Pens Paper Plans

Faber-Castell e-Motion Parquet Black

Posted on 15 June 2018 by Gillian

Faber-Castell is an often-neglected manufacturer of fountain pens. I have three of their Looms which are wonderful entry-level pens with very smooth steel nibs. Despite the Loom’s good looks, low price, and lovely writing experience, they are rarely mentioned in recommendations for beginners, in favour of Lamy Safaris and Pilot Metropolitains. This neglect is repeated in their mid-market pens too, which is a real shame. Hopeful, we at United Inkdom can counter this a little.

Executive Pens Direct lent us at UI an e-Motion Parquet Black to test drive, so I am doing a joint review with my own e-Motion Pure Black.

Parquet vs Pure — The Parquet shines and the Pure Black slips into the shadows

Looks

The Parquet pen features very shiny chrome-plated cap and trims, with a high gloss black parquet resin barrel. The cap features the Faber-Castell name and logo (as most, if not all, of their pens do) and has a hinged clip. In fact, the finish is so shiny it was pretty tricky to get anything approaching a decent photograph of it.

Parquet pattern — Its pretty difficult to pick up the pattern under the reflection

The Pure Black is a different beast altogether. Although the same size and shape as the Parquet, the Pure Black is completely black and completely matt. Even the nib is black. It’s the Batman of pens (more so than the bat patterned Montegrappa Batman pen, IMO). The anodized aluminium barrel has a guilloche pattern which adds some interest and grip. The cap has the same engraved name and logo, and hinged clip as the Parquet.

Feel

The most obvious difference when using the two pens is weight. The Parquet, with its resin barrel, is an average weight fountain pen which should be manageable by most people. The Pure Black is considerably heavier and, combined with the pens fat barrel size, it may not suit every hand.

However, the writing experience with both pens is great. F-C make excellent steel nibs: smooth and wet and a real pleasure to write with. The nibs in their lower priced pens are the same, which is why I am so disappointed that F-C pens are so often overlooked. For reasons I am not at all clear on, it seems to be tricky to get anything other than a medium nib on F-C pens in the UK. Not impossible, but certainly tricky. I’m ok with an M but choice would be good. The M is comparable with other German M nibs, like the Lamy, but a wider line than a Japanese M, so if you prefer your pen strokes slim, I recommend you search for a stockist with EF or F nibs.

Value

These are low mid-range pens which pack a lot of punch for the price. The Parquet is currently available from Executive Pens Direct for £78 (reduced from £87) and the Pure Black for £128 (down from £150). You should expect to pay in the region of £70-80 and £110-130 respectively. From experience, the Pure Black will take quite a bashing. It feels like a tank. I was given mine for my birthday three years ago and it’s been filled and in light use almost constantly in that time, carted around in my pencil case or on my desk. It can be prone to hard starts if it’s been left unused for a while, but that’s not unusual. The finish has held up well, especially compared to Lamy Al-Stars which seem to scratch fairly easily.

As is no doubt clear, I’m a fan of F-C pens. They’re solid, reliable pens with some smart design features and they look great.

Start Bay Standard Traveler’s Notebook

Posted on 20 March 2018 by Gillian

A few months ago, I reviewed Start Bay‘s rather gorgeous A5 traveler’s notebook cover. Start Bay have kindly sent United Inkdom another model to test out: the Navigator A5 Slim.

Size

This is marketed as “A5 slim.” This type of sizing has been appearing more frequently recently and, I have to say, I find it really irritating. A5 is an international standard size (210mm x 145mm), as defined by ISO 216. It’s used world-wide except in Canada, the USA, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. The sizing is not arbitrary: it’s governed by aspect ratio. So, if you cut an A4 piece of paper in half width-ways, you’ll get an A5 piece of paper which is in the same proportions as the A4 was. It’s very neat. However, if you take an A5 sheet of paper and trim some off the side, you lose the aspect ratio and don’t have an “A5 slim” because

A5 slim is not a thing.

If it is less than 145mm wide, it’s not A5. If you buy a kilo of cheese, the supermarket doesn’t get to call it “1kg lite” and give you 780g.

The Start Bay TN cover reviewed here is the same size as the Midori ‘standard/regular’ size, and calling it that seems to me to be more helpful and accurate. Who knows what size inserts an “A5 slim” takes? Whereas, it’s easy to find standard size TN inserts.

Rant over.

