Pen + Message is a small stationery shop tucked away on a back street near Motomachi Station in Kobe, Japan. They sell a lovely small selection of inks, as well as a decent amount of different paper products and high end fountain pens. They’ve also been offering Sailor exclusive inks for a while now and have their own set of five inks (of which this is a part of) as well a collaborative set of three inks with Rivermail in Yamashina called “Writing Lab”. All of these come in the lovely tall or vase sailor bottle.
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Ink Overview: Standard Bindery Original Fountain Pen Ink
Standard Bindery have now released their second set of inks for fountain pens. Their first set released by Standard Bindery, when they were named Bookbinders Online, was the eight Snake Inks (two blue, brown, green, orange, grey, black and red). The new formulation is something that Standard Bindering are pretty excited about and their most extensive project to date. The new set of six inks are Canyon Walk, Stargaze, Old Friend, Road Trip, Clear Water and Luna Tone.
Read MoreInk Review: Pennonia Vizlang (Vízláng)
Before Matt from Pennonia reached out to send me some inks, this ink was the one that first caught my attention - a pretty blue with shiny red sheen; why wouldn’t it? When the package arrived from Pennonia this ink and Pokoltűz were the inks I was most excited for! Both are permanent inks with strong water resistance and pretty shimmer. I reviewed Pokoltűz back in August 2019.
Read MoreInk Review: Van Dieman's Ink Bonfire Night
Van Dieman’s Ink is an Australian two-person team ink manufacturer that somewhat new to the market who, like Robert Oster, started on eBay. They were the Jinhao Australia distributor back then and were branded as such but now they have broadened out to their own brand with a decently large selection of inks. There are five series of inks: The Original Colours of Australia (the inks they first made), The Hollywood Series, The Wilderness Series (the latest release), Pigment Inks, and The Midnight Series which Bonfire Night is from.
Anthony van Diemen, a Explorer, in an effort to explore the "Great South Land” - subsequently named "Nieuw Holland” and eventually Australia - sent Abel Tasman on an exploration mission. When Abel Tasman discovered the large island below the mainland of Australia he, thinking it was a large territory, named it Van Dieman’s Land after his patron. Eventually it would be renamed Tasmania.
Read MoreInk Review: Hankyu Maroon
Hankyu Maroon is a Sailor made ink exclusive to the Hankyu Department Store. Hankyu Department Store, which separated from the Hankyu Railway Company in 1947, is a department store who’s main store is located in Osaka. It has further stores nearby and in other cities further away but the only place to buy these inks is from within Osaka, I believe. There are 5 inks under the Hankyu Brand: Wakaba, a light green; Sumire, similar to a light Imperial Purple; Kurikawa, a rich brown; Hanaasagi, a rich dark teal; and this, Maroon.
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