Dominant Industry November Leaves
Ink Review #37
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Overview
The color/properties:
November Leaves shades between a pale khaki tone to an earthy brown-green with subtle grey tones in between. For the most part, it’s going to stick to the pale khaki color and I don’t think you’d often see the darkest tones of this ink unless you had a much wetter pen to combat the dryness and lay the ink down enough for it to pool that heavily.
Shockingly, the droplets were incredibly dark and even provided a black sheen. It’s surprising and novel, but I’m not sure there’s a pen wet enough to actually get sheen out of this ink in most conditions.
Ink Splat
Droplets
Performance on paper:
The performance was great. I didn’t experience bleed-through or feathering on any of the test pages, and the dry times were far above average. Notably, on both Kokuyo and Midori, none of the nibs took longer than 10 seconds to dry. Water resistance was also good, especially for such a light color. The color does wash away, but at the very least there’s a grey shadow that’s left behind which is both crisp and easy to to see.
Water resistance
Chromatography
Performance in the pen:
The performance in the pen was good. The ink has a dry, but consistent flow that feels lubricated enough to not feel unpleasant. I didn’t experience any hard starts or stops during my tests, but because of the dry flow, I wouldn’t be surprised if it had issues in some pens. The cleaning experience was easy and the color washed out with a single soak and flush.
Value/cost per ml:
As of writing, the price of Dominant Industry November Leaves is $17 in the US for a 25ml bottle, placing it at $0.68 cents per ml.
The bottle/packaging:
November Leaves comes in a standard Dominant Industry bottle, packed in a kraft paper box and tied in a drawstring dust bag. The design is simple but has an elegant appearance, and overall the bottle and packaging feel well-made.
The usability is unfortunately where this bottle fails. The bottle is more stable than you’d initially expect because of the pear shape making it more bottom-heavy, but the opening is small and makes filling the pen a somewhat uncomfortable experience. Dominant Industry does supply you with a pipette, but it’s small and inconsequential unless you’re filling an eyedropper.
Score: 63/70
Price per ml: 4.5/10
Performance in a pen: 8/10
Performance on paper: 10/10
Color saturation: 3/10
Sheening: 1/10
Shading: 5/10
Dry time: 9/10
Water resistance: 5/10
Ease of cleaning: 10/10
Bottle form: 5/5
Bottle function: 2.5/5
*Only 70 of the 100 available points are required for an outstanding score.My personal thoughts…
Admittedly, this one can be a tad hard to read depending on what paper you want to use it with and what nib it’s coming out of. The needlepoint was unsurprisingly difficult to read (but I assure you it did write just fine), and even the extra fine was borderline illegible. I don’t think it’s that big of an issue with the other nibs though, especially not the larger ones — I particularly enjoyed the way it came out of the stub. I do think, however, that this is an ink that would benefit from a wetter nib — if anything to bring out the shading, which I believe deserves the effort to chase.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about the color. November Leaves. The name suggests the palette shift from the vibrant reds/oranges/golds of early autumn to the faded browns and yellows that mark the later half of the season. It's a soft, muted color that conjures the image of fallen, drying leaves blanketing the ground as the season transitions into winter.
Written on Cosmo Air Light paper with a Tiffany & Co Briarwood fountain pen with an (18k) Platinum-made Japanese medium nib.
More images/info:
Tools and materials used in the writing samples:
A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 7 nib units including a Needlepoint grind, EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm stub, and an Architect grind. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same medium wetness.
A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad
A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook
A 68gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook
A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook
A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook