Thomas Bates

Brief Thoughts

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Ink Collection

Here is a list of inks currently in my collection.


# Maker Name Review Notes
01 Waterman Intense Black None I’ve bought countless bottles of this ink as I wrote exclusively with it for about 4 years.
02 Noodler’s Red None. Purchased for editing/markup before I switched to blue inks for that. Not my favorite ink, and I’d guess there’s still 90% of the bottle left that I purchased in 2013.
03 Waterman Mysterious Blue None. Another ink that I’ve bought many bottles of.
04 Noodler’s Qternity None. The ink that upset Waterman as my daily for a while.
05 Diamine Sherwood Green None. A lovely green ink that I really like.
06 Pelikan Brilliant Brown Maybe! Purchased after seeing a reddit user’s drawing. I still usually have this in a pen.
07 Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki Maybe! One of my favorite inks, I bought this for my Van Gogh and almost always have the pen inked with it.
08 Montblanc Midnight Blue Maybe! I bought this for my 149 and usually keep it in something for signatures.
09 Monteverde Coral Maybe! This was thrown into a pen_swap order. It’s a nice ink but it has an attrocious smell that keeps me from putting it in anything nice.
10 Troublemaker Sinulog Black Maybe! A nice black ink that I have in my VHS currently.
11 Troublemaker Basilica Red Maybe! The ink I now use for editing, in my VAC-700R.
12 Vanness Good Evening Maybe! A nice recreation of MB’s Hitchcock, it’s been in my 149 for a while and looks just like writing in blood. Bit creepy.
13 Jacques Herbin Émeraude de Chivor Maybe! This was gifted to me by BBVP CosmicHobo in the 2019 Secret Santa. I’ve always heard amazing things about this ink and I love its bottle design and the way it looks on paper. I used it in my 1.9mm Lamy Safari to label gifts this year.
14 Random Allocation Frostbite None. A lovely grey from Modern Beaker / Random Allocation sent to me for a birthday from BBVP Jess. Currently in my Hero 9038.
15 Random Allocation Pride None. A very cool bluey-purple from Modern Beaker / Random Allocation sent to me for a birthday from BBVP Jess. Unfortunately I wrote through both of these RA inks before I could write a review, I loved both of these, however.
16 Sailor Oku-Yama Probably! From the Colors of the Four Seasons or “Shikiori” line, this is a lovely Maroon that I purchased to pair with my incoming Sailor White Russian.
17 Herbin Perle Noire Probably! Replaced TMKR Sinulog Black in my VHS.
18 Herbin Lie De Thé Probably! Currently in a Jinhao 599 to test, I’m having mixed reactions to it.
19 Diamine Registrar’s None. Currently in my Vanishing Point. Purchased from Dr. Brownie of BBVP.
20 KWZ Warsaw Dreaming Probably! Currently in my M215. Purchased from Vanness.
21 Papier Plume 011 Probably! Purchased from Dr. Brownie of BBVP.
22 Papier Plume Lake Michigan Winter Probably! Purchased from Dr. Brownie of BBVP.
23 De Atramentis Sepia Brown Probably! Purchased from Dr. Brownie of BBVP.
24 KWZ Berry Probably! Purchased from Dr. Brownie of BBVP.
25 Montblanc Homer Greek Blue Possibly Lovely blue ink.
26 Montblanc Victor Hugo Sepia Brown Possibly Incoming.
27 Montblanc Chinese Blue Possibly  
28 Sailor Ink Studio 950 Possibly  
29 Sailor Ink Studio 960 Possibly  
30 Maruzen Athena / Eternal Blue Nihonbashi Possibly  
31 Jacques Herbin Vert Atlantide Possibly  
32 Birmingham Ink Kier Refinery Petroleum Possibly  
33 Taccia Nakabayashi Aoguro Possibly  
34 Vinta Teal Possibly  

Samples!


Maker Name Thoughts Verdict
De Atramentis Plum Lovely! Interesting smell… Testing in my 149 and I really like it. Will purchase.
Akkerman Shocking Blue A little try in the incoming Platinum President, but a lovely color. Might try in the 149 at some point. To come.
Edelstein Jade I put this in the Sailor Zoom and loved it. Will purchase.
Robert Oster Muddy Crown Tested in 1911L, adored it. Will purchase.
Robert Oster Muddy Dragon Tested in FC-66, liked it a lot Likely to purchase.
Sailor Yama Dori Currently in my MB 149 and it’s a fantastic ink. Likely to purchase.
Pilot Syo-ro Untested. To come.
Robert Oster Bondi Blue Very nice blue Might buy a bottle