l'Artisan Pastillier Callifolio Baikal blue black

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I had meant to post a review of Callifolio Baikal blue black but the small amount left dried up before i got to it. Fortunately, i sometimes record the pen and ink in my notebooks and there were a couple where i had used Baikal.

Here's a scribble written with Baikal on Tomoegawa paper and an MB 144G with a B nib.



Here's another written in the same notebook, with an MB 234 1/2 with a BB nib. This entry has nothing on the next page, so there's somewhat less visual distraction:



So that's what Baikal looks like.

As for its properties, its most notable quality outside of its appearance is that it is quite dry. I used it in vintage pens with generous feeds and some other feature that made me hesitant to use iron gall inks, most often MB piston fillers. Both pens used in the samples above have the simple late 1940s-early 1950s feeds and are quite wet writers.

Drying time was a little higher than average for me. However, this may have been more due to the paper and pens used. I would expect it to be average in a modern pen on more absorbent paper.

There's some shading, especially with the BB, but it's more apparent in a photo than it is to my naked eye. It's pretty dark to begin with, making subtle differences in shade difficult to pick up.

Is it waterproof? I don't know. Probably not.

It's worth noting that the pictures were taken about a year after writing. There has been no noticeable fading in that span. Mind you, i keep my notebooks closed except when i'm using them.

I like this ink. It's easy to read, provides a high contrast with the paper while still being easy on the eyes. It also works well in vintage pens. It's also reasonably priced if you get it in the 50ml pouch and empty it into your own bottle.