J. Herbin '1670' Fountain Pen Ink - Violet Impérial

The origins of J.Herbin date back to 1670. At around this time the French sailor, of that name, produced his first ink in his Paris workshop, "The Ink of Ships." This ink was an iron gall ink, required to be waterproof due to the weather and wet conditions associated with sailing a ship.

The recipe may have been formulated for the ship's master on his trips back and forth to India; or when he settled down in Paris to first start producing his sealing wax. Perhaps another sailor made his way to J. Herbin's workshop, and convinced him to produce a ship's ink.

This 1670 Collection 'Imperial Violet' is a vibrant purple colour with flecks of gold added to the ink.

The bottle is attractive, glass and 50ml in capacity. The opening is quite narrow, but just about big enough to fit a large piston filler through. A Pelikan M800 fits without a squeeze, but not much room to spare. There is a decorative wax seal on the front of the bottle and the metal cap is encased in matching wax.

The gold flecks in the ink do settle at the bottom of the bottle (or pen) when it is left to sit. To get the full effect of the gold sheen, you'll need to give the bottle a shake before filling your pen. We would recommend flushing the pen with water between fills just to be extra sure that there is no gold fleck residue sitting in the ink and slowing the flow - this is precautionary advice.

Less absorbent paper is also a better bet to increase the amount of gold which is visible on the surface (Rhodia and Clairefontaine are perfect for it).