Ink Review: Waterman Harmonious Green

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Waterman Harmonious Green - May 2015 Ink Drop
Pen: Pilot Metropolitan M
Paper: Rhodia Dotpad 80gsm
Shading: moderate to high
Saturation: medium
Flow: wet
Dry Time: 9 seconds

As soon as I inked up Waterman Harmonious Green, it immediately reminded me of the green ink that is ink the Pilot Precise V5 and V7 pens.  Before I used fountain pens, the V5/7 and the Pilot G2 in green were my most used pens, so I had a little bit of flash back when using this ink.  Admittedly, I liked the green ink that was in the G2 a lot more than the V5/7; so Harmonious Green isn't my favorite green, but it's still a good one.

A great characteristic of this ink is its shading.  I got quite a bit even with my medium nib, so with a stub or broad nib, you will likely get even more.  The ink is about a medium on the saturation scale, which probably contributes to the shading characteristics.  The ink flows nice and wet and has a very decent dry time at 9 seconds.

Amongst the swabs that I have currently, Harmonious Green sits between Noodler's Bad Green Gator and Diamine Woodland Green.  It's a lot lighter than Green Gator, and a tad bit darker than Woodland Green.

Waterman Harmonious Green is really a nice, neutral, well behaved ink.  If you're nostalgic for your old Pilot Precise V5/7 green pen, then you may like this one.  You can pick up a 50mL bottle from Goulet or a similar retailer for $11.00.

Giveaway Winner: Noodler's & Diamine Inks, Tons of Ink Samples & Nock Co. Notebooks

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There were over 200 entries for this giveaway - I am humbled by the turnout and thankful for each and every reader of the blog.  I look forward to having another giveaway soon for all the awesome folks in this pen community!

Now for the fun part - the winner is.......

Congratulations Janis!  I'll be emailing you shortly to get your address so that I can get the package on its way to you (be sure to check your spam folder just in case)!  Thank you so much to everyone that entered - it was neat to read what everyone's favorite pens were!  If you're curious Janis' was the Pilot E95S.

Giveaway: Noodler's & Diamine Inks, Tons of Ink Samples & Nock Co. Notebooks!

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The Desk is getting a little cluttered, and what better way to remedy that than to do a giveaway to all you readers!  I have a few bottles of ink that I am not really using and a TON of ink samples in various volumes that I've reviewed and now do not need.  To put the icing on the cake, I've thrown in some Nock Co. notebooks - a 3 pack of the yellow, and a single book of the new super fountain pen friendly black.

Bottled Inks:
Diamine Grey
Noodler's Antietam
Noodler's Gruene Cactus

Ink Samples:
De Atramentis Charles Dickens
Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun - you'll probably get 1-2 converter fills with this one
Caran d'Ache Magnetic Blue
Diamine Twilight
J. Herbin Gris Nuage
Sheaffer Blue-Black
Waterman Intense Black
Diamine Safari
Noodler's Bad Green Gator
Noodler's Army Green
De Atramentis Mahatma Gandhi
Rohrer & Klingner Lepziger Schwarz
Noodler's Socrates
Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher
Diamine Registrar's Blue-Black

So what do you have to do?  Enter using the Rafflecopter widget above - the only requirement is that you answer the question "What is your favorite fountain pen?" If you would like an additional 2 entries, follow @thedeskoflori on Twitter, and for an additional 2 entries per day, tweet about the contest.

Fine Print: Contest will end May 11 at 12:00AM EST. Open to US Residents only - unfortunately shipping ink bottles outside the US is insanely expensive, and since this is out of my own pocket, it's not practical for me to ship overseas. My sincerest apologies for this - I do plan on doing a giveaway in the future for smaller items that will be more practical for overseas shipping, so stay tuned!  This giveaway covers USPS Flat-Rate shipping, so if you require additional shipping options or insurance, those will be covered by you, the winner.  Please provide a valid email address for your entry so that I may contact you if you win - I assure you that your email address will not be sold, traded, given away or used in any way other than to notify you that you've won.  If I do not receive a response in 1 week, I will draw a new winner.  Thanks for entering!

Ink Review: Waterman Intense Black

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Waterman Intense Black (Ink Drop - April 2015)
Pen: Lamy Safari EF
Paper: Rhodia Dotpad 80gsm
Shading: none
Saturation: high
Flow: wet
Dry Time: 6 seconds

The final ink in this month's Ink Drop is Waterman Intense Black.  Waterman is one of the oldest brands in the fountain pen realm.  Lewis Edson Waterman created the first Waterman Fountain pen in 1883 and by the early 1900s they added ink to their line.  Waterman lays claim to creating the first ink cartridge in 1936 as well.

Waterman Intense Black is well-behaved black with a distinct brown undertone to it.  It almost looks like a deep, dark brown rather than black.  Being a black ink, it has no shading and is highly saturated.  It's a fairly wet flowing ink as well, and despite its wetness it has a very quick dry time with my EF nib at 6 seconds.

Back side of ink splatter, showing the evident brown undertone of the ink.

Overall, Waterman intense black is a nice ink.  Not my favorite black ink by any stretch, though I think that's because of the brown tint.  If you'd like a bottle, you can pick one up from Goulet or a similar retailer for $11.00 for a 50mL bottle.