It’s that time of the year again. My top 5 favourite ink purchases this year. Same criteria as last year, this has to be an ink new to the my collection. It doesn’t have to be released this year. Onto the list!

Number 5: KWZ Brown Pink

KWZ inks are new to me this year. I’ve tried Menthol Green and enjoyed it so I decided to explore their catalogue. I picked up two inks and Brown Pink was one of them. Brown Pink is a wonderful strange mix of well… brown and pink. It is a rather lovely hue of purple that shades nicely. Review coming soon.

Number 4: KWZ Cherry

Cherry is the other KWZ I’ve picked up. I must say I’m great at picking new inks! 2 out of 2 are winners. Cherry is a bright red ink that really reminds me of Christmas. Normally, red isn’t my go to ink in general for anything but Cherry is the exception to the rule. It has supplanted Montblanc Velvet Red as my go to red ink of choice. Review coming soon.

Number 3: Lamy Petrol

Lamy Petrol is Lamy’s 2017 ink that matches the Lamy Safari Petrol. It’s a dark teal colour. In general, I really enjoy teals. Lamy Petrol is one of those inks that works best with a broader and / or wetter nibs. It’s dark enough for corporate use yet retains enough colour for the inner fountain pen nerd.

Number 2: Robert Oster Signature Cherry Blossom

Robert Oster Signature Inks is the other ink maker that burst into the scene this year for me. I’ve reviewed a lot of Robert Oster Signature inks. Among them, Cherry Blossom is one of the stand out colours. It’s a dusty pink that straddles the line between bright and muted. I really like how it isn’t in your face bright but yet is still obviously pink and not some kind of red or purple.

Number 1: Robert Oster Signature Sublime

Finally the winner of 2017 top 5 inks is Robert Oster Siganture Sublime. I have to credit GlennHK for introducing me to this ink. It’s a really nice shading yellow-green inks. This has been a year of yellow-greens for me. I’ve tried Robert Oster Siganture Jade, Monteverde Olivine, Sailor Jentle Waka-Uguisu. Sublime takes the cake. It’s bright, it shades in all nib sizes. What more can I ask for?

This year is slightly different. I didn’t buy much pens. Actually to date as I write this (19th November), I’ve only purchased 6 fountain pens this year. It’s a little hard to have a top 5 when I only got 6 pens in the running. Considering one of them is a Lamy Safari, I didn’t think it’s fair to put the rest in the top 5. So, to make things slightly fairer, I am going with a top 4 instead this year.

Like the top 5 inks of 2017 list, the criteria to make it onto the list is simple. Firstly, I must have made the purchase of the pen during the year. And, I’ve used it and loved it.

Number 4: Montblanc Heritage 1912

This is one pen that I’ve used the longest out of the bunch. I got this very late last year but I consider this a 2017 because I didn’t use it long enough to evaluate it for last year. The 1912 is my first Montblanc fountain pen and I really enjoy the retracting nib feature. The weight is really solid and the nib writes really well. Though the barrel scratching cap is somewhat of a let down, it is still a classic fountain pen.

Number 3: Nakaya Negoro style "Nuno kise Hon Kataji" Arai-shu version

This is the 3rd year in a roll that I have a Nakaya fountain pen on the list. This one is the cracked finish which I had been lusting after ever since I’ve discovered the brand. What drew me to the pen is definitely the cracks. It’s like stonewashed jeans, this is breaking the finish of the pen while it is brand new. It is a striking pen for sure. I went with the M nib for this pen. The nib writes as well as can be expected from Nakaya. Review coming soon.

Number 2: TWSBI Eco - Right foot oblique medium grind

What sorcery is this? A TWSBI ahead of a Montblanc and Nakaya fountain pen? The secret here is the nib grind. I had Sunny of Straits Pen to mod the nib. I went with a right foot oblique medium grind at the suggestion of a friend and boy did it open my eyes. Line variations, crisper lines and all that for a lefty!

Number 1: Aurora Optima Red Demonstrator

This is my first Aurora fountain pen and I went immediately for the Optima Red Demonstrator. I love my demonstrator pens and I have a soft spot for those with a tiny bit of colour. The Aurora Optima Red Demonstrator ticked all the boxes and then some. Aurora offers factory nib grinding without any additional cost so I went with the right foot oblique fine. Wow, the nib, just wow. It has a very tiny sweet spot but when you hit it just right, it is like flying. No tooth, just pure smoothness with crisp line and line variation.

Another year has come and gone. And it’s time to see how much I’ve spend on this hobby of mine. This year has seen a drastic decrease in the number of pens I’ve purchased. The main reason being each pen that I buy is significantly more expensive in general so it makes sense that I buy less pens. I’d be worried if I didn’t. I spent a total of $3800 on 7 fountain pens. One of them was a shoo in on Christmas eve. It’s a Pilot Custom 823 in WA from Tokyo Quill. I had expected it to receive the invoice next year. Comparing it to last year’s 19 pens, I feel I’ve exercised a great deal of self control. However with the average price of each pen is more than $500, it is probably due to the higher end fountain pens that I’ve been buying rather than due to any self control.

Ink purchases has gone up when compared to last year’s 19 bottles. I got 27 new inks at $500 in total, some were multiple bottles of the same inks for gifts. 27 bottles of inks at $500 total is not too bad. Well, inks will always be cheaper and it’s easier to impulse buy when compared to pens.

I’ve added a new category to track this year. It’s a category to cover non-pens and non-ink related products, mostly paper and pen cases. That came in at $340. The bulk of it was due to a Pelikan M400 B nib that I’ve purchased for modding.

I’ve sold 6 pens, none of them purchased within the year. And 16 bottles of inks were also sold, some from within the year. I’ve gone a little crazy with Robert Oster Signature inks so I had to cull some to make room for more inks. My collection is probably due for another culling pretty soon.

So that’s $4600 over the course of 12 months, baring nothing just comes up in the next 2 days. Now comparing this to last year’s purchases which came in at more than $5000, I think this is a step in the right direction. It’s not that I’m losing interest in the hobby but as any hobby matures, I think you’d get to know what you like and what you don’t. In turn, you’ll be able to apply these criteria to your purchasing decisions. At the end of the day, hopefully it will means less buy to try, more buy to use.

Which direction has your fountain pen and related products purchases been going?

My thanks to Cityluxe for providing the ink for review and giveaway.

Olivine is a dark green with a yellow undertone. Dark yellow-green is definitely my kind of green. It shades quite nicely even in my European fine nib. It goes from a deep dark green to a muted green-yellow. Like most other Monteverde inks, it’s rather lubricated. This is definitely my favourite Monteverde ink so far.

Similar Inks:

• Sailor Jentle Tokiwa Matsu
• Sailor Jentle Epinard
• Noolder’s El Lawrence

Drop me a comment below to stand a chance to win a 30ml bottle of Monteverde Olivine. This giveaway ends 18th January 2018, it is open to all residing in Singapore. The winner will have 1 week to claim their prize.

The Numbers:
Weight: 28g
Length (capped): 136mm
Length (uncapped): 120mm
Price: USD$32 from Pen Chalet
Body Material: Plastic exterior with metal interior
Nib Material: Stainless steel
Filling Mechanism: International cartridge and converter
Colours: Black, Blue, Red, Light Purple and Light Pink

Intro:
Monteverde is a division of YAFA pen company corporation. They make fountain pens as well as inks. This is my first experience with Monteverde fountain pens.

The Aldo Domani is obviously designed to appeal to the corporations. It looks extremely suited for corporate gifts where the company logo or name is printed or etched on the pen body.

Packaging:
It comes in the standard Monteverde packaging. A green cardboard sleeve around the snap case green box that has the Monteverde logo on it. Opening the snap case, the pen is nestled among the faux satin fabric. Inside, you can find 2 short standard international cartridges, along with papers.

Performance:
The Aldo Domani comes in a varieties of colours and I opted for the red. It is has a silver clip and centre band. The branding on the pen is subtle and minimal. The Aldo Domani has red shiny plastic sheathed over a metal interior core, that gives it a nice heft to the pen. More on that later.

The clip is leaf shaped - albeit an elongated leaf. It is stiff and not easy to slid over anything but the thinnest of paper. Frankly, it is too stiff for my liking but I don’t make it a habit to clip it over my notebooks.

The cap screws off in less than a single turn. That’s really nice so it makes for easy note taking. More on that later too. Once the cap is off, you can see the black plastic grip section and the good size stainless steel nib. The grip section is nice and long, plenty of space for your fingers to hold onto. The threads are smooth and the step was minimal. The Aldo Domani takes a standard international cartridge and converter so there are plenty of inks readily available in that format.

Ok, it’s later now.

First, the body has a metal core but the grip is plastic. This puts the balance of the fountain pen towards the back. If you have larger hands I figure this might not be too much of a problem but if you are like me with smaller hands, it might tilt the pen too much towards the back. The balance is not totally off but it is enough to notice.

