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Private Reserve Ebony Blue

1/31/14

This is an ink that I can't quite figure out. When I wrote the review, I was thinking it was a straight-up blue/black. As I look at it now, though, it's definitely got a lot of green in it. You can see this in the swatch at the bottom of the written bit. Aw, heck. I'll just post it right here.


Ebony Blue is a dark ink, whether it's really a green or really a blue. The Lamy fine nib that I was using it in is a little on the dry side, so you see more of the green than you would if you had a wet nib. I'd recommend a wet nib for this ink. It's a little thick (as PR inks tend to be) and it's a liable to get a bit dry in your feed if you don't use your pen for a while.

Taken in sunlight, pre-water-test.





Here's the water-drop test video. It's a little shorter than the others have been recently. My wife came home with a bunch of Girl Scout cookies and the cat was prowling around trying to jump on my desk the whole time. He actually wrecked two video-attempts with his jumping today. Dude just doesn't want to stay on the floor today.


This one isn't all that water-resistant, but it will leave some ink on the page. Looking at it now, it left a lot of green on the page where the water was.

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Unknown said...

This is one of my favorite inks.

Michelle in Colorado Springs said...

Using an extra fine nib shows off the green. I like the green so I tend to use this ink in a TWSBI extra fine Mini.

Mike Matteson said...

Thanks Cary and Michelle. I really appreciate the comments!

Anonymous said...

I like the color but still not grasping "Blue". I guess explaining that to my spouse would further confirm to her I have been sniffing too much of the ink I'm buying. Ha. Thanks for the review.

Unknown said...

This was the first ink I bought for my Lamy Vista and this bad boy gets used daily with an EF nib. On a rhodia pad you can really see the sheen if you use a wetter nib.

GourmetPens said...

I love this ink, although it totally confuses me too. I tend to use wetter/broader nibs though so most often it has the sheen on it, which I love. Either way, I love it. I think it's so neat. Great pictures - totally droolworthy :)

Mike Matteson said...

So many comments! I love it.

mypenneedsink: Yeah, it's got a lot of green in it in these pictures. I feel like it's fairly blue in the darker areas, but I bet it's much more blue in a wet nib.

Unknown: Your Lamy EF isn't wet, is it? I've heard the opposite about those. (But I don't have one to test out.)

Azizah: That's a great compliment! Thanks!

Unknown said...

Nope. I inked up a Cross Aventura that I have on a rhodia dot pad and got that nice sheen. The Aventura is a really wet nib.