Franklin-Christoph Midnight Emerald
Ink Review #18
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Overview
The color/properties:
Franklin-Christoph Midnight Emerald is a deep aqua green. It’s a mostly solid color, but there is some light shading. You might notice some soft variations between different intensities of the color, but there’s not a lot of contrast between them. The shading you experience is going to depend a lot on the flow of the pen (which in itself seems to be variable, and we’ll get to that), but I don’t expect there to be any remarkably different results between users.
Ink Splat
Ink Droplets
Performance on paper:
Midnight Emerald had a mixed performance. During my tests, I experienced minor feathering on the Leuchtturm paper, as well as minor bleed-through in the Kokuyo notebook. The other paper test pages held up just fine, but overall, I expect that the user’s experience on the more absorbent fountain pen-friendly papers will vary. The dry times mostly fell into the standard range of 10-20 seconds, but I did find that there was a slight degree of inconsistency. Despite this, I generally found the dry times to be lower on the Rhodia, Kokuyo, and Leuchtturm papers (Although the latter pair don’t support the ink as well).
The water resistance is good, although from looking at the sizeable grey patch on the chromatography, I expected that it would be better. Still, the water resistance is passable, leaving light grey shadows behind wherever the water washes the color away that are dark and crisp enough to be readable in the case of an emergency spill.
A closer look at some of the feathering & bleed-through on Leuchtturm/Kokuyo Papers
Water resistance
Chromatography
Performance in the pen:
Midnight Emerald had mixed performance. Generally, the ink performed well. I didn’t experience any hard starts, skips, or stops during my tests. The problem was the flow — it was highly inconsistent. I initially experienced a medium flow in the finer nibs, but the broad nib had a notably wetter flow. Both the stub and architect nibs had an overly dry flow. Excluding the stub and architect nibs, the ink felt well-lubricated, and the writing experience was usually excellent. Cleaning was painless, and the water ran clear with a single flush.
Value/cost per ml:
At the time of writing, Midnight Emerald is available from Franklin-Christoph for $8.25 in the 1oz size used in the review. This makes Midnight Emerald $.28 cents per ml, but I should note that Franklin-Christoph also offers inks in a 2oz eyedropper for $12.50, bringing the cost down even further.
The bottle/packaging:
Midnight Emerald comes in a simple glass bottle with a basic label and no exterior packaging. The glass has a moderate level of transparency, although I found that the ink often sticks to the inner walls of the bottle, leading me to initially mistake the glass for being ambered. The cap has shallow ribs on the edges to assist opening (though I found that they don’t provide as much grip as they would appear to) and there is an inner plug that will help create a seal. The opening is large enough to fit most pens easily, but because the bottle is light and taller than wide, I find that the bottle is lacking in stability for filling.
Score: 59/70
Price per ml: 7.5/10
Performance in a pen: 6.5/10
Performance on paper: 6.5/10
Color saturation: 7/10
Sheening: 0/10
Shading: 5/10
Dry time: 7.5/10
Water resistance: 6/10
Ease of cleaning: 9/10
Bottle form: 1.5/5
Bottle function: 2.5/5
*Only 70 of the 100 available points are required for an outstanding score.My personal thoughts…
I’ll admit that I feel a little bit disappointed with the results I got. After purchasing this ink at the Franklin-Christoph booth, I was met with a lot of excitement from the others that I was with about Midnight Emerald. I wasn’t surprised — that was me too. It’s a very appealing color. It just sounds like it’s going to be good. And to be fair, the color isn’t even the problem.
If you want to enjoy Midnight Emerald, you certainly can — and there’s a strong possibility that it will be just fine. It’s a nice color. But I hate to recommend something when I know there can be so much variability in the experience.
Written on Leuchtturm1917 paper with a Franklin-Christoph Model 40 (extra fine)
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 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
Color comparisons:
