Tag Archive

This week we’re going to take a look at Maruzen Athena Renga. For those who may not be familiar, Maruzen is a bookstore in Tokyo that has its own line of pens and inks. Fude Fan has a nice writeup of Maruzen’s 150-year history if you’re interested. I acquired this ink when I lived in San Francisco. A member of …

This week we’re going to take a look at S.T. Dupont Royal Blue ink. I purchased this ink at Mora Stylos while I was in Paris a few years back. I really wanted to get some sort of souvenir, but couldn’t afford a new pen, so I figured a bottle of French ink would work just as well. The bottle …

This week we’re going to take a look at Sailor Ink Studio 123 (or from now on, just Sailor 123). You may remember this ink from a few years ago when, as one of the first and most prominent multichromatic inks available, it was pretty much the biggest thing to happen to fountain pen ink in a really long time. …

This week we’re going to take a look at Laban Athena Grey. This is probably the most interesting ink I’ve had in this series so far. While it may look like a dark grey, nearly black ink, the more I used it the more complexity I found hiding in it. Before this past week, I had only used it once …

This week we’re going to take a look at Iroshizuku Yama-budo. I’m not sure how we ended up with an Iroshizuku ink two weeks in a row since I only have four bottles in my collection, but I’m glad that this one popped up. It’s one of my favorite inks! I have used this bottle extensively since I first purchased …

This week we’re going to take a look at Iroshizuku Murasaki-shikibu. I received this ink as a gift from my wife a few years ago when I really started getting into fountain pens again. At the time I had a lot of vintage fountain pen inks and hadn’t purchased many newer inks. It was actually my first bottle of Iroshizuku …

I knew it would happen sooner or later. An ink came up that I am just not excited about. This week we’re going to take a look at Lamy Red. I received this bottle of ink at the 2022 Pelikan Hub. I’m not sure if everyone else around the world got a bottle of this as well, but I know …

This week we’re going to take a look at Jacques Herbin Gris de houle. I purchased this ink on a trip to Paris, so it has a good deal of sentimental value for me. It came as part of a 5-pack of 15ml ink bottles. At the time, these were very difficult to find for sale outside of Europe. Fortunately, …

This week we’re going to take a look at KWZ Old Gold. This was the first bottle of KWZ I ever purchased. If I remember correctly, I thought it looked somewhat similar to Skrip Kings Gold, which I’ve always loved. While there are probably better matches out there, I think I just needed a reason to buy an ink from …

Next up in my Ink of the Week series is an ink that you probably haven’t seen very often, PenBBS #178 Rose Quartz. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s even made any more. Still, it’s a bottle that’s in my collection and its number came up, so while you may not be able to get a bottle of your own, here …