3 Oysters Ink Delicious Blue and Delicious Chilli Red: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

3 Oysters Ink is made in Seoul, South Korea. The inks are formulated with pure, ionized water and dye-based colors. I received two colors for review: Delicious Blue and Delicious Chilli Red.

The inks come in glass 38ml bottles with black caps. The bottom corner of the bottle is cut so that you can angle the bottles for easier filling, though I’m not convinced the bottles are all that stable when angled. Thankfully, they are tall and deep, not squat and flat like Sailor bottles, so it’s easy to fill even large pens.

Delicious Blue

Delicious Blue is a basic blue ink leaning more towards turquoise than navy. It’s a rather flat color with a tiny bit of shading but no sheen. It’s definitely darker when I write with my Blue Pumpkin nib (in a dip pen) than with my Leonardo Stub nib.

In my initial ink testing, I used Maruman Septcouleur Paper which is a pure white 75gsm paper. Delicious Blue remains a consistent color whether you’re writing or swabbing. It is fairly wet and is not waterproof.

My chromatography test reveals that the color is a mid-range blue with a tiny bit of violet.

I also tested the ink on Tomoe River Paper and on a Life Renover notebook. It remains consistent on each kind of paper. In the second photo, I compared the Maruman paper with Tomoe River and couldn’t see much of a difference. Tomoe paper generally brings out sheen if an ink has any, and Delicious Blue does not.

Chilli Red

Although the spelling (“Chilli”) drives me to distraction since I’m from New Mexico and chile is chile, this color is definitely a hot red. In swabs it leans more toward orange than burgundy.

Like Delicious Blue, Chilli Red is a rather flat color that exhibits some shading but no sheen. Although the color is rich when I use my Blue Pumpkin nib, in swabs it washes out pretty easily, turning almost coral. This is also true for wider nibs, such as my super-wide Handwritmic pen used in the first Chilli Red photo above. It’s a very wet (even watery) ink that takes a long time to dry. It is obviously not waterproof.

Chilli Red is much more interesting when you do a chromatography test. It has lots of pink, dark pink, and orange.

The ink performed consistently on the Maruman paper, Tomoe River Paper, and in the Life Renover notebook. The second picture compares the ink on Maruman and Tomoe.

I’m sad to say that I’m not all that impressed with 3 Oysters ink, at least in these two colors. Both Delicious Blue and Delicious Chilli Red are flat, basic colors. You can get a bit of shading from them, but they don’t have any sheen at all (which may please those of you who don’t like sheeny inks). I’m also not too keen on how washed out Chilli Red becomes in wider nibs.

I’m not going to give up on 3 Oysters yet. I’d like to try some of their more interesting colors, such as Hwangto.

You can purchase Delicious Blue and Chilli Red from Vanness Pens for $18.00 (38ml) or $2.50 (4ml sample).

(These inks were purchased from Vanness Pens with a reviewer’s discount.)

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Posted on May 17, 2019 by Susan Pigott and filed under 3 Oysters, Ink Reviews.

King Jim Ittsui Pen Case Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her first novel, The Bone Weaver’s Orchard, now available where books are sold!)

The neutral, clean canvas and plethora of pockets are what first caught my eye with the King Jim Ittsui Pen Case. I was excited when it arrived. It is sturdy and well-made, with a zipper that opens smoothly and allows the case to lay flat. The magnetic attachable/detachable pen sleeve is a really neat feature--a clever solution for when you need a few more pens (always) or just a more accessible pen (often).

My initial excitement was somewhat stymied when I tried to put the case into use. It has card slots, but I wouldn't want to put my cards next to the strong magnet inside the cover. Small memo pads or sticky notes work, as does a pocket notebook, but they aren't quite the right dimensions to put the case into full use. The pen pocket does hold my cell phone or six pens, but it wouldn't hold anything larger than my ancient iPhone 6 (I know, I know. Analog 4 lyfe).

So, this pretty case sat on my desk for a few weeks while I puzzled over how to use it. In the end, I stuck a Field Notes inside the front cover and filled the pen pocket with my work essentials--a pencil, highlighter, ballpoint, rollerball, and multi-color gel pen. I put a fountain pen in the front pen pouch. It does make a handy grab-all when I'm running around at work, and I have paper for making notes and any tool I might need for any task. But it does mean I'm using fewer than half the pockets available in this case. To me, that means I haven't quite unlocked its potential yet. I can say that if it weren't for the magnet, I'd be using it as a wallet and phone case. It would be perfect for that! But, as it is, I'm not likely to continue using it.

I can, however, see it being useful as a phone/pen/notepad/business card case for a meeting or conference. Then all pockets would be efficiently in use. The case is pretty, and nicely constructed, so I may keep looking for a configuration that works with my needs--and I can still offer my recommendation of it, if you're someone who looks at it and says “Hey, that would be perfect for X.” Also, let me know your ideas!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on May 16, 2019 by Sarah Read and filed under King Jim, Pen Case.

Uni-ball Signo 207 Premier Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

I'm no stranger to the Uni Signo 207 line. In fact, they were one of my gateway pens into my stationery awakening back in the day. Regarded as one of the most accessible "nice" pens available at every big box store today, it's probably been a gateway pen for many, many people. Given the smooth, crisp refills and high quality body, it's no wonder. As good as the standard 207 is, I had to give the Uni Signo 207 Premier a shot to see if the extra cushion could improve on an old classic.

Since the refill inside this Premier body is no surprise, I'll just say that it is exactly what you can expect from the regular 207 line. They all use the same refill, so you can easily swap it out for the size and color that works best for you. I don't have any spares at the moment, but I mostly prefer blue 0.5mm refills with this pen. The black 0.7mm works great, though. The ink is smooth and crisp and I have zero complaints about it.

The key difference between a regular 207 and the 207 Premier is the luxurious grip section. This thing is a delightful little pillow for your fingers. I've had so much fun playing with it and enjoying the plush texture. The additional cushion does also make the overall diameter of the pen a bit larger as well, so it feels a little more chunky than the standard 207. In my experience, it hasn't really made the writing experience any more or less comfortable. This mostly comes down to how I hold the pen. My grip is fairly low on any pen I use, so I end up gripping the space between the nose cone and the beginning of the grip. At that part, there just isn't much cushion because of the underlying mechanism that locks the grip section into the cone. You don't really get to fully experience the cushy grip unless you hold the pen a little higher. This is uncomfortable to me just because of old habits, but I envy the people who can naturally pick this pen up and write with the cushion in the appropriate place for their fingers. I imagine it feels great and relieves fatigue.

I'm willing to discount this critique on the 207 Premier because one size does not fit all when it comes to pen grips. I knew what to expect, and I wasn't disappointed or surprised when I finally held it in my hand. But, one area I do criticize the 207 Premier's grip is how it reacts to lint and dust. It LOVES it. Between playing with the grip, writing, and cleaning lint and dust off the grip, I'd say I've split my time equally three ways. It really is a magnet for picking up lint, and I haven't even slid this pen into a jeans pocket. I really don't want to for precisely this reason. This is not something I expected from looking at the pictures, and it does prevent me from using the pen like I normally would.

At just under $9, you could pick up a couple of 3-packs of the regular 207s. Unless you know that your writing grip would fit this grip section perfectly, and you know you'd love to write with the pillowy cushion under your fingers, I'd recommend you pass on this one. The bonus of the fancy grip and larger body don't elevate the value over the regular 207 lineup. Save a few bucks and enjoy the already-excellent Uni 207 instead!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!