Franklin-Christoph Dark Denim

Back in April, I posted that Franklin-Christoph was getting into the ink game. I wanted to get some of that ink right off, but time passed and I didn't get a chance to try any of this ink until recently. Then, at the Raleigh Pen Show, I met the guys from F-C, and they were nice enough to give me a bottle of each ink so that I could try them out and review them for you.

Dark Denim is the first of the 4, and it's a winner, if you ask me. I'm a sucker for a good blue-black, and this is a good blue-black. It's on the blue end of that spectrum, but there aren't any green tones in this ink. Most other blue-blacks are at least a little green at times, but this one doesn't seem to do that. Unless you are using it in a really dry nib. The picture at right is of text done with the JoWo nib from my TWSBI Vac 700, and that nib is insufferably dry. It looked a little bit green from that nib, but the line is pale and watered-down because there's hardly any ink hitting the page.

The same ink in my Conklin Crescent's 1.1 stub is a rich, dark blue-black that looks entirely different.

Here you can see all three of the nibs that I used with this ink. 

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My usual review write-up is done on Rhodia with the Conklin's 1.1 stub and my TWSBI's Knox M nibs.

The saturation is high enough to give you a solid line on the paper, but low enough to give you a good amount of shading if you have a broader nib or better paper. I used both a broad nib and good paper for this review, so your mileage may vary if you're writing on notebook filler paper with an XF nib. I think you will want a pen that is slightly wet for this ink though, so that the color can really stand out.

As you can see, I keep quite a few blue inks around. Dark Denim is (from what I've seen elsewhere) pretty close to Diamine's Denim. I haven't tried that one out, yet, but I can tell you that Franklin-Christoph's secret ink-maker has done a good job with this ink. It looks like denim, it doesn't feather or spread, and it doesn't bleed.

Here's the video review and water test. Enjoy!

Spoiler:

Not terribly water-resistant. 

**This ink was provided to me by Franklin-Christoph at no charge. This review reflects my experiences with the ink, and I do my best not to be swayed by their largess. No money has changed hands, and my review is my own.**