Second, the ink constantly dries out in the pen. I cap the pen after using, 30 minutes later I uncap the pen to write, it hard starts. If I wait longer, like the next day, I have to prime the feed again to get the pen to write. This is a terrible flaw. It makes for a very frustrated user at the best of times.

Finally, when you get the Aldo Domani to actually write, it writes very dry. I filled it with one of the wettest ink I have, the Bungbox 4B and still there is a feedback there that isn’t entirely enjoyable. The stock nib could use some adjusting especially in terms of the wetness.

Conclusion:
Personally I cannot recommend the Monteverde Aldo Domani to anyone. It just doesn’t write well, leaving the balance issue aside. The fact that the ink just dries up in your pen when capped is a deal breaker. There are better pens at a similar price point and design out there, seek those.

Pros:

• Corporate design
• Multiple colours available

Cons:

• Ink dries up when capped
• Hard starts
• Dry writer

My thanks to Cityluxe for providing the ink for review.

This is my first experience with Monteverde inks. (Yes last week I’ve just posted Monteverde Olivine. That was reviewed much later. I’ve moved it up in the schedule so that I can have a giveaway first week of 2018.)

Like I was saying, this is my first experience with Monteverde inks. They are a USA based company that sells pens and inks. They have a wide range of inks. Monteverde inks come in 2 sizes 30ml and 90ml. Monteverde Brown Sugar is a shading warm brown ink. It goes from a dark brown to a red-brown. It feels lubricated in my Platinum SM nib. Monteverde Brown Sugar is a great colour.

Similar Inks:

• Sailor Maruzen Athena Sepia
• Montblanc Toffee Brown
• Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz

Congratulations to Justin Lim. You are the winner of the Monteverde Olivine ink! You have one week (25 January 2018) to claim your prize from me.

I've travelled to Taiwan late last year and I made a trip down to 小品雅集 TY Lee in Tapiei, Taiwan I've travelled there by public transport. In Taipei it isn't hard to navigate their train system. The nearest train station is Daan station (大安站), I exited the station using Exit 3 but I think there are a number that would work too. That station is both on the Tamsui-Xinyi and the Wenhu lines. If you are walking over from the train station, all you really need is to pre-load Google Map and just following the map. You might think you are going the wrong way or think the address might be out of date but I assure you, it's not. The route I took was straight forward but the surrounding buildings didn't look like a fountain pen shop would fit right in. It's not along the main road but rather along one of the smaller roads inside. Regardless, trust the map.

However if you are in a rush for time or rather take a taxi, Taiepi's taxis are rather cheap and readily available. So if you are not a Mandarin speaker, I'll suggest showing the driver the address.

This is their address:
台北市大安區瑞安街208巷76號1樓
No. 76, Lane 208, Rui'an Street, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106

Their opening hours are Monday to Saturdays from 12noon - 10pm. They are closed on Sundays so plan your trip down accordingly.

Now that logistics is out of the way, let's get down to the details. TY Lee has a wide variety of fountain pen and related goods. They carry all the standard brands including Opus and TWSBI both are Taiwanese brands. It's a two level shop. The ground level has all the pens on display while the lower level has all the inks. And that's in my opinion where the good stuff are. Firsttly, they carry Kobe Nagasawa inks. They have a shelf's worth of Kobe Nagasawa inks. It's not that you can't buy Kobe Nagasawa inks from Rakuten but you get to look at swatches there. Secondly, they have a few series of De Atramentis inks that are shop exclusive. I purchased 6 of these bottles, 5 of which are gifts. I kept only 1 bottle.

They do have a small section for notebooks and a in-house notebook. I didn't pay too much attention there. Enjoy the photos and drop by if you have a chance.

Oh yes, I spoke to the shop attendents in Mandarin. I am not sure how good are their English but with the common language of pens between them and the customer, language is no barrier.

My thanks to Cityluxe for providing the ink for review.

Capri Blue is a bright blue that’s great for corporate use. I like how lubricated the ink is. It makes my Visconti Van Gogh nib feels smoother than before. Capri blue shades slightly. It’s a blue that reminds me of Pilot Iroshizuku Kon Peki. I really enjoy the vibrancy of Monteverde Capri Blue.

Similar Inks:

• Robert Oster Blue Water Ice
• Pilot Iroshizuku Ama Iro
• Pilot Iroshizuku Kon Peki

My thanks to Cityluxe for providing the ink for review.

