Australian ink company Robert Oster has produced a huge number of ink colors. Known for using Australian heritage, culture and nature for every color they create, Robert Oster Signature inks are 69 colors and counting. Robert Oster recently released River of Fire, their 69th color.
Robert Oster Royal Red ink
The Robert Oster Royal Red ink obtains its name from Australia’s historical affiliation with the English crown. The ink is a nice dark red fountain pen ink with a slight hint of orange. We found the ink to have a high saturation showing clear and dark on the paper. The ink color is a dark red and has been fun to use and review.
Continuing reading for a chance to win the bottle of Robert Oster Royal Red ink we used for this review.
Please note the following characteristics we found while reviewing Robert Oster Royal Red ink that you may find helpful when choosing your next fountain pen ink to purchase:
Testing Factors
We used a Franklin Christoph Model #31 fountain pen with a medium nib on Rhodia Bloc N. 18 paper for this review.
Bottle Sizes
Robert Oster Royal Red ink comes in the standard Robert Oster ink bottle, which is a 50 ml. non-descript plastic bottle. Each bottle comes with a standard Robert Oster Signature Ink gold seal on the side. One thing we find very helpful is each bottle has a small ink sample on the lid that indicates the color inside.
Cost
Robert Oster Royal Red ink is a mid-ranged priced ink on the market, retailing for $16.00 for each 50 ml. bottle. Realizing that each bottle is coming directly from Australia, the slight extra cost and the fantastic color is worth the price.
Dry Time
Robert Oster ink is known for its reasonably quick dry time. However, due to the higher saturation we experienced a longer dry time of around 8-10 seconds. This may be longer due to the fact that we reviewed this ink with a medium Franklin Christoph nib rather than our typical fine point glass dip pen. This is still a reasonable dry time for the Robert Oster Royal Red ink to be an everyday red ink. However, we would not classify it as a “quick drying” ink.
Bleed Through
Even with the high saturation, we did not experience any bleeding using Robert Oster Royal Red ink. Additionally, even during the ink cotton swab test at its wettest marks we did not experience bleeding.
Feathering
During normal use Robert Oster Royal Red ink we did not experience any feathering. The ink lines were clear and distinct at all time on Rhodia paper. However, during the water test, there was significant line distortion and feathering, as this ink is not waterproof.
Water Test
When we ran a wet cotton swab over ink samples, we found significant color smearing, line distortion and feathering, especially at the wettest part. Robert Oster Royal Red ink is not a waterproof ink.
Shading
We noticed some shading, but not as much as with some other Robert Oster inks. This is probably due to the high saturation we experienced.
Conclusion about the Robert Oster Royal Red Ink
Robert Oster Royal Red ink is a great red ink color. Not a typical red, which is one of the reasons we love it. It has a nice dark color, making it very readable when applied to paper, unlike a lighter red color. It has a reasonable dry time and no bleeding or feathering, making it a wonderful ink for letter, journal & note writing as well as for office use.
Enter to Win
Enter to win the actual bottle of Robert Oster Royal Red ink that we used in this ink review:
