J. Herbin Stormy Grey

[Jeph]

So Dan (as usual) set my jealous juices flowing in his "Pens I used Today Post" (Page 88) but the difference this time is that it was the ink that made me go "oooh!"
Dan Gets my Attention (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/870-pens-I-used-today/page88)

I do a search and *POW* he even let us know it was coming here
Hey FPGeeks, here is a sneak peak (http://fpgeeks.com/2014/08/heres-a-sneak-peak-at-the-bottle-for-the-new-j-herbin-1670-stormy-grey-ink/)

And J. Herbin lists it on their website as available in September.
J. Herbin Stormy Grey (http://www.jherbin.com/1670.shtml)

Did any of you lucky monkeys get a chance to see and/or try this ink at the DC show, and if so, what did you think?

[RuiFromUK]

Oh dear Jeph. Please do not tempt me with more ink.

[migo984]

Here are Dan's first impressions..

http://fpgeeks.com/2014/08/first-impressions-with-j-herbin-stormy-grey/?relatedposts_hit=1&relatedposts_origin=23287&relatedposts_position=0

[top pen]

I really want it. I think J Herbin makes some of the nicest inks available either that or I fall for there marketing way too easily. I really want to buy some, I've never bought a premium ink before but it looks like it is worth it. However I wonder how long it will be before it is available in the UK?

[migo984]

However I wonder how long it will be before it is available in the UK?

I reckon mid - late September. I've emailed Anna at The Writing Desk to see if they have an estimated date and also to see whether they are taking pre-orders. I'll post here when I get a reply.

[RuiFromUK]

I reckon mid - late September. I've emailed Anna at The Writing Desk to see if they have an estimated date and also to see whether they are taking pre-orders. I'll post here when I get a reply.

Incorrigible. :blink:

[bec11mort]

I saw a preview of that on Instagram and it's been on my wishlist ever since! It looks stunning!

[reprieve]

It looks lovely. I was a big fan of the original Rouge Hematite and this looks like a grey throwback. I was disappointed that Bleu Ocean didn't have gold (or silver) dust so I'm really looking forward to this one.

[VertOlive]

Standing by to make that call....

[migo984]

However I wonder how long it will be before it is available in the UK?

I reckon mid - late September. I've emailed Anna at The Writing Desk to see if they have an estimated date and also to see whether they are taking pre-orders. I'll post here when I get a reply.

UPDATE:

Anna has checked with the UK distributor and it'll be available in the UK in October.

[chatminouche]

Beautiful colour! I will be waiting in line for a bottle! Dan's photo of the pen and ink is stunning! :)

[Pennanngalan]

While I really liked the way the Stormy Grey looked in the sample with the other inks used for comparison in Dan's First Impressions, I'll not be bothering with any. If I was to purchase a bottle, I would waste way too much ink and time trying to filter the gold dust out.

The Rouge Hematite looks great with the gold dust, Bleu Ocean would be ever so much more interesting with silver dust added to it, and the Stormy Grey can stand on its own without the gimmick. This is the opinion of a novice so take it for what it is worth.

[snedwos]

While I really liked the way the Stormy Grey looked in the sample with the other inks used for comparison in Dan's First Impressions, I'll not be bothering with any. If I was to purchase a bottle, I would waste way too much ink and time trying to filter the gold dust out.

The Rouge Hematite looks great with the gold dust, Bleu Ocean would be ever so much more interesting with silver dust added to it, and the Stormy Grey can stand on its own without the gimmick. This is the opinion of a novice so take it for what it is worth.

Why would your opinion be worth any less than anyone else's? This is a matter of taste, pure and simple.

And even if it weren't, we don't have ranks here. ANARCHY, WOOOO!

[Al_S]

I think the stormy gray would have looked far more interesting with silver flecks in it rather than the gold. Also agree that Blue Ocean would have looked great with some silver. I wonder what is next in this line of ink. A dark green with gold would look pretty cool.

[snedwos]

I think the gold is more interesting, because it's more unexpected. I like the "streaks of lightning" explanation, too, stormy grey and all.

I'm a sucker for grey ink, this will definitely get bought. I have been on the fence about the others, probably won't bother with them. I don't have that much use for dark red, and there are plenty of cheaper, equally nice blues. It's just not different enough from WFB or the De Atramentis Atlantic Blue I'm using at the moment.

[VertOlive]

I just received a note to accompany my FP Geeks pins-- which was written in this ink. What a treat, more subtle and not as "Gold" as I'd expected. Definitely want a whole bottle now!

[Pennanngalan]

Why would your opinion be worth any less than anyone else's? This is a matter of taste, pure and simple.

And even if it weren't, we don't have ranks here. ANARCHY, WOOOO!

It is more or less just a habit at this point.

[Floreat]

I *need* this ink.....grey is the only colour I'm really missing from my collection, and this one just looks so awesome! :D I'm very excited about it. I recently wrote a story-letter about a dragon to a young friend in Rouge Haematite, and the adults who read it were really intrigued by the goldy-green sheen on the red writing; many of them thought I had some sort of awesome bi-coloured metallic gel pen which let me write beautifully too. This sort of ink really does add a little extra dimension to a letter! :)

[Jeph]

I also got my 2014 FP Geeks pin today with the Story Grey note. Here is a nice scan.

I am sure that yo udo need a very broad nib to really get the benefit of the gold bits.
But I am also pretty sure that I would like this ink without the gold.

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[Brisboy]

That looks awesome. So deliciously shaded. All of my other J. Herbins are excellent shaders too. Must add it to the list.

[dannzeman]

I also got my 2014 FP Geeks pin today with the Story Grey note. Here is a nice scan.

I am sure that yo udo need a very broad nib to really get the benefit of the gold bits.
But I am also pretty sure that I would like this ink without the gold.

http://fpgeeks.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=13621&stc=1http://fpgeeks.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=13622&stc=1
On my monitor the contrast looks very high in your scans (the white area of the paper being very bright and the dark areas of the ink being much darker than what I recall). I don't think the grey is actually as dark as it appears in this scan and the shimmer is almost nonexistent.

One thing I've discovered is that the amount of gold flakes that gets laid down is inconsistent between writing sessions. I had some notes that looked like I actually poured glitter onto the page while others it seemed barely noticeable. Before each use I tried rotating the pen to distribute the particles inside the converter but I'm not sure how much it helped.

The only other nib I've this ink in was the Edison Broad nib. The shimmer effect was never as pronounced as what it was with the Christoph music nib, but I think it was more of a consistent subtle shimmer. I would agree that the wider and wetter the better.

And I would also love a grey ink like this without the gold flakes in it.

[LagNut]

This ink might do better in a converter with an agitator.

Anyone with experience with this with the Rouge Hermatite?

It just seems like a agitator in the converter might work better than a vigorous pen shake. However, sometimes what what seems like a good idea doesn't work well in practice.

Cheers
Mike

[dannzeman]

Lagnut, I agree.

I hope I didn't imply the need to vigorously shake the pen. I meant to say I invert the pen several times using the air bubble inside as the agitator until the particles look dispersed inside the converter. Please don't vigorously shake any fountain pen.

[Tony Rex]

It just seems like a agitator in the converter might work better than a vigorous shake

Or recycled Platinum carts. They have ball bearings in them, which could be better than converter with an agitator.

[snedwos]

Why would your opinion be worth any less than anyone else's? This is a matter of taste, pure and simple.

And even if it weren't, we don't have ranks here. ANARCHY, WOOOO!

It is more or less just a habit at this point.

Time for you to learn some disrespect for your betters, NOOB!!! :P

[Jeph]

...On my monitor the contrast looks very high in your scans (the white area of the paper being very bright and the dark areas of the ink being much darker than what I recall). I don't think the grey is actually as dark as it appears in this scan and the shimmer is almost nonexistent...

Holy change in appearance Batman! From my home monitor that looks REALLY black and much more dotted. On my work monitor it was nearly perfect, but here I agree that it looks nothing like real life. I dunno how to explain it. I know that the scanner I use at work is set with zero adjustments and only 1 pass. The only thing that I change is the resolution (DPI) and scan area. The larger scan is 50 (or 33)% of 600 dpi and the close-up was 1200 dpi shrunk down 50% and I scan directly into Adobe Photoshop.

I am disappointed in what I see from here. It is a beautiful legitimate grey that darkens towards black where the ink puddles and the flakes are non-uniformly scattered although heaviest in the darker ink pools. You can't really see the flakes unless the light is coming from the right direction. The picture Dan posted (that I linked originally) does a very good job of representing what I actually see.

[LagNut]

Lagnut, I agree.

I hope I didn't imply the need to vigorously shake the pen. I meant to say I invert the pen several times using the air bubble inside as the agitator until the particles look dispersed inside the converter. Please don't vigorously shake any fountain pen.
You didn't imply that, my twisted subconscious did.

But I do think it would really disperse the gold flecks. Really well...

Mike

[Pennanngalan]

Why would your opinion be worth any less than anyone else's? This is a matter of taste, pure and simple.

And even if it weren't, we don't have ranks here. ANARCHY, WOOOO!

It is more or less just a habit at this point.

Time for you to learn some disrespect for your betters, NOOB!!! :P

There we go, NOW it feels like home ;)

[snedwos]

Lagnut, I agree.

I hope I didn't imply the need to vigorously shake the pen. I meant to say I invert the pen several times using the air bubble inside as the agitator until the particles look dispersed inside the converter. Please don't vigorously shake any fountain pen.
You didn't imply that, my twisted subconscious did.

But I do think it would really disperse the gold flecks. Really well...

Mike

Some on the ceiling, some on the floor, some on the window, some on the door?

[LagNut]

Oh the places it'll go, the spots that we'll see..

Shake it out, yeah shake it out..( with apologies to Dr Seuss and Taylor Swift)

[Jeph]

The sun came out this afternoon so I thought I would give this a try. This is my camera on full idiot mode (auto) in full sun with the sun at about 60 degrees up coming directly from the left. The glitter still confuses the hell out of the camera, but if you ignore that this color looks pretty close, although still a little too dark on this monitor. Ignore the red at the bottom left as that is a reflection off of my paperweight.

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