The Well-Appointed Desk

Ink Review: KWZ Discovery Green – Dromgoole’s Exclusive

Ink is a passion of mine, a passion that rose to a ridiculous level a long time ago. It started out with a small selection of four or five ink samples and has grown into a collection of nearly 2000 ink samples, bottles, vials, swatches… While I completely understand I cannot use up all of this ink, it has become an obsession with color, shading, sheen, sparkle, ink properties, and un-obtainability.

However, one ink line is noticeably missing from this collection. KWZ inks. The reason behind this has always been the smell.

Ink preservatives lend a distinct smell to ink – just open up a bottle of Sailor ink and sniff. To combat this smell, KWZ adds something or other to the ink that partially masks it and has a pleasant vanilla-like perfume.

It just happens that I have unfortunate memories associated with the smell of vanilla. Many years ago there was a terrible incident with a large amount of vanilla-scented oil being spilled on carpet. I had to smell that for months. I shudder at the thought of those months.

While I love the colors offered by KWZ, I’ve never been able to get over that scent. But I was very pleasantly surprised when I opened up the newest offering from KWZ, Discovery Green, a Dromgoole’s Exclusive color. The vanilla scent in this ink was barely noticeable! Instead, the smell was quite neutral.

I do enjoy sheening inks, but those that cover up the color of the underlying ink are a bit too much. I was expecting a super sheening ink with Discovery Green but was again surprised to find a slightly subdued sheen that looks almost matte metallic and is only obvious at certain angles.

See? Here’s the same card in the same light at two different angles:

The sheen on this ink is beautiful, but not as overwhelming as many I have seen.

I was able to get a good comparison of the underlying color by keeping the Col-o-ring cards at a certain angle – Lamy Crystal Peridot is very close although Discovery Green has a touch more green. Very similar in writing to Robert Oster Peppermint but with more sheen.

I found Discovery Green to be dry in writing, an experience that is common to most highly sheening inks. In the photo below, you can see there was a bit of smearing in the “n” in Green, but I had not yet given the ink time to dry. I did not have a problem with smearing once it was dry.

Dry time was longer with this ink – also common with sheening inks on Tomoe River paper – the ink was dry in 30 to 35 seconds in normal writing but much longer in pools or swatches.

As I said, Discovery Green is a dry ink. I had no problems with it when I first inked up my pen. There were also no problems after letting the pen sit for a week without writing. However, the next week (2 weeks in the pen), I had a difficult time getting the pen to start – I had to wet the nib in a cup of water and also prime the feed before the pen was happy. I would say if you are going to write a pen dry, the experience will be wonderful.

I do love the color of Discovery Green. According to the Dromgoole’s site, “The name comes from the beloved Discovery Green park in downtown Houston, which is filled with interesting sculptures, fun play areas, and grassy hillocks. Perfect for a picnic or throwing a frisbee with your friends. Take a leisurely stroll with all of us at Dromgoole’s through KWZ’s Discovery Green”

I loved the changes in shading between a dark teal and a medium forest green. I also enjoy the more livable level of sheen.

I now have a rule though. Don’t color in block letters with a fine nib.

Notebook: Musubi Tomoe River Folio (~$35 for 384 pages)
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
Ink: KWZ Discovery Green Dromgoole’s Exclusive (60mL, $15)

DISCLAIMER: The ink in this review was provided free of charge by Dromgoole’s for the purposes of this review. All other items in this review were purchased by me. Except for the Col-o-ring which was provided to me by a wonderful person who pays me to write blogs by keeping me supplied with Col-o-rings. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature

Link Love: Finally! We Can Drink the Ink!

AnaJuly 8, 2020July 8, 20204 Comments

How did I not know about Ink Gin? How was this not the official alcohol of every pen show? I mean, first there’s the name. Then it’s a lovely shade of violet in the bottle. Then, when mixed with tonic, it turns PINK! I mean seriously! I love a good botanical gin to begin with but one that turns pink and is called Ink Gin? Why can’t we get this in the US? I need a bottle of this gin NOW!!!! Like I needed another reason to trek to Australia.

