

Will be glad to read it whenever it is comfortable to you! I'm in no hurry as I've just got a huge parcel full of inks and I don't even have so many empty pens to test all of them right now

 

I personally looked at Lamy Agate and Parker Black as grayish inks, something from Diamine too but I can't recall the name unfortunately, might be their Earl Grey.

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, Black16 said:

Will be glad to read it whenever it is comfortable to you! I'm in no hurry as I've just got a huge parcel full of inks and I don't even have so many empty pens to test all of them right now

Good to know. I have one for next week. Unfortunately it's out of stock. I would say, most inks have chromoshading, low lubrication, and benefit being used with fude nibs and good Japanese paper, like Iroful. 

2 hours ago, Black16 said:

I personally looked at Lamy Agate and Parker Black as grayish inks, something from Diamine too but I can't recall the name unfortunately, might be their Earl Grey.

I'll be reviewing a bunch of grey inks, three by Diamine, and a bunch of others. I just posted a new Grey ink review now.  

 

[Black16]

On 8/27/2025 at 12:41 PM, yazeh said:

low lubrication

Sounds awful, but I might attempt using such inks in Noodler's Creeper, not sure if this pen will handle them well but still worth a try.

 

On 8/27/2025 at 12:41 PM, yazeh said:

I'll be reviewing a bunch of grey inks, three by Diamine, and a bunch of others. I just posted a new Grey ink review now.  

Will read it now, thank you!

[yazeh]

16 minutes ago, Black16 said:

Sounds awful, but I might attempt using such inks in Noodler's Creeper, not sure if this pen will handle them well but still worth a try.

It's not so bad. Often time, it's the question of which pen, with which ink. 

16 minutes ago, Black16 said:

 

Will read it now, thank you!

Enjoy