KWZ Standard Walks Over Vistula Ink: A Review

Vistula River (Image via Wikimedia Commons)

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

I can’t believe that I haven’t reviewed another KWZ ink since I did my KWZ Honey review in . . . 2016! I clearly need to add to my KWZ ink collection, and Walks over Vistula is definitely one that deserves a spot.

The Vistula is the longest river in Poland. This photograph from Wikimedia Commons depicts the beauty of the river.

The ink nicely captures the blues of the river. I can’t decide whether this is a blue ink or a turquoise ink. It’s sort of in between, and it most closely matches other inks that I’ve classified as turquoise. So, I’ll call it a deep turquoise.

You can see from my Col-o-dex card swab, that the color definitely leans toward turquoise. But, more important for sheen lovers is the burgundy/pink sheen. You can see it most clearly in the close up of the swirls and splats.

In my ink testing on Rhodia paper, there isn’t much evidence of sheen (but that’s due to the paper rather than the ink). Even without sheen the color is a gorgeous dark turquoise. It’s highly saturated and very wet. It is not a waterproof ink.

Walks over Vistula looks terrific in fine, medium, and broad nibs, and you won’t have any trouble with flow since it’s such a wet ink.

This is one ink that chromatography does not show off very well. It’s mostly comprised of a light lavender/gray with dark turquoise.

My Handwritmic ruling pen demonstrates all the wonderful characteristics of this ink. It has good shading from lighter to darker turquoise. Where the ink pools, you get lovely purplish sheen. It’s interesting how the MD Cotton paper brings out a different sheen color than the Col-o-dex card.

I compared Walks over Vistula with some other turquoise/blue inks. I expected it to be very similar to Sailor Yama Dori. But in actuality, it is much closer to Robert Oster Soda Pop Blue, including the burgundy sheen, and J. Herbin Kyanite du Népal (without the silver shimmer, of course). Yama Dori is much greener.

You can purchase KWZ Walks over Vistula from Vanness Pens. 4ml samples are $2.50 and a 30ml bottle is $15.00.

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


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Posted on August 16, 2019 and filed under KWZ, Ink Reviews.

The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 372 - We Used To Budget

You KNOW we discussed this too.

Remember that time I used to have a budget for pen shows? Good times. Do as I say, not as I do, kids! Myke and I try to instill our special brand of wisdom on a first-time pen show-goer this week, and first-time guest on the podcast. You will definitely want to check this one out!

Show Notes & Download Links

This episode of The Pen Addict is sponsored by:

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Posted on August 15, 2019 and filed under Podcast.