Look and Feel

Start Bay TN cover packaging — The TN comes in a soft fabric cover for protection (and looks lovely)

The TN comes wrapped in a fabric cover. It looks gorgeous. I’m not sure I’d use this as a cover day to day though. The leather looks like it will age well with some scuffs and bumps, and I try to reduce the fuss and fankle of additional bags and pouches unless they’re useful.

The leather is their “vintage” colour and is lighter than the Start Bay TN I reviewed before and while I probably wouldn’t have chosen this shade had I not seen it in the flesh, it’s actually really lovely. It’s a softer leather than the Navigator but is still moderately stiff. What you prefer in this respect is down to taste: my own TN is made from very soft, floppy leather (review to come), which don’t suit everyone. This, and the very stiff leather of the Navigator, feel more hard wearing and like they’d stand up to being thrown around a bag everyday than soft leathers.

The finishing and details on these TNs is very good. As well as the fabric pouch, they are discretely embossed with Start Bay on the back. The company now offer their own branded notebooks to go inside. These have kraft covers which match the leather browns nicely, and attractive writing-themed cover designs with an inkwell on the dot grid and a dip pen on the plain. They are currently only available for the standard size (this one) and in dot grid or plain paper. The dot grid has soft blue dots. The plain paper feels thick and good quality, but I didn’t do a pen test on either.

Verdict

I continue to be impressed by Start Bay. This is a lovely piece which will age well, and last. It’s got a classic look and high quality, unobtrusive detailing which should appeal to many people. Were I in the market for a new TN, Start Bay would be my first port of call.

Scrikss 35 Titanium fountain pen review

Posted on 22 January 2018 by Gillian

The Scrikss pen arrived on my doorstep from United Inkdom. It was not a manufacturer I was aware of before, and I have not uncovered much information beyond the basics about them subsequently. This may be because the company is Turkish and there is limited info in English. However, they are well-established (making pens since the 1960s), and the model 35 which I have tried out here is a decent pen. I was only able to find one UK stockist for the brand, but Andy’s Pens don’t carry this model at present. It’s therefore difficult to give an idea of what this pen costs. Similar models retail below £40 and my best guess would be that this model would set you back in the region of £35, if you can find it.

It’s a nice looking pen, elegant and understated. The titanium finish is a deep grey. The high shine makes it a little difficult to photograph. It can look almost black if it’s not in good bright light. The chrome trim and clip make a pleasant contrast to the dark grey body. It could easily be used in a work setting- it’s an unobtrusive pen, unlikely to offend even the most staid and unreasonable office colleague. It definitely looks like a more grown-up pen than a Lamy Safari or Al-Star. It’s slim and smooth, altogether more elegant. The pen also comes in a chrome finish, which I am sure would be equally sophisticated. While it does look good, it may be a little uninteresting for those of us who like a bright coloured pen or something a bit fancier. If you like to match an ink to the pen, Diamine Graphite might be a good bet here.

It’s a smooth writer for what I assume to be a steel nib (it’s certainly not gold) and pleasant to use. The nib does not indicate the width, but I’d put it at medium. I’ve had it inked with Organics Studio Walden Pond Blue and found it to be pretty reliable. It writes fairly wet, which works with a strong sheening ink like WPB. Although the cap can be posted, I didn’t like the feel of the pen when I did this. It felt slightly off balance, and like the cap was insecure posted. Objectively, it was perfectly securely placed, but it wasn’t comfortable for me this way. I almost always post my pens so this was a little unusual for me. Your mileage may vary.

My conclusions on this pen are that it is a nice, smooth writer with elegant looks at a reasonable price. However, it’s a little uninteresting to me and I think I’d neglect to use it if it were part of my collection. It’s just a little too business-like for my tastes. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by the bright colours of Lamy Al-Stars and Faber-Castell Looms? That, however, may be a great recommendation for others! I’d be interested to see different models from this manufacturer though, and I hope that more UK stockists have a look at them.

Start Bay Navigator A5 Traveler’s Notebook

Posted on 19 November 201719 November 2017 by Gillian

I’ve said before, but traveller’s notebooks (TNs) continue to be extremely popular. They offer a degree of flexibility bound notebooks cannot. After some hesitation, I took the plunge and am currently using a personal size TN daily, and a passport size less frequently. I was excited to try out an A5 though. Start Bay, based on the South Devon coast, offered a sample of their A5 Navigator cover to United Inkdom for testing.