Ink Overview: iPaper Inks

AnaJuly 8, 2020July 7, 20202 Comments

I purchased five of the six iPaper Taiwan Series inks available last year at the San Francisco Pen Show. I don’t know much about iPaper inks other than that they are from Taiwan and that they have a small shop there. I wanted to write a preview or review of these inks at the time but it seemed unfair because it was almost impossible to get these inks.

A couple weeks ago though, I noticed that Shigure Inks was listing them in what can only be called their “catalog” of inks. In the short time that Shigure Inks has been online, they have accumulated 24 different ink brands. I think Vanness Pen Shop holds the record with 44 brands but if anyone knows of another shop with more brands, let me know.

The packaging I had for these inks only had the ink colors listed in Chinese so I had to wing the names a bit. The translation was a little slapdash. I used Google Translate which gave me the more scientific sounding flower names. By the time the inks appeared on Shigure Inks, the names of the colors were a bit more simplified so the photos show the colors listed with both names. I will refer to these colors by the names listed on Shigure’s site for simplicity’s sake.

I was able to get a sample of the one color I did not get in the bottle so I can show all six colors.

While a company like Waterman or Parker might roll out their first ink colors by creating a more traditional palette, iPaper went bright and tropical. My initial thought is that these would probably not be the first inks I would recommend for a new fountain pen user, but I also don’t think that the world really needs another black or blue-black ink.

Sadly, Eustonia is the only color not available from Shigure Inks and it’s probably the most usable as a daily writing ink since it’s a darker violet with pink undertones. Blue Magpie is a bright vivid blue and Pleione is a deep magenta. Cherry Blossom is a neon pink, Nantou Treefrog is a light lime green and Dendrobium is a golden yellow. On Col-o-ring paper, it’s easy to see the sheen in Eustonia and Pleione. All of the inks shade beautifully.

On Tomoe River paper, Blue Magpie also sheens and Eustonia and Pleione shows a lot more variation. Cherry Blossom and Dendrobium shade but don’t show as much sheeining. In person, Cherry Blossom has a little golden sheen that is hard to see on screen.

When compared with other inks, Pleione looks quite similar to Monteverde Rose Pink but all my other inks in the same hue was much duller. The closest I had were Robert Oster Australian Opal Pink and J. Herbin Bouquet D’Antan.

Eustonia is very similar to Sailor Studio 123. In the make-up world, this might be called a “dupe” if it were considerably cheaper but by the time you get this to the US, the prices for iPaper inks vs. Sailor Studio are pretty similar. Lennon Toolbar Morning Glory is a little more vivid with less sheening.

As for iPaper Nantou Treefrog, the rare-as-hen-teeth Diamine Calligraphy Passion Ink is probably the closest color I could find. J. Herbin Vert Pré is close but a little more vibrant. Pilot Iroshizuku Chiku-Rin is more subdued and Diamine Light Green is just a deeper shade of lime green.

Magpie Blue is another “dupe” ink, IMHO to a Sailor Studio ink. This time its a pretty close match to Sailor Studio #143. The only other color I could find that was even close was Montblanc Miles Davis Jazz Blue (which is similar to Bungbox Hatsuyume Aofuj but that is very difficult to find).

Dendrobium feels very similar to Sailor #770 and both remind me a lot of the rare Birmingham Pen Co. Luna Park Marmalade. Both De Atramentis Gandhi and Montblanc Lucky Yellow are a little more golden, leaning a little more orange.

Cherry Blossom is really similar to Lamy Neon Coral. If you missed this very rare color, then Cherry Blossom is a good option. Kobe #12 Okomo Neon Coral is a tiny bit more orange and Kobe #30 Prince Cherry and Taccia Momo both lean more pinky magenta. The Pilot 100th Anniversary Benzaiten is very similar in hue but is not as neon, it’s just dulled down a bit.

I want to love yellow ink but I find it hard to use and I think I conscientiously skipped the Treefrog ink as being too light in the lime green family to tempt me. I don’t actually have full bottles of the Sailor Studio inks so I am happy to have these inks.

