Today was the perfect day to open this Ink Drop set. It was one of those Indian Summer days — warm and sunny but it would get a little chilly when the breeze would blow and the trees are starting to change. So, so long, summer. You’ll be dearly missed.
This month’s Ink Drop (I guess technically it’s last month’s Ink Drop) featured colors that hover between summer and fall. They are colors that are a little deeper than those bright sun-baked summer colors but not quite the jewel tones of late fall. Featured this month was Diamine Sepia ($12.95 for an 80ml bottle), Diamine Teal ($12.95 for an 80ml bottle), Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin ($22.40 for a 50ml bottle), Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Gaki ($28 for a 50ml bottle) and Private Reserve Daphne Blue ($11 for a 65ml bottle).
The color difference between the Mandarin and the Fuyu-Gaki was pretty slight in the swatches but it might be more noticeable when actually writing. At best, I think the Fuyu-Gaki is a little more reddish than the Mandarin which was a vibrant orange. It might help to know that Fuyu-Gaki translates to “Winter Persimmon.” I do think Fuyu-Gaki is reminiscent of the color of a persimmon.
The Diamine Sepia is a golden, fall leaf yellow gold. I would have named it something like “Golden Wheat ” or “Raw Umber”rather than Sepia which I always assume will be a more reddish brown or grey brown. That said, its a pleasingly autumnal color and I’ll be curious to actually ink it up in a pen. Maybe my Kaweco Art Sport would look good with this color ink?
Private Reserve Daphne Blue is quite similar to the Naples Blue from the August Ink Drop. The Daphne Blue is just slightly more turquoise in the swatch than the Naples Blue. Both look like fabulous vivid blues.
The Diamine Teal is a wonderful sort of teal blue-black. I may not love black inks but blue-blacks and green-black and purple-blacks are all well-received at The Desk. I’m looking forward to doing a full review of this ink and probably buying a full bottle.
Which of these colors would you like to see as a full writing sample first?
Ink Drop is a monthly ink sampling service from Goulet Pens. Subscriptions are $10 per month (add $5 for international subscription), pre-paid or ongoing, and include five different colors of ink and discounts on purchases of full bottles of ink in the Ink Drops.
Swabs are done with a watercolor paint brush on Kyokuto Word Cards.
DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Goulet Pens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
I have been using the Pilot Envelope Pen in both the Fine and Extra Fine models for many years. These are rolleball pens. I’d most likely compare them in feel to a Pilot Precise V5 but a little bit slippier. The ink is silky smooth but because of the ink, the tip can get a little gunky. So why suffer a gunky tip? Because these pens are fine line AND waterproof and not prone to feather like a Sharpie Marker. In my writing test, the water test portion was wet with a water brush and dried. Not even a smudge!