Charoite is a strong purple ink. It doesn’t shade much. Charoite is on the borderline between blue and purple. It doesn’t feel as lubricated as Capri Blue. I filled it up in my Nakaya Negoro and it feels good. It has a light green-gold sheen as well. This kind of purple isn’t realy my cup of tea but for everyone else, do check it out.

Similar Inks:

• Levenger Amethyst
• Wahl Eversharp Everberry
• Visconti Purple

My thanks to Cityluxe for providing the ink for review.

Topaz is an orange ink. It feel quite dry in both my Pilot Murex and Monteverde Aldo Domani fountain pen. Monteverde inks are advertised as lubricated but this one seemed contrary to that statement. This is my 4th experience with Monteverde inks and this is the only one that’s dry. Topaz shades, it’s not the brightest orange. Topaz is more of a faded orange. It shades from an orange-yellow to an orange-coral colour.

Similar Inks:

• Dimaine Amber
• Caran d’Ache Saffron
• Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin

The Numbers:
Weight: 23g
Length (capped): 134mm
Length (uncapped): 114mm
Price: USD$950
Body Material: Ebonite
Nib Material: 14K Gold
Filling Mechanism: Cartridge and converter
Colours: Various

Intro:
So, I won't lie and say this Nakaya is everything I dream about. This is my 3rd Nakaya. I placed an order for this pen way back in December 2016. I received pen in roughly late May 2017. Don't quote me on that, I am not quite sure of the timeline. Regardless it is safe to assume I waited about 6 months for the Nakaya. Not new. 6 months is a standard waiting time for a Nakaya.

I ordered the Nakaya Negoro style "Nuno kise Hon Kataji" Arai-shu version. It is a long name so henceforth you will see me refer to this pen as the Nakaya Negoro. Let's cover the standards first.

Packaging:
The Nakaya pen comes in the standard Nakaya wooden box with the pen kimono. Included is a Platinum converter as well as a box of either blue black or black cartridges.

Performance:
The Nakaya Negoro is a piccolo length. However it's girth is just slightly wider than the regular tamenuri models. I suspect this is due to the finish. See, the Negoro style is a standard piccolo but the artist would deliberately exposes the base. In a way you are buying a pre-crack pen. In a way it is a distortion of the concept of wabi-sabi since I am receiving the pen already imperfect. The “cracks” put into the finish will likely be different from pen to pen. This is the black base, red exterior finish while there is a red base, black exterior. I refer this version. It looks less like the cracks of hell opening up in my pen.

Comparing the photos on Nakaya's site and my pen, it seem it is standard to have one crack spanning the cap and the barrel, at the end of the barrel and one other crack on the opposite side of the longer crack. Inside, once uncapped, you will find similar treatment on the grip section.

Due to the cracks that needed to be added to the pen, the urushi is probably slightly thicker than usual. My regular Piccolo models fit the Dudek Block in the larger holes (5/8”) but the Nakaya Negoro couldn't fit the same the others did. It doesn't go all the way down.

Like the other Nakaya fountain pens I've reviewed, this is a cartridge and converter pen. It fits the regular Platinum converter and cartridges. That's standard for Nakaya pens after all you are buying the workmanship on the pens not the filling system. The balance is similar to the other Piccolo model I've reviewed so there is nothing new I want to add.

For this particular Nakaya, I opted for a regular M nib. I already have the SF and SM so I didn't want to get the same nib again. The M nib writes well if a little boring but it is after all a medium nib. It is kind of meant to be boring. I guess.

Here comes the problem. I was always under the impression that the Nakaya Negoro has a matte finish. This is entirely based on the picture found on Nakaya's website. I realised this is my mistake for not doing my research more carefully. Regardless, I am still disappointed. After all this isn't a cheap pen. Let this be a lesson to me and you to research a pen properly before buying. Pictures you see on one site may look one way but the same pen might look different under different lighting conditions.

Conclusion:
Overall, I am not entirely satisfied with the pen. In large part due to the difference in expectation and reality. This I accept as wholly my own fault. The M nib I choose didn't help matters. I do enjoy writing with it. It works very well for me. It is just a little meh, if you get what I mean. My intention is to get the nib grind to something more interesting when the Nakaya nibmeister next comes to Singapore.

Pros:

• Beautiful workmanship
• The same piccolo shape you love

Cons:

• Buyer being stupid

Additional Reading:

• The Unroyal Warrant’s review of Nakaya Naka-ai Negoro Shiro-tamenuri

My thanks to Cityluxe for providing the ink for review. Now Garnet is an interesting colour. It’s purple verging on red. This is one of those in between colours that I enjoy a lot. It shades subtly in my Japanese M nib. It can look really bright and pops right off the page. This is one happy colour. Among the Monteverde inks I’ve tried, beside Olivine, this is one of my favourites.

Similar Inks:

• Caran d’Ache Sunset
• Pelikan Edelstein Turmaline
• Callifolio Andrinople

My thanks to Cityluxe for providing the ink for review. Erinite is an odd kind of green. It reminds me of KWZ Menthol Green. I liked Menthol Green but not this one. Why? I can’t really say. It writes drier than the KWZ one. Erinite is a pale blend of green and blue but definitely more on the green end. It’s a rather flat colour. When wet, it looks like it shades subtly but once dry, it is rather flat. I have to say in terms of colour, I don’t really like Erinite.

Similar Inks:

• Platinum Mix Free Leaf Green
• OMAS Green
• Visconti Green

Cherry is red ink by KWZ that really reminds me of Christmas. It’s bright, it’s vibrant and it pops. It’s a red that shades really nicely. Cherry goes from a deep red with a little purple undertone to a pink-red colour. Red is normally not my go to colour for my fountain pen. KWZ Cherry is the expection to the rule. I think it’s becoming my favourite red ink.

Similar Inks:

• Blackstone Uluru Red
• Montblanc William Shakespeare Velvet Red
• Robert Oster Signature Burgundy

The Numbers:
Weight: 39g
Length (capped): 145.9 mm
Length (uncapped): 131.3 mm
Price: MSRP USD$995
Body Material: Acryloid and 925 sterling silver trim
Nib Material: 23kt Palladium Dreamtouch nib
Filling Mechanism: Vaccumatic
Colours: Single

Intro:

My thanks to Louisa for lending me her precious, precious pen.

Visconti introduced the Homo Sapiens London Fog a few years back. It was part of a 888 piece worldwide limited edition. It is an addition to the Homo Sapiens lineup. It’s shape and look closely resembled the Homo Sapiens but the main difference is in it’s material. It’s made of acryloid which I’ve inferred to mean it’s a material that has the characteristic of both celluloid and acrylic.

Celluloid is known for its being able to produce beautiful swirls and patterns but it is quite flammable. On the other hand, acrylic is light and much safer to work with. So to have the best of both world, Visconti added super thin strips of celluloid into the acrylic and we have the acryloid material.

Packaging:
The London Fog came in a very solid packaging. It’s first sheathed in the standard cream coloured Visconti cardboard box. Inside is a glossy black box emblazoned with the Visconti logo. Pulling the lid up, you will see the pen nestled in the cream bed of what I think is faux leather.

The box is heavy and unlikely to be repurposed for anything. I appreciate the packaging especially for a pen of this price but I really could do with a smaller and lighter box. This isn’t something that only Visconti does but also Aurora, Montblanc and the list goes on.

Performance:
Starting from the top, the cap is a nice mix of pearlecent grey and deep blue swirl. It’s accented with two 925 silver rings around the cap and finished with the traditional Visconti bridge clip. The finial is furnished with the Visconti emblem. The Visconti emblem can be removed and you can have your initials or a gemstone put in as part of the Visconti My Pen System. The clip itself is spring loaded, it isn’t particularly tight.

Just below the cap is the centre band for the pen. It has the words “Homo Sapiens” etched along the centre along with the number of your limited edition piece.

There is a ink chamber just behind the nib that’s separated from the main chamber. The main chamber being the entire barrel of the London Fog. That is where ink resides when you seal the main chamber by tightening the knob down. That chamber holds quite a bit of ink.

The barrel is mostly clear with swirls of blue celluloid. The pen terminates at the knob that you will need to unscrew to allow the ink to flow into the reserve ink chamber. You will also need to unscrew the knob to retract the seal when filling the pen.

The cap is the best thing ever! It uncaps with a tiny little turn, probably about 1/5 of a turn. The Hook Safe Lock is my favourite thing about this pen. However for me it’s a little of a double-edged sword. More on that later.

The grip section is nice and contoured. It dips in the middle before flaring out near the nib to help guide your fingers to the correct holding position. Though the London Fog is a large pen it is well balanced. The cap can be posted but it is definitely not advisable. By posting the cap, the pen becomes overly long and back heavy.

The London Fog is a vacuum filler that means it holds a hell a lot of ink in its barrel. It means you have to be careful when you fill it especially in a full bottle of ink, that displaced air need to go out somewhere and it’s likely into your bottle and your full bottle of ink won’t be that full once air get pumped into it. It also means you can seal the main ink chamber off from the nib which makes it less likely to regurgitate its entire “stomach” contents into the cap.

