(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
We're currently in the middle of summer vacation season, and Turquoise from Graf von Faber-Castell has me thinking of Indonesian beach scenes due to it's calming light turquoise color. While not my favorite turquoise ink, the one does offer a different, lighter take on the hue that is refreshing.
Like any turquoise ink, there's a delicious mixture of blue and green that reminds me of an idyllic tropical paradise. In some light, I see more blue coming through predominately, while other lights bring out the green. This changing nature is something that I always enjoy in an ink (as long as it matches up with the name and base color).
What gives this ink a unique feel is the precise lack of saturation compared to other teal and turquoise inks on the market. The ink looks thinner and less saturated than others I've used, but that's an illusion. There's plenty of color in the ink, but the light saturation doesn't lower the vibrancy at all. It's still gorgeous, which is something I can't say about other inks that seem watered-down or semi-transparent.
One of my favorite features of any blue or green ink is the shading property. In Turquoise, I'm delighted to report that there's plenty of moderate shading to be found. Obviously, this will be more dramatic with wider nibbed pens, but it even shows up well with fine nibs.
This is my first exposure to a Faber-Castell ink, so I wasn't sure what to expect as far as feathering, dry time, lubrication, and cleaning. Well, this ink is incredibly well-behaved. I haven't detected any feathering or bleeding, and due to the light color, there's almost zero show-through on most papers. The ink lubricates the nib very well, which makes writing smooth and effortless.
Dry time is something that surprised me the most. In most cases, the ink is smudge-resistant after ten seconds, and completely dry by 15. Very fast!
After running the ink through a couple of pens, I was also happy to find that cleaning this ink out from my pens was incredibly easy. It didn't require several passes.
Overall, this is a fantastic ink that I've enjoyed using over the past few weeks. It has a cheery color, great properties, and a great price as well. I'm using cartridges, which can be had for under $4 for a box of six. If you want a bottle, you're stuck with the gigantic 75ml bottle that runs about $30. To me, a "normal" bottle size is about 50ml, so you get quite a lot for the price. Just make sure you like the color before you commit to such a large amount!
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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