Kaweco Caramel Brown Ink Review

[aurore]

Kaweco Caramel Brown Ink Review


Pre-prelude

If prefer a really great review of this ink, just go back to the reviews page and scroll down a couple of line - you will find Chrissy's review (which actually inspired me to get this ink). If you are overly modest and thus would like to read this 2nd quality review - I will most appreciate it


Prelude

This ink is not the most known/common. First of all the price is rather premium, secondly the quality is not much premium. It is a nice ink nevertheless.

The ink utterly reminds Caran d'Ache Brown ink (though the current CdA Brown is redder, they are overall similar in properties and performance) and I chose the pen for the review accordingly (I do not own a Kaweco pen).

I tested it with Caran d'Ache Genève F nib (with a dryish-medium flow).

The paper used is Oxford (a coated paper similar to Rhodia).

The water test (will be) performed with a huge drop left for hours (sorry, forgot to do it - will do and upload a photo, but I can assure you there is literally no water resistance).
There is no water resistence. Absolutely.

Photos taken in a natural daylight (in a gentle sunlight).


Description

COMPOSITION: Dye based. Low dye load.

COLOUR: True medium (but not saturated) brown. Perhaps a bit golden (which I like). Unlike many brown inks it is neither reddish, nor greyish. Reminds some nuts or wood. In very wet nibs it might be impressive, in dry it is a bit dull (but still nice).

FLOW/LUBRICATION: The flow is a bit dryish but very consistent and actually very good (but not wet). No lubrication really, flows freely but the feeling is nothing like Sailor. An old school free flowing ink like Waterman inks. The ink is pretty quick drying.

FEATHERING/BLEEDING: Nope. It has a low dye load and is not wet.

WATER-/FADE-RESISTANCE: No water resistence. I will have to test the fade reistance but the dye load is low thus do not expect miracles.

SHADING/SHEEN: Shading is very significant. No sheen.

CLEANING: Nearly instant with just a bit of water.


Summary

I really like this shade of brown a lot. But I enjoy it better in wet nibs. My feelings are ambivalent - the ink behaves perfectly but on the other hand there is nothing spectacular about it. Meanwhile it is rather expensive, honestly if I had to pay a premium price I would rather get Sailor Manyo Shirkashi - considering the water resistance and lubrication (though the shade of brown is completely different). However this Kaweco Caramel Brown is a flawless ink. So decide yourself It is also available in short international cartridges and I must praise Kaweco for pricing them almost equally per 1ml comparing to the same bottled ink (some brands sell their cartidges for 400% of the bottled ink's price).
Well, it is a good ink.

Thank you for reading.



Photos taken in a gentle sunlight (water test will be uploaded later)