Robert Oster has two lines of ink: Signature and inkArt.ink. The former is readily available. The latter doesn’t appear to be available currently. I used the Signature ink for my comparison, but, for giggles, I included a chromatography strip of the inkArt.ink (IAI).

For those familiar with Organics Studio, you’ll know that at any given time, a certain ink may or may not be readily available. For that reason, I’m dubbing it “usually available.”

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments. And check out my other Ink Dupes posts.

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments. And check out my other Ink Dupes posts.

A little side note before I jump into the comparison. I believe that Australian Syrah has recently (since I bought my bottle) been renamed to Australian Shiraz. If I’m wrong, please let me know and I’ll adjust this post accordingly. 

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments. And check out my other Ink Dupes posts.

Finally I get to compare inks that aren’t completely identical. These two are close enough, though, that if the new Sailor Jentle prices are too steep for you, Jade is a good alternative. They’re almost indistinguishable in normal writing.

For those who aren’t aware, I’ve heard that the 50ml Sailor Jentle bottles are going away to be replaced with significantly more expensive (price per ml) 30ml bottles. If you’ve heard otherwise, please let me know.

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments. And check out my other Ink Dupes posts.

I just so happened to purchase samples of both of these at the same time, so they got swabbed right next to each other. I couldn’t miss the similarity. So if you missed out on Kabayaki, you can grab a bottle of Nostalgia. Unfortunately, I can’t find a review of Kabayaki, so you’ll have to do without.

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments. And check out my other Ink Dupes posts.

This is my second Diamine vs Montblanc, and I have to say Montblanc is seriously disappointing. For the price, I would expect SIGNIFICANTLY different colors. These two are so similar I can’t help but wonder if UNICEF blue is just rebottled Aqua Blue.

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments. And check out my other Ink Dupes posts.

When prepping this Ink Dupe, I discovered you can’t just leave the chromatography strips sitting and forget about them. The spreading goes too far. But, since it was an interesting accident, I included the original strips as well as the “proper” strips. I’m sure you can tell which is which.

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments.  And check out my other Ink Dupes posts.

I’ve got a couple of notes on this comparison. 1) Hisoku is an odd ink. It doesn’t work well with dip pens, as you can see below. I also now understand the meaning of a “dry ink”. You can tell how much better flow/wetness there is with The Real Teal.  2) The Real Teal is a old limited edition. So it’s nearly impossible to get a bottle. In my opinion, Hisoku is a fairly decent dupe. When writing with a properly inked pen, you can’t really tell the difference.

The Inks

If you have any suggestions for future comparisons, let me know in the comments.

Welcome to Ink Dupes. I’ll warn you now, this series will most likely feature fairly irregular posts. Make sure you subscribe to my blog or to the fountain pen category so you don’t miss an issue.

This week, I’m starting with red — my favorite color — with Diamine Matador and Montblanc Corn Poppy Red.

A bit of a backstory — since you all know I’m so fond of stories. I noticed a while ago that some inks are nearly identical to others. When Ink Journal shared an article about chromatography in their Flex Nib Friday newsletter, I was curious to find out just how similar these seemingly identical inks really are.

After the first comparison, it occurred to me that I’m not the only one who’d be interested in knowing which inks are similar (or identical) in color. So, I’ll be sharing my comparisons with you all. I’m hoping it will help those who are looking for expensive or hard-to-find inks.

That said, if you’re curious about how two inks compare, let me know. I may have (or be able to get) both inks for comparison.

Continue reading “Ink Dupes #1: Montblanc and Diamine” →