In honor of their 10th anniversary of Federalist Pens created FranklyX, an exclusive Robert Oster Shimmy Ink ($20). The ink is a black base color with champagne/light bronze shimmer particles to create a golden color-shifting shimmer showing green, grey and blue hues as well as the top color of gold.
When compared to other inks in my collection, J. Herbin 1670 Stormy Grey is also a dark grey/black with gold shimmer but Frankly X is a good substitute to the coveted PenBBS The White House is Burning which has been discontinued. Van Dieman’s Midnight Sky has a similar vibe but the shimmer is different.
I definitely admire the Federalist Pens team for their 10 years of success, I feel like the market has quite a few options for a black ink with shimmer so sadly, I was a little underwhelmed by the color. Of course, I love Robert Oster inks so its no shade to the ink, the brand or Federalist Pens, I’ve just seen this black-with-shimmer quite a lot and there are others I think I more interesting like Wearinguel Hades. But I may be biased overall since I got in to fountain pens to use all the colors rather than just back, even if it does have sparkles.
What’s your stance on black ink? Black ink with shimmer?
DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Federalist Pens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.