The Well-Appointed Desk

While I do not drink red wine (it makes me sneezy! Who is so foolish as to be allergic to wine?) I do appreciate the rich colors of red wine. 3 Oysters Red Wine ($18 for 38ml bottle)  is probably a good approximation to the color of some red wines without looking like dried blood (I’m looking at you Montblanc Shakespeare Red Velvet, you big liar!).

Red Wine is a warm, deep red with some purple undertones giving it that “squeezed from a grape” vibe of red wine.

Unlike a lot of reds which tend to lean to bright, vibrant red or red-orange-y or a maroon with black undertones, 3 Oysters Red Wine is reddish but also touched with a little purple making it a bit subdued. I found it to be a great accompaniment to the Platinum 3776 Shungyo. In the past, I’ve filled it with brighter red and then found myself not using the pen because the ink was too bright. This is a more subtle, grown-up red. I feel like writing about Venice or other Italian cities with my inky wine.

It even made me want to write neater. Inkmas has definitely brought it to my attention that I’ve been neglecting writing and practicing my calligraphy for over a month. I was very rusty this week. Hopefully the holidays will give me time to practice.

When compared to other reds in my collection, you can see that Red Wine (top swatch)  shades but does not sheen. That honor goes to Sailor Jentle Grenade (bottom swatch). I included two swatches from Birmingham Pen Co. — Fort Pitt Blockhouse and Ebenezer Penny Carmine ($7.99) — those boys over at Birmingham love deep, dark colors! I include Callifolio Grenat ($12 for 40ml bottle) which I’d thought of as a wine color but it is definitely more pink than 3 Oysters Red Wine.

The Birmingham inks lean more brick-y or brown than Red Wine. Though Blockhouse is probably pretty close. The Sailor Jentle Grenade is a popular red for its sheen but if sheen is not your thing, I’d give Grenade a hard pass. It has a gold green sheen.

So, with all those comparisons, I think it’s easy to see that, in the wine category of colors, there are as many options as there are bottles of wine in the world. I think 3 Oysters offers a great red wine color with Red Wine.

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Tools:

• Paper: Rhodia Ice No. 18 Lined with 6mm guide sheet
• Pens: Dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15), Platinum 3776 Shungyo with Soft Fine Nib (similar models available, $165.66)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Princeton Neptune #8 Round ($7.16)
• Ink:  3 Oysters Red Wine ($17 for 50ml bottle)

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DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

Okay, after four ho-hum reviews, this one is the rave review. Sort of.

The minute I saw 3 Oysters Doldam on paper, I knew I had to buy a bottle. I love grey ink and this ink is a blue-grey with a yellowish sheen. It has a lot of shading and ranges from a dove grey to almost a blue-black in saturated spots. Then there’s the sheen which is sometimes yellowish and sometimes bluish. Let me state or the record that this ink does not sheen like an Organics Studio ink, but it does possess some tricks.

I did find this ink a little light when writing with a fine nib pen. When it’s dry, its completely legible but it goes down a little light. However, if you put Doldam in a wide nib pen… LOOKOUT! The results are stunning.

Such color variety and shading. By far, Doldam is one of my favorite ink colors this year.

When lined up with other greys in my collection, you can see the range of hues — some are blue grey, some are a warmer reddish-grey. When stacked next to other greys, Doldam (at the top) is definitely more blue-violet than the others.

Birmingham Pen Co. Enterprise Tower Aluminum ($7.99 for 30ml bottle) and Callifolio Gris de Payne ($12 for 40ml bottle) are definitely more bluish. Krishna Pencil ($6 for 20ml) is a warmer red-grey (YMMV with this particular color) and Diamine Earl Grey ($16 for 80ml bottle) has lavender undertones though, in person, it looks to be the most neutral grey.

With those comparisons, it’s evident that Doldam is a unique ink color with some unusual color properties. This, in my magpie nature, makes it entirely worth purchasing. See? I’m not the Inkmas scrooge.

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Tools:

• Paper: Rhodia Ice No. 18 Lined
• Pens: Dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15), Pelikan M600 White Transparent with fine nib and Sailor Fude de Mannen Fountain Pen 55º ($18.39)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Silver Black Velvet Round #6 (7.98)
• Ink:  Robert Oster Australian Opal Mauve ($17 for 50ml bottle)

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DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details. Some links in this review include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

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I admit it. I’m a sucker for a vivid blue ink. There is something luminous and soothing about the swimming pool/Caribbean sea blue colors that can be created with fountain pen ink. They are translucent like watercolors and show a range of shading like rippling waves on a crystal blue waters. 3 Oysters Hanuel ($18 for 38ml bottle) is one of those ink colors.

