The Well-Appointed Desk

Ink Review: Colorverse the Mini Collection & the Johannes Kepler Set

Colorverse recently released a line of tiny inks called The Mini Collection. Nearly all of the colors in the line have been previously released in their regular seasons. However, some of the colors were only accessible as part of a traditional Colorverse ink set which includes one 65mL bottle and one 15mL bottle. Where as before you may have had to shell out $36 for the set when you were really only after the smaller 15mL bottle, these mini inks allow selecting and testing specific inks without investing in a full set or a massive 65mL bottle. The packaging may be small, but it still manages to include the whimsical attention to detail of their previous releases.

The mini collection is sold in sets of three inks, and one of the most interesting aspects of the line is that you are able to individually self-select any of the inks from the collection as the three inks you would like included in your set. This type of set-up is a welcome addition in a world of ink where most sets allow little choice and often leave you with some inks you prefer more than others.

Colorverse already produced one of the smallest glass ink bottles on the market with their 15mL line. It’s important to note that these mini sets do not include the 15mL bottles, but instead include even smaller 5mL bottles. One the the more precarious parts of using tiny ink bottles is the size of the opening of the bottle. The Colorverse 15mL bottles were already tiny openings, and these mini bottles are every smaller. The good news is that I checked several different converters, and they all fit fine into the bottle for filling. You would not be able to fit a nib or a pen into the bottle to do a piston-fill. Amazingly, with a bit of rolling and finagling, I was still able to successfully dip the Col-o-ring Dipper into the bottles. Hooray! The bottles come with a plastic pipette for filling. The pipette works, but I found a syringe easier to use.

Price is definitely something to consider with these inks. At $19.50 for a set of three, the price per mL nearly triples compared to the original Colorverse sets. It’s also about double the cost of purchasing three ink samples, and the size is only 1mL greater than a traditional sample. On the other hand, you get the benefit of adorable tiny glass ink bottles and miniaturized packaging. It is also worth noting that other than samples, this is the only way I know to try three different ink colors of your choosing for under $20. If you are trying to fills holes in your Colorverse collection without breaking the bank, or just want a chance to try a variety of inks at a lower cost entry point than other Colorverse sets, these inks are perfect for that scenario.

All of seasons 1-5 are available in the collection as well as six colors from the Earth Edition, four Special Edition colors, and three colors from a brand new limited set. Thanks to Ana gifting me many of her Colorverse duplicate 15mL bottles, and purchasing a few new mini sets and some additional samples from Vanness, I was able to swatch all of seasons 1-4 along with one of the special edition inks and the three new limited colors.

Along with the launch of the mini collection, Colorverse also released a new limited set of three colors: the Johannes Kepler Set. The namesake of the set was a scientist and astronomer who is known for everything from describing the orbit of planets to writing what many consider to be one of the first pieces of science fiction.

The inks are packaged in the exact same manner as the other mini collection sets, but are sold as a pre-selected set. The set includes a red, green, and blue. None of the inks have significant sheen, but all are decently saturated inks that show some shading properties. I compared the colors to some of the other reds, greens, and blues from the Mini Collection.

Overall, I don’t feel the colors in the limited set are the most interesting in the Colorverse line overall, but I do enjoy all three of the included colors enough to merit having them in my collection. The small 5mL bottles give me the perfect opportunity to swatch all three, and still have plenty of ink left over to fill a few cartridge/ converter pens.

Swatching all of seasons 1-4 reminded me how many great colors Colorverse has released over time. The Mini Collection makes me hope to see more ink manufacturers innovate their methods of releasing ink- especially in terms of allowing more individual selections in the purchasing of sets. I would also like to see Colorverse release similar sets in the 15mL bottle size. One can dream right?

Tools:

Swatches: Col-o-ring “Oversize” ($15), Col-o-Ring Dippers ($5)
Stamps: Sample Vial Rubber Stamp ($12)
Ink: Colorverse The Mini Collection ($19.50 for 3- 5ml bottles)

DISCLAIMER: The items in this review were purchased with my own finds or handed down to me from the Colorverse queen. Some of the inks that were passed on to me were originally provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature, Ink Review

Ink Chromatography

Jessica ColesJuly 23, 20207 Comments

By Jessica Coles

There seems to be a time in the middle of summer each year when the new inks just aren’t coming out as quickly. Spring announcements have passed and we aren’t yet starting into the holiday selling. Plus, with no pen shows going on at the moment, I’ve tried to look for ways to enjoy my current inks even more.

