Ink Review: La Couronne du Comte (Diamine) Comte d'Or

August 07, 2021 in Ink Review

In September 2019 La Couronne du Comte, a stationery store based in Tilburg, Netherlands (and sponsor of this blog) released Comte d’Or (“Count of Gold”), a gold ink made by Diamine exclusively for their store and the first from what will become their Les Couleurs du Comte (“The Colors of the Count“) ink series. La Couronne du Comte describe the series as “a range that focuses on special colours, rich in colour intensity, with a wonderful shading and/or sheen”. A year later they released three more inks, Bleu Cuivré (“Copper Blue”), a blue ink; Pan d’Epices (“Gingerbread”), a red ink; and Vert Sapin (“Pine Green”), a green ink . I’ll be reviewing all the ink in the series alphabetically.

I received Comte d’Or as part of a general promotion from La Couronne du Comte and I purchased Bleu Cuivré, Pain d’Epices, and Vert Sapin myself. You can find the inks here and use code “MACCHIATOMAN10” for 10% off!

Pen Review: Esterbrook Estie 'Gold Rush' (Prospector Black) with Scribe nib

July 26, 2021 in Pen Review

Earlier in the year I reviewed the Esterbrook Estie in the Limited Honeycomb (with a Journaler nib) and the standard Cobalt Blue (with a standard fine) finish. This is another Esterbrook Estie and while I don’t usually review pens with different finishes (although the material here is decently different) this Estie also comes with a Scribe nib. The material of the Gold Rush features the trademarked DiamondCast acrylic with the dust of real diamonds.

Thanks to Esterbrook and Desk Bandit for sending this pen in for review.

lamy safari colours (04-03-2021) - 1.jpg

Retrospective: Friday July 16

July 16, 2021 in Retrospective

🄼🄸🄽🄸 🅁🄴🅅🄸🄴🅆🅂 On Instagram!

Bungubox Omaezaki Sunset 🌅
Diamine Autumn Oak 🍂
Pelikan Edelstein Amber
More coming (somewhat periodically)…

Appelboom reached out not too long ago for me to do a video for their Top 3 Pens series. I, of course, immediately accepted because I knew it would be fun but I was also apprehensive as I’ve never done a video before! I planned the video out, first by choosing a theme for my choices (My favourite pen, my favourite looking pen, and the pen I’d most recommend to new people to the hobby with 1 honourable mention for each), secondly I started choosing a heap of pens and then narrowing it down, thirdly I worked out the actual structure of the video and a rough outline of what to say. Then, after several takes, I narrowed down how I wanted to say what I wanted to say, and reduced the amount of times I said ‘um’ though certainly not enough… anyway, here it is! Also check out the rest of the channel!

🗞 Articles I’ve read:

Fountain Pen Review: Gravitas Entry Fountain Pen Black (Clement Dionglay) ✑ I nice long and subtle metal-bodied black pen. Sleek!
Fountain Pen Ink Review: New Brew Inks (Clement Dionglay) ✑ Some new inks from the Philippines and they are very nice looking!
Ink Review #591: Robert Oster Sushi (Fountain Pen Pharmacist) ✑ I’ve been thinking about picking this one up! Nice soft pink (my favourite type of pink).
Ana at The Well-Appointed Desk has a series on “What’s Your Planner Style?” and I’ve enjoyed reading them. I’m not quite sure which one I am (or, in reality, ‘aspire to be’) but there is the Butterfly, Ladybug, and Cricket.