Its hard to effuse about this ink as I feel like the photos speak for themselves. The color is eye searingly bright blue — a light cerulean sky blue.

(I confess I had to check online sources to verify its a cerulean blue not azure. Thank you, Mental Floss! Or maybe more Arctic? That would be fitting for this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere.)

What made me realize my penchant for this particular shade of blue was when I went in search of comparison inks. I eventually just cut myself off because as you can see above, I have amassed quite a collection. The Hanuel swatch is at the top with Diamine Turquoise (though Beau Blue is probably another option from Diamine, $15 for 80ml bottle), vintage Montblanc Turquoise, Pen BBS #275 Claude Monet ($20 for 60ml bottle), Sailor Jentle Yuki Akari (20 for 50ml bottle), and Waterman Obsession Blue (AKA Inspired Blue, $9.60 for 50ml bottle).

With so many bright turquoise ink options, there is no real reason to choose the 3 Oysters version over another brand. Waterman is half the price essentially and can be used in any fountain — modern or vintage. It also has a wicked sheen. The 3 Oysters Haneul has a little bit of sheen but its only visible in the large swatch and a tiny bit around the edges of the dip pen writing. If you like sheen, I’d recommend the Waterman. The Pen BBS Claude Monet is a bit cooler blue and also has a lovely sheen. The Sailor and Montblanc are almost identical in color and I suspect the Montblanc Turquoise is very close in color to the Montblanc UNICEF Turquoise ($43 for a 50ml bottle) that was released last year. And there’s also Lamy Pacific ($12 for 50ml bottle) which is a dead ringer for the Montblanc UNICEF Turquoise and not that far from the Haneul.

So, while I’m definitely a fan of this ink and color, if you already have a couple bright turquoise inks in your arsenal, there’s no real reason to purchase this one. And pricewise, if you want to get Turquoise-y, the Waterman is a much better deal with Lamy Pacific (previously known as Lamy Turquoise) coming a close second.

I feel like all my Inkmas reviews have been ho-hum about the ink colors. I am not an Inkmas scrooge, I promise.

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Tools:

• Paper: Rhodia Ice No. 18 Lined with 6mm guide sheet
• Pens: Dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15), Ferris Wheel Press “The Brush” Fountain Pen in Sunset Yellow ($183 CAD)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) & Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
• Brush: Princeton Neptune #6 Round ($5.97)
• Ink:  3 Oysters Hanuel ($18 for 38ml bottle)

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DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

Inkmas has reached Day 8 and I reached into my stash to find KWZ Maple Red, the Scriptus 2018 exclusive color. I picked this up in Toronto at the Scriptus Show and paid far more than the original price because all I had in my wallet was a credit card and US currency. Unfortunately, the table set up to sell the ink didn’t take plastic so I ended up paying for the ink dollar-for-dollar with US currency. But that was the only way I was going to get a bottle of this ink. FOMO runs deep and I was willing to pay for it. Besides, it was probably cheaper than shipping to the US or trying to get a bottle of this on the secondary market.

That said, let’s talk about the color.

When applying the ink to my Col-o-dex card, it was the vibrant red of an autumn Japanese Maple tree. However, as it started to dry, it deepened into a more brownish red, and in writing, started to look almost walnut brown.

As you can see in the writing sample, the color is more of a warm brown than a flaming red orange. The water test spot hints at how bright the color was when  wet. With water, the bright orange is far more vivid.

In this close-up, the lettering seems to get progressively darker as I was writing. Though there is some nice shading this ink did not show any sheening properties either. Though I’m hard pressed to think of a single sheening red. It must be a very difficult task to make red ink sheen.

When I put Maple Leaves next to other warm red-orange and deep reddish brown inks, it became clear to me that there are definitely alternative options to Maple Red since this was a limited edition ink.

Birmingham Pen Co’s Mount Washington Sunset ($7.99 for 30ml bottle) is a pretty close match though ever-so-slightly more orangey. To be honest, if you are looking for an ink that reminds you of autumn leaves, Mount Washington Sunset is a great option. Diamine Ancient Copper ($15 for 80ml bottle) is also a good option. Noodler’s Antietam ($12.50 per 3oz bottle) is more fiery and Blackstone Uluru Red ($8.50 for 30ml bottle) is just a hint more reddish-pink.

With these comparisons, and my feeling that Maple Red dries a little too brown, I think there are good alternate options if you’re in search of a ruddy red. Which, look on the bright side, means you don’t have to beg, borrow or steal to get a bottle of this limited edition ink.