Size

The Navigator is a large TN. It’s 160mm x 225mm x 25mm and so it comfortably accommodates several wide A5 (145mm x 210mm) notebooks. Start Bay themselves state that it will hold 4 notebooks (it has 4 elastics at the spine) but you could easily rig it up to hold more than that. If, for example, you were using slim notebooks like the Taroko ones I previously reviewed, you would want to add in a lot more than 4. (There are lots of YouTube tutorials to help you out if you’re not sure how to do this.) Its size is a huge plus point for me. You can fit a hardback notebook, like a Leuchtturm, in here with plenty of room to spare. This would be a useful way of managing a bullet journal with separate collections notebooks, for example.

The Navigator is made from hard-wearing full grain leather which will handle a potentially large amount of paper inside. The leather is 3mm in thickness and is stiffer than many TNs available. I currently have the slim Taroko notebook, a slim Filofax Flex notebook, and a heavier Midori MD Notebook – A5 Plain Paper. This combination leaves plenty of room (it only uses 3 of the 4 elastics). You could easily fit a Leuchtturm 1917 or even a Moleskine notebook (if you can bear Moleskine’s terrible paper) along with other items. However, it does make this a moderately heavy item to carry around. Mine currently weighs about 22oz/650g, without hardback notebooks in it.

The size is a big plus for this TN. The otherwise good Paper Republic cover was let down by its awkward size. By making the TN itself A5, Paper Republic have drastically restricted the availability of notebooks to go with it. Start Bay have avoided this important pitfall by making a cover into which A5 notebooks will fit. This is not only much more convenient, it also conforms to what people expect from a cover marketed as a standard size.

Looks

The Navigator is a classic, elegant design. The simplicity of the design means you could almost certainly use it in a work environment if you wanted to. They offer four colours of leather: original dark brown, mellow mid-brown, statement Sahara, and chic tan. They are also available etched with Paisley pattern.

The leather is full grain. It may include small “imperfections” and it will pick up scuffs and dents are you use it, but because the leather is good quality, this adds character rather than making it look scruffy. I think it will age well. It certainly feels like it will cope with being a bit bashed around in a bag. The thick, stiff leather makes me feel like I don’t have to be especially careful with it, the way I do with my softer leather TNs, where scuffs are more noticeable.

Value

These covers are available from Start Bay for £48 (£58 for Paisley) which is very good value. These are high quality leather covers which will last. They are large enough to accommodate big notebooks and as many of them as any sensible person could need! Start Bay don’t try to trap you into a non-standard sized insert, so you can fill the cover with whatever notebook you’d like. They don’t even manufacture tehir own inserts (though you can buy some, like Rhodia and Clairefontaine, through their website. You can therefore manage the on-going value of your TN yourself.

Keep an eye out for a follow-up review in 2018!

New Diamine Shimmertastic inks

Posted on 05 November 201705 November 2017 by Gillian

The Diamine Shimmertastic inks range has recently been expanded with some new colours. As the marketplace for shimmer inks gets busier, these 8 new colours are a welcome addition. These are more unusual colours and shimmer pairings which, I think, will prove popular. Diamine kindly sent United Inkdom members samples of the new range to try out. Here’s my verdict in (approximately) spectrum order.

Arabian Nights

This is a particularly nice ink and a great addition to the Diamine Shimmertastic range. The base ink colour is a dark purple-black with blue tones. The shimmer is silver (it looks bluish to me but that might be a reflection of the ink itself).

Arabian Nights in Jinhao — Sparkling ink in a sparkling pen

This is the sort of ink that is practical as well as a little flashy. I’ve been using it in a Jinhao x750 and am enjoying the results. On the page, the ink is lovely. It’s nice and dark but with lots of character, and the shimmer works perfectly. Even in the fine nib of the Jinhao, the shimmer is set down evenly.

Clogging is a perennial fear in some quarters with shimmering inks. With these one from Diamine, I have found that if I leave the ink in the pen for several days without using it, I get hard starts. However, a few moments of work will get it going again. I’ve not experienced anything that could reasonably be called clogging.

Cobalt Jazz

This is a lovely, cheerful cobalt blue with a slight red sheen visible at the edges. The shimmer is golden which works perfectly.

I was really impressed with the colour of this ink, and would be tempted to get some even if it didn’t have the shimmer. It’s similar to Diamine Majestic Blue, but the latter is a little darker. The red sheen, which I hope is visible in the photo, is subtle but wonderful.

