I have that Lamy, and I was surprised when it became one of my most used pens this year. I highly recommend trying the 14 K nibs. It really is a whole new writing experience! I love your swatching technique - it really shows the properties of the ink!
I have some ink with sheen but the effect is mostly wasted on me as I prefer EF nibs for most of my writing. I do have 1 medium which gets trotted out when I really want to see the sheeners. I just got the Lamy Dk Lilac ink last month. I absolutely love it! My 1st noodler's too!
In this video, you have presented many of my favourite inks already. Among my recent additions, I liked Octopus Fluids, notably the Barock 1910 Bordeaux ( a dark red ink ), and Graf von Faber-Castell Hazelnut Brown, a very well-behaved ink.
Thanks for sharing your favorites! Lately I'm in love with diamine sapphire blue and as for black I always go with pilot namiki ink. Again thanks for being here and always too generous with the giveaways. Take care and carry on.
Love all the inks you picked. I would like to see a comparison of the Platinum Chou-Kuro to the Platinum Carbon Black if you are so inclined. I have been using Lamy Black which has been great but was looking for something different for my next bottle. That (Die-A-Mine)(phonetically speaking) Ancient Copper would be a great ink in the Lamy Lux (which I have been in love with but have not gotten yet, hopefully perhaps now I can win it)! Love the Stars and Stripes, I am naming your swatch " Eye of the Night King" after the white walkers in the Game of Thrones. Thanks for the review.
I could never narrow my top favorites inks to just 3. I love my Ancient Copper. Such a stunner. Some other great ink brands are Van Dieman’s, Robert Oster, Dominant Industry, Troublemaker, etc… Ink is a whole rabbit hole unto itself. Stay shiny!
My favorite penpals sometimes get a letter with Dark Lilac 2016. I would love to get ahold of a few bottles of the new formula to use more often, but haven't managed to get any yet. There are so many lovely ink brands and colors - though Noodler's and Diamine are easily my favorites. Sargasso Sea and Majestic Blue are some of my favorite dark blues. Nikita - now Hawthorne's Scarlet - is an excellent bright red ink, and Ottoman Rose - now called Rose in the Louvre - is an excellent darker red/burgandy shade. Regarding Dark Matter, I recall the story being that someone sent Nathan an empty (or almost empty) ink bottle from a classified government facility - and there was enough dregs of ink left in the bottle for Nathan to engineer a copy of it, and through research identified the facility as Los Alamos. Why they needed a special formula of ink? Not really sure. My guess is the combination of water resistance and relatively fast-drying properties on cheap paper would have made it useful in a government facility. Or maybe a bunch of the nerds felt like dabbling with making some ink in their down time. Sadly we likely won't ever know. While the marketing angle is a big part of the appeal of the ink, given how passionate Nathan is about pens and ink, I don't have any problem believing the veracity of the story. If it was being made up, he could have embellished it a lot for a much better marketing gimmick.
I hope you are keeping that bottle in a cold, dark place when not in use! If you win one of the giveaways, I'll send you a sample vial of the modern Dark Lilac. That's pretty close to the backstory I heard as well. In the 1940's, my grandmother was making ink from the soot of an oil lamps. I'm betting we're applying 21st century expectations on mid-century sensibilities. Either way, there's a mystery, and that makes it all the more interesting. In the meantime, ever consider sending Nathan some your Dark Lilac to reverse engineer? Imitation doesn't seem to be his thing, but... I wonder... could he replicate it?
Love your calm presentation of INK. You’ve made excellent choices! I just got a bottle of Dark Matter, my first bottle of black ink, and it is awesome. As I understand it, the Manhattan project used only that particular ink. It was a security measure so that documents could be verified to have originated (or not) from Los Alamos, using spectrographic analysis. My husband is a physicist, and that is part of the lore.
Great idea! I realized at the beginning of last month when I went to ink up a new green Kilk that I only had one green ink. I have a few now, but none that really sing to me. Suggestions?
@ one I was looking at is Diamine Sherwood green. It’s hard to find the specific colors you want until you see several things side by side. Of course, paper quality has an effect on colors as you know, so it can get frustrating. As you said, you’re waiting for something to “sing” to you. Same.
Thank you for another very interesting and informative video. I am hoping to explore bottled inks next year. Just starting with fountain pens this Christmas and my journaling journey, I chose to stick with a Kaweko and cartridges. But, I have my eye on Twisbi Eco when I'm brave enough to try bottled inks. The blue ColorVerse is beautiful. Do you have a review of the Sailor blue? I love that navy in the bottle. As much as my "inner crow" is drawn to all the shimmer and glitter inks, your comment about often they ruin pen(s), I know I will need to find my favorites in the plain ink styles. That Lamy is a beautiful mocha color. Thanks for for such generous giveaways!
