Ink Review: De Atramentis Pearlescent Cyan Blue
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Today we are going to take a look at the four De Atramentis Pearlescent Cyan Blue inks, and just looking at the swabs I like the silver version best, so most of the photos will feature Cyan Blue Silver. I purchased my samples of ink from Vanness Pens.
Left to right, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Copper.
The shimmer isn't visible when the ink is wet, it only appears when the ink dries.
Swabs:
In large swabs there is a ton of shimmer but no sheen.
Writing samples:
Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.
Dry time: After 20 seconds the ink is completely dry, but you can still smear the shimmer.
Water resistance: Low
Feathering: Low
Show through: Medium
Bleeding: Low-there was bleeding in the flex nib on every paper.
Other properties: no shading, no sheen, and lots of shimmer. There could be some shading in there, but I didn't notice any since it was covered in shimmer.
On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was feathering and bleeding in every nib size as well as clogging.
Comparison Swabs:
Ink swabs for comparison, left to right (top to bottom for mobile RSS): De Atramentis Cyan Blue Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Copper. Click here to see the De Atramentis inks together.
De Atramentis Columbia Blue Silver, Diamine Arctic Blue, and Robert Oster Silver Fire and Ice. Arctic Blue seems the closest. Click here to see the blue inks together.
Longer writing:
I used a broad Pelikan M600 Turquoise with the Gold version, a medium Lamy Al-Star Pacific Blue for the Silver version, a broad Pelikan M805 Ocean Swirl for the Bronze version, and a broad Conklin Durograph Forest Green for the Copper version. I think I prefer the silver version out of the four. All had some clogging issues, even with the wet flow.
Overall, there is a ton of shimmer in these inks, but every pen had clogging and flow issues. I like the color, but Diamine Arctic Blue has a similar color and is better behaved.
Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and is not sponsored in any way.