Christmas is fast approaching… The goose, as they say, is getting fat… poor thing. But it’s another fowl I wish to deal with today at least and ink named after such a one in the form of Sailor “Yama Dori” (copper pheasant) ink. I’ve been keen to test this popular ink out for a good while and this seemed as good a time as any, particularly if you are looking for an ink to buy as a Christmas present perhaps…
Presentation: The Sailor ‘four seasons’ series come in delicately artistic boxes which are easy on the eye. The Sailor bottles themselves are nice enough. What I really like about the bottles is that they are wide rimmed and have the wonderfully useful ink reservoir within which is excellent for getting that elusive last few millilitres out of the bottle and into your pen of choice.
On Test: The ink tests went without a hitch. Yama Dori was easy to use and very pleasant to look at. The swatches were applied first and these whetted the appetite to write with the ink. I used two test pens; a vintage Mentmore which I use as a dip pen and a trusty Kaweco AL-Sport. Both these pens have wet nibs so at first the darker end of this inks colour register was shown. The ink appeared almost black at times which a hint of promised teal at the edge. As the test progressed however,the lighter end of the colour register was also seen along with a more pronounced shading which was great. The more I wrote with this ink more I liked the rich colour and delightful shading properties.
The only slight worry I had in using this ink in these pens was the significant drying times. The ink took at least 30 seconds when used in both pens. In a finer drier pen this may be much reduced but I can only report what I see for myself. It didn’t put me off in the slightest however. the ink was easily cleaned from the pens with no residue detected.
Summary: I like this ink a lot, it is delightful. I was given a sample and have since decided that it will be one of my regularly used blue -greens. The colour is rich, complex, and luxurious. It isn’t the quickest drying ink Ive ever used but other than this is well-behaved and exhibits nice shading properties. There is the odd hint of red sheen given the right conditions which is again a bonus.
I’ll be using this ink for letters and one of my diaries in 2017. I don’t think that it would be out of place in the office either, so this ink could be a good all rounder. In the UK these inks retail between £16-£20 for a 50 ml bottle. Enjoy!
Foolishly Yours…
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