Each of these inks are available in 30ml bottles for $22 each. The iPaper inks are vibrant and pretty but most of the colors are pretty similar to a lot of other colors. If you’ve already collected a lot of Sailor Studio Inks, you may not need to purchase any of these inks. Alternately, if you don’t have a large ink collection, these might be good options to add to your collection since they are unique and unusual.

Tools:

Paper: Nanami Café Note B6 Slim Grid
Pens: Dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15)
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15) & Col-o-ring OVERSIZE ($15)
Brush: Blick Synthetic Round #0 and cotton swabs
Ink: iPaper Taiwan Series ($22 for 30ml bottle)

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge but the inks were purchased for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Franklin Christoph Pocket 20, Salmon Glow

Laura CameronJuly 7, 2020July 7, 20202 Comments

Review by Laura Cameron

It’s been a long year so far and no pen shows to break it up! So when Franklin Christoph announced their Virtual Pen Show, I decided I’d have a little look-see. And wouldn’t you know it…something caught my eye!

Months ago, Franklin Christoph did a limited run of a color they called Salmon Glow in the Pocket 45 model. During the sale they had a few pens left in a variety of models and I jumped at the chance I missed. Since I only have Pocket 45’s I decided to opt for something new: a Pocket 20 with a clip!

The Salmon Glow lives up to it’s name. It’s a positively glowy pinky orange. When I went looking for an ink to match I chose none other than J. Herbin’s Corail des Tropiques. I think it matches perfectly!

The Pocket 20 is fairly close in size to the Pocket 45 coming in at 4 5/8″ to the 45’s 4 3/8″ inch. They are also similar in weight – 17g for the 20 and 14g for the 45.

There are a few major differences in the models though:

The 20 features a #6 nib (I got a steel fine), whereas the 45 features a #5 nib.
The 20 features a friction cap, whereas the 45 features a screw cap. This is IMPORTANT to remember as I’ve eye dropper filled both pens, and that 20 could get quite messy if I forget!
The 20 has a clip, whereas the 45 does not. At first I wasn’t sure if I would like this aesthetically speaking, but there is something nice about having a pen that won’t roll away from you (or off the table!)
The body shape of the 20 is more rounded, whereas the 45 is slightly more angular.

Overall the pen performs beautifully right out of the box – I would expect nothing less from a Franklin Christoph. If you get down to it, I bought this pen solely because I loved the body material and I have been kicking myself for missing the previous version. Other than the color, the body material is very similar to that of my special Vanness exclusive Franklin Christoph Pocket 45. I love the vibrancy of the color of both, but also the translucency in the body. Okay okay… I kind of wanted them as a pair!

Papers:Ghost Paper Notebook ($25)
Pen: Franklin Christoph Pocket 20 in Salmon Glow ($145-165)
Ink: J. Herbin Corail des Tropiques (10ml for $6)

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Schneider Voice Fountain Pen

AnaJuly 6, 2020July 13, 202044 Comments

A kind reader sent me this Schneider Fountain Pen. Prior to receiving it, I knew very little about Schneider as a pen brand. Occasionally, I would see Schneider rollerball, gel or ballpoint pens at my local big box office supply store but I was not aware that they had any fountain pens.

Schneider is a German brand and, my best guess, is that it’s sort of the PaperMate or Bic of Germany. I don’t mean to belittle the brand. I am rather suggesting that they focus more on the standard school and office supplies, branded promotional pens and less on high-end writing tools.

Based on my research, I was able to establish that this pen is probably last year’s design in their “Voice” line. There is also a “Easy” line that looks similar in overall design besides the graphics printed on the barrel.

The pen I received came with a standard international cartridge and an empty spacer cartridge (empty with no back on it so it wasn’t simply an empty cartridge). The pen will also accept a standard interntaional cartridge converter for bottled ink.