I don't have a video on that. I've just started the channel but I might do one soon. It /is/ a nice shade of blue. I wouldn't say shimmer has ruined any of my pens, but if they dry out, they are terribly hard to get going again and require a good cleaning. A really good cleaning! Broad and stub nibs are better for that kind of ink. Better still, dip pens.
I think you mean Dark Lilac! It was a special in 2016, and brought back this year. A little different because the original pigment is no longer available.
You KNOW I mean Dark Lilac. Sheesh! See, I lost the box, and LAMY doesn't label their bottles. Thanks for catching me. And I got my wires crossed about the sheen difference. That's another new re-issued ink (which I can't remember right now). I definitely shouldn't be making videos at 2AM.
Those are all wonderful choices. I especially like the Colorverse Stars and Stripes. Just discovered your channel. I like your calm voice and the background music. You have lots of useful information and clearly explain your reasoning. Looking forward to seeing more content from you. Especially about ink.
Birmingham Pen Company also has some really beautiful inks and they frequently bundle them with discounts. I recently tried Diamine’s Ancient Copper ink and really liked it too.
Another great video! I like the waterproofness of the Platinum “ink”. What a wonderful giveaway-I love Lamy pens and do not have one with M nib. Would be thrilled if I won. Cheers.
Actually, this year it has been between the blue Stars & Stripes and something in the brown-gold-red family mostly, the blue for tiny writing in my planner, and a brown, gold or red for everything else.
Diamine Ancient Copper looks stunning in my Delta Spaccanapoli (f) fountain pen, but the nib is so wet that I need a drier ink than Ancient Copper. Any suggestions for a drier reddish-brown ink?
The Oxblood has about the same viscosity as Ancient Copper, and the Writer's Blood is a bit wetter. I tried everything else in my cabinet like Communication Breakdown, Sepia, Widow Maker, Bah Humbug, and I'd say the last one comes close but is a shimmer ink, which I myself wouldn't use in that pen especially with a fine nib. I'm not an expert, but when I was trying to make that blood-red ink, I was using gum arabic to decrease the viscosity, which can be bought in liquid or powdered form. It has the side-effect (or benefit) of slowing the drying time. I might experiment by separating some ink into a different vial, adding a drop or two and testing using the pen like a dip pen. Add more until it feels right. That's what I'd do, what you do is up to you, so use your own judgement. There are probably some other tricks to "dry out" an ink that I don't know about but the experts would. Of course, another option is trying a different feed. I'm pretty sure the Spaccanapoli has an ebonite feed, which might just be too much for that fine nib. A lot depends on how other inks work for you. I hope you find a solution, because finding the perfect pen-ink combination is half the fun in my book!
Hello, how are you? This is the first time I watched your videos and found them quite informative and relaxing. My favorite ink is definitely the Diamine ancient copper. Greetings from Xalapa, Veracruz. Mexico.
Cool giveaway, Lamy's are dearly beloved. By the way Chou Kuro is pronounced Choh (long o) Koo-Roh (Roh, again, has a long o and ku a long u) Chou means very, extreme, utra etc. and Kuro is Black, so it's name literally translates to 'Very Black'.
I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but Dark Matter predates the Oppenheimer film by at least a decade. It could be a marketing gimmick, but I don't know what market Noodler's would have been pandering to back then, so I'm inclined to believe the story.
Ink! Those are all nice colours and good choices. I am new to your channel and, so far, I am enjoying the videos. I hope I can win the giveaway - I have been mulling over whether I need to get a Lamy LX and the marron brown with a medium nib is one of the versions I was most seriously contemplating.
How do you get to the Community Page? Is it the #FountainPenCommunity link at the bottom of your notes? This leads to a general fountain pen community page not just The Author's Reserve.
I agree with your opinion on using Keyword: Ink. QTips for swatching. Where did you find your metal dip pen? If it is a Brause nib did you find it for less than $53?
It's a Kakimori Brass nib I bought from Yoseka. I noticed a few other places have them now. You still need to buy a nib holder, so the whole thing winds up around $80, but sales happen. I had store credit, so it "felt" like free.
I have that Lamy, and I was surprised when it became one of my most used pens this year. I highly recommend trying the 14 K nibs. It really is a whole new writing experience! I love your swatching technique - it really shows the properties of the ink!
Thanks for the tip! LOL
@AuthorsReserve I know you have a number of gold nibs in your collection, but for me, the Lamy 14K are unique.
Hey Dave, I'm really enjoying your videos. I like the pen and ink reviews that you do. Keep it up!
Glad you got in touch!
@AuthorsReserve me too! Thanks!
@AuthorsReserve thanks, it's an extra nice holiday treat I'll get this year!
Van Diemans ink is very interesting also. Available at Vanness pens in sample sizes to try. The LX is lovely!
Thanks for the tip!
I have some ink with sheen but the effect is mostly wasted on me as I prefer EF nibs for most of my writing. I do have 1 medium which gets trotted out when I really want to see the sheeners. I just got the Lamy Dk Lilac ink last month. I absolutely love it! My 1st noodler's too!
I hear ya. Although sometimes when write out a whole page with an F, every once in a while it'll catch the light just right, and I go "Ooh."
Love your style. Super relaxing to watch. Also I love my dark matter, the way this ink puts down onto the paper is addicting
It is. And it has a mystique about it that adds a little to the writing experience.
Great Ink choices. Will have to add that colorverse to my collection
In this video, you have presented many of my favourite inks already. Among my recent additions, I liked Octopus Fluids, notably the Barock 1910 Bordeaux ( a dark red ink ), and Graf von Faber-Castell Hazelnut Brown, a very well-behaved ink.
Thanks for sharing your favorites! Lately I'm in love with diamine sapphire blue and as for black I always go with pilot namiki ink. Again thanks for being here and always too generous with the giveaways. Take care and carry on.
Love all the inks you picked. I would like to see a comparison of the Platinum Chou-Kuro to the Platinum Carbon Black if you are so inclined. I have been using Lamy Black which has been great but was looking for something different for my next bottle. That (Die-A-Mine)(phonetically speaking) Ancient Copper would be a great ink in the Lamy Lux (which I have been in love with but have not gotten yet, hopefully perhaps now I can win it)! Love the Stars and Stripes, I am naming your swatch " Eye of the Night King" after the white walkers in the Game of Thrones.
Thanks for the review.
I have some Carbon Black on order and will post the results on the Community page on Friday. Love that name!
I could never narrow my top favorites inks to just 3. I love my Ancient Copper. Such a stunner. Some other great ink brands are Van Dieman’s, Robert Oster, Dominant Industry, Troublemaker, etc… Ink is a whole rabbit hole unto itself. Stay shiny!
I have to get into these other brands more. I have R Oster, quite a few, but neither of the other two. Can't stop the signal!
great collection !! thanks for sharing. I love the Ancient Copper for sure !!
Nice ink colors.
Loving watching everyone's favorite INK videos.
This video really made me thINK about my own list for 2024!
Ha! Clever.
I think that Diamine Majestic Blue was one of the first INKs I purchased that had a red Sheen to it
That Colorverse Ink is pretty great! Thanks for the video.
Nice ink choices! Will consider these when I buy my first fountain pen!
I love your ink choices! So much fun to watch the final three choices. Thank you for sharing.
INK. I enjoyed your video. The ColorVerse ink, Stars & Stripes will be on my list of future inks to try now. Thank you.
Those inks are winners, for sure! That Colorverse ink is amazing!
I, too, like ColorVerse inks. Thanks for sharing your INK video with us.
My favorite penpals sometimes get a letter with Dark Lilac 2016. I would love to get ahold of a few bottles of the new formula to use more often, but haven't managed to get any yet. There are so many lovely ink brands and colors - though Noodler's and Diamine are easily my favorites. Sargasso Sea and Majestic Blue are some of my favorite dark blues. Nikita - now Hawthorne's Scarlet - is an excellent bright red ink, and Ottoman Rose - now called Rose in the Louvre - is an excellent darker red/burgandy shade.
Regarding Dark Matter, I recall the story being that someone sent Nathan an empty (or almost empty) ink bottle from a classified government facility - and there was enough dregs of ink left in the bottle for Nathan to engineer a copy of it, and through research identified the facility as Los Alamos. Why they needed a special formula of ink? Not really sure. My guess is the combination of water resistance and relatively fast-drying properties on cheap paper would have made it useful in a government facility. Or maybe a bunch of the nerds felt like dabbling with making some ink in their down time. Sadly we likely won't ever know. While the marketing angle is a big part of the appeal of the ink, given how passionate Nathan is about pens and ink, I don't have any problem believing the veracity of the story. If it was being made up, he could have embellished it a lot for a much better marketing gimmick.
I hope you are keeping that bottle in a cold, dark place when not in use! If you win one of the giveaways, I'll send you a sample vial of the modern Dark Lilac.