Color is endlessly fascinating to me. I also love taking things apart to see how they work (as a kid I rarely put them back together, though) and combining these two things is even better.

Enter, chromatography. Before I start down this path, though, let me issue a warning: I am no expert at this in any way. I have a method here that works for me and explanations that may or may not be fully correct. I’ve made lots of mistakes but hope is that you learn something here and find another way in which you can enjoy your inks!

There are so many ways to explore the colors that make up each ink – I can’t talk about all of them today, but I will share a couple of methods. The photo above is of chromatography strips. I purchased a small package of them from Amazon a while back – as far as I can tell, they don’t lose their chroma magic over time.

Chromatography paper is incredibly absorbent, thinner than blotter paper, and a bit rough to the touch. Because it is so absorbent, it wicks up water easily. With ink chromatography, a small amount of ink is applied to the paper, one end is placed in water, and as the water works its way up the paper, the various colors of the ink are revealed.

This is all possible because ink is water based and made up of various components that have different solubility and/or densities. the water carries the color components up the paper different distances.

These photos show some of my first attempts at chromatography from several years ago. My methods have changed slightly since then, hopefully for the better!

In the chromatography strips method, you will only need a few supplies:

Chromatography strips
A container for water
A way to suspend the strip in the water
Ink

I have seen plenty of methods of suspension used. Some include using a rubber band and a skewer or paintbrush. I enjoy using a clip of some sort (paper clip, binder clip) that is wider than the opening of my container.

I use clips because they are easy to find in my desk and usually require less fiddling on my part.

What are the requirements with this suspension? The bottom of the strip should not touch the bottom or sides of your container

One big tip here: measure this BEFORE putting the strip into the water.

Speaking of water, what kind should you use? I only use high grade super quality distilled water. Just kidding. I’ve never had a problem using plain tap water with this method – we are not aiming for highly scientific results. If you live in an area with lots of minerals in your tap water, it is probably worth using bottled water or distilled water if you have it. I happened to be in a situation where distilled water was at my desk within reach.

Add a small amount of water to the bottom of the container. Make sure to measure that your strip will be in the water, but only the bottom 1 cm or so (less than half an inch).

Now, for the ink! I used Franklin-Christoph Honeycomb and Troublemaker Inks Milky Ocean in this post – you can use this with any ink you own. In the above photo I used a glass dip nib to apply a thin strip from edge to edge, about 3-4 cm (a little over an inch) from the bottom. Don’t apply a huge amount of ink – just draw a single line slowly across the paper. The paper will soak up plenty of ink as you do this.

Check to make sure this line of ink will be above the water level when the strip is placed in your container. This is important unless you want inky water.

Suspend the strip in the container and watch!

The pigments will start to travel up the paper at varying speeds. Sometimes the color combinations can be quite surprising.

But when should you take it out? When is it done? I’ve experimented a bit with time, but the best way to judge this (in my opinion) is just when the color stops moving up the strip. Or the water makes it all the way up to the top of the strip. I’ve seen it take anywhere from one minute to five minutes. For the purposes of this activity, I would suggest about 2-3 minutes.

The paperclip and tiny ink bottle are another favorite of mine. The ink and water can move past the paperclip easily and the setup doesn’t take up much space. Remember: don’t let the strip touch the bottom or sides of the container and make sure the water level hits the strip below the application of ink.

I’ve also enjoyed watching ink spread out on paper towels as I am filling or cleaning pens. I’ve heard many times that this is a good alternative to chromatography strips, so I’ve included results from that as well with the same inks. I applied a healthy drop of each ink to the paper towel then drops of water to the middle of the ink spot. I added a drop at a time until the ink stopped moving out. The texture and brand matter tremendously with this method – I used very absorbent paper towels that feel a bit like cotton cloth.

Milky Ocean is the ink used on the right and Honeycomb is the ink on the left. Paper towels are a good alternative if you can’t get ahold of chromatography strips, although the results aren’t identical.

