Esterbrook Aqua & Shimmer Aqua

 

Written Review

 

Esterbrook sent out a set of samples of their inks for review, and they'll be coming to the blog now that the inks are available to buy. As far as I know, these aren't limited or anything like that, and the ones I've tried are really good, so check them out. 

 

This pair is the first I'm reviewing, and I've really liked them. Aqua and Shimmer Aqua seem to be about the same color, and it's a really nice blue. 

 

The shimmer compliments the ink, and doesn't generally overpower the color of the ink. Sometimes you'll see much more shimmer than otherwise, but that's pretty normal for a shimmering ink. Lots of things make a difference to that performance including how open your feed channels are, the size and wetness of your nib, whether you've shaken or rolled the pen before/during writing, and other factors about the ink itself. As with all shimmers, I'd keep them in something you can take apart easily for cleaning if you're someone who wants to keep the shimmer particles from showing up in your next ink fill. 

 

Close Ups

The price is a little high, I think. I like these inks, but that price puts them above the "impulse buy the whole set" level for me. 

The Bottle

 

A good, usable bottle shape and size that reminds me of the shape used by many German ink brands. I don't know of any that come in 50ml sizes, though, so it may just be a resemblance. There's no indication on the bottle as to where the ink is made. 

 

Water Resistance?

 

Water resistance is pretty low. There are some bits of line and dot left over, and you might be able to recover your work if you spill coffee on your page, but it'll take some doing. 

 

Chromatography

 

Beautiful chromatography on this. Reminds me of a violet's flower petal.

 Copy Paper Test

 

 

There was some mind bleed on the copy paper. Mostly dots from where I paused or ended a letter. That's pretty good for this kind of paper.

 

 

Tomoe River Ink Journal

 

 

Beautiful. I really like this shade.

 

 

Inky Fingers (Wheat Straw Paper)

 

 

Color Comparisons

 

Video Review

 

 

**As mentioned at the top of the post, these ink samples were sent out for review by Kenro, the owners of the Esterbrook brand. That doesn't change my reviewing in any way I'm aware of.**

ST Dupont Line D Guilloche Large Fountain Pens!

 

Confession time: I started this post in May. Somehow I just never hit the "publish" button. 

These ST Dupont Guilloche pens were sent out for me to review by Coles of London. The short version is that they're really fantastic pens. Their feelis excellent, the nibs are excellent, and that guilloche finish is next level. It's got a depth that you really want to watch the video to see. Since I made this video for my YouTube channel they have released other colors including a very popular lavender color that I know people love.

 

**They are lacquered with some sort of  "natural lacquer" which Audrey reacted to a little bit. She's very sensitive to any sort of urushi, so this won't bother you if you don't have any sensitivity to that kind of thing.**