The pen is very lightweight plastic with a slightly rubberized, molded grip section. I suspect this is definitely a “my first fountain pen” for the budget conscious. I know many German school children are required to learn penmanship with a fountain pen and I suspect if my family had grown up in Germany, we would have gotten a pen like this for my brother who would have perpetually lost his pens and not a Lamy or other more expensive pen.

The nib has some unique etched lines on it but its the nib that was really fascinating.

The nib was pretty unusual looking. On closer inspection, it looks as if the tines were folded to create a blade-like writing surface.

The view from the side is where you can really see the butter knife swoop.

When actually writing with this, I could really see the advantage of the unusual shaping of the nib. The Schneider pen writes very smoothly while maintaining line characteristics.

When compared to other pens (from left to right), the Schneider, Lamy AL-Star, Pilot Metropolitan and a Platinum Preppy, it’s pretty clear that the Schneider is a large, wide pen. It measures 6″ (152mm) capped , 5.4375″ (127mm) uncapped and 6.625″ (168mm) But it’s also very light weighing only 16gms capped and 10gms uncapped with a full cartridge.

Finding one of these Schneider fountain pens in the wild might prove challenging. The only option we found for purchasing this pen was through Amazon ($7.24). So, thanks to our kin reader Jean, I’d like to give this one away. I will clean it and send it off with it’s original cartridge to one lucky reader who’d like to try something a little unusual.

UPDATE: Regular reader Kelly (AKA Subgirl) dropped me a line to let me know that if you wanted a full dozen of the Schneider Voice Fountain Pens, iPenStore sells them for $29.99. If I thought Fountain Pen Day was going to be a social occasion, this might be a good purchase. Maybe you have friends or family members you could mail some of these pens?

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell us what you did for the Independence Day Weekend. Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.

If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Thursday, July 9, 2020. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 5 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.

Tools:

Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 18 with 6mm guide sheet
Pens: Schneider Voice Fountain Pen with Medium Nib ($7.24)
Ink: Caran d’Ache Idyllic Blue Cartridge ($4.70 for 6-pack of cartridges)

DISCLAIMER: The item in this review include affiliate links and sponsor links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

In Pencil Review

Pencil Case Review: Tombow Irojiten Set with Portable Case – Limited Edition

AnaJuly 3, 2020June 22, 20203 Comments

Review by Tina Koyama

It’s no secret that I love Tombow Irojiten colored pencils, inside and out. Aside from their beautiful glossy white lacquer and even more beautiful end caps, these wax-based pencils are a delight to use. As much as I could go on about them, I won’t repeat what I wrote in my original review about their performance or appearance; my focus in this review will be on a new portable case including pencils (24 pencils/$39 with case).

The set comes with an insert (mostly in Japanese) showing swatches of the entire Irojiten color line and a blank swatch card to make your own color chart. It’s clear from the imagery that the Japanese esthetic based on the four seasons guided the color selection of the 24 pencils, which are suitable for landscapes and nature.

Made of sturdy canvas, the cream-colored case is fastened with a brown elastic band. The brand is printed in brown on the front. Unlike many pencil rolls that are literally bulky rolls, the Irojiten case tri-folds like a book. It emulates an elastic-banded journal as well as Irojiten’s other boxed sets that look like books (after all, Irojiten means “color dictionary”). Folded and filled with 24 pencils, the case is no more than an inch thick. I like the slender profile.

When opened, the “book” reveals 30 elastic loops – 24 for the enclosed set, plus six more for additional colors or other pencils. Although 30 pencils will fit, I prefer keeping the folded profile slimmer by sticking with 24. The loops are snug enough to hold standard-size pencils securely, but slightly larger pencils (like my favorite Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelles) will easily fit, too.

The 24 colors are not new to the Irojiten “dictionary,” but they have been carefully curated for a landscape sketcher. In addition to five greens (essential to any landscape-focused set), the palette also includes several shades of blue, a few earth tones, some warm florals, and a warm and a cool gray. Although I might have exchanged one of the darker blues for a second, cooler yellow, this urban sketcher approves of Dandelion, which could be used for heavy equipment (one of my favorite subjects). Overall, it’s a good urban and natural selection.

