For the next in this batch of ink reviews we have another with a French name – Noodler’s La Reine Mauve – which also links to aristocracy and revolution. This is an “Eternal” ink with features to defeat forgery. Unlike other similar inks I have tested recently I could actually see myself writing a cheque with this one.

According to its label, this ink is also “guillotine proof”, but that doesn’t form part of my test suite, so I cannot confirm this property. Apparently Marie Antoinette loved purple, so she is depicted (decapitated) on the hand drawn label, offering a plate of cake to what looks like a possum hanging from a tree and a large purple catfish. It’s a strange image, so I won’t dwell on it any more.

This bottle came from a US supplier (not my usual Ebay store) and picked up higher than usual shipping charges. Coupled with the fact it comes in a 1oz bottle (for the usual price of a 3oz bottle) I have to class this ink as expensive.

The dinky 1oz bottle still has the same cap and neck associated with a 3oz bottle, so filling a pen is not a problem. The box is a scaled down version of the usual black line art on white box (but with less detail).

The test pen was a Pilot MR (medium nib).

Water resistance was very strong. Cleaning was difficult – it took a lot to shift the last traces of the ink especially from the feed – where it seemed to have partially congealed. Dry time was extended at about a minute.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

This is a truly beautiful ink, with a colour that I would describe a stormy violet purple. On this paper it is very dark. The main problem is the weird ink flow – varying from on the dry side to almost too heavy, giving an unpredictable line width.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

Ink flow on this paper was better and more consistent – but with a tendency to spread, giving too thick a line.

Yellow Post-It

Flow was erratic again, skipping completely at the start, which along with feathering didn’t give a satisfactory experience.

Field Note – Pitch Black

Heavy feathering and bleed – again not good.

Mnemosyne Word Card

This image really shows the deeply saturated purple, but leans slightly more towards blue than in reality.

Conclusion

The fantastic colour (along with the waterproof properties) made me really want to like this ink. The higher than normal price doesn’t really put me off – it’s the erratic ink flow. I will try it in other pens when times allows, but only ones that are easy to clean. I can’t see it being a daily use ink until I can find a suitable pen.

The post Noodler’s La Reine Mauve – Ink Review appeared first on Stationary Journey.

The third in this batch of ink reviews is for Noodler’s La Couleur Royale, which unsurprisingly is a deeply saturated royal blue, leaning towards violet.

The label depicts the early demise of a French aristocrat. Although I could find the same image online through Google, at the time of writing this review the original page was unavailable – so I don’t know if the unfortunate aristo is identified on that page, and if he was, in fact, a royal.

This was an Ebay purchase from the US for a 3oz bottle, so the price was in my view moderate. Box and bottle held no surprises. The test pen on this occasion was a Pilot Metropolitan Violet Leopard with a medium nib – a perfect match.

Water resistance was minimal. Cleaning was easy enough. Drying time was very long at over 2 minutes – meaning that the ink smudged easily for a long time after writing.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

This is a lovely ink to write with. The only drawback is the extended drying time, leading to inadvertent smudging. I really like the colour, which overrides the drying problem. The fact that flow was moderate didn’t detract from the writing experience, and is something I will come back to later.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

The flow felt a little more free on this paper, and overall the experience was good, despite my fumbled writing.

Yellow Post-It

Another good experience, just a slight problem with smudging.

Field Note – Pitch Black

Not too bad overall.

Mnemosyne Word Card

This swab shows more of a purple tint in reality compared to the writing samples, but it doesn’t really come over in this image, which leans more to blue.

Conclusion

This is a really attractive ink, with only the drying time as a drawback. The moderate flow tempted me to use this in my Pilot Capless Fountain Pen which has very free flow. The two together are a good combination and I can see the ink staying in that pen for a while.

The post Noodler’s La Couleur Royale – Ink Review appeared first on Stationary Journey.

This Noodler’s ink is part of the V-Mail series, which I understand to be a recreation of a number of vintage inks.

I like blue inks that lean towards violet, but this was the first ink I bought which described itself as such. There is some inconsistency though in the use of the term “violet” – which is often used interchangeably with “purple”. I refer to the Wikipedia entry , which puts violet between purple and blue, but this ink leans more to blue even than the Wikipedia example of colour-wheel violet.

This was another Ebay purchase from the US, so with shipping it worked out to be moderately priced. The ink came in the generously filled 3oz bottle, inside the usual white box with black line art. The label has the silhouette images of WWII planes along with what I take to be flags of the Allied forces – although to my shame I don’t recognise a couple of them.

The pen used for this review was a Pilot Metropolitan Violet Leopard with a medium nib, and the colour matches the ink perfectly. This is currently the only true Metropolitan that I own. It had two drawbacks for the purposes of this review. Firstly it was fitted with a CON 20 converter, which made it hard to check for staining – I will use a CON 50 for future tests. Secondly try as I might I could not remove the nib and feed for cleaning. All my Pilot MRs come apart easily and I can’t find any reference to the nib unit being sealed on any other Pilot Metropolitans, so either this is a faulty pen, one of a limited number with sealed nib units, or I’m just not using enough force – but I didn’t feel safe using any more. This is not enough to put me off using it for ink reviews in the future, but I need to take this into account when considering ease of cleaning with inks.

In fact I didn’t experience any problems cleaning out this ink. Dry time time was around 30 seconds which is on the longer side. Water resistance was good, although not 100% – some of the ink did wash away or cause smudging with water drops.

Rhodia Dot Pad No 16

The colour on this paper was a very attractive, deep saturated violet – an instant favourite. Flow was slightly restricted, and there were a few hard starts, but nothing remotely unsatisfactory. The smell might bother others, but not me.

Ryman Memo Block 9cm x 9cm

Another pleasant experience. I can’t think of anything negative.

Yellow Post-It

Minor skipping over the adhesive areas, but not enough to put me off. The contrast with the paper colour is strikingly attractive to me.

Field Notes – Pitch Black

The feathering and bleeding weren’t good. While I’ve seen worse I can’t claim it’s satisfactory.

Mnemosyne Word Card

If anything the Word Card appears slightly lighter than the handwriting tests – the darker parts of the swab are closer to the deeply saturated violet that I really like.

Conclusion

I really like this ink, and I can see it forming a regular part of my rotation. Definitely one to restock when the time comes.

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