J. Herbin celebrated their 340th anniversary of J. Herbin with the launch of the 1670 ink series. They launched the series with Rouge Hematite and the followed with Bleu Ocean, Stormy Grey and Emerald of Chivor. Some inks in the series have undergo a number of reformulation and changes through the years.
The inks come in a square bottle that looks different from the regular J Herbin inks. They have a decorative wax seal on the front of the bottle. Overall the packaging of the ink speaks to the unique-ness of the inks contained within.
I will be reviewing the current crop of J. Herbin 1670 inks I have. 3 out of 4 1670 inks have gold pigment in the ink. Rouge Hematite is the only one with the tiny gold flakes. As a general for these ink you should shake the bottle to make sure the flakes isn’t just settled at the bottom of the bottle before filling your pen. Also before writing with any pen filled with the ink, remember to give it a little shake before writing.
Do take note that you pick a suitable pen to use with the ink. I initially filled my Lamy converters with the inks, when I wanted to wash them out I realised my error. The gold pigment got stuck inside my converter and I have no way of washing them out. I'll suggest either dedicating a pen or converter to these inks, or refilling a cartridge and use them that way. Otherwise, converters such as the Pilot CON-20 or CON-50 would be easier to wash out.
J. Herbin Rouge Hematite
Rouge Hematite is the only one in the series that doesn’t have the sparkly gold dust in the ink once it drys. Writing with the other inks feels like writing with glitter pens but Rouge Hematite’s pigment resulted in a green-gold sheen over the red ink. When it was released Rouge Hematite ended up clogging many pens and J. Herbin reformulated to remove the gold pigment to prevent clogging. However, people wanted the gold back so J. Herbin reformulated a third time that brought back the green-gold sheen but it was safer for fountain pens this time.
There is no real way to know which version of Rouge Hematite I have so I am going at a best guess that this is verison 2 of Rouge Hematite. Judging by the utter lack of any sheen as far as I can see, I am pretty sure this is the version without any pigments. It looks just like a regular red ink. It shades slightly, going from a dark red to a bright tomato red. As a red ink it leans towards yellowish-red colour rather than a purple-red colour. As a 1670 ink, it isn’t very outstanding. I am glad that J. Herbin has reformulated the ink to add the pigments back into the ink.
Similar Inks:
- Sheaffer Red
- Diamine Poppy Red
- Diamine Ancient Copper
J. Herbin Bleu Ocean (Version 2)
Bleu Ocean was initially released without any gold pigments in it. It was a regular blue ink. Maybe it was because of the success of Stormy Grey, it was later reformulated to add sparkly gold pigment into the ink. There is no guessing with this ink here. I have the reformulated ink that has the gold pigment.
This is a rather standard blue ink with some shading properties if I discount the fact that is has gold flakes. Bleu Ocean shades from muted purple-blue to a dark purple-blue. If Bleu Ocean didn’t have the gold flakes, it wouldn’t have been my cup of tea. Personally I think blue goes better with silver flakes, what do you think?
Similar Inks:
- Pilot Iroshizuku Ajisai
- Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue
- Diamine Royal Blue
J. Herbin Stormy Grey
I got this bottle of Stormy Grey not last year now that Emerald of Chivor is released, I should really get around to reviewing it. Stormy Grey is a nice grey ink by itself. It leans more towards a warmer grey. Stormy Grey shades from a dark grey to a light grey. The gold pigment peaks through the dark ink. Though it doesn’t seems to like my TWSBI Mini much, it has no problems when paired with my Lamy Safari.
Similar Inks:
- Sailor Kaigen Grey
- Mont Blanc Permanent Grey
- Noodler's Lexington Grey
J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor
Emerald of Chivor is the latest addition to J. Herbin’s 1670 ink series. This is one stunning ink. It is an eye catching emerald green which shades from a rich green teal to a dark almost black green colour. Coupled with the colour, it has a red sheen and gold pigment. Emerald of Chivor is quite a wet ink. The red sheen is visible if you have liberal amounts of ink on non-absorbent paper. The gold flakes are more visible when compared to Stormy Grey. This a very worth addition to J. Herbin’s 1670 ink series.
Similar Inks:
- Diamine Teal
- Noodler's General of the Armies
- De Atramentis - Plum (Scented)
