Review: J Herbin Eclat de Saphir Fountain Pen Ink

[cmenice]

I received my bottle from Pear Tree Pens the other day. Just put it in a pen. It's really nice color. Almost reminds me of Baystate Blue, but not quite as bright.

 

FYI: I ran cold water over a writing sample for 60 seconds and then soaked it in cold water for 10 minutes. The writing sample is very readable.

[Aysedasi]

Just received my first bottle of J Herbin Eclat de Saphir - what a lovely ink! Immediately goes to the top of my favorite lists. A lovely vibrant blue which looks superb with a nice big stub nib.

 

 

But, I was careless......

 

.... will it wash out of a bright white shirt........?

[fuchsiaprincess]

Thanks for reviewing this fantastic ink. For all of you that still don't know it, a professional seller which is also a member here, sells and ships Herbin inks anywhere in the world, 3 bottles of 30 ml per 18 euros. Penandco.com Jean is also as nice as one can wish and a true pleasure to deal with. (Usual disclaimer here...).

 

 

Great review, Steph! Thanks!

 

I'm also another very satisfied customer of Jean Elie (Penandco.com). Just bought 6 bottles of J. Herbin - free worldwide shipping!

 

Regards,

Soki

Edited December 9, 2008 by fuchsiaprincess

[biffybeans]

It is nice, isn't it? When I first starting using FP's, I wanted all of my inks to be as saturated as possible. I received this ink as an unexpected sample and I tried it out to be polite and instantly fell in love with it and now am not as rigid with my need for a saturated ink. This ink is always in one of my pens. Right now, it's in my F Pelikan M200 after a long run in an EF Safari.

 

 

Just received my first bottle of J Herbin Eclat de Saphir - what a lovely ink! Immediately goes to the top of my favorite lists. A lovely vibrant blue which looks superb with a nice big stub nib.

 

 

But, I was careless......

 

.... will it wash out of a bright white shirt........?

 

[techman]

I find the herbin inks are very FP friendly and have nice coloring. They may become the one inks I use all of the time.I am using a mix of bleu pervenche and rose cyclamen right now and love it.They do have a nice scent to.

Edited December 10, 2008 by techman

[someonesdad]

A new FPN friend from Canada (hi, Richard!) sent me three bottles of Herbin inks. I would have never tried them on my own. The Eclat de Saphir immediately became a favorite. The Poussiere de Lune turned out to be exactly the maroon ink I wanted. And the Perle Noir became my favorite black, as it flows so well from my fine point pens. I suggest you try the black too -- I bet it will become a favorite.

[Neill78]

Your welcome. Are you aware of what other of J Herbin's inks might be similarly saturated?

 

I find Lie de The to be quite nicely saturated, and it's much different than most browns because it's got a greenish cast rather than red.

 

Edit: I forgot to say that I was using it in my Pelikan M150 F & M nib on a Moleskine pocket-size with no feathering and little bleed-through. Quite a bit of show-through but hey... it's Moleskine. What can ya do?

 

Neill

Edited December 11, 2008 by Neill78

[loweevan]

Is it just me or is this exactly the same color as Lamy blue?

[GreenVelvet]

Is it just me or is this exactly the same color as Lamy blue?

 

Nope, not at all. I've not used Eclat de Saphir but I've seen it in many letters, and it's much brighter and more "blue." I find Lamy blue to be a little on the grey side and quite washed-out. While I often complain that, to my eyes, Herbin inks tend to look washed out, this is not one of them. It's a great blue.

[loweevan]

Nope, not at all. I've not used Eclat de Saphir but I've seen it in many letters, and it's much brighter and more "blue." I find Lamy blue to be a little on the grey side and quite washed-out. While I often complain that, to my eyes, Herbin inks tend to look washed out, this is not one of them. It's a great blue.

 

I wonder if the Lamy cartridges are different from the bottles. The reason I asked in the first place is that I'd been using EdS and only recently (finally) put the blue cartridge that came with my safari to use. I thought they looked similar, so I put them next to each other and the texture (if you could call it that) is a little different, but the color looks dead-on the same to me. My EdS isn't the same flat tone that the Bleu Nuit is, so I don't think it's a faulty Herbin bottle. Maybe I got lucky with Lamy?

[Philosopher]

This is most helpful biffybeans. I started another post asking about the Herbin scented inks and got some strong negative opinions, along with carefully thought out alternative ideas. I am reading your ink-by-ink analyses of this ancient French brand and am getting a different picture. Clearly you have good reasons for rejecting a few of their inks, but in the above review you keep the door open. Like you I use essential oils and that can make one a bit of a fuss pot! But with the Saphir ink we have a winner. Thank you.

[Pengrump]

This ink has been one of my favorite blues since it first came on the scene. (Before that I used Herbin Bleu Myosotis, which really is a little too washed out for my taste.) Thanks for a very fine review.

[Federmann]

Click here for images and full review

 

(..)

It's the color of blueberries in a muffin.

(..)

This is the real blue!

 

No purple like aurora blue

No green like visconti blue

No grey like lamy blue

 

Just BLUE!

 

I love this ink²

[metaphora]

I wonder if the Lamy cartridges are different from the bottles. The reason I asked in the first place is that I'd been using EdS and only recently (finally) put the blue cartridge that came with my safari to use. I thought they looked similar, so I put them next to each other and the texture (if you could call it that) is a little different, but the color looks dead-on the same to me. My EdS isn't the same flat tone that the Bleu Nuit is, so I don't think it's a faulty Herbin bottle. Maybe I got lucky with Lamy?

 

Hate to hijack this thread, but I was wondering the exact same thing. Anyone know the answer to the bottle/cartridge issue?

 

I agree that the Eclat de Saphir looks almost identical to the blue cartridges that come with the Lamy Safari. The Lamy blue-black cartridge, on the other hand, is more on the gray side.

 

[metaphora]

P.S. Thanks for the review! It was very useful.