Arctic Blue

The Arctic Blue swab was the single most impressive of the Shimmertastic inks. This ink is a cooler-toned blue than Cobalt Jazz, with a more pronounced red sheen. As you can see, the sheen showed not only at the edges but across the middle of the swab. The shimmer is silver.

I’ve been using this ink in a Lamy Al-Star with a 1.1 stub nib. Again, it caused a few hard starts if left for several days, but no clogging. The 1.1 nib helped to show off the sheen and shimmer of this ink. It’s definitely one which benefits from a nib that puts down a lot of ink. When writing, some papers show up the red sheen particularly well (Tomoe River paper being the obvious candidate).

Spearmint Diva

Spearmint Diva is a bright blue-green with silver sparkle. There’s a slight hint of dark red sheen at the edges too. It’s similar to another Diamine Shimmertastic: Tropical Glow. Spearmint Diva is more green than that though. It’s also similar to Diamine Marine, one of my favourite inks, though the latter does not have shimmer or any sheen.

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of these blue-greens, teals, and peacock colours. Spearmint Diva is no exception.

Golden Ivy

This is a rich green ink with gold shimmer. Again, this ink has some sheen visible at the edges of the swab. I haven’t found that it shows up when writing, even with Tomoe River paper, but others may have more luck.

Diamine Shimmertastic range has another green ink with gold shimmer, Golden Oasis, but the new Golden Ivy is a darker ink.

Citrus Ice

Citrus Ice is a gorgeous, warm orange with silver shimmer. The combination of orange in silver is unexpectedly pretty.

Firefly

Firefly is just gorgeous! It’s a saturated red with gold shimmer. It’s warm and rich, very slightly orange-toned.

Wine Divine

Wine Divine is another lovely colour. It’s a dark, wine red (as you might expect) with gold shimmer. The ink itself is a lovely warm burgundy colour. Diamine already do a mean range of wine-coloured inks. My current favourite is Syrah, but there’s also Claret and Merlot. Wine Divine is a great addition to that cellar.

Electric Pink

Pink is a colour you either love or you hate, it seems. I’m not fond. That said, this is probably the most tolerable pink ink I’ve seen. It’s a strong, saturated colour that’s on its way to red. The silver sparkle in it works well.

Frosted Orchid

This is a lovely red-toned purple ink. It’s darker than I expected with a name like “orchid” but that might just be me! The silver shimmer definitely gives it a “frosted” look. The contrast of the warm ink colour and cool shimmer (as with some of the other Diamine Shimmertastic inks) works really well.

I can imagine this would be a popular festive ink for those wanting to avoid red, green, and gold.

Overall, these inks offer genuinely interesting additions to the Diamine Shimmertastic inks range. The variety and interesting sheening properties, combined with great value for money (a 50ml bottle costs £8.95), makes these a really good option for adding some sparkle to your writing.

de Atramentis Pearlescent Inks

Posted on 15 October 201719 November 2017 by Gillian

Sparkling and shimmering inks are a Big Deal right now. It started with J. Herbin’s 1670 Anniversary ink, Haematite, which is a lovely, deep red with a subtle gold shimmer. Further Anniversary inks followed. Most notable of these was Emerald of Chivor, an amazing dark teal with red sheen and gold shimmer. Diamine brought out some of their own shimmering inks a few years after Herbin, some of which I reviewed here. Now de Atramentis are getting in on the act, with their own pearlescent inks.

So, if shimmer inks are a big deal, are we reaching saturation point? (Excuse the pun.) Well, de Atramentis have introduced a little innovation here. Herbin and Diamine have produced ink with a complimentary shimmer colour, but de Atramentis offer a choice of shimmer. Each of the ten ink colours in the pearlescent range is available with gold, silver, or copper shimmer.

The first thing that I noticed on making ink swabs was the sheer amount of shimmer particles in this ink. There is so much more than Herbin or Diamine inks. For many people, this will come as good news. This shimmer is not subtle!

A word on pen hygiene. Many people are reluctant to put shimmer inks in their pens for fear of clogging. I am not overly concerned about this, but I don’t tend to put this in my best pens. I have never had a problem with clogging in my Lamy Al-Stars though, even when I’ve left it in them unused for weeks. The significantly higher concentration of shimmer particles in these inks may make me a bit more reluctant to leave it in pens for a long time.

De Atramentis have kindly offered United Inkdomsome samples of these inks for review. Pure Pens carries some of the colours to buy.

