(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
Named after a Monet painting, Dominant Industry's Soleil Couchant à Etretat ink is a lovely shimmer ink with a dark blue-green color that looks fantastic.
I love when an ink is named after something else that it draws inspiration from. Whether it be colors found in nature on animals, in landscapes, or from famous works of art, I really like see what colors and other properties an ink maker focuses on when matching a name to an ink. In this case, the Monet painting of a famous French coast landmark is a beautiful starting point to draw inspiration for an ink color. To me, the color and subdued shimmer quality echo the peaceful water in the painting.
The blue-green ink color presents like any other ink — meaning the shimmer effect isn't immediately noticeable. The medium green-blue hue looks great on paper. Since it isn't a dark color, it's easy to see the greens and blues when writing with a normal nib. But you get more shading between medium to dark greens and blues when using a larger nib. The shading isn't dramatic, but there's enough of it there to mimic the characteristics of moving water.
This ink is part of Dominant Industry's Pearl Series, which is a line of shimmering inks. I'm not a huge fan of shimmering inks, but they're fun in small doses. With the shimmering inks I've tried in the past, there's no way you can miss the shimmering quality when using the ink — regardless of how small the nib is. With Soleil Couchant à Etretat, the shimmer is minimal. You have to search for it under a good light to find it in normal writing. But, it somehow still manages to catch just enough light to make one of two spots twinkle as your perspective changes in relation to the piece of paper. This intangible "is it shimmering or not" effect is really cool. Since this is the first ink I've experienced with such a dialed-back sparkle factor, I'm second-guessing my original stance on shimmering inks. The effect is subdued and only pops out every once in a while. Again, this really echoes the source material in my mind.
Writing with the ink is also a great experience. It's a touch on the dry side in terms of flow, but it can keep up with fast-paced writing. It just doesn't feel as slick or lubricated as most inks. In terms of performance, I can't point to any degradation — just the sense of the nib dragging just a hair.
In what seems like forever, this is an ink that actually dries fairly quickly. In most cases, the ink is dry to the touch and smudge-proof in a 20-second window. Some spots may need 30 seconds to fully dry, but it's mostly dry in 20 seconds or less, making this a good choice for quick notes in a notebook that you plan on closing shortly after writing something down. It's not quick enough to really qualify as a good ink for left-handed writers, but it's worth consideration if the color and shimmer qualities speak to you.
Soleil Couchant à Etretat comes in a 25ml bottle for $17, and there are several other inks in the Pearl Series as well. I'm really curious if the other inks in this series are also minimally shimmery or if it's just this one. Either way, this is such a lovely color that shades well and dries quickly — it's worth picking up just for those properties alone.
(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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