The Lunar New Year is approaching and let’s assume you’ve been diligent in your spring cleaning. Your desk is now clean and free of clutter. You might be thinking, let’s put some pens in a pen stand and setup my work station, after all the desk is a vital piece of furniture for all fountain pen lovers. How about putting a bottle of ink on my desk for easy access? Of course we are working on the assumption your desk isn’t in direct sunlight and whatever ambient light won’t be damaging the ink in the bottle.
Let’s run through the different ink bottles that each brand provides. There are the basic ones from brands such as Noodler’s, Private Reserve, Sailor, Franklin Christoph, limited edition Montblanc, J Herbin and 30ml Diamine bottles. They are mostly made of glass except the 30ml Diamine bottles are plastic. Now these are no frills ink bottles, mostly cylindrical, rectangular or squarish in shape, some designs more useable than others but all not that attractive.
Then, there are bottles in the middle tier such as the older Bungbox vase shaped ones, Montblanc shoe shaped ones, Pelikan 4001, Maruzen Athena, OMAS and Pilot ink bottles. These are not just basic shapes. The Bungbox vases shaped ones and the Maruzen Athena bottles are among my favourites, the former for it’s functionality and the later for its shape. These are a step above the first tier of ink bottle attractiveness but these are not the best there is.
Up on the lofty heights of ink bottle attractiveness, there are the higher end inks such as the Pilot Iroshizuku, Graf von Faber-Castell, Pelikan Edelstein and Akkerman. These definitely look like and some actually cost a nice chunk of change. Personally the first three brands are what I’ll feel are the prettier brands of ink bottles while the Akkerman is a very different looking ink bottle. Plus it has that marble inside you can play with if you’re bored.
If all things being equal, regardless the kind of ink is in the bottle, regardless the price of the ink or the volume of ink contained, I will crown the Graf von Faber Castell bottle as the ink bottle for my table. Look at the elegance of the ribbed glass bottle and capped with a hefty metal cap. The label also looks like a blend of old world class and personal touch of the analogue world. I would buy the entire ink lineup they have just for the bottle.
Which ink bottle would you crown as the ink bottle for your desk? Tell me in the comments below.