Now the London Fog and most Visconti’s higher end pens comes with the 23kt Palladium Dreamtouch nib. This pen came with a fine nib which is my usual choice for non-Japanese fountain pens in general but the palladium nib is super wet. Even when paired a dry like the Graf von Faber-Castell Midnight blue it still writes very wet. It’s close to unusable to me. I cannot imagine how it writes if I had a wet ink in it. The palladium nib is bouncy and provides a nice cushioned writing experience.

Ok now that Hook Safe Lock system is truly fantastic but it also means the “threads” are big and chunky. My fingers tend to wrap themselves around those said threads. It’s not comfortable if you are in the midst of a long writing session. Short sessions are tolerable but for this price, I don’t think I need to tolerate anything.

Conclusion:
Thankfully, this pen doesn’t belong to me. Once I’m done with the review, it’s back to its owner it’s going. The Visconti Homo Sapiens London Fog is a beautiful pen with a wonderfully juicy nib but it is just isn’t for me. And that’s all right. THere is no reason why every pen have to work for me. However, lefties do take note of that overly juicy nib. The threads issue might just be an issue for me and my weird grip.

Pros:

• Beautiful swirls and pearlessence
• Huge ink capacity
• Hook Safe Lock system
• Juicy nib

Cons:

• Overly juicy nib for this lefty
• Threads of the Hook Safe Lock system painful for this lefty

Additional Reading:

• The Pen Addict’s review of the Visconti Homo Sapiens London Fog
• Gourmet Pens’ review of the Visconti Homo Sapiens London Fog

Amethyst de l’Oural is J. Herbin 2017 1670 Shimmering ink entry. There have been many companies jumping on the shimmering ink bandwagon most notably De Atramentis and Robert Oster but J. Herbin is the original.

Amethyst de l’Oural is a purple ink with silver dust. For the most part it’s a pretty ink but it isn’t as eye-catching as Emerald of Chivor. The purple by itself isn’t special. It doesn’t shade much. J. Herbin also updated the packaging. I like the new look but am disappointed by the ink itself. It’s also flinky in my Faber-Castell Loom and TWSBI Mini

Similar Inks:

• De Atramentis Aubergine
• Montblanc Lavender Purple
• Lamy Dark Lilac

My thanks to Louisa for the ink sample.

Graf von Faber-Castell Midnight Blue is very much traditional blue black ink, rather a dark blue with a strong grey undertone. It shades easily and rather wet for a Graf von Faber-Castell ink. That’s really unexpected. This is a suitable colour for corporate use in terms of its colour. Graf von Faber-Castell Midnight Blue is a step above a standard blue or black ink because it’s not boring or devoid of shading.

Similar Inks:

• Noodler's FPN Van Gogh Starry Night Blue
• Elixir Midnight Marina
• Noodler’s 54th Massachusetts

My thanks to Cityluxe for the ink and allowing me to give it away.

I’ve filled Moonstone in my dry Opus 88 and here’s where Monteverde’s ITF (ink treatment formula) shines. It has made my dry Opus 88 nib smooth and lubricated. Moonstone is a warm brown that has a strong grey undertone. It’s a truly unique colour that shades beautifully even in my stainless steel F nib. This is one of the stand out colours of the Monteverde Gemstone ink lineup.

I am giving away this bottle of Monteverde Moonstone. All you have to do is to leave me a comment below. This giveaway ends 12th April 2018. This giveaway is open to anyone residing in Singapore.

Similar Inks:

• Caran d’Ache Grand Canyon
• Pilot Iroshizuku Yama Guri
• Noodler’s Walnut

My thanks to Straits Pen for the ink sample.

I’ve filled my Pilot Vanishing Point with Noodler’s Borealis Black under the impression it is a super wet ink but I think my Pilot Vanishing Point has defeated it. It still writes kind of dry-ish. Noodler’s Borealis Black is a water resistant ink that’s usually very black. But I’m thinking this ink has it’s favourites and works differently in different pens. I’ve seen reviews online where people complained about the long drying times but I had the opposite problem in my Pilot Vanishing Point. So be wary of which pen you fill this ink in. My TWSBI Mini has no issues with Noodler’s Borealis Black and I’ve experienced the long dry times with the TWSBI Mini.

Similar Inks:

• Noodler’s Bernanke Black
• Diamine Graphite
• Robert Oster Signature Graphite