J. Herbin Éclat de Saphir

[beowulf]

Hello,

 

Nobody seems to have reviewed J.Herbin's Éclat de Saphir and so I might do this. I realize I lack a water test, but maybe I'll do that again some time. A few weeks ago, some medicine of mine leaked in my bag and managed to eradicate a corner of my journal.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v142/beowulf222/Tinte2.jpg

 

The color is very nice and flows especially well with the fountain pen I wrote the sample with, a Sheaffer Military 1941.

 

Nick

Edited April 17, 2006 by beowulf

[chupie]

It's almost purply. Herbin inks do flow nicely. Too light for fine pens (many of the colors are anyway (IMO) ) but nice in mediums.

[southpaw]

Thanks for the good review.

 

Nick, how close is the photo/scan to what you actually see on paper? The photo, at least on my admittedly uncalibrated monitor, seems to be quite purple. My bottle of Eclat de Saphir is much more blue. I suspect the pen you used might have a rather dry writing nib? Mine are more wet, but I still think it's a bit too purple.

 

I like the color and flow of the ink, but find it a bit lacking on lubricity and value (too much $/ml compared to other comparable inks). How do you find the ink as far as lubricating the nib, say compared to Noodlers, Waterman, Diamine, etc.?

[beowulf]

It's almost purply. Herbin inks do flow nicely. Too light for fine pens (many of the colors are anyway (IMO) ) but nice in mediums.

 

I think it might a language issue and as I am no English native speaker, the translation for purple in German means "lila, violett." And I don't think Éclat de Saphir is purple. It got a slight touch into plum when wet - maybe. :blink:

 

Nick, how close is the photo/scan to what you actually see on paper? The photo, at least on my admittedly uncalibrated monitor, seems to be quite purple.

 

It's a scan and I am beginning to see what you mean. I don't think the scan really gives credit to the true color. Do you suggest to take a photo rather than scan the sample?

 

I like the color and flow of the ink, but find it a bit lacking on lubricity and value (too much $/ml compared to other comparable inks). How do you find the ink as far as lubricating the nib, say compared to Noodlers, Waterman, Diamine, etc.?

 

Price wise, yeah, Herbin inks are not the cheapest but they are not super expensive either. The small bottle sometimes makes it hard to get ink out of it. There is no lubrication of the nib at all which I consider to be good.

 

Nick

[Goodwhiskers]

Thanks for reviewing one of the so-called "standard" inks! :bunny1:

[memphislawyer]

In my Bexley fine pen, the Herbin looks more purply and light, and appears as the exemplar does. In the Visconti medium nib, it appears more to the blue and because of the wet line, it appears much like the Florida Blue does when written from a Bexley fine nib.

 

Sam

[wimg]

Thank you, Nick!

 

I have a bottle of the ink, but no occasion yet to use it a lot.

 

Most blue inks seem to have purple undertones to most human eyes, and a wet nib versus a dry nib will make a lot of difference too, anyway.

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Ann Finley]

Love this color of Blue! Thanks for showing it off!!!

 

Best, Ann

[memphislawyer]

Can anyone compare a Eclat de Saphir with the Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue? Maybe do a swab and/or writing example and post it?

 

Sam

[beowulf]

I'd like to add two shots (both are photographs this time), one of which shows the inkl after dipping the paper into water.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v142/beowulf222/tinte-neu2.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v142/beowulf222/tinte-neu-verwaschen2.jpg

[RLTodd]

Just adding to the prior review which my observations agree with.

 

The Parker Quinck Black swatch is for color reference. I have not been able to come up with another standard for color matching by the viewers. The problem is comming up with something that is cheap and has world wide availability.

[RLTodd]

To my eyes, and I have a low level of common male red-green color blindness, the Herbin Saphir is exactly the same hue and denisity as the current, and less costly, Slovakian Skrip Blue. YMMV, especially if you have good color vision as most women do.

[klemenv]

Todd, Skrip is being outsourced in Slovenia, not Slovakia.

[Dimitrios_P]

Very nice if you use a wet nib.

[Albinoni]

Actually bought a bottleof this today and will try it in my Sheaffer Targa gold fountain pen.

[georges zaslavsky]

very nice and interesting color, thanks for sharing