Cross Black Color family: Blacks |
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Sample? No | Scented? No Shimmer? No |
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Comments: Neutral to purple/brown black with grey tones in its lighter range. Fairly dark; a good bit more than most. |
De Atramentis Love Letter Color family: Blacks |
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Sample? No | Scented? Yes Shimmer? No |
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Comments: True, dark, velvety, charcoal black, no green/blue/brown tones, with only very slight shading and a heady rose scent. |
Diamine Night Sky Color family: Blacks |
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Sample? No | Scented? No Shimmer? Yes |
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Comments: One of Diamine’s Shimmertastics line, this is technically a black with silvery/iridescent shimmer, but it reads a bit more as a grey because of that shimmer. A very dramatic ink! |
Levenger Raven Black Color family: Blacks |
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Sample? No | Scented? No Shimmer? No |
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Comments: As rather my namesake, I love this deep true black, even though I don’t really do blacks much. Of all of the blacks I have, this one has a pleasing tone, just the sort of subtle purplish hue one might expect on the glossy wing of a corvid. |
Mont Blanc Black Color family: Blacks |
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Sample? No | Scented? No Shimmer? No |
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Comments: Another basic black; a semi-vintage. I grabbed this more for the ‘shoe’ style bottle (the older, more rounded, deco-styled one, not the current blocky one) than the ink- I don’t tend to use black much. |
Monteverde Black Color family: Blacks |
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Sample? No | Scented? No Shimmer? No |
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Comments: It’s black. Well, OK, it is a nice true black, not he darkest, but in most nibs, quite dark, without any real color shift. What is notable, however, is that this is one of the best behaved inks I’ve ever used. Monteverde claims to have some ‘clewing & lubricating’ properties to their inks, and from using this one, I’m convinced. It’s becomes a go-to for troublesome pens, even though, as a rule, I don’t prefer using black ink. |
Visconti Black Color family: Blacks |
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Sample? No | Scented? No Shimmer? No |
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Comments: Deep true black. (Small plastic bottle.) Probably the darkest I currently own. |
Waterman Black Color family: Blacks |
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Sample? No | Scented? No Shimmer? No |
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Comments: Slightly washed out but pretty true black; no noticable blue or brown tones. |
Grey Inks
De Atramentis Frankincense Color family: Greys |
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Sample? No | Scented? Yes Shimmer? No |
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Comments: Another of my scented ink batch, this one with a smokey Frankincense that I really like. It’s a pretty true dove grey, which I also like, though it’s an odd color choice for the scent (to me, at least). |
De Atramentis Ghost Color family: Greys |
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Sample? No | Scented? Yes Shimmer? No |
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Comments: Mournful greenish-grey, another tough one to describe. Think old mossy wood, stained green over water-logged grey. Has a very evocative (considering the name) scent of pine, water and camphor – makes me think of haunted mansions in the Bayou. Or something…. |
Diamine Grey Color family: Greys |
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Sample? Yes | Scented? No Shimmer? No |
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Comments: This is an interesting ink. It’s a true grey, with no noticeable shades of green, blue, or brown. It shades nicely, and seems to perform as one would expect a Diamine ink to perform. So I like this, I’m just not sure I’ll ever use it…. |
Diamine Grey Fox Color family: Greys |
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Sample? No | Scented? No Shimmer? No |
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Comments: I’ve been becoming fascinated with grey inks, and this one if a beautiful example. A clear, slightly cool grey that manages not to lean to any hue. Medium in tone, if can carry itself even in a finer nib, but might be more expressive in a medium or wider. |
J. Herbin Stormy Seas Color family: Greys |
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Sample? No | Scented? No Shimmer? Yes |
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Comments: A medium-to-dark grey with a soft golden shimmer, this ink is…well, I should love it, but I don’t, and I can’t say why. Maybe I want this lovely true grey to shimmer silver, not gold? Maybe the grey comes off as greenish in combination with the gold shimmer? I don’t know, this just doesn’t rock my socks like some of Herbin’s other shimmering inks. (Although, I will say this one does give a subtle glint to writing with a finer nib, which I do appreciate.) |
Noodler's Lexington Grey Color family: Greys |
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Sample? No | Scented? No Shimmer? No |
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Comments: Greys seem to be tough – they either end up leaning greenish, bluish, or purplish; it’s hard to find a true neutral grey. This one has a very slight green cast, but is still a very nice medium grey. I’ve started to really become intrigued by grey inks…. Oh it’s also bulletproof, making it a nice choice for legal documents where you might want something *just* a little out of the ordinary, but not too flashy |
Sheaffer Grey Color family: Greys |
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Sample? No | Scented? No Shimmer? No |
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Comments: This is another semi-vintage ink from Sheaffer, this one in a burgundy-labeled bottle, dating from the late 1980s. It’s a really nicely balanced grey that leans a bit warm, and shows lovely shading. |