After everything has dried, I label each strip with the name of the ink and keep them clipped together at my desk. They are fun to flip through as I’m trying to choose an ink for a new pen or just to inspire me to experiment more with ink!

Paper: Chromatography strips ( $7.49 on Amazon – this is an affiliate link)
Inks: Franklin-Christoph Honeycomb (1 oz (30mL) for $8.25), Troublemaker Inks Milky Ocean (50mL for $12)

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 Link Love

Link Love: Ollie and the Pens

AnaJuly 22, 2020July 20, 20206 Comments

The past week has been an adventure in stray cat rescue here at Desk HQ. I realize this has absolutely nothing to do with fountain pens but it has occupied a good deal of my time and brain space. We had a stray cat living on our back porch for the last few weeks that we were finally able to get into the vet. He received a clean bill of health and all his shots. Then he had his neutering surgery and needed to be kitty quarantined for a couple days as well as being introduced to indoor life and three sisters. Now he’s attempting to explore the house and not collide with two out of three of his sisters.

So far, he’s discovered he really likes the couch.

He’s about a year and half and we named him Ollie, short for Oliver as in “Please, sir, may I have some more.” He eats a lot.

Pens:

The Best Gel Pens (via JetPens Blog)
A Pen Hack, a Field Notes and the Hi-Tech C (via Writing at Large)
Platinum Prefounte Fountain Pen Especially Great for Beginners! (via Gourmet Pens)
Nakaya Neo Standard Shinobu Blue with Elastic Nib (via The Pen Addict)
Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with PO Nib (via The Gentleman Stationer)
The frustration of innovation with the VENVSTAS Magna (via UK fountain pens)
Esterbrook Estie Sparkle Oversized Fountain Pen (via The Pencilcase Blog)
I’m seeing Benu Pens in a new light (via UK fountain pens)
News: Chartpak Changes Pen Repair Policy (via The Pelikan’s Perch)
Pilot Custom 72 (via Crónicas Estilográficas)
Schon DSGN keeps the good stuff coming (via UK fountain pens)
Chinese Fillings (via Crónicas Estilográficas)

Ink:

Sailor Jentle Yodaki (via InkSharks)
Diamine Salamander (via Mountain of Ink)
Tono & Lims Burma Tourmaline (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist)
What Are My Forever Inks? (via Fountain Pen Love)

Tag Team Fountain Pen Review: Diplomat Esteem MadC Fountain Pen (Fine Nib)

AnaJuly 21, 2020July 21, 20203 Comments

As soon as we saw the new Diplomat Esteem MadC Fountain Pen, there was some excitement in the virtual clubhouse. Laura and I have been fans of the Traveler for some time and the colors on the new MadC Esteem are hard to resist. Laura and I both broke down and purchased the new Diplomat Esteem MadC Fountain Pen ($90) within minutes. I got the blue model with a fine nib. Laura got the purple model with the fine nib.

To give you some background, MadC (Claudia Walde) is a German-born artist who is inspired by graffiti using calligraphic swashes of color in her work. MadC grew up in Cunewalde, not far from where Diplomat pens are manufactured. Diplomat wrapped her artwork around the Esteem fountain pen to create two unique, vivid pen designs.

The Packaging:

The Esteem comes in a paperboard box with the Diplomat logo and some of MadC’s brush graphics on the front.

On the back of the box is a photo of the artist and details about her, some images of her artwork and more swashes of her brushwork.

Inside the paperboard box is the aluminum slipcase with a heavy duty paperboard base. Etched on the aluminum cover is the Diplomat logo. Sliding the two pieces apart reveals a white overlay card with the Diplomat logo again and then the pen is revealed on a white, satin bed screenprinted with the Diplomat flower/sun logomark. The bed of the box can be lifted to reveal warranty card. The pen came with one standard international cartridge and a place holder cartridge. A converter must be purchased separately.

The Esteem is a larger, wider pen than the Traveler but both are sleek enamel barrel pens with plastic grip sections and snap caps. It was inevitable that we would make comparisons.

The Esteem is the same length as the Traveler (5.25″ or 133mm capped). Both pens are snap caps and both caps will post. It took me a couple tries to post the Esteem cap but it does post though I was worried I might scratch the finish if I posted the cap so I wouldn’t really recommend it.

