J. Herbin Dip Pen Ink - 30 ml Bottle - Authentic Black Ink

In spite of the previous bad review, I had heard so many good things about this ink being "bold and black," I had to try it for myself. It's an incredibly smooth-writing ink. After using the same nib awhile, I could write about four lines of rapid cursive on a single good dip. And it has an oddly floral scent. But it's not an "intense" black in any sense of the word, on either a smooth or a toothy paper, and even a very wet line is no darker than charcoal grey. I'm almost tempted to buy a bottle from another source to see if it's any blacker. I'll be interested to see if this ink darkens over time the way Diamine Registrar's ink goes from blue-black to black. I'll try to remember to amend my review if, in a week or two, I have a page of rich black writing instead of the dark grey it is now. It gets extra points in my rating for its history and reputation for being long lasting, because I like that sort of thing.

I must say, I was very disappointed in this ink. It's incredibly watery... just about unusable. I think the preservative:ink ratio is drastically off. I have pens that can go a good paragraph without dipping; with this ink, I can barely write a sentence... the ink is so thin it just slips off the pen. I'm having trouble understanding how it's supposed to be legible for 300 years when it can barely last till it dries.