That's pretty close to the backstory I heard as well. In the 1940's, my grandmother was making ink from the soot of an oil lamps. I'm betting we're applying 21st century expectations on mid-century sensibilities. Either way, there's a mystery, and that makes it all the more interesting.
In the meantime, ever consider sending Nathan some your Dark Lilac to reverse engineer? Imitation doesn't seem to be his thing, but... I wonder... could he replicate it?
Ink - van diemans and pilot iroshizuku are good also
Another informative ink video. Keep up the great work.
Thanks a bunch!
Love your calm presentation of INK. You’ve made excellent choices! I just got a bottle of Dark Matter, my first bottle of black ink, and it is awesome. As I understand it, the Manhattan project used only that particular ink. It was a security measure so that documents could be verified to have originated (or not) from Los Alamos, using spectrographic analysis. My husband is a physicist, and that is part of the lore.
Great INK video! I wish you could look at greens sometime. I need to try ColorVerse inks, I haven’t used that brand yet but definitely will try.
Great idea! I realized at the beginning of last month when I went to ink up a new green Kilk that I only had one green ink. I have a few now, but none that really sing to me. Suggestions?
@ one I was looking at is Diamine Sherwood green. It’s hard to find the specific colors you want until you see several things side by side. Of course, paper quality has an effect on colors as you know, so it can get frustrating. As you said, you’re waiting for something to “sing” to you. Same.
another great INK video - thank you!!
Thank you for another very interesting and informative video. I am hoping to explore bottled inks next year. Just starting with fountain pens this Christmas and my journaling journey, I chose to stick with a Kaweko and cartridges. But, I have my eye on Twisbi Eco when I'm brave enough to try bottled inks. The blue ColorVerse is beautiful. Do you have a review of the Sailor blue? I love that navy in the bottle. As much as my "inner crow" is drawn to all the shimmer and glitter inks, your comment about often they ruin pen(s), I know I will need to find my favorites in the plain ink styles. That Lamy is a beautiful mocha color. Thanks for for such generous giveaways!
I don't have a video on that. I've just started the channel but I might do one soon. It /is/ a nice shade of blue. I wouldn't say shimmer has ruined any of my pens, but if they dry out, they are terribly hard to get going again and require a good cleaning. A really good cleaning! Broad and stub nibs are better for that kind of ink. Better still, dip pens.
Inks are a happy rabbit hole.
@@AuthorsReserve Thank you for the clarification. My daughter chose a glass dip pen, so we may be just have to try some of those fancy inks.
@@ntaylo6299 I can't wait!!
I think you mean Dark Lilac! It was a special in 2016, and brought back this year. A little different because the original pigment is no longer available.
You KNOW I mean Dark Lilac. Sheesh! See, I lost the box, and LAMY doesn't label their bottles. Thanks for catching me. And I got my wires crossed about the sheen difference. That's another new re-issued ink (which I can't remember right now). I definitely shouldn't be making videos at 2AM.
@AuthorsReserve I hate the none labeling! 2 am is not an hour of function for me!
I really like that copper ink. I will most likely get a bottle of that. Thank you.
I love your content! 👍 I am sure your channel will grow fast!
Thank you so much!
Thank you for inspiration, with your Stars and Stripes Ink celebration!
I really like the Stars & Stripes ink. I’ll be putting that on my wish list. I enjoyed watching this ink video! Thanks!
Those are all wonderful choices. I especially like the Colorverse Stars and Stripes. Just discovered your channel. I like your calm voice and the background music. You have lots of useful information and clearly explain your reasoning. Looking forward to seeing more content from you. Especially about ink.
Birmingham Pen Company also has some really beautiful inks and they frequently bundle them with discounts. I recently tried Diamine’s Ancient Copper ink and really liked it too.
"Firefly of inks" was a great comment! Lol Awesome video! Thank you for sharing. My favorite ink is Jacque Herbin Emreaude de Chivor. Love that color!
Key word Ink…..glad I found your channel.
I like the cut of your jib, sir. I also really liked your Firefly reference :)
How does the ancient copper compare to oxblood? I just got oxblood as my first red ink.
I posted an image and some comments on the Community page for you. Take a look. www.youtube.com/@AuthorsReserve/community
Love that Colorverse blue INK
honestly you earned my sub withe the firefly reference.
Cool ink choices! I too love Ancient Copper.
I love the visual consistency of the thumbnails on your channel. Well done!
The ink that I am enjoying the most is diamine oxblood
Thank you for this lovely ink video!