Heliogen Green

The base ink here is a medium green which works well with all three of the pearlescent shimmers.

As you can see from the picture, the different coloured shimmer makes quite a difference to the look of the ink.

Heliogen Green Copper

Heliogen Copper — Heliogen Green with Copper

The contrast of the warm copper and green is really lovely and quite unusual. The de Atramentis inks have a LOT of shimmer particles in them so the effect is easy to see, especially so with this combination. I am not sure this is something I would have bought had I not seen it in action first. However, having used it, I am pleasantly surprised at how well the combination works.

Heliogen Gold

This is another lovely contrast of warm and cool. It is less strikingly unusual and could be compared it to Diamine’s Golden Oasis. Diamine’s offering uses a lighter coloured ink and has a more subtle shimmer, though.

Heliogen Silver

Green and silver are a nice combination, and to my mind, a bit festive.

Cyan Blue

The base ink here is not accurately described as cyan, but is a lovely royal blue.

Cyan Copper

Cyan Blue Copper — Cyan Blue with Copper shimmer

The Copper shimmer again proved to be a successful and surprising combination. The contrast between the blue and the orange copper is beautiful.

Cyan Gold

Cyan Blue Gold — Cyan Blue with Gold shimmer

The blue and gold is beautiful too, and reminiscent of Ancient Egyptian art with its use of gold and lapis lazuli. A sort of Ink of the Pharaohs?

This was my favourite of the samples I tested.

Cyan Silver

Cyan Blue Silver — Cyan Blue with Silver shimmer

The silver shimmer works really well with the blue ink. It looks like an icy pool in the swab sample. The colours compliment one another very well.

Like the green, the blue and silver combination really shows how much shimmer these inks have.

Brilliant Violet

I expected to like the Brilliant Violet inks more than I actually did. I didn’t feel that any of the shimmer colours went well with the shade of ink.

Brilliant Violet Copper

The contrast between the purple ink and copper shimmer did not do it for me. Unlike the contrast with this shimmer and both the Green and Cyan ink, this created a bit of an odd ink that I can’t imagine ever wanting to use.

Brilliant Violet Gold

This is nicer than the Copper. Purple and gold are a classic pairing.

Brilliant Violet Silver

Purple and silver are also a good pairing, and I’m sure this ink will have some fans.

Amber

I only have a sample of Amber with Gold, so I can’t compare to the other shimmer colours, but it’s rather lovely. It looks very pale and transparent when the ink first goes down on the paper but it dries quickly to a lovely warm yellow. The gold shimmer with that shade is quite beautiful.

Taroko Design A5 notebook

Posted on 11 September 201712 September 2017 by Gillian

The Taroko A5 notebook is a great way to get a hold of some Tomoe River paper at a less-than-eye-watering price. For fountain pen enthusiasts, Tomoe River paper needs little introduction. It’s super lightweight but resists feathering and bleed-through like a much heavier paper. Through some paper alchemy, it’s also fantastic at showing off the sheen of inks.

The Taroko Design notebook uses this legendary paper. Bureau Direct were kind enough to send some of us United Inkdom reviewers a sample notebook to take for a test drive. The one I’m reviewing here is the A5 size with lined paper. It’s also available in traveler’s notebook sizes, with plain and dot grid paper.

Details

The notebook is proper A5 proportions so will sit nicely with an A5 traveler’s notebook or alongside a Leuchtturm or other A5 notebook.
It contains 64 pages (32 sheets) of paper
It’s made with 62gms Tomoe River paper which is the slightly heavier of the two weights this paper is usually found in.
It’s staple bound
Price: £7.95

This isn’t a cheap notebook at £7.95 but the premium price is due to the premium paper. Tomoe River isn’t easy to get a hold of in Europe

Appearance

The notebook isn’t much to look at from the outside. The lined version has a black cover (the dotted is brown and the plain blue). It’s a sugar (construction) paper cover which won’t take a lot of battering about. It’s clearly designed to be used with an additional cover. As it is, this won’t protect the insides from folding, tearing, spills or general bashing. It does keep the total weight and width down though.

Inside

I’d never normally choose lined paper if dot grid or even plain was available. The lines are never the right width! The Taroko lines are a comfortable 7mm apart. Were I to buy one, I’d still choose dot grid, but I found the lined to be surprisingly pleasant.