The nib on the Traveler is smaller and the grip section in a little shorter. The Traveler has a silver ring at the join of the grip and body and a slightly different curve of the grip.

Ana’s Impressions:

First, I love the colors. The wrap on the pen is really pretty. I was a little sad that the wrap seam is really apparent though.

My Traveler has an EF nib and my Esteem has an F nib. The F nib is very smooth but a little monoline looking. The nib is a stiff steel nib so it has no bounce either. There is nothing wrong with that but it’s a little uninteresting to me.

Compared to other metal fountain pens, from left to right: Faber-Castell Hexo, the Diplomat Esteem, Ferris Wheel Press Brush, Lamy Al-Star, Diplomat Traveler and Pilot Metropolitan. Despite mentioning that the Esteem is bigger than the Traveler, its clear that the Esteem is still relatively small in comparison to Metropolitan, the Lamy AL-Star and the Faber-Castell Hexo.

Posted, the Esteem is pretty long, almost 6.25″ (159mm). Uncapped the Esteem measures 4.875″ (101.6mm). The Esteem weighs 29gms capped and filled with a converter and 17gms uncapped and filled.

In the end, I love the look of the pen. It’s gorgeous but the nib is kind of humdrum. I might send it off to a nibmeister to make it more interesting.

Laura’s Impressions:

I love my Diplomat Traveler and how slim and sleek it is. The Esteem is definitely wider in girth, but still writes very smoothly. The fine nib is just a smidge smaller than the medium on my Traveler; both are still fairy broad compared to Japanese nibs, but that suits me just fine. I can write comfortably with the Esteem, though I think I might slightly prefer the Traveler because of my very tiny hands (I know! I know!).

Honestly, the only thing I’m a little disappointed about in the Esteem MadC is the color. The photos on Pen Chalet looked bright and vibrant and overall my pen seems more muted, with wider sections of light color (pastel?) then I expected. As someone who loves beautiful striking colors, my particular pen left me wanting a bit more.

Tools:

Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 18 with 7mm guide sheet, Ghost Paper Notebook ($25)
Pens: Diplomat Esteem MadC Fountain Pen with Fine Nib ($90)
Ink: Robert Oster Velvet Crush (50mL for $70) and Diamine Maureen (£9.50 for 80ml)

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

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Lamy Bronze

AnaJuly 20, 2020July 20, 202010 Comments

Lamy Bronze is the limited edition ink Lamy released in 2019 to accompany their Lamy AL-Star Bronze pens. I’m going to clear the air right now and say this should be renamed Lamy Orange. It’s a lovely orange. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination be called Bronze. I checked the swatch I made last year from the cartridge I received and that cartridge was a little darker but the bottled ink proves otherwise. I’ve been messing around with the ink for a week.

I did some really questionable illustrations (no judgement, okay!) using the ink on different papers to see how the color behaved and no matter what I did, the ink was orange.

This is the collage illustration I did. I wasn’t going to share it because I thought it turned out really wonky. Bob convinced me to post it anyway. I combined the Lamy Bronze with my favorite black ink, Platinum Carbon Black.

My AL-Star Bronze isn’t really Bronze anymore but I inked it up anymore — in the spirit of consistency. It has an EF nib on it. That’s not really what you want to know about though, is it? It’s my EPIC urushi sparkly, shell pink Carolina Pen Co custom Lamy AL-Star. Whatever you do, don’t ask for one of your own. It’s one of four priceless urushi Lamy Safari/AL-Star fountain pens he has ever created and will probably ever create.

When compared with other orange inks, Lamy Bronze is very similar to Montblanc Lucky Orange, Monteverde Topaz, Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin, Sailor Jentle Kin-Mokusei, and Robert Oster Pen Addict Fire on Fire. It’s similar in price to Topaz but the other inks are more expensive so Lamy Bronze is a good alternative.

I did discover the perfect use for Lamy Bronze: painting a portrait of our newest rescue cat, Ollie. Thee drawing is based on his first adventures on the couch. He is all legs and very orange. I don’t like the water droplet under his chin though. Sigh, my drawing mojo is WAY off this week.

