Please don’t shoot me for reviewing another teal blue ink so soon after Pelikan Edelstein Aquamarine. Franklin-Christoph Midnight Emerald ($12.50 for 2oz.) is a much deeper blue-teal color than Aquamarine. It’s in that space between teal and blue-black that you didn’t know you needed an ink. Did you?
I tested the ink in my Franklin-Christoph Pocket Ice 66 eyedropper with a Fine nib and the ink still shaded quite nicely. The ink dried pretty quickly in the fine nib and I didn’t have any smearing issues even with my left-handedness. The painted lettering took a little bit longer to dry on the Rhodia paper so I suspect a wider nib would also take a bit longer to dry. Not a scientific analysis but this ink dried faster than a lot of inks I test.
The color strikes a nice balance between being a teal and a blue-black. Professional enough for everyday work but unique enough to be fun to use.
The ink is not waterproof so it means clean-up is pretty easy despite the depth of color.
Midnight Emerald is very similar in color to Akkerman #24 Zuiderpark Blauw-Green but Midnight Emerald is a tiny bit more blue than Zuiderpark. The price for Midnight Emerald is considerably lower. Diamine Twilight is more blue black and Callifolio Olifants is more indigo blue so Midnight Emerald really does seem to hit an unusual niche.
Overall, Midnight Emerald is a really lovely color and I’m grateful to have it in my arsenal.
Erin Marie A lovely fan in Atlanta gave me this bottle of ink because she knew how much I loved teal colors but I forgot to write down her name so, if you’re out there, please leave a message in the comments so I can give you a proper thank you and shout out for this lovely gift which I will cherish. We had such a lovely conversation but I have a brain like a sieve sometimes and trying to remember Slack handles, real names, email addresses and Rav names often leaves me not remembering any name at all! So sorry!
Oooh that makes me wonder how it compares to Noodler’s Squeteague, which might be my favorite ink right now and definitely looks teal-black coming out of my Kaweco!
I also really like the color of Noodler’s Squeteague, but it dries quite slowly for me. I am interested in Midnight Emerald as a less smeary alternative although I think Squeteague is a bit more green. Thanks for the review of an ink new to me.
I just got a moment to read your review. It was my pleasure to give you the bottle of ink. Reading your blog brings sunshine to my day. Thank you for all the time you spend. Please know it is appreciated!! Be blessed.
Thank you, Erin Marie! I love the ink and your generosity!
From trying it out in Chicago, the base color to me (the blue green) seems very close to the base color of Emerald de Chivor. I suspect Midnight Emerald is without the EdC red sheen, (and naturally without sparkles) but that might be OK.