Musing on Limited Edition Inks
I definitely fall into the camp of fountain pen enthusiasts who have a few favorite pens and a lot of inks. I could be a one pen person… but never a one ink person. I love that I have dozens of bottles to peruse when I’m ready to fill up a pen and that I have dozens of samples to try and maybe add to the bottle collection.
For one pen this week, I settled on Montblanc Swan Illusion Plume, a limited edition from a few years ago. It can only be had for about twice the original price on the second hand market now. I also had Papier Plume Rougarou in another pen and I began to ponder how many of these sorts of inks I had in my collection.
A portrait of a very small portion of the collection…
I found the following:
Anderillium Chicago 1871 (Chicago Pen Show 2023 Exclusive - Atlas Stationers has some leftovers)
Montblanc x Purdey & Sons Single Malt Whisky (most expensive single bottle of ink that I own)
Montblanc Swan Illusion Plume
Ferris Wheel Press Roaring Patina Black (2022 Limited Edition)
Ferris Wheel Press Fluttering Heart (2023 Limited Edition - still available)
Papier Plume Lake Michigan Sunrise (Chicago Pen Show 2023 Exclusive)
Papier Plume Rougarou (2022 Halloween Limited Edition)
Colorverse Mini Kepler Set
Colorverse Voyager I (Pale Blue Dot is a wonderful color).
Colorverse First Moon Landing
Colorverse New Horizons (this one is still available at Goulet Pens and Goldspot).
Colorverse Standard Model (this one is a bonkers set inspired by particle physics… I managed to snag it on a killer clearance deal on Pen Chalet years ago. I love the little case it comes in. I need to try more of the colors.)
As you can see, I have a soft spot for the Colorverse Limited Editions. They always have fabulous theming for the sets (and great inks to boot). My favorite set is the Colorverse First Moon Landing set - Colorverse Eagle and Colorverse Apollo 11 from that set are absolute favorites, a cheerful turquoise and a nice blue. That set also came with a brass pen rest.
What’s interesting to me is that some of these inks are around for a while, a year or a season, and some are just one batch that is gone in a blink (I’m looking at you Papier Plume limited edition inks). It’s really easy to get FOMO, but luckily, if one gets missed, it’s usually easy to find something similar. Mountain of Ink has some great reviews of limited edition inks with some more accessible ink alternatives.
After the FOMO, there comes the fear of running out of a prized limited edition ink. I used to be like… well, this ink is no longer available so I better save it for a special occasion. However, just like the bottle of mead I forgot I had… the inks deserve to be used. That’s what they were meant for. And besides, every day can be a special occasion. Or even if it doesn’t feel “special” using the “special” thing can make it so.
Do you have any favorite limited edition inks in your collection?
Currently Inked
Ferris Wheel Press Stoke of Midnight - Kaweco Liliput Fireblue 14K M journaller - I had originally put Montblanc Swan Illusion Plume in this pen/nib combo early in the week, but quickly I realized I wanted something darker. This ink surprised me when I first got it in an ink swap at a pen meetup in St. Paul. It’s a great deep blue with subtle silver shimmer. With a touch of white lightning for flow it just makes me happy when I create words on a page.
Papier Plume Rougarou - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye 14K BB journaller - I decided this gray-brown ink needed another round in a different pen for variety. This is a really fun combination and I’m finding that I like inks with a lot of character in this nib/pen combo.
Montblanc Swan Illusion Plume - Kaweco Sport Dark Olive BB - This is a pretty good combo on most papers. I have discovered through testing this week that this inks like softer papers, it worked really well on the tomoe river paper in my Hobonichi and the Sanzen Tomoe River paper I was experimenting with. It was really dry on Mnemosyne paper making the nib a little scratchy.
Ferris Wheel Press Storied Blue - Kaweco Sport Mellow Blue 14K BB CSI - Enjoying this combo so much that I refilled it for this week.
Colorverse Milky Lavender - Kaweco Sport Macchiato 1.5 - Still enjoying this combo… Milky Lavender is going to be seeing more use.
I also have two more pens inked up, but I’m not allowed to talk about those inks yet. ;)
In the TN
I was pretty well-behaved this week. I did a bit of a “destroy this journal” moment with the MD one that I’d made. Sometimes life needs a notebook to tear apart after writing in it, haha!
It was a Zen Doodle kind of weekend. Also shout out to my new Chessie the Railroad Kitten Mug, one of my favorite advertising campaigns of all time.