Writing

The real pleasure with Tomoe River paper is the writing experience. The paper is smooth and light. Fountain pen ink can take a little longer to dry on this paper so be prepared for that. But also be prepared to see your ink like you’ve never seen it before.

I can also say, as someone who harbours the guilty pleasure of writing with ballpoint pen on sugar paper, this notebook would also be fun with ordinary pens.

UPDATE:

I dropped some ink on the notebook while writing this review, just to see how it handled it. 12 hours later (TWELVE HOURS) it’s still not quite dry. Of course, this isn’t the usual amount of ink a pen, even a wet pen, would put down. Left-handed writers might want to think twice about this paper.

Sloooow drying times — The tail of the drop is still wet 12 hours later!

Verdict

I really like this notebook but with some caveats. It is an absolute pleasure to write on. However, at £7.95 it’s a bit pricey. I suspect this would make me hesitant to use it and it might sit around for rather a long time while I waited for the perfect use for it. The soft cover also means that it would be better used inside an additional cover to protect it. All that said, Tomoe River paper is unparalleled and this notebook is a great way to try it out without the exorbitant shipping costs that come with buying from abroad.

Platinum Classic Iron Gall inks

Posted on 06 August 201705 September 2017 by Gillian

I love ink. One of the main reasons I love fountain pens is that I have a virtually limitless selection of ink colours available to use with these pens. However, I also realise that practicality plays a part. Much as I like unusual, light coloured inks, I don’t use them as often as I use darker or stronger colours. I’m fortunate in that, as a PhD student and university teacher, what I can deem “practical” is much broader than people in many (perhaps most) other fields. I am always excited when I see new inks which combine interest with practicality though. I was therefore delighted to receive samples of Platinum Classics inks to review.

Citrus Black with the Lamy Charged Green Al-Star

Platinum have recently released a set of six inks which have some interesting and unusual properties: the Classic blacks range. These inks are “made by a traditional Japanese method which only Platinum still use.” They are iron gall inks and so oxidise over time so the ink darkens. The change is visible initially, especially if you put a lot of ink down on the paper. As it dries, it darkens dramatically. This process of darkening continues less visibly over a longer period.

Platinum Classic inks — Platinum Classic ink swatches

Cult Pens, on e of my favourite source for all things stationery, sent United Inkdom some inks to test out for review. You can see the products here. There are six colours in the Platinum Classics ink range: Citrus Black, Cassis Black, Forest Black,Khaki Black, Lavender Black, and Sepia Black. They are available from Cult Pens for £21.99 per bottle.

Cassis Black

Cassis Black starts out, unsurprisingly enough, the colour of blackcurrant juice, a bright pink-red. It dries to a deep pinky red. I am not a fan of pink at all, but this colour has enough depth to appeal to me regardless. I can see a bottle of this becoming the only pink ink in my collection.

Citrus Black

Citrus Black is an unusual colour, which reminds me slightly of J. Herbin Vert Olive. Unfortunately, I don’t have a bottle of Rohrer and Klinger Alt-Goldgrun which I think might be the closest comparison. Citrus Black starts off a bright yellow with green tones, and dries to a dark greenish gold. It’s one of the most dramatic of the colour changes because it starts off so light in colour. I’ve been getting more and more fond of these sorts of acid greens lately and I like Citrus Black a great deal.

Forest Black

Forest Black is a dark, deep green which changes the least in the initial minutes of oxidation. It starts off dark and gets a little darker over time. There’s a depth to this colour, like all the Platinum Classics, which gives this colour a real richness. In a pen, especially with a fine or extra-fine nib, I think it would be difficult to distinguish this colour from black. That in itself might make it appealing.

Khaki Black

Khaki Black is a deep, rich warm brown (and not very khaki-like at all, in my opinion). It’s very deep and reminds me of leather- it looks like it should be warm and supple to the touch. I don’t have much need for brown inks, but this is lovely and, like the Cassis Black, I can see it becoming an exception to my (not at all strict) rules. The swatch below also shows the shading of this ink, where a single pass with the brush in the lower left is a much lighter colour.

Lavender Black

I suspect Lavender Black will be the general favourite of these inks. It’s a deep red-purple and reminds me of Diamine Tyrian Purple, but Lavender Black is richer and deeper. I think this will prove to be a popular addition to all those purplophiles’ collections (that’s totally a word).

Sepia Black

Sepia Black, like Forest Black, starts out dark and darkens further as it is exposed to the air. This is a very dark brown, almost black but it’s slightly cooler toned than Khaki Black, with the tiniest hint of green. The depth of colour, again, could tempt me to get some brown ink after all.

Iron Gall Inks

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Medieval manuscript — Iron gall ink damage to a medieval illuminated manuscript

As a historian, I find iron gall inks both fascinating, and worrying.

Historically, scribes made this ink by extracting tannic acid from oak galls (caused by gall wasp larvae on trees), mixing it with iron sulphate and binding it with gum arabic (there are variations on this recipe). The result was a very dark purple or brown ink which darkened over time as the iron oxidised. It was easy to make and water resistant so it became very popular in the Middle Ages. It was eventually replaced, after nearly 2000 years of use, in the twentieth century when other waterproof inks were developed.

Medieval and Renaissance iron gall inks sometimes damaged the paper on which they were used. This damage takes a long time to take effect, but has, in the worst cases, destroyed the manuscript. The acidity of the ink could eat through the paper and cause it to disintegrate. This is well illustrated in the image to the left, where the ink has eaten through the manuscript almost everywhere it was in contact with the paper or parchment.

Fortunately, modern iron gall inks are made to a different recipe and should not cause any damage to paper, or fountain pens. Modern manufacturers are aware of the potential pitfalls and have compensated, using different acids which are fully oxidised on contact with the air so they don’t damage the paper. That being said, Cult Pens recommends not leaving Platinum Classics inks in your fountain pens for extended periods of time so be aware. It’s better safe than sorry, especially with a beloved pen!

Paper Republic Grand Voyager review

Posted on 16 June 2017 by Gillian

United Inkdom has received a number of Paper Republic Grand Voyager XL traveler’s notebooks for review. Paper Republic is an Austrian company, based in Vienna, founded in 2012 but their products are starting to make a splash further afield now. Their small team (only four people) have worked hard to produce a high quality product and to keep that quality high.

Traveler’s Notebooks (TNs) are enjoying huge popularity at the moment. Essentially, a TN is a cover (usually but not always leather) with vertical elastics to hold interchangeable notebooks in place, and a horizontal elastic closure. There are some standard sizes, but also a great deal variation, usually designed to house particular notebooks (such as A5 or Fieldnotes). I currently have a standard sized TN made by Ink Bandits on Etsy, and a smaller one which was a gift. The appeal of this system is its adaptability. Covers hold varying numbers of notebooks, but it would be reasonable to expect a cover to hold 3-5 without too much trouble. Some wider designs hold more, and of course it depends on the number of pages and paper weight of the notebooks. There are, of course, a huge variety in the inserts available. Etsy is a great source for these.

Paper Republic make two sizes of TN: the passport, the and the XL; and a phone case which doubles as a TN. I have road tested the XL, which they sent to me free in exchange for an impartial review.

Cover

Firstly, the cover. Mine is black leather with contrasting orange elastics (other colours of leather and elastic available). The leather is tanned in Tuscany (a very good pedigree), and is soft and flexible. As with all leathers, it will get scuffed with wear but in such a way as to add character rather than detract from its appearance. I’ve had mine in my bag getting bashed about for a week or so and it’s not looking worn. The covers retail at €60 from the manufacturer in Austria (with free shipping for orders over that amount), or £54 from Cult Pens.

Inserts

The inserts are available from Paper Republic and Cult Pens, in plain, ruled, or grid, with 56 pages and 80 gsm white paper. They are available for 2 for 13 EUR (around £11.42 or $14.57 at today’s exchange rate) or £12 from Cult Pens. This is reasonably good value for money. The paper itself is ok (see ink test) but I’m not wildly excited about it. (There are also two types of undated planner insert but I could not determine from the Paper Republic website what, if any, differences there were between the two.)

You can see from the ink tests that the paper stands up to most inks with no feathering or bleed through, and very little shadowing.

(Pen test in order: Stabilo Boss highligher & pastel highlighter; Zebra Mildliner; Muji gel pen; Staedtler Triplus fineliner; Uni-ball Eye; Pentel Touch sign pen; Tombow Mono Twin; Tombow ABT; fountain pens with Diamine Tyrian Purple, Grape, Imperial Purple inks; flex nib fountain pen with Diamine Asa Blue ink.)