🛍 Check out my Sponsors* and help out the blog:

Bookbinders Design Australia (15% off code: BBDMACCHIATO) ✒︎ Sale on a lot of Pilot and Platinum pens with a great price on the Custom 823 and the Platinum Century #3776!
ink’d Pens (10% off with LOVE MACCHIATO MAN) ✒︎ A newish pen shop to Australia! A new Diamine provider is great (surprisingly few in Australia) and the Ferris Wheel Press fountain pens which look interesting!
La Couronne do Comte (10% off with MACCHIATOMAN10) ✒︎ They have sales on some old LE Montblanc inks and the 2019 Lamy AL-Star LE! They are also offering the new Montblanc Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ink (and pen).
Pen Savings (12% off with MACCHIATOMAN) ✒︎ Excellent selection of Private Reserve, Monteverde and Noodler’s. My go-to for these brands!
Desk Bandit ✒︎ With all the hubbub about Tomoe River Desk Bandit have got in a bunch of different light papers in with 50 sheets of each. Also a bunch of Esterbrooks! Also, also Troublemaker inks!
Pen Chalet (10% off with MACCHIATOMAN) ✒︎ The Platinum 3776 Carnelian at a great price!
Pen Classics ✒︎ The newer Kawecos look great and the Papier Plume inks are always interesting.
Goldspot ✒︎ They have a sale on the Lamy Safari Mango and Turmaline gift sets, and the Pelikan M120 has a great price (and is a lovely pen!). Check our their exclusives as well!
Esterbrook Pens ✒︎ Keep any eye out for a new Estie colour (!) new JRs and some inks coming soon! So exciting!

*Due to COVID-19 I have extended all sponsorships throughout the pandemic.

🖋 Recently Inked

Birmingham Pen Co. Antique Sepia in an Esterbrook Estie Cobalt Blue

Only one newly inked pen this time. My Cobalt Blue Esterbrook needed a new ink for an upcoming review and since I received my Birmingham Pen Co. inks I’ve been interested to try them so I put one in!

This definitely isn’t a matching ink and pen!

🛒 Recently Acquired

I received an Esterbrook JR and an Esterbrook Gold Rush (reviews coming soon)! But otherwise not much is new! I do, however, have two vintage Esterbrook J pens on the way (for the JR review) and a massive box of 50+ Birmingham Pen Co. inks (group buy!) and an Olympus Myu II compact film camera (I’ve been getting into film and finding it heaps of fun); if only it would actually arrive!

🎼What I’m listening to

Something a little more accessible up front is Schubert’s String Quartet No. 13 in A minor (the Rosamunde Quartet), D 804, Op. 29. The second movement’s main melody is taken from his own incidental music for the German play ‘Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus’.

Scriabin’s 2 Impromptus, Op.12 are a nice shorter piece! Some contrasting metres and some interesting syncopations but a beautiful piece overall!

A little less accessible for most people and a large symphonic work is Scriabin’s Prometheus! This is where he created his Mystic chord which is an early hint at octatonicism in his works (my Masters of Arts dissertation is on octatonicism).

📷 Photography

It has been raining for two weeks straight (almost unheard of here in Perth, Western Australia!) and before that was a brief lockdown from Covid-19 but I have taken a couple of shots and received development of some film!

Midday contrast definitely meant black and white was needed! A lovely black swan with its cygnets.

Another black and white with high contrast but this time at night is this corner building, lit up with streetlights (with the person in the foreground).

This was my favourite film shot that I got back from being developed. Taken ages ago but I think it’s nice! Simple urban shot, but nice. Kodak Portra 400 on a very cheap old compact camera. — This was my favourite film shot that I got back from being developed. Taken ages ago but I think it’s nice! Simple urban shot, but nice. Kodak Portra 400 on a *very* cheap old compact camera.

⏳Coming soon!

I started releasing my reviews of La Couronne du Comte’s Les Couleurs du Comte inks with Bleu Cuivrés. More of those will be coming (staggered) as well as some Esterbrook reviews and eventually Birmingham inks!

Ink Review: La Couronne du Comte (Diamine) Bleu Cuivré

July 01, 2021 in Ink Review

Ink Review: KWZ Aztec Gold IGL

June 21, 2021 in Ink Review

KWZ inks are generally richly coloured and well behaved. Made in Poland by Konrad Żurawski there are Standard inks and Iron Gall inks. Within the second category is an "IGL” which is Iron Gall Light. Iron Gall Light still offers the hue change and water resistant qualities, at lesser intensities but with the pen care responsibilities of a standard ink. KWZ Aztec Gold IGL is one of those inks.

Thanks to Bookbinders Design Australia for sending this ink for review.