Jacques Herbin Corail Des Tropiques

Ink Reviews
Written By Julian

Ink Review #144

 

*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.

 

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Overview

The color:

Jaques Herbin Corail des Tropiques is a bright pink with heavy orange undertones that shades with a crisp cut and dark edges around where the ink pools. Shaded areas also have a nice soft inner gradient that gives the ink a nice texture and glow. This can also look vastly different depending on how heavily it’s laid down. Especially in things like swatches and ink splats, a lot more of the orange tone comes through. The color is a little pale, and that might cause some difficulties reading it through thin paper if a darker ink was used on the opposite side of the page, but I otherwise don’t find it too difficult to see.

Ink Splat

Droplets

 

Rhodia

Leuchtturm1917

 

Performance on paper:

This ink is very well-behaved. There weren’t any signs of bleeding or feathering on any of my test sheets, and I believe this should be safe on most fountain pen-friendly papers.

The dry times were slightly above average with the larger nib sizes, often taking them 15 seconds to dry, and 20 seconds at most. The finer nib sizes took a more average 10 to 15 seconds to dry.

The water resistance isn’t great, and the ink quickly washes away after water exposure. The remains are mostly too light and faded to be easily legible.

Midori MD

Maruman

Tomoe River

Kokuyo

Water resistance

Chromatography

Performance in the pen:

Corail des Tropiques has a dry-medium flow, and it was particularly noticeable with the needlepoint and extra fine nibs. They had a hard time flowing, and when they wrote, the lubrication was poor and, honestly, unpleasant. The fine nib was slightly better: there weren’t any issues with flow here, and it was usable, though still lacking in lubrication. The medium nibs and larger ones were all much better. The lubrication is the same but the experience is improved, and though the flow leans slightly to the dry side, I didn’t encounter any issues with it keeping up during extended writing sessions.

The ink cleaned out very quickly, only needing a single soak and flush, with no visible traces of color or residue left over inside the pen or nib units.

 

Written on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper (white) with a medium nib.

Written on Midori MD paper (cream) with a medium nib.

  • Performance in a pen: 8/10

  • Performance on paper: 10/10

  • Color saturation: 5.5/10

  • Sheening: 0/10

  • Shading: 6/10

  • Dry time: 8/10

  • Water resistance: 1/10

  • Ease of cleaning: 10/10

  • Shimmer: None

My personal thoughts…

Coral is one of those colors that I believe is very difficult to get right — not just concerning fountain pen inks but in general. Maybe it’s too pink, or too orange, or too vibrant. Corail des Tropiques falls right in that perfect sweet spot. I mentioned earlier that it’s on the paler side, but if you’re interested in this ink, I’d venture to guess that the paleness isn’t an issue anyway. In fact, I think it works in the ink’s favor. Paired with the light shading, it gives the writing an elegant, but also nostalgic and beautifully time-worn look. I’d love to give this ink a try in some of my paper crafting projects! If Corail des Tropiques is a color that you like the look of, I can’t see a reason not to get it.

Well, there is one thing:

Jacques Herbin Corail des Tropiques mold

When I initially purchased Corail des Tropiques, it clearly had gone bad. I could have gone through the vendor to get a replacement bottle, but it was part of an overseas order and wouldn’t have been worth the hassle, so I purchased another bottle. Not a great feeling, and I can’t say what could have caused it, but at least I can say that it’s been 3 years since purchasing the replacement, and it’s been perfect ever since. I would still recommend it.

Written on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper with a Darailpenz Naomi (medium nib).

More images/info:

 

Featured in the photography and writing samples:

 

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 Midori MD A5 Notebook

  • A 52gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook

  • A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook

  • A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook

 
Julian
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