In today’s Van Diemans Solar System ink review, one of our guest reviewers is going to take a good look at 3 of the 8 inks in this new, exclusive ink collection. Get ready to dive into Van Diemans The Sun ink, Earth ink, and Mercury ink!
Our Guest Reviewer: Lisa M. aka @vanleigha
Lisa (IG: @vanleigha) adores exploring color – and she indulges her love of color through journaling collages and swatching inks. Her history in marketing and advertising built a skill for sussing out every little detail, and hundreds of middle-of-the-night press checks honed her color-matching skills. To date, Lisa has created more than 750 ink swatches. Let’s dive into Lisa’s review of three of the new Pen Chalet Exclusive Van Diemans Solar System fountain pen inks!
Today’s Featured Ink Series: a Pen Chalet Exclusive
*in Lisa’s words*
I love the range of colors available with Pen Chalet’s new exclusive Solar System collaboration with Van Dieman Inks. I chose three of the eight colors available to sample and review. Each are a representation of the planets in our solar system.
- The Sun
- The Earth
- Mercury
How Fast Do the Solar System Inks Dry?
Overall, these Van Diemans inks are very wet inks and require extensive dry times (for normal writing) but hold their own after a three minute dry and then water fastness test. Just be sure to use a blotter if you need to close your notebook or planner quickly after writing. Van Diemans The Earth ink performed best in the dry time test with minimal smearing after 20-seconds of drying.
Working With the Shimmer Inks in Van Diemans New Series:
And as always, Van Dieman’s shimmers are fine nib friendly. I inked all three colors in fine sized nibs of steel and 14K gold and did not experience clogging or any severe no-nos. Do however immediately rinse after use if concerned with any shimmer ink.
Today’s Ink Review: Van Diemans The Sun, The Earth, and Mercury Inks
I chose three colors, The Sun, The Earth and Mercury for my review utilizing several papers – the Col-o-Ring; Rhodia; Clairefontaine and Wearingeul’s Reservoir.
Today’s Ink Review: a Closer Look at Today’s 3 Featured Inks
Van Diemans The Sun Ink
- Color: bright orange (with strong yellow undertone in light applications)
- Shimmer: rose gold (creating a bronze color effect)
- Shading/Chroma: none
- Writing: a bit dry, no hard starts or clogging (in Nahvalur fine steel nib fountain pen)
First be aware, I HATE the color orange because it’s horrible with my skin tone. But other than that, I was intrigued by the rose gold shimmer I had glimpsed in Pen Chalet’s yellow-orange ink, named The Sun naturally. Other than the bronze color effect from the shimmer, I didn’t notice any shading or chroma in this ink. It writes a bright ORANGE with a strong yellow undertone in light applications. It paired well with the Nahvalur Nautilus Year of the Tiger pen and wrote a bit dryly with the fine steel nib but there were no issues with clogging or hard starts. I didn’t agitate the pen at all for the short writing sample.
Van Diemans The Earth Ink
- Color: clear medium blue
- Shimmer: marine green
- Writing: very well lubricated with a good dry time, and solid water resistance (but not waterproof).
Next up, was The Earth and it is my favorite of the three inks. This is a lovely clear medium blue shade with the most gorgeous marine green shimmer in it. It’s very well lubricated and performed best in the dry time test with minimal smearing after 20-seconds of drying. Although it isn’t waterproof, it’s perfectly legible after running a wet cotton swab across after three minutes of dry time. In the writing test it appears a bit turquoise but that’s the nib I used – modified to a reverse architect with fine as the reverse. But with a medium sized nib (the Tag Stationery glass pen is a VERY wide fine) the Earth ink color is glorious. There may be a bit of red sheening at the edges and in pools but it’s not an obvious characteristic.
Van Diemans Mercury Ink
- Color: burple (leans more blue than purple)
- Shimmer: bright surface gold shimmer
- Writing: decent performer without clogging (even in a Japanese fine 14k gold nib), but the lovely blue color isn’t as pretty in a finer nib/ also a bit troublesome – consider this one an “active ink.” It’s great ink for someone with a super broad nib and well-spaced handwriting.
Mercury has a bright surface gold shimmer and is a “burple” color. I thought originally it was purple but leans more blue than purple. It was the ink I was sure I was going to love the best of the three I chose, but it was just an overall troublesome ink. I believe the bottle lid was defective so it’s unfair to blame the ink, but I had spillage and pen leakage when sampling as well as filling the piston converter. So just be aware it’s an “active” ink when using it. I’ve learned after 750 ink swatches to wear old clothing when sampling inks for the first time. By the way, Dawn dish detergent and ScotchGuard green scrubbers are the best way to clean inky fingers.
Mercury is a great looking ink and even in a Japanese medium fine 14K nib, it’s a decent performer without clogging but the lovely blue color isn’t as pretty in such a fine nib. This ink deserves someone with super broad nibs and well spaced handwriting to showcase well.
Find Your Favorite Inks at Pen Chalet
Many thanks to Lisa for digging into these inks for us! Hopefully, you enjoyed this look at three of the eight inks in the collection. Now, you should definitely check out the rest of the inks in this exclusive ink series. Shop your Van Diemans Solar System inks at PenChalet.com.
