pens, inks, stores, companies and about the pleasure of owning a fine penIn 2012, when in Rome, when when I purchased my first bottle of Caran d'Ache ink. I wanted to give the ink a try as one of the members of the Vancouver Pen Club was a big fan of Caron d'Ache ink, and in particular, the colour Amazon.
I must admit, that is a very appealing green. But, the ink was at a high price point. With the high price came a small quantity of ink. The bottle that was extremely attractive, but only hold 30 ml of ink and I felt was too small to fill large pen and nibs that I use.
So flash forward to 2014, I was in Paris and as I walked by a Caran d'Ache boutique, on the counter was a display of the new ink bottles. The bottles were distinctive and they were larger, holding what is kind of the traditional quantity of 50 ml.
The Chromatics line of inks are good. I really like the 50 ml hexagonal shaped bottles have a slant on the bottom, so the bottle sits on your desk at an angle already for a fill-up. The bottle also feels great in the hand. The cap is large and heavy, given the heavy glass bottle has a rich feeling. So it should, this is no cheap ink. The ink lists on the Caran d'Ache web site at $41.50 US a bottle.
The Chromatics Line comes in 12 colours: Infinite Grey, Cosmic Black, Organic Brown, Electric white, Ultra Violet, Magnetic Blue, Hypnotic Turquoise, Delicate Green, Infra Red, Divine Pink, Idyllic Blue, Vibrant Green.
During 2020 I was on the search for the perfect grey. I had high hopes for this ink, and I must say it has a distinctive colour, although a bit too light in tone for me. With using for I found that at times I really like the way the ink looks on the page. This does not come across a light black, but rather a bright light grey. It looks great for a short written statement but I find a long written page, for me, needs a darker toned ink.
Ink performance is good. Even with pens with broad nibs the ink leaves a good line on the page.
I was at Charals in Vancouver one evening. The store has a good selection of ink. I almost passed this bottle without a second thought due to the term "Pink" but he had some ink samples and when I saw the bright vibrant colour, well I of course when home with a bottle of this ink. Good performance. Flows smoothly and I have used it in a variety of pens.
