Time dive into the new PEARLESCENT inks with this week’s review of Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver Ink. In past reviews, we’ve looked at other Private Reserve inks, but this is the 1st review of one pulled from their recently released Pearlescent ink series. If you haven’t had a chance to be up close and personal with one of these unique inks yet – you’re in for a treat.

All About the Ink Maker: Private Reserve

We still get a bit excited about Private Reserve because they’re one of the newer brands here at PenChalet.com. We added the Private Reserve inks earlier this year. (It’s really more accurate to call it a “reintroduction” since they are actually a well known and well-loved ink that wasn’t available for a while). But they came BACK in 2021 with a new owner/distributor! As a result, many of you were beyond excited to see some of your old favorites back on the market. But what you may not have expected is how quickly they’ve been expanding their product line.

Private Reserve inks are known for their smooth ink flow, high saturation and nice shading traits. The inks are made in the EU, but packaged and distributed in the USA. The Private Reserve inks are also known to be non-smearing, non-clogging and safe for fountain pens.

As a proud authorized retailer of Private Reserve inks, Pen Chalet currently carries 38 colors of Private Reserve Regular Edition ink, 6 colors from the Private Reserve Fast Dry Ink Series, 6 colors from the Private Reserve Infinity ink series, and the latest addition to the group…the Private Reserve Pearlescent Ink Series.

More About This Week’s Ink Series: Private Reserve Pearlescent Ink Series

We carry 6 colors in the new Private Reserve Pearlescent Ink Series:

• Black-Silver
• Orange-Silver
• Red-Silver
• Turquoise-Silver
• Violet-Silver and
• Blue-Silver

Most noteworthy addition this recently released ink series adds to the traits Private Reserve inks bring to the page, is the gorgeous pearlescent sheen. This week’s featured ink is the Blue-Silver, and you have to get a look at its silver sheen.

This Week’s Featured Ink: Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver Ink

In today’s Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver ink review, we checked out a gorgeous light blue ink color with a very obvious, and beautiful new silver pearlescent sheen. The blue ink color is similar to royal blue ink in its darkness, but with the addition of the silver pearlescent sheen, the color becomes completely unique. Not just beautiful, this ink also shows up great on paper.

***In a rush? Experiencing a decided lack of patience? Not in the mood to read? Well, never fear, if you skip the full review to jump directly to the bottom and enter to win the bottle of ink we used for this week’s ink review…we’ll forgive you.

It’s Time: Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver Ink Review

This week we put Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver fountain pen ink through our standard review tests. And it’s time to share the results!

Ink Review Testing Factors (to keep things scientific):

For our review of Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver ink we used a French made J. Herbin spiral glass dip pen on French made Rhodia paper (dot pad). The dip pen has a tip similar to a medium-fine fountain pen nib.

Let’s Talk About the Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver Ink Bottle

Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver ink comes in a standard, simple, large capacity 60 ml. (2.3 oz.) round ink bottle with a very large lid. The simple yet effective packaging has a clear depiction of the ink color inside the bottle, and the large lid is ribbed for easy opening.

How Much Does Private Reserve Fountain Pen Ink Cost?

Private Reserve fountain pen ink is available at a very economical price for the large quantity. The Private Reserve Pearlescent inks (like the Blue-Silver ink featured in today’s ink review) cost a bit more than the regular inks. We’d call it a higher end economical ink purchase since you’re getting the large quantity. As always, look for great prices on Private Reserve inks at PenChalet.com.

How Did This Week’s Ink Fair in the 1-Dip Test?

We applied a one dip test to see how far one dip could write on paper (dipping the pen into the ink only one time). This week’s ink easily wrote across the paper on all three writing samples with medium to high saturation. (One dip per writing sample: “S” “X” and scribble lines, seen above).

How Fast Does this Week’s Featured Ink Dry?

Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver ink had an extremely fast dry time (just 1-2 seconds). While the Blue-Silver ink exhibited that crazy fast dry time, the pearlescent sheen will rub off after the ink has dried – (just a heads up!) We’d suggest this medium to high saturation ink as an everyday ink, but think it’s most likely to be used for special projects, cards, notes, journaling, etc.

Does Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver Ink Bleed Through?

We saw some bleeding during normal use on Rhodia dot pad paper, and some additional bleeding during the heavy saturated cotton swab test.

Was There Any Feathering During the Review?

We saw no feathering during normal use, and no additional feathering during the water test.

How Does the Ink Stand Up to Water?

Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver ink is not waterproof, but according to how it performed in today’s test…it’s pretty close. We only saw very slight color smearing, but the lines were still very legible. There was no additional feathering during the water test.

What About Shading/Sheening Traits?

We saw some possible shading traits during the ink review (if you use a nib that allows ink flow variation like a stub or italic). With this ink, the shading traits incorporated that unique pearlescent sheen. During the review, Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver showed a nice royal blue color to a lighter silver sheen dominated blue color. The pearlescent silver sheen does leave a silver film after the ink dries.

Final Conclusion on this Week’s Featured Pearlescent Ink:

This week’s ink, Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver ink, is fairly economically priced with clear, neat packaging and simple color labeling. Private Reserve has many different ink series available, but this week’s featured ink was Blue-Silver, one of Private Reserve’s Pearlescent Inks (the most recently released ink series from this fun, recently reintroduced brand). Made in the European Union, but packaged and distributed in the USA, the Private Reserve Pearlescent inks come in the 60 ml. bottle with a large, easy to open lid.

The Pearlescent Blue-Silver ink is a very usable dark blue color with an extremely quick dry time (1-2 seconds). Blue-Silver is one of 6 colors available in the Pearlescent ink series, and like all the Pearlescent inks, the Blue-Silver features a pearlescent sheen. The silvery pearlescent sheen can leave a powdery film behind after the ink dries. As with any high saturation sheening or shimmering ink, Private Reserve Pearlescent Blue-Silver ink requires extra cleaning of your fountain pen, and it’s best used with a large capacity nib, dip or brush type pen. Happy writing from the EU!

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