We’ve just passed the half-way point of this calendar and have had some very interesting inks to test out. Today’s is no exception. Day 13’s ink is called Ruby Blues and it’s a dark blue ink with red sheen, which makes this ink one that’s exactly what it says on the tin.
Ruby Blue is a gorgeous blue. It’s brighter dark blue, being both dark and vibrant. It reminds me a lot of Private Reserve’s DC Electric Blue. It shades a little bit, but is a mostly consistent colour, making it great for writing. The red sheen is very understated and doesn’t come through very much. Where it does, it’s a nice, shining red, but I didn’t get much of it, even on my Midori test. Now, while I was hoping the the sheen would take over the colour when light shines on it, I’m actually okay with what we have with this ink.
The writing experience with Ruby Blues was pretty good. The ink flowed well and didn’t give me any problems, and writing was fairly smooth with a little feedback off the page. The lines I got were crisp and consistently dark and rich. I couldn’t ask for more.
Where I could ask for more is the drying time. It’s long. For the most part, the dry time didn’t really affect me insofar as I didn’t smear my writing, but I certainly smudged it a bit in all my writing samples. The ink’s also super saturated and I got a lot of ghosting and bleed-through. Cleaning my pens also wasn’t a quick process. And there’s no water resistance to speak of. The colour doesn’t wash out, but it smears quite badly an I wasn’t able to recover any of my writing after the water test.
Overall, Ruby Blues falls into the same category as yesterday’s Stargazer did: on the edge of inclusion to the “inks I really like but shouldn’t ever use” club. I cannot state enough that I love this colour. It’s my perfect shade of blue and the sheen is a really nice touch. And the writing experience was pretty good as well. But as a lefty, the dry time’s really important and I don’t enjoy smudging up my writing. I can still use this ink and I would buy a bottle for the colour alone, but there’s a lot that’s not ideal for me. Like Stargazer, my overall opinion is positive, but it’s carried by the colour.
The Pen Lover's Nook 