In the end, while I would like Lamy to be a little more experimental with its limited edition inks like the Petrol, this specific color is a nice addition to the Lamy line-up.

Tools:

Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 18 with 7mm guide sheet, Artezea Watercolor Sketchbook A5, Pack of 2 (No Longer Available), Stillman & Birn Softcover 5.5 x 8.5″ Epsilon Sketchbook ($17.99)
Pens: Tachikawa Comic Pen Nib Holder – Model 40 ($8.25) with Zebra G Chrome nib ($13.50 per 10-pack)
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
Brush: Schraff Fineline 3000 #3 ($34.50 <– my most extravagant brush but seriously, how much have you paid for a pen?)
Ink: Lamy Bronze ($12 for 50ml bottle)

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

In Tools

Product Review: Sun-Star Kadomaru Pro Neo 3-Way Corner Cutter

AnaJuly 17, 2020July 3, 20204 Comments

Review by Tina Koyama

The corner rounder I’ve been using is an old Fiskars squeeze punch that is not very comfortable to use. I am also not fond of how the cutting scraps scatter all over the desk and floor. It was time to upgrade to the Sun-Star Kadomaru Neo 3-Way Corner Cutter ($13.75, available in black and white).

I’ve been making myself doodly, abstract coloring books with engineering templates and Field Notes Brand notebooks (see my personal blog for details). I usually use dry colored pencils, but sometimes I get in the mood to use watercolor pencils. Field Notes paper, however, is not the best for wet media, so I decided it was time to make a small coloring book with water-friendly paper. It was an ideal opportunity to test the Sun-Star corner cutter.

A key feature of the Sun-Star Pro Neo is that it offers three corner radii in one compact device – small (3mm), medium (5mm) and large (8mm).

A lock in back keeps the cutter from cutting paper inadvertently.

I tested it first on a scrap sheet of cover stock. Slide a corner into one of the three marked cutting areas, and press the lever. Requiring little pressure, it’s very easy to use.

I chose the medium-size (5mm) radius for my little book. The cuts are neat and clean.

The paper I chose for the innards is Canson XL 98-pound mixed media, which has a nice tooth and can hold a light wash. It’s heavier than typical notebook paper, and I comfortably punched two sheets at a time. Three is pushing it.

Corner scraps are neatly collected in a compartment at the bottom, which is easy to open and empty into a wastebasket (instead of leaving corners all over the floor or my desk).

There’s nothing like rounded corners to make a little homemade booklet look so much better and more finished! The Sun-Star cutter does the job nicely.

Incidentally, if you are DIY-ing your own little booklets, I recommend a long-reach stapler. I use a Bostitch PaperPro, which requires very little effort to press and takes standard staples. Its only downside is that it’s difficult to see where the staple will go. I recommend stapling a scrap sheet and use a Sharpie to mark your stapler where the staple went. Then just line up your mark to the location where you want to staple. You will be an instant bookmaker.

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Some items in this review include affiliate 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.

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

In Link Love

Link Love: The Pen Shows That Weren’t

AnaJuly 15, 2020July 14, 20201 Comment

Last week, news that both the San Francisco and Dallas Pen Shows were cancelling this year hit the pen community. The Chicago Pen Show announced that they were not going to hold their show in 2020 and announced their 2021 spring dates. There are only a few US Shows left on the calendar and it’s unlikely, at this point, that they will be going forward this year.

The 2020 St. Louis Pen Show worked with several pen makers to create special pens that matched this year’s show ink (purple). The show was cancelled but they hosted an online virtual event, including a launch video featuring several of the makers involved in the virtual event.

The pens sold quickly but there may still be a few available and a couple bottles of the KWZ show ink available for sale. The plan is to do a lottery to give everyone a chance to get some – available worldwide. More details on their site.

The effects of COVID-19 continue to impact our community. Small makers, distributors, pen shops and the pen community at large have all been impacted by this pandemic along with the hospitality industry, the travel industry, and the service industries. The dangers of this health crisis can’t be ignored but the financial and social impacts have also been devastating.

We will continue to update our Pen Show Schedule with changes for 2020 and any dates available for 2021. Our fingers are crossed that we can all gather in 2021.