Ink Review #381: Robert Oster Black 'N' Blue

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It's the last day of blue black ink week, so I thought I would finish the week out with a shimmer ink. I got a bottle of Robert Oster Black 'N' Blue, thinking that the ink would be black with some blue shimmer, or even blue-black with some shimmer, but surprise! It's actually a dark green ink with blue shimmer. I purchased my bottle of ink from Pen Chalet. 

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The color:

Black 'N' Blue is a dark green-black with bright blue shimmer.

Swabs:

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In large swabs there is a ton of bright blue shimmer.

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Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: medium shading, no sheen, and blue shimmer. 

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was feathering and just a little bit of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Ink swabs for comparison, left to right (top to bottom for mobile RSS): Birmingham Gibson Field, Robert Oster Black 'N' Blue, and Robert Oster Schwarze Rose. Black 'N' Blue and Schwarze Rose are very close, the main difference is that Black has blue shimmer, and Schwarze has copper shimmer. There is also a price difference between the two-Black comes in a 50ml bottle for $25, Schwarze comes in a 15ml bottle for $13.50.

Sailor Jentle Miruai, Monteverde Jade Noir, and Pelikan Edelstein Olivine. Click here to see the green inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pelikan M400 White Tortoise with a vintage 400N nib on G. Lalo Mode de Paris stationery. The ink had an average flow. There was a little bit of feathering, but that's the fault of the paper, not the ink. The ink does look darker in a wet ni…

I used a Pelikan M400 White Tortoise with a vintage 400N nib on G. Lalo Mode de Paris stationery. The ink had an average flow. There was a little bit of feathering, but that's the fault of the paper, not the ink. The ink does look darker in a wet nib.

Overall, it's pretty close to RO Schwarze Rose, just with a different color shimmer. I was very surprised that this ink is actually a dark green, but it's still pretty well behaved.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does contain affiliate links, but is not sponsored in any way.