Penultimate Daves Favourite Grey Inks #1

[@dawnholder8819]

Thank you for another great video. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your ink swatch videos. They are a great resource when I'm trying to decide on a new ink color. Yes, I reference them a lot. Your lighting is good, the samples are vertical in frame, and you are zoomed in enough to get a really good look at the colors. Keep up the great work!

[@wegotthepower]

I definitely agree!

[@PenultimateDave]

Thank you Dawn, glad you are liking the videos and finding them useful! Strangely I was looking at a few ink samples today for new inks and it was a grey ink. In some ink swatches online it looked a dark grey, some a light grey and some even a dark green! This is really why I decided to do the videos and ensure the lighting was not only good but consistent, I hate buying ink to find out it's almost a completely different colour to what I wanted.

[@bahaven1896]

LOVE greys..thanks for showing how different they are! I never noticed just how brown Kiri-Sami was!

[@impish22]

I love Diamine Earl Grey

[@Inazarab]

I much prefer Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun to Kiri-same.

[@Alliejay-C]

That venvstas fumo di Londres would suit your Visconti London Fog quite nicely. 😊

[@FrankDAgostino77]

Love Diamine Earl Grey! My favorite gray ink is Monteverde Smoke Noir.

[@PenultimateDave]

I have a friend who swears by Monteverde Smoke Noir as one of their best inks.

[@dostagirl9551]

I love Pilot Kiri-Same. It has great shading (I use it in a Benu fine nib that is quite wet and leaves lovely little pools with each stroke) and has a beautiful hint of lavender. Love grey inks, and excited to see these swatched side by side.

[@jannahlyon]

Oh, I love them all! Thanks for the comparison :)

[@Alliejay-C]

I think you’d really like dominant industry downpour too!

[@christopherbritton293]

I quite like the London Grey by Vinta, who I had not heard of. I do like grey-geens (or green-greys). Have you tried Diamine's Salamander? I expected it to be a lot greener but it is quite dark when writing.

[@i.widiastuti8718]

diamine salamander