Arabian Rose, A Tasty Leftover
2009/06/19Yesterday a big box of goodies arrived, leftovers from reviews by BiffyBeans. Pretty cool, eh?
No question about which ink to try first since Private Reserve Arabian Rose has been on my list for at least a year. So ink in hand I took a quick look through the pen box. I am not a big fan of demo pens, the clear ones that let you see the cartridge or converter. Often they look messy with ink in wrong places. But for purple I will make an exception and chose a Lamy Vista with a 1.1 italic nib.
The longer I use this ink the better I like it. Depending on the light, it can appear dark reddish purple, magenta or even burgundy. On this page of purples at Wikipedia, Arabian Rose most closely matches tyrian or imperial purple. It is also in the colors of this Angel Rose Viola.
Have a look at my initial notes scanned below. As the writing test progressed, Arabian Rose lightened just a tad to its true color and revealed some nice if inconsistent shading. Drying time is typical for a rather saturated ink but not awful. Expect three to five seconds with a very fine, dry nib but significantly longer with a wide, wet nib like the Lamy italic.
Purple may not be appropriate for a staid business environment but it is lovely for personal use. Speaking of which it’s time to write a thank you for a sweet Japanese notebook I received recently. Hope Arabian Rose suits the recipient since I’ve got plenty left in the converter and a pen just itching to go to work.
Private Reserve Arabian Rose
This is one of my favorite inks and I love it in my Pelikan M205 demo with a custom fine italic nib
So you like it in a demo, too! What color paper do you like best with it? I just tried it on a cream paper and, while it doesn’t have as much contrast as on white, it is still lovely though a bit muted. It has more pop on gray paper though it also looks more pink as well. It’s kind of an odd ink if you know what I mean.
I liked the color of this ink but when I let it sit in a pen for too long, it seemed to get funky. Burgundy Mist as well. PS – Got your box today.
)
Glad the box arrived safe and sound. I will let Arabian Rose sit a few days in the Vista and see what happens. “Funky” could mean a lot of things.
This is a favorite ink. I let it sit and dry out in a Visconti Ripple. That double power filler is a pain to clean, but it wasn’t problematic for me. The color keeps me coming back.
I enjoyed your review so much I actually went out and bought some of this ink. Can’t wait for my current FP cartridge to run out so I can try it.
Cool! Arabian Rose is a very distinctive, intense color and a nice change for editing. I do hope you it.