Dear FP Geeks
The more bottles I get the more I start liking “mon ami de la douce France, monsieur J. Herbin”
I believe Herbin has the most beautiful names in the ink branch. Terre de Feu… Earth (soil) of Fire…
Wow c’est vrai poesie!!!
Some explanations
Review by review and of course being inspired by your reviews, I try to improve my reviews. In this review. I tried to improve my skills on testing Waterproof by submerging the ink in water.
Availibilty can be a problem in some parts of the world. Especially here in Austria where shops offer a vast array of colours… Blue Black and Red…. Wow that’s difficult to choose. I therefor put in some suggestions where to obtain the inks.
Of Course ther is always Amazon and more of those. But for me it is like bread or cheese. I do not want them from huge factories. I prefer the small artisan bakery on the corner or the local dairy farmer. For me that is the same with inks and Fountain Pens. I Like the small companies with passionate owners who will go the extra Yard for you. I will gladly pay the fare for the extra yard if the service and the passion are okay. I am a nurse and therefore not affiliated to any company... My patients are my clients . I just happen to have the habit to share my enthusiasm about good service and nice things... That is why I suggest you the names of stores and manufactures I like.
On paper: I always use normal paper nothing fancy. I guess you like to use your Fountain Pens at work too, at least I do… can someone explain me what a biro is? How great is the chance that your employer supplies you with fancy paper like Rhodia or even G. Lalo…. Well I rest my case….
Detail (close up) Pics to judge things ike feathering and shading
The Ink
This too is an ink I use quite often. It has a truly nice colour to my eye and is not to explicit for everyday.
The colour
Earth Brown or like an old wine that you store to long (Wine turns brownish when it is too old)… Such a wine I would not like to drink…. But I love to write with it.
Funnily the ink tends to get a bit darker after drying… Best thing is the colour tone gets much richer
Shading
Is Herbin a synonym for shading… There are inks that shade more but Terre de Feu does a very nice job
Well feathering is almost absent
Down here are some of the technical specs
points 1-5 1 = 5=
Fountain Pens: Online best writer 0.8 italic nib: Lamy Joy 1,5 Italic
Paper: Leonardo Ringbuch,average quality school note book made in Austria
Drying time: 0.8 fast 1,5 still fast points 5
Flow: Like a dam break in te lamy and still good in the 0.8 points: 4/ 5
Lubrication: smooth in both pens points: 5
Bleeding: stronger in broader nibs but ver acceptable points: 4
Feathering: only a very little in 1,5 nib points 4
Shading: none points: 0
Waterproof: no need to mention here points:5
Package: Only in bottles, I belive points: 3-4 (bottle is classic but not very special, although the label is beautiful)
Availabilty: In Europe Good, Amazon, www.lacouronneducomte.com (NL),
USA www.gouletpens.com
Quality: Good points: 4
Waterproof
This ink is not really waterproof. Yes it survives a drop. But have a look at the picture it is not truly waterproof (it is not intended to be so, I guess). The photo is taken after a 20 minutes diving experience.
All colour is gone, it looks like pencil writing now… But it is still legible….
I suggest you’d better take your partner for a swim and leave Terre de Feu at home
Availibiliy
Of course there is Amazon…. But If you live in the Americas Goulet Pens offers most most of the Herbin’s I checked their web shop and started to slobber. They even have there own Fountain Pen nibs at a very fair price.... Cool or what? www.gouletpens.com
Some more mouth-watering La Couronne du Comte. I do not want to be a chauvinist (I am Dutch and so is La Couronne du Comte, only 20 Km away from the place I was born) but…
•They have it all from cheap to very very exclusive (the last ones are a bit above my budget… understatement!)
•I have had good experiences (reading FPN I see this more often)
•The owner Dennis van de Passion van de Graaf, passion is his middle name is utterly friendly and coopereative. Always glad to help you and open for suggestionsWell and on J Herbin... Pick 4 and you pay 3. Or 8 and 6, or even more and pay less
www.lacouronneducomte.nl
Too conclude.
Well I told you that I am starting to like J Herbin more and more and not only because I am a Francophile. The colour is very distinctive and warm. I just love using it…..
My next Herbin review will be Vert d’ Olive. May be not for everyday use but it is very lovely…
Regards
Peter
Bookmarks