Product Testing of Herbin's 1670 Ink - Customer Service the Way it Should Be

The nice people at Exaclair recently sent a bottle of their 1670 Commemorative Ink for my review. Feel free to hit their website if you want to read the publicity about this ink. Here's my experience.

The packaging is what you would expect from a company with centuries of ink manufacture behind them.

The pen in the photograph is a Conklin Mark Twain Crescent in vermeil. I decided it would give a decent size comparison and the 14k Broad nib in factory original condition would give a realistic idea of the ink's performance for people who do not own fancy italic or stub nibs.

As you can see from the pictures, the ink bottle itself, as well as the insert giving the history of the ink, are all first quality. The whole experience is very much one of opening a lovely present. The bottle and ink seals are simply beautiful. The bottle itself is much larger than the usual 50 ml bottles that require decanting in order to actually fill a pen. I was very happy to see it, especially once I opened the bottle and realized the neck was actually wide enough that I could put the pen directly into the bottle.

As you can see, I was able to get the pen fully into the bottle. Part of the section was submerged as you can see from the photograph. I placed the pen so that the glorious blood red of the ink is fully visible, both on the bottle neck and on the pen's nib and section. This ink is exactly the color of fresh blood. It darkens on the page, as you will see later.

But this is where it all began to go wrong...

I recapped the bottle, plucked a major name brand tissue from a nearby box, and wiped the nib and section of the pen. Those of you who are J. Herbin ink fans or indeed, those who are familiar with bottled fountain pen ink, would expect the ink to wipe cleanly from the nib and section. Especially a clean pen with a 14k nib and vermeil section. But look at the photo - smears!

Much like the fresh blood it resembles, this ink left smears behind on both section and nib. Not normal behavior for Herbin inks. After all, Herbin is known for its lack of staining, for safety in high end fountain pens. This is the brand many of us use in our high end demonstrators and our light colored celluloid and cassein pens.

Look closer...

This is what I saw after a good wipe that would normally leave any other pen free and clear of ink. There was definite residue on the section and nib.

I knew this ink was more saturated than the normal formulation, but I never experience this even with a highly pigmented ink such as Private Reserve's Fiesta Red.

Hmm. Something was definitely not right. I decided to go ahead and write a quick page while the pen was inked.

Here is a sample. The paper is Clairefontaine's staple bound notebook. I use these notebooks almost exclusively when writing my manuscripts. As you can see, they clip back easily for transcription of one's work onto the computer, yet hold up beautifully under abuse, and the stark white paper is very easy on the eyes. I rarely experience bleed through with any ink unless I get carried away in lining through a mistake. Some inks may dry a little slowly on the glossy paper, but the quality is well worth a few seconds of extra drying time.

I took this picture in daylight using only afternoon sunlight and no flash to try and capture the beautiful color of this ink.

Here is a close up:

Hopefully you can see the beautiful shading possible with even a ball nib. There is no feathering on the Clairefontaine paper and there was nothing to see on the other side of the page. No bleed through whatsoever. I will spare you a picture of a blank page.

I definitely want this ink, but the behavior on my pen had me worried.  I went in and rinsed the pen and section in the kitchen as I was a little worried what the ink might do to white porcelain in the bathroom. It took a little more rinsing than usual and some extra wiping with a paper towel, but both section and pen came clean. Relief!

I sat down, looked up the contact information for Exaclair's U.S. distributor, drafted a short email and attached my pictures. Within minutes I had a courteous response and arrangements are in train to advise the French manufacturer and arrange for a replacement bottle so that the offending bottle can be analyzed. Absolutely all one could wish from a company which has shown repeatedly that it cares about its customers.

I wish more companies would follow Exaclair's example and pay attention to their customers.

So, my opinion of this ink?

Glorious color and performance when it came to the job of nib on page and ink on paper. It dried in a time comparable to other saturated inks. The shading is fantastic. It goes on like fresh blood and dries to the color of dried blood. The bottle is deep enough to be able to ink longer nibbed pens for a time without decanting, although many of my pens would not be able to fit through the bottle neck. The packaging is lovely.

Cons? I await future samples for further testing. I have to give this ink a firm no vote for pens that might be subject to staining. No demos, no parchment colored celluloid, nothing subject to staining. Owners of the Visconti Homo Sapiens with its porous lava should probably avoid this ink as I suspect it would absorb and/or stain.

I would use it in silver pens such as Conway Stewart Britannias or Yard o Led Grands. I probably wouldn't use it in any Montblancs with ink windows. But the flow is such that I look forward to trying a new bottle with my Viscontis or Ancoras that are not subject to obvious staining.

I have faith in Exaclair's excellent customer service and know they will get to the bottom of this conundrum. In the interim, use this ink with caution, but enjoy the glorious color and performance on the page. I intend to post again at a future date when the company has a fair chance to analyze what might cause the unusual behavior I experienced on the Conklin.