Two Gray Inks
While I have dabbled in some brighter ink colors this month, there were two inks I just kept coming back to again and again, one cool-toned gray and the other one much warmer. These inks were Bungubox Melancholic Grey (but…) and Wearingeul Othello. While these inks stuck with the same nibs throughout their usage, they did get a body swap thanks to the ease of Kaweco nib swapping. Before I cleaned them out yesterday to ink up a few different inks, Othello ended the month in my Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye with a 14K B nib and Melancholic Grey in my Kaweco liliput copper with a 14K M ‘selvedge’ nib.
Swatches on Sterling Ink TR notebook.
I purchased Bungubox Melancholic Grey directly from the Bungubox team at the San Francisco Pen Show (and I realized as I was writing this sentence I also got the nib it is flowing through ground to a selvedge by Nib Tailor at that same show). I’d always admired the pretty shoe shaped bottled with the phrase “ink tells more” on the side, but I never really had a good opportunity to buy one. However, the show price was too good to pass up and I decided I could have one. Then I hemmed and hawed between Melancholic Grey and Nostalgia (gray vs. brown). I decided on Melancholic Grey ultimately because I’d already picked up four other browns at the show already.
Opening a brand new box of Bungubox ink has a ceremony attached to it. There is something special about the first time you crack open the simple white box, revealing your chosen ink inside. The bottle itself is triangular with a glittery white cap with the ink’s name on a sticker on the top.
As for the ink, it flows well and has a slight greenish undertone which adds to the shade, which leans to the cool side of the gray spectrum. This undertone creates a sort of gradient effect when writing, not a stark shading, but a subtle one. I wrote with this ink for nearly three weeks and did not have a single hard start. It also is pretty forgiving about being uncapped when you are thinking about what to write down next. It dries quickly on most papers. It’s a lovely ink and I’m glad that it’s in my collection for when I need a straightforward, but still interesting gray. Also, the bottle looks really pretty on my desk when I display it. Bonus!
On the other end of the spectrum dwells Wearingeul Othello. Othello is a shimmer ink with brown undertones. The shimmer is silver (it might be a chromashimmer, because sometimes it looks greener, but it could be a trick of the light). I picked this ink up from Atlas Stationers (aff. link) alongside my Hobonichi for 2024. I’d been torn about buying this ink since I already have Wearingeul Anubis. However, I could not get this ink out of my head. I am pleased to report that these inks look nothing alike despite both being gray.
Wearingeul inks come in a white box with the ink name and color on the label. It also lists the collection it belongs to, in this case, the Shakespeare collection. The bottle is square with a label on the front echoing the box and a black cap over a wide mouth.
On the page, well, this ink is entirely too much fun. It shades beautifully with a stark contrast from the tops and bottoms of letters, ranging from light taupe to dark gray-beige. The silver shimmer is subtle until it catches the light in just the right way and then it pops. Wearingeul describes their idea behind the color in that it shifts as it dries from a cooler gray-green to a the warm color to signify Othello’s jealousy in the play. I don’t really see the green, but it does have color shift from wet to dry. It can need a few more seconds on some papers to dry than other inks, but it’s worth it to me for the character of this ink.
I’m a sucker for a good theme and even better inks… and Wearingeul is definitely on my radar now.
Wearingeul Othello on the left and Bungubox Melancholic Grey (but…) on the right.
Which would you choose?
Currently Inked
Pennonia x Amarillo Stationery Azul Frida - Kaweco Sport Burgundy M - This ink would not get out of my head lately, so I decided to put it in one of my workhorse pens since I am working on a job transition (I am pleased to announce I am now the Assistant Curator of my railroad museum) and needed to make a lot of notes that other people might need. I tend to go for less wild colors for those kinds of documents. Azul Frida benefits from being an interesting blue with a little bit of pink sheen to keep it interesting. While is doesn’t give Colorverse Office Blue a run for its money (yet) it is one of my favorite blues I got last year.
Diamine Jacaranda - Kaweco liliput copper 14K M ‘selvedge’ - Another color I just couldn’t stop thinking about. I had initially tried this ink in a BB nib and wanted to see how it behaved in a thinner one. My current result is that this is a very pretty shade of purple in fat nibs and skinny nibs. It’s delicate, but still very readable.
Franklin Christoph Urushi Red - Kaweco x Elite Sport Deep Red BB - The outlier ink this week in a red I haven’t used in a long time. There were some beautiful posts of red ink on Instagram this past week and I wanted to give one of mine another try. This one might be going in the evaluation pile, it’s a pretty standard true red. It’s very well-behaved, but is lacking the qualities that I’ve been wanting from my red inks in the past year or so.
Ferris Wheel Press Wonderland in Coral - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo M stub - A pop of orange was originally on the books before I decided to also add a red. This ink is well-described as a coral, straddling that line between orange and pink. Once I got the flow working correctly (I filled this from an ink charger and it glitter dumped into the nib at first), it’s a really pretty color. This is definitely an ink that might need some tine flossing from time to time to work properly.
Taccia Black Jeans - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye 14K B - This is an ink that intrigued me since it came out. Mountain of Ink has an awesome review of it and when I was at Anderson Pens last year I decided to grab a sample vial. I have a soft spot for black inks that sheen. It hasn’t been put through its paces, but initial feelings is that it’s a fun black, but maybe not a black I’ll get a bottle of in the future.
Colorverse SM1 - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K M ‘journaller’ - So, I cleaned this ink out of a different pen a few days before my big re-ink. I was enjoying the color, but wanted to give some other blues a try… and then I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’d originally put FC Urushi Red in this pen and then didn’t want to write with it. Something about this sheen monster is hitting the spot and I’m just going to ride it since it’s making me put words on the page.