A flap of fabric protects the pencil points. (Gratuitous image of lovely end caps also shown.)

On the end of one flap are two small pockets that would accommodate a standard bar eraser and small sharpener.

It was time to give the Irojiten case a spin! Sadly, my urban sketching range has narrowed to a few neighborhood blocks these days. But on a sunny afternoon, I tucked the Irojiten case under my arm and dragged a kitchen chair out to our front stairway landing. Across the street, I spotted our neighbors’ happy trees. It’s a tidy sketch kit that fits easily on my lap under my sketchbook. (For my sketch, I used Scarlet, Dandelion, Moss, Cactus, Indigo, Sepia and Taupe in a Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook.)

I tried sandwiching a Field Notes Signature sketchbook inside the Irojiten case, and it fits nicely without adding much bulk. A pocket-size Stillman & Birn sketchbook would also fit, but it’s a bit bulkier. With either, when the elastic is fastened, the book stays secure inside. The pairing makes a great grab-and-go sketch kit. In fact, what a terrific gift they would make for an urban or travel sketcher. As the smallest Irojiten set, this is an ideal introduction to Tombow’s dictionary of color.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature, Ink Review

Ink Review: Sailor’s Sailor

Jessica ColesJuly 2, 2020July 2, 2020Leave a comment

By Jessica Coles

Rejoice, blue ink lovers! The newest ink from Sailor, named Sailor’s Sailor, is a beautiful deep blue ink made to celebrate the ink blender Osamu Ishimaru and the 15 years he has been hosting Ink Blending events while dressed as a bartender to emphasize the individuality of each ink.

Sailor’s Sailor is packaged beautifully in a thick blue and silver box that is tucked inside a paper sleeve.

Inside the inner box, Sailor has tucked information about the ink, ink blender and other inks in their lineup. I assume. Unfortunately I have not learned to read Japanese yet.

The heavy glass bottle is well protected in dense foam that is cut to barely fit the bottle.

The packaging and the bottle all point to a very special ink inside.

Opening the bottle, the familiar scent of all Sailor inks is present but not overpowering. The ink is a brilliant blue with a hint of red sheen when you look at the bottle threads.

Just a hint of red sheen shows more as a halo on thick letters.

As soon as I opened the ink, I wanted to know how close Sailor’s Sailor was to Parker Penman Sapphire. Penman Sapphire is often held up as the holy grail of blue inks, sought after by many ink enthusiasts but found by few. This is mainly a result of the recall that Parker implemented after issuing Sapphire due to its tendency to damage fountain pens.

Strait Pens’ Poorman’s Sapphire is a recent attempt to replicate Penman Sapphire (and the price is as low as Penman is high!). Sailor’s Sailor is close to these, but not quite as brilliant.

Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium is a very close match to Sailor’s Sailor although the undertones of the ink are closer to Sailor Sky High or Montblanc BMW blue.

My writing sample shows the extreme color range of this ink – the Wing Sung extra fine nib gives a bright ocean blue on the Tomoe River paper above while the Leonardo fine nib (a very wet nib) shows as a rich dark blue. The ink seemed to fall a touch on the dry side of normal, the dry time was slightly longer than average (20-25 seconds on Tomoe River paper) and the only smearing issue I had was when one of my cats tried to investigate.

Although the photo is not well focused, the above picture shows the shading produced in my dry Wing Sung extra fine nib.

Shading is still present with the wetter Leonardo nib and looks even more dramatic as the dark blue shades to bright ocean blue.

Sailor’s Sailor is on the higher side of price at $39 for 50mL, although comes in much cheaper than many inks that Sailor has released recently. I am glad that this ink was packaged in the larger 50mL size, especially since I plan to use this blue often.

Notebook: Musubi Tomoe River Folio (~$35 for 384 pages)
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
Ink: Sailor’s Sailor (50mL, $39)

DISCLAIMER: All of the items in this review were purchased by me. Except for the Col-o-ring which was provided to me by a wonderful person who pays me to write blogs by keeping me supplied with Col-o-rings. Please see the About page for more details.

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