Ink Review: Rohrer & Klingner Aubergine

Review by Laura Cameron

I feel like I made my love of purple clear last year, so I was relatively unsurprised when Jesi sent me some samples of purple inks she has acquired recently. One of these was Rohrer & Klingner’s Limited Edition Aubergine (50mL for $12.95 from Vanness Pens).

Aubergine is a deep dark purple, with yellowy sheen in its darkest applications.

Aubergine shades nicely in various nib sizes. In the darkest ink splotches it also sheens quite a bit, though I didn’t notice that in writing, only when I added lots of ink to the paper.

Aubergine definitely leans towards the blue side of purple, rather than the plummy red color of Birmingham Pen Co’s Little Italy Eggplant Parmesan (a fitting comparison?).

In fact, it turns out that most of the purples I own lean red, making it hard to find something similar to Aubergine. Birmingham’s purples are too plummy and Robert Oster Purple Rock is both redder and also blacker than Aubergine.

But if a blue purple is your heart’s desire, I’d say this one fits the bill nicely.

Papers: Maruman Mnemosyne N182A Inspiration Notebook A5 ($10.50), Crossfield Journal ($24.00), Ghost Paper Notebook ($25)
Pen: Delike Glass Signature Pen ($37.80)
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) and Col-o-Dex Rotary Cards ($15)
Inks: Rohrer & Klingner Limited Edition Aubergine (50ml for $12.95)

ETA thanks to the eagle-eyed reader who pointed out my mispelling of Klingner. It has been updated in the text, though unfortunately I can’t reshoot the photos at this point!

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.