NAGASAWA Kobe INK Monogatari , Bottled Fountain Pen Ink (No.31 Kaigan Stone-gray)

This Review is for Kobe #7TLDR Recommendation:Buy it at any price under $40.Summary:Wonderful, Wonderful ink. To me it is worth the price and more. This is not cheap ink, it never will be. This ink is more expensive than Pilot Iroshizuku and based on the variants I have tried this particular Kobe ink is on another level (including Kon-Peki). This review is assuming you are looking for high end fountain pen ink, and that brought you herePros:- Beautiful rich and saturated Dark Blue, Blue-Black - these terms are thrown around quite easily distorting their meaning, but either way its a great base color leaning more toward purple than green.- The flow out of the pen is incredible. Its similar to Pilot Iroshizuku ink, but it doesnt look and feel as wet or watery. Its Magic.- Works well on cheaper paper resisting bleed through, feathering or spreading, pretty awesome considering the great flow.- If you use better paper it changes colors, we call that "Sheen" in the fountain pen community. Boy does it sheen. It is a beautiful bright copper sheen.- It works great with flex pens modern and Vintage. I have thus far had no problems with Vintage pen sacs or cleaning it out of demonstrator pens and its been months using.- It is my second favorite Dark Blue - Pen and Message Saku Deep Blue takes this spot.- This #7 is better than #38 which I also reviewed. The overall behavior is better and the sheen is better, but the color of #38 might be slightly more true dark blue.Cons:- Difficulty to get - almost all their inks were prime on here at one point and now none of them are anymore. I bought #7 and #38 I regret not buying more.- The wide round bottles are hard to fill with any average sized pen or greater. When filling my Vintage Oversized Eclipse flex pen I had to put one side of the pen on a thin pad and then put a book on the other side to support the lower end from sliding away. Very ridiculous for an ink this expensive. Pelikan Edelstein, Mont blanc, LAMY and the older Sailor tall ink bottles are much better; The Edelstein are the best due to the insanely reliable cap - Mont Blanc and the old Sailor get sticky; LAMY just doesnt have the looks. Pilot Iroshizuku and especially J. Herbin 1970 have the looks, but the mouth of the bottles are hilariously too small and any expensive oversized pens will not fit.PHOTOS:- The one with the 3 Kobe inks is written on 90gsm Optik Paper, with the hard cover Spiral 8.5x11 Black N Red Notebook - bought on amazon.- The two with Noodler's 54th Massachusetts inks to compare is on bound Black N Red A4 Notebook with 90gsm Optik Paper - bought on amazon.- The last photo with that little drawing is on 80gsm A4 Rhodia - bought on amazon.

A beautiful and deep blue color that has neither purple nor gray. Those who appreciate writing with a deep blue color will enjoy with their strength.

Rich ink color, excellent behaviour, nice saturation.

Beautiful ink to work with.

Smooth flowing, beautiful ink. Performs well on most papers and has a nice sheen.

Luscious dark blue.Velvety smooth