Having chosen and published some suggestions for inks for Spring and Summer my thoughts were turning to what I might suggest for Autumn when TWSBI released a new Eco fountain pen and changed my plans.
The Eco in question has a transparent yellow cap and piston knob, a perfect match for any number of summer flowers. And it goes, almost, without saying that as soon as they were available, I placed my order and twenty-four hours later it was in my hands.
Almost immediately this was followed by the usual dilemma of which ink to put in it and after some consideration I decided that rather than a matching colour I wanted something that whilst still a summer colour would also be a nice contrast.
After much searching through the ever-growing ink collection, I settled on Diamine’s Raspberry Rose from the Inkvent Red Edition (2021 Inkvent Calendar), and it really is the colour of both raspberries and some of the roses in the garden.
So, within a couple of days, I had both pen and ink, and the former was loaded with the latter and as you can see from the ink test the colour is nicely saturated giving the ink a deep pink/red. It flows well and I would say it is a moderately wet ink, but having said that I found it did dry relatively quickly at room temperature (approximately twenty seconds).
The ink, whilst being a deep colour, is rather flat so I found no shading or sheen when I tested it even when building up layers using a Q-Tip all I got was a deeper colour
All in all, Raspberry Rose is a very nice ink to use; it flows well giving a consistent colour, line and text.
Now on to the Eco.
As anyone who has seen and/or owned an Eco will know the nibs are quite small, probably around a size 4.5 and my theory is that the smaller the actual nib the bigger the size you need (excluding flex, oblique nibs etc.) to get the size you want e.g. if you normally use a size 6 Medium nib the approximate equivalent for the Eco is a Broad nib; which was the one I bought.
Too determine if my theory was roughly correct or not, I compared the Eco against a size six Medium nib (Jowo) I have and the tip of the nibs are roughly the same size.
So being happy with my choice of nib a proceed to test it and it is a pleasure to use, the nib is very smooth and when combined with Raspberry Rose ink it glides across the paper. I’ve used it on an assortment of papers and the results have been consistently good.
The one thing I was doubtful of was the colour of the cap and the piston knob, but I need not have worried as it turned out to be a lovely buttercup yellow.
So, is it worth your pennies, yes especially if you collect TWSBI’s it’s a nice one to add to the collection.
And I also think it is nice to have something different and this pen is just that; and on a dark day in winter it’ll be something brighten your day.
Disclaimer: The pen and ink was purchased with my own funds, at retail price. The opinions expressed in this review are my own; and I am not connected with either the retailers or manufacturers in any way.
The photographs are courtesy of Daisy-Lou.
The Indian Marmalade Company 