lamy – Notebook Joy

I did some late summer cleaning of my room last week, which involved clearing off my entire desk of all fountain pens, inks and notebooks. :O I took the chance to count up all my inks I’ve bought over the last three years of my obsession/hobby.

The final count: 64 bottles! I’ve made a list of all the brands I have, sorted by amount.

Robert Oster: 8 bottles
Monteverde: 7 bottles
Pilot Iroshizuko: 6 bottles
Sailor: 6 bottles
J. Herbin: 5 bottles
Kobe: 3 bottles
Kingdom Note: 3 bottles
Kyo No Oto: 3 bottles
PenBBS: 3 bottles
Lamy: 3 bottles
Diamine: 3 bottles
Taccia: 2 bottles
Bungubox: 2 bottles
Krishna Inks: 2 bottles
Callifolio: 1 bottle
Papier Plume: 1 bottle
Organics Studio: 1 bottle
Colorverse: 1 bottle
Noodler’s: 1 bottle
Nemosine: 1 bottle
Akkerman: 1 bottle
Vinta: 1 bottle

Robert Oster and Monteverde top the list in terms of amount of bottles. Not only are they wet, shading inks but they also are much cheaper than Japanese inks. I buy them because they’re inexpensive and come in many colors. J. Herbin is also nice and only felt watery in Perle Noire, which I promptly gave away. Iroshizuko and Sailor are my absolute favorite brands but because of cost I don’t have as many. They exhibit the best shading and sheen!

My favorite inks overall are Iroshizuko Ku Jaku, Iroshizuko Yamabudo, Sailor Sky High, Sailor Apricot, Monteverde Ocean Noir, Lamy Dark Lilac, Kobe #48, Robert Oster Cherry Blossom, Bungubox June Bride, J. Herbin Rouge Grenat, all my Kingdom Note inks, and Taccia Uguisu. I love teal, blue and red inks most of all. I’m most proud of getting a bottle of Lamy Dark Lilac and several boxes of cartridges! It was a lucky find at the D.C. Pen Show in 2016. I missed all the hype about it before because I was just getting into the hobby then.

Here are some individual pictures of my collection. I put them in a slide show so you can see them.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Most of the inks I disliked I got rid of, but there are still some in my collection I’m meh about. I enjoyed Robert Oster Frankley Blue until dried ink crystals from the bottle cap exploded all over my desk. Nemosine Coalsack Nebula is a beautiful shimmer ink but clogs so much. J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor was the most hyped ink of 2016 but didn’t live up to my expectations.

My emptiest bottle is Ku Jaku, because it’s a beautiful teal but mostly because its cap is cracked and there was a leak at some point. I only have 1/3 left. Yamabudo is close, with 2/3 left. Robert Oster Frankley Blue and Sailor Okuyama also have a good amount used up, also because of leaks. The rest aren’t even close! The problem with having so many inks is that I use different colors each time I write. It never gets boring but I also go through inks slowly.

I hope you enjoyed looking at my ink collection!

The Lamy limited edition inks have both enchanted and disappointed me. I discovered the fountain pen world right after the beautiful Lamy Dark Lilac ink sold out. Luckily, I bought a lifetime supply of cartridges at the D.C Pen Show. Petrol didn’t appeal to me at all, so I let that one pass by. Like everyone else, I was annoyed to find out Pacific blue wasn’t a new color (still bought it though). Now Lamy Vibrant Pink comes out, and I’m in love again.

I bought the ink cartridges, $4.50 for five. This isn’t an eye-searing bubblegum pink like I feared it would be. It’s fun and different than others I’ve seen before. VP shades beautifully. Its color ranges from bright pink to a darker raspberry. It’s not garish but does stand out. I love using unusual ink colors so it’s great for me. It’s very legible and doesn’t strain the eyes. I used this ink to take lecture notes. Even better, VP has a touch of golden sheen! Not too much, but enough to make VP stand out from other pink inks I’ve tried. Just like Lamy Dark Lilac, the sheen needs to be coaxed out with good paper. It’s not visible on my sample paper, Rhodia No. 13 dot grid, nor my Maruman Spiral Note. Tomoe River is magical unicorn paper and brings out its subtle golden sheen. Surprisingly, Kokuyo Campus paper does too!

This ink is well-behaved in my Lamy Safari and doesn’t skip at all. Dry time is under 10 seconds, which is great for my note-taking needs. However, there is one drawback, something I’ve found with almost all red/pink inks. There’s extreme nib creep??? if that’s the right word for it. It’s because red/pink inks are more saturated than green/blue ones, so they leave behind residue on the nib. So my Lamy nib looks really gross.