Robert Oster Crystal Marine Ink is new for 2018 and part of Robert Oster’s Ink Art “Shake ‘N’ Shimmy” inks. Robert Oster first joined the shimmering ink market last year with their holiday themed  Shake ‘N’ Shimmy ink colors that came in 4 packs of a smaller 15 ml. bottles. However, with that success Robert Oster began creating full sized 50 ml. bottles of their shimmering ink.

As with all shimmering type of inks on the market today, they are not for everyone. Some love the color and effect they can produce and others simply do not. Regardless of your personal tastes, Robert Oster has made their shimmering inks to be non-toxic, environmentally friendly and safe for fountain pens. Although you may get better results with an art pen, dip pen or brush type pen, Robert Oster’s slogan is that they are “Safe for Pens. Improved for Art”, which also applies to Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink.

Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink is a nice green-blue color of ink with a metallic blue shimmer. There is also a slight purple sheen coming as well. The color combination is unique, interesting and could be used in art projects, letter, journal or note writing. During normal use, only a reasonable amount of shimmer came through, making this ink’s use appropriate in other applications as well.

Continuing reading for a chance to win the bottle of Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink we used for this review.

Robert Oster Crystal Marine Ink Review

During our review of Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink we found the following traits that you may find helpful:

Testing Factors

For our review of Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink we used a J. Herbin glass dip pen on French made Rhodia dot pad paper. Depending on the paper used and pen tip Crystal Marine ink will produce various results.

Bottle Sizes

Crystal Marine ink comes in Robert Oster’s standard 50 ml. plastic environmentally friendly bottle. Each bottle is clearly labeled with the ink inside with a small color swatch. Robert Oster Shake N Shimmy inks come with a silver label on the front, where standard Robert Oster fountain pen inks come with a gold label.

Cost

Regular Robert Oster fountain pen ink retails for $17.00, but Shake ‘N’ Shimmy inks retail for $25.00 in the United States. This makes Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink a mid ranged priced ink.

Dry Time

During our review of Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink we experienced a dry time of approximately 9-10 seconds. This is pretty reasonable especially considering that Crystal Marine ink is a medium to high saturation ink.

Bleed Through

During our review of Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink we found no bleeding during normal use. We found just a slight amount of ink show-through, but not actual bleeding, but only at the wettest point of the cotton swab test.

Feathering

During normal use we found zero feathering using Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink on Rhodia paper. However during our water test, one of the test’s results was some line distortion and feathering at the wettest points.

Water Test

We also conducted a water test where we ran a wet cotton swab over a dried sample of Crystal Marine. This test resulted in significant color smearing, some line distortion and feathering. These traits are typical for most non-waterproof inks.

Shading, Sheening and Shimmering

Crystal Marine ink is part of Robert Oster’s Shake ‘N’ Shimmy ink series and thus meant to be shimmering ink. The metallic light blue shimmer offsets the green color making a sea or “marine” shade of blue-green. Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink also shades quite well with dark green to light green shades depending on your penmanship and tools used. Lastly, with a wet line and the right paper, you may see some dark purple sheen come through as well.

Conclusion about the Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink

In conclusion, Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink is first and foremost a shimmering ink and thus should be used as such. The colors produced by Robert Oster in its Crystal Marine ink are beautiful and unique. The ink has a reasonably quick dry time and is modestly priced for Australian imported shimmering ink. For those that do not like or want a shimmering ink, Robert Oster has 90+ other unique and interesting colors to choose from in its fountain pen Signature Ink series. If you love Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink, they also have a variety of other Shake ‘N’ Shimmy inks as well. As with any high saturation, shimmering or sheening ink, like Robert Oster Crystal Marine ink, we recommend periodically cleaning your pen using a pen solution such as Pen Chalet pen flush to avoid unwanted clogging. Happy Writing from Australia!

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