This week’s Vert Atlantide ink review and giveaway features a popular ink produced in celebration of J. Herbin’s 350th anniversary. 

All About the Ink Maker: Jacques Herbin

If you’re a fan of J. Herbin inks, you’re a fan of Jacques Herbin inks. This French ink company is the oldest name in the ink industry, and Jacques Herbin still makes all their inks in France. According to the company’s storied history, Jacques Herbin inks were once made exclusively for King Louis XIV of France. Victor Hugo, the celebrated author of Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, was another “exclusive” user of Jacques Herbin ink. The company’s founder was a respected navigator with an undeniable love for the stories of Atlantis, the legendary, lost civilization. 

This Week’s Featured Ink: Vert Atlantide Ink Review

An ode to the founder, Vert Atlantide ink was inspired by the lush green plant life of the legendary Atlantis. Decadent and dark, the deep, forest green-black color shows up well on paper, and gold and silver shimmering flecks create a unique shimmering effect with each pen stroke. (Vert Atlantide is the only ink we recall containing two different shimmer flecks in one ink). Created in celebration of Jacques Herbin’s 350th anniversary, Vert Atlantide ink is a chance for writing enthusiasts to indulge in a little legend seeking of their own. While this gorgeous 350th Anniversary ink sold out immediately upon receipt, we’ll be receiving more soon! 

***If you’re having a busy day, and you’re frustrated you haven’t yet run across the chance to enter to win this week’s featured ink, we’ve got a hint for you. Just scroll down to the very bottom of the review to find the link to enter to win this week’s fountain pen ink. We already forgive you for skimming/skipping this week’s ink review. We know you’ll be back to read it later. 

It’s Time: Jacques Herbin Vert Atlantide Ink Review

This week we put Jacques Herbin Vert Atlantide fountain pen ink through our standard ink review tests. Read on to see what we found out!

Ink Review Testing Factors (to keep things scientific):

We used a French-made J. Herbin spiral glass dip pen (with a tip comparable to a medium-fine fountain pen nib) and Rhodia dot pad paper.

Let’s Talk About the Jacques Herbin Ink Bottle:

J. Herbin Vert Atlantide ink comes in only one size, the 50 ml. square heavy weighted inkwell style bottle with a medium, round top. We consider this particular ink bottle a work of art in itself; it looks more like a display quality ink well than a standard ink bottle. Each Jacques Herbin Vert Atlantide ink bottle comes with a waxed cap and a “350” wax seal attached to an attractive cord. Writers may find the last few drops of ink challenging to obtain due to the small opening and the bottle design’s lack of multi-facets. 

How Much Does Jacques Herbin Fountain Pen Ink Cost?

Jacques Herbin Vert Atlantide fountain pen ink falls in the mid to higher price range for a 50 ml. bottle of ink; however, the pricing is reasonable compared to other similar-sized shimmering inks. Check for the latest discounted price at PenChalet.com. 

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

We conducted a 1-dip test with Jacques Herbin Vert Atlantide ink using a J. Herbin spiral glass dip pen and Rhodia dot pad paper. (For the 1-Dip Test, we dip the pen in ink once for each of three writing samples, “S,” “X,” and scribble lines, to see how well the pen performs). Jacques Herbin’s 350th Anniversary fountain pen ink very easily wrote across the paper on all three writing samples with ink to spare. 

How Fast Does the 350th Anniversary Ink Dry?

Jacques Herbin’s Vert Atlantide fountain pen ink showed a dry time of approximately 12-13 seconds with medium to high saturation. The ink’s dry time was a little long for an everyday ink but reasonable for a medium to high saturation shimmering fountain pen ink. 

Does Jacques Herbin Vert Atlantide Ink Bleed Through?

We saw no bleeding during normal use on Rhodia paper. There was a very slight (almost imperceptible) bleed through at the wettest points during the heavy saturated cotton swab test. 

Was There Any Feathering While Using Vert Atlantide Ink?

We saw no feathering during normal use on Rhodia dot pad paper. And almost no additional feathering during the water test.

How Does the Ink Stand Up to Water?

For the water test, we let an ink sample dry for about 3 minutes before running a wet cotton swab over the sample. Jacques Herbin ink isn’t waterproof, so the light color smearing we saw was very reasonable – especially for a dark ink color. The lines remained clear and legible with only slight distortion and fading following the traditional water test. 

Does the Fountain Pen Ink Have Good Shading & Shimmering Traits?

Jacques Herbin Vert Atlantide ink showed some nice shading possibilities, depending on penmanship and ink flow. Vert Atlantide also has fantastic shimmering traits using the dip pen or larger capacity nib (such as a stub or italic). Shake the ink bottle before filling your pen since the gold and silver flecks settle at the bottom. The shimmering flecks allow for a wide range of color distortion, which is part of the beauty and allure of using a shimmering ink. 

Final Conclusion on this Week’s Featured Jacques Herbin Ink:

Vert Atlantide is a mid to high-priced ink made by the historic French company, J. Herbin. The lovely, deep, sea green shade is appropriate for special projects, notes, journaling, etc., and shows a reasonable dry time for a shimmering ink (approx. 12-13 seconds). The deep, forest green ink has a gorgeous gold and silver shimmer and is easy to use – especially with a dip or brush pen. As a shimmering ink, writers will see a better application of Vert Atlantide ink using a larger fountain pen nib. As with any high sheen or shimmering fountain pen ink, we recommend you clean your pen periodically (usually once a week or so) to avoid any clogging in the fountain pen nib or feed. Use any good pen cleaning solution, such as Pen Chalet’s Fountain Pen Flush. Happy writing from Paris! 

Enter to Win a Jacques Herbin Fountain Pen Ink:

Enter to win the actual bottle of Jacques Herbin Vert Atlantide fountain pen ink that Pen Chalet used in this week’s ink review:

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