Sizing

The biggest issue for me is the sizing. The XL is not actually A5. It’s close, but not close enough. A5 is a standard size: 145m x 210mm. The XL cover is 150mm x 210mm, so it’s a little wider than A5 as you would expect for a cover, though at only an additional 5mm, it’s not really wide enough to accommodate multiple A5 notebooks. That’s not necessarily a problem but the effect of the non-standard sizing is that much of the ability to customise the TN is lost.

The inserts, to fit the A5 cover, have to be much smaller than A5: only 135mm x 200mm. This makes more sense for the narrowness of the cover, but it also means that customers must either buy proprietary sized inserts from Paper Republic or trim down another notebook manually. You could, for example, trim down a large Moleskine Cahier to fit. However, these are expensive notebooks to cut up, and the paper is poorer quality than that of the Paper Republic inserts. You may, understandably, be reluctant to doing that though.

Despite the inconvenient proprietary sizing, this is a good TN. The leather is clearly high quality and has a lovely leather smell. The contrasting elastic colour gives the plain cover some character. I’d probably never have chosen orange but it’s really grown on me.

Insert and elastic — Nice match with the Lamy Copper Orange

Silvine Originals Notebooks review

Posted on 08 June 201708 June 2017 by Gillian

A surprise winner in the Pocket Notebooks stash was the tiny Silvine Originals Pocket Notebook. Silvine kindly sent a few of us United Inkdom reviewers some additional products to test out.

As I said before, I didn’t expect much from the tiny Pocket, but its unassuming plain cover hid some pretty impressive paper. The pages admirably handled everything I threw at it. The paper is pure white, unlined in the case of the Pocket, and noticeably thicker than most notebooks. It has a little texture to it, but not a huge amount. It might even handle a bit of watercolour.

Memo £4.50 (ruled)

Memo notebook — Untidy finishing on the stitching. Blue ruling. Perforated pages.

This is a handy pocket notebook at 97mm x 159mm, 52 perforated pages, and stitched binding. It might make a good bullet journal if you find the much-loved Leuchtturm 1917 option too bulky to carry around.

I wasn’t especially happy with the lines, and this goes for all of the Silvine ruled notebooks reviewed here. For me, the bright blue jars with the red cover and stands very starkly against the white paper. I prefer something more subtle, but this is a design choice that’s central to the branding so I don’t see it changing any time soon. The line spacing is 7mm which isn’t little too wide. It does have the feel of an old fashioned notebook as a result of the blue lines, but I don’t think it looks good. I’d definitely use this notebook with plain paper, or a dot grid provided it wasn’t printed in the same blue as the lines, but unfortunately, Silvine currently only manufacture this size with ruled pages.

Note £6 (plain)

This is a great sized notebook (125mm x 190mm and 52 pages). This would be an ideal TN notebook due to the high quality of the paper, but isn’t the right size. I’d be keen to see it in Traveler’s Notebook proportions (in addition to the Note size rather than instead). This was my favourite notebook of those sent by Silvine. It’s a nice size, and the plain paper is beautifully smooth. I can see me buying more of these.

Exercise £7 (ruled)

This is another nice sized notebook (162mm x 230mm, 52 pages), intentionally reminiscent of school jotters. This too is a stitched binding with perforated pages, so it opens flat. This time, there is a red margin on the right. I quite like that, and think it might be nicer to have it paired with grey, or even red, line ruling. I just can’t get on board with that blue!

Project £14 (plain and squared)

This is a bigger book, slightly narrower and taller than A4 in size (200mm x 305mm) with plain and squared pages (squared recto and blank verso). It’s a multi-signature sewn binding with a spine, so is different from the other, single signature, notebooks made by Silvine. This allows more pages, and manages the weight of the increased size. It reminds me of softback version of school lab books. It’s a good size, and I can imagine that the squared and plain paper have many uses beyond drawing your Chemistry apparatus.

Overall

Pros:

lovely paper that is a pleasure to write on (particularly the plain paper)
classic, old school look
handy range of sizes
manufactured to high standards in Yorkshire, not mass produced cheaply (though this may make it difficult to get and pricey for non-Europeans)
sewn binding lies flat

Cons:

limited range of size-rule types mean you might not be able to get the ruling you want in the right size
bright blue lines are a bit of an acquired taste
non-standard sizes may not be convenient
no dot grid option
‘untidy’ finishing of sewing might annoy perfectionists

N.B. Silvine sent these samples in return for an unbiased review. Prices indicated were taken from the Silvine website and were correct at time of publishing. Other retailers may vary.