J Herbin Pens and Inks

When I knew NOTHING about fountain pens or inks, I found my first bottle of J. Herbin ink in a stationery store and bought it because I liked the purple color. It was a great accidental discovery. Long story short--I needed a new bottle so this time around I bought Encre Violette Pensee with full knowledge of its quality.

Good product to keep on hand for when needed.

Very well made and enjoyable to use. Looks good on the desk

The J. Herbin 1670 inks are a real treat. I have only used Emerald of Chivor and Stormy Grey, and both are stunning in their own ways, but EoC takes the cake. When writing with EoC, it is quite clear why it is so popular. It is a beautiful teal with an incredible red sheen and gold sparkles to boot. I would recommend any of these inks for something special to your collection. It also helps that they are beautifully bottled.

This my first bottle of J. Herbin. Really lovely colour of Bleu Pervenche. Good dark colour of turquoise and a nice change. Appears to be very good quality and flows really well. Nibs and paper make a difference but I try and use good fountain pen paper and medium nips of steel mostly in mid range priced pens.

Great glitter ink. Have the other colors. This immediately became my fave. Best price, great service. Thanks Pen Chalet. Wichita Lawyer

This review is for J. Hirbin ink Cacao du Bresil (30ml) tested with Rohrer_Kolininger glass dip pen: I think I found the right kind of gray ink to substitute the black ink. When you first write, there is a tinge of brownish hue but once it dries up it remains gray and legible. This color evokes calmness and gentleness without harshness like heavily concentrated dark color inks. My interest in ink is mostly the hue and the degree of saturation, so J. Hirbin inks became my favorites so far. I now have Virt Empire, Lie de The, Eclat de Saphir, Pousierre de Lune and Rouge Caroubier inks. I love them all and I need more pens now. Regarding the shape or size of the this ink bottles when I use fountain pens, I no longer worry about them because I now use the ink-miser from Pen Chalet. It helps me to re-fill the ink converter from the miser thereby allowing me to use up the most amount of the ink remaining in the bottle without much wasting of ink any more.

This review is for J. Hirbin spiral glass dip pen: I love the shape and the good gripping of the pen. Compared with a Rohrer-Kolinger or vintage crystal glass dip pens, I had to re-dip the pen more frequently. And it feels a tad more scratchy when writing. After polishing the writing tip with a #600 sand paper it wrote more smoothly. I like both models, but I prefer R-K pen for more uniform writing with less line variations.

Just a nice color and can give that touch of joy to any letter and it's a happy nice color, good ink good flow. I like it.

I bought Amber and Cafe. The amber dries lighter than it applies, and is a golden color. The Cafe dries darker than it applies and is a warm brown. Neither is water resistant when dry. The 10 ml size is perfect for trying new ink, and the bottle is quite convenient for using a dip pen.

Very comfortable to use, writes beautifully.

The ocean blue is a little dark for my taste, but the red is gorgeous.

Love the J Herbin colors!

Wonderful flow, dries quickly and has a unique color. What I was looking for, and as always, Herbin delivers.

Excellent ink and superb size for travel!

This review is for J. Herbin's Cacao du Brésil ink. I love the color. It flows well, and looks great on the page as written text, ink drawings or color wash.

Amazingly easy to use! A little scratchier than modern nibs but no blots or drips. Nifty pen.

See my ravings on my Stormy Grey review. This is the newest color in the "anniversary" line of ink. The color is a very rich brown with hints of red and maybe a little green. As it dries, the "magic" begins to shine through! As you look down at the page you're writing on, you see the beautiful dark brown color and then there is a little sparkle coming through. But wait! There's more! Look at the page at a slight angle and all of your writings are a shimmer of solid gold! Very special ink for notes to very special people in your life.

How do you review an ink made by a company that's been making ink for nearly 350 years? The anniversary inks are a little pricey but they have these magical properties. Really, they do! If you've read any of the reviews out there, you should know about these. Trust me, those magical properties will only be revealed when writing on a fine quality, fountain pen friendly, paper. I recommend Tomoe River paper from Japan. All of them have very fine "gold" dust in them. (What's a magical property without gold dust?) They are beautifully bottled with coordinating wax seals and wax dipped, screw on, lids. I also recommend that you get one of J Herbin's glass dip pens for use with these inks. (They even kinda resemble a small glass magic wand!) These are not your everyday inks for use in your daily user pen, so get a great dip pen and have some fun making the magic that these inks will make in writing a special note to someone special. I also hope that Pen Chalet will be around for another 350 years or so.

I bought this beauty just for use with the amazing J Herbin 1670 Anniversary inks. And, am I ever glad I did! The "swirls" in the nib hold a lot of ink! The pen is truly beautiful and, although the box isn't exactly fancy, it displays the pen well. Very happy with it! AND very happy with every purchase made here, at Pen Chalet!

I was always impressed with the handwriting of the older generations, after I found out they used dip pens growing up. I thought I could use the same to practice some penmanship. It's working out pretty well so far. While it isn't the same type they used, I think I like this glass dip pen even better. It holds more ink than a regular dip pen and cleans up very easily. This is a really nice pen. I'm probably going to get a few more.

Great for testing inks, as it cleans instantly. Just dip it in water, and done. Can be used for more extensive writing, as the nib holds a rather impressive amount of ink. More than a standard metal dip nib. It is a skinny pen, as is obvious in the pictures. This, along with the fragility of anything made from glass, is worth considering.

This review is for the Rose Cyclamen color. If you are looking for a very pure magenta ink -- think the bright side of Hello Kitty -- this is the stuff. No shine, very intense. I am using this in a knockabout pen (0.3MM Preppy Platinum) for daily use and it writes wonderfully and dries quickly (I'm not left handed either, so I can't say "really quickly" but quickly enough for me).

I also bought a bottle of the Lierre Souvage (green), but I haven't tried it yet and won't until I work my way through the open bottle of Private Reserve Sherwood Green that is in the OTHER Preppy Platinum.

If you love shimmer, you'll love this ink. It's a dark, true blue with gold shimmer swimming throughout. You definitely need to shake the bottle right before filling in order to get that shimmer in your pen. To really see the shimmer, I'd recommend at least an M nib. If you don't shake it up, you've just got a nice blue for any need, including professional. It's kind of like a two-for-one; shimmer when you want it, plain when you don't. The bottle is aesthetically pleasing and sits firmly while filling (no odd shape with an awkward center of gravity). I like the look of it just sitting on my desk. I really love this ink!

One of my all-time favorite inks. Fantastic dark teal color, dramatic red sheen, incredibly smooth to write with, dries fairly quickly. I like the gold shimmer very much, but it would be a spectacular even without it.