Another great video! I like the waterproofness of the Platinum “ink”. What a wonderful giveaway-I love Lamy pens and do not have one with M nib. Would be thrilled if I won. Cheers.
Ink. Love the Ancient Copper use it when I draw trees. Also love FWP Stroke of Midnight.
Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll check it out.
Ink. Enjoyed this video - I am relatively new to fountain pens and therefore inks so this was quite helpful!
Great ink choices, are the blue black and red your most go to choices in ink colours ???
Actually, this year it has been between the blue Stars & Stripes and something in the brown-gold-red family mostly, the blue for tiny writing in my planner, and a brown, gold or red for everything else.
Thanks for the ink reviews! Ink!
New to your channel. I like your presentation style. Thanks for the Ink comparisons.
Subscribed! Getting in on the ground floor. 😅
I love the lamy lilac INK but mine sheens green.
Ink. Love akkerman shocking blue and monteverde horizon blue
Diamine Ancient Copper looks stunning in my Delta Spaccanapoli (f) fountain pen, but the nib is so wet that I need a drier ink than Ancient Copper. Any suggestions for a drier reddish-brown ink?
The Oxblood has about the same viscosity as Ancient Copper, and the Writer's Blood is a bit wetter. I tried everything else in my cabinet like Communication Breakdown, Sepia, Widow Maker, Bah Humbug, and I'd say the last one comes close but is a shimmer ink, which I myself wouldn't use in that pen especially with a fine nib. I'm not an expert, but when I was trying to make that blood-red ink, I was using gum arabic to decrease the viscosity, which can be bought in liquid or powdered form. It has the side-effect (or benefit) of slowing the drying time. I might experiment by separating some ink into a different vial, adding a drop or two and testing using the pen like a dip pen. Add more until it feels right. That's what I'd do, what you do is up to you, so use your own judgement. There are probably some other tricks to "dry out" an ink that I don't know about but the experts would. Of course, another option is trying a different feed. I'm pretty sure the Spaccanapoli has an ebonite feed, which might just be too much for that fine nib. A lot depends on how other inks work for you. I hope you find a solution, because finding the perfect pen-ink combination is half the fun in my book!
Hello, how are you? This is the first time I watched your videos and found them quite informative and relaxing. My favorite ink is definitely the Diamine ancient copper. Greetings from Xalapa, Veracruz. Mexico.
Cool giveaway, Lamy's are dearly beloved.
By the way Chou Kuro is pronounced Choh (long o) Koo-Roh (Roh, again, has a long o and ku a long u)
Chou means very, extreme, utra etc. and Kuro is Black,
so it's name literally translates to 'Very Black'.
"A drop of ink may make a million think" Lord Byron
ooh, nice!
I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but Dark Matter predates the Oppenheimer film by at least a decade. It could be a marketing gimmick, but I don't know what market Noodler's would have been pandering to back then, so I'm inclined to believe the story.
Nope, nobody has! Thanks for the fact check.
I’d like to ink up one of my pens with a new colour.
Ink!
Ink. Good choices!
I’m with you. I always have three pens one ink in each color Black, Blue and Red at a minimum. Now let’s see what your three choices are. 😁😇
I will try the ancient copper ink in 2025. And ink for the contest. 😁
Ink. I roo adore Diamine Ancient Copper. Have you tried Robert Oster's Admiral Blue?
I absolutely love the Chou Kuro. Blacks need to be BLACK!
Ink! Those are all nice colours and good choices. I am new to your channel and, so far, I am enjoying the videos. I hope I can win the giveaway - I have been mulling over whether I need to get a Lamy LX and the marron brown with a medium nib is one of the versions I was most seriously contemplating.
Welcome! Well good luck then!
How do you get to the Community Page? Is it the #FountainPenCommunity link at the bottom of your notes? This leads to a general fountain pen community page not just The Author's Reserve.
Oh, to get there, click the icon or "The Authors Reserve" from any video. There will be a bunch of tabs, one will be "Community".
😊❤ Ink
INK
Ink ❤
Can I ask a stupid question? Why does it take over 20 min to name 3 inks?
INteresting ink choices! But please don't enter me into your draw. I don't like the aluminium Lamy pens.
I agree with your opinion on using Keyword: Ink. QTips for swatching. Where did you find your metal dip pen? If it is a Brause nib did you find it for less than $53?
It's a Kakimori Brass nib I bought from Yoseka. I noticed a few other places have them now. You still need to buy a nib holder, so the whole thing winds up around $80, but sales happen. I had store credit, so it "felt" like free.
@@AuthorsReserve well worth the investment.