Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Ink Review: Van Dieman's Blackened Seas Midnight Series

  1. #1
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    11,406
    Thanks
    6,879
    Thanked 10,367 Times in 3,978 Posts
    Rep Power
    24

    Default Ink Review: Van Dieman's Blackened Seas Midnight Series

    Van Dieman’s fountain pen ink from Tasmania is made in Launceston and is inspired by the rich and majestic colours of Tasmania.

    Blackened Seas is an ink from The Midnight series. According to the manufacturer:
    “These are inspired by the dark and sombre hues that come out when the sun has gone away.”

    Blackened Seas is a saturated, slightly green toned, blue-black ink. It has a dark red sheen that I didn’t see much on my papers although there was some around my nib. The depth of blue depends on how much ink you lay down on the paper. The wetter the writing the more blue it looks.

    It flowed well through my pens and didn’t suffer from any hard starts or non-starts when I put the uncapped pen down to do swab tests, dry times and water resistance.

    It washed off of my hands after one wash and easily flushed out of my converters and pens just using warm water.

    Thanks to junglejim for sending me this sample. This ink was MI#35 in our Mystery Ink series.


    • Flow Rate: Good. No problems.
    • Lubrication: OK. Fairly smooth across the papers I used.
    • Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.
    • Start-up: Immediate.
    • Saturation: Saturated ink.
    • Shading Potential: Some shading with fine nibs or dryer writing pens.
    • Sheen: None noticed when I wrote with my sample.
    • Show-Through:
      • Basildon Bond
      • Tomoe River 52gsm
      • Whitelines

    • Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not seen.
    • Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen.
    • Staining (pen): Not seen after weeks in the pen - easy clean-up with water.
    • Staining (hands): Clean hands after one wash
    • Clogging: Not seen. Seems unlikely.
    • Water resistance: Not sold as waterproof but has some water resistance.
    • Availability: In Australia this ink comes in boxed 30ml or 50ml glass bottles priced at AUS $13.95 or $19.95 plus shipping. Some stockists outside of Australia are listed on the web-site.

    Van Dieman's Blackened Seas M.jpg
    Last edited by Chrissy; July 23rd, 2021 at 11:54 PM.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

  2. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to Chrissy For This Useful Post:

    carlos.q (June 27th, 2021), damfino (July 13th, 2021), junglejim (June 27th, 2021), Sailor Kenshin (June 27th, 2021), VerticalTwin (July 8th, 2021), Yazeh (June 27th, 2021)

  3. #2
    Senior Member mizgeorge's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2020
    Posts
    3,993
    Thanks
    2,101
    Thanked 2,222 Times in 1,253 Posts
    Rep Power
    8

    Default Re: Ink Review: Van Dieman's Blackened Seas Midnight Series

    Excellent review Chris - I'm especially impressed by the water resistance - I'm intrigued whether this is the case for the rest of the Midnight series now - I'll have to try out the couple I have.

    I like the colour a lot - not, perhaps, for this time of year (well not for me anyway), but definitely a contender for later in the year, and perhaps an alternative for some of the Callifolio inks. I suspect it might be one that would perform well in very fine nibs as well.

    Thank you

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to mizgeorge For This Useful Post:

    Chrissy (June 27th, 2021)

  5. #3
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    11,406
    Thanks
    6,879
    Thanked 10,367 Times in 3,978 Posts
    Rep Power
    24

    Default Re: Ink Review: Van Dieman's Blackened Seas Midnight Series

    Quote Originally Posted by mizgeorge View Post
    Excellent review Chris - I'm especially impressed by the water resistance - I'm intrigued whether this is the case for the rest of the Midnight series now - I'll have to try out the couple I have.

    I like the colour a lot - not, perhaps, for this time of year (well not for me anyway), but definitely a contender for later in the year, and perhaps an alternative for some of the Callifolio inks. I suspect it might be one that would perform well in very fine nibs as well.

    Thank you
    You're welcome. I think it's quite close to L'Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Equinoxe No. 6 and that's an ink I use regularly. Like you it's an ink I'd tend to use later in the year.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

  6. #4
    Senior Member penwash's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Dallas, as in the 80's TV Series
    Posts
    3,662
    Thanks
    3,364
    Thanked 6,703 Times in 1,972 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: Ink Review: Van Dieman's Blackened Seas Midnight Series

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    You're welcome. I think it's quite close to L'Artisan Pastellier Callifolio Equinoxe No. 6 and that's an ink I use regularly. Like you it's an ink I'd tend to use later in the year.
    Agreed. The Equinoxe no.6 is one of my favorite blue ink and this one really resembles it.

    I often think about this particular variation of blue as a really dark teal.
    - Will
    Unique and restored vintage pens: Redeem Pens

  7. The Following User Says Thank You to penwash For This Useful Post:

    Chrissy (June 27th, 2021)

  8. #5
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    11,406
    Thanks
    6,879
    Thanked 10,367 Times in 3,978 Posts
    Rep Power
    24

    Default Re: Ink Review: Van Dieman's Blackened Seas Midnight Series

    Quote Originally Posted by penwash View Post

    Agreed. The Equinoxe no.6 is one of my favorite blue ink and this one really resembles it.

    I often think about this particular variation of blue as a really dark teal.
    I originally decided it was blue-black then started to wonder about some of the drier swabs looking a bit more dark teal. In the end I went onto the Van Dieman's web-site to see what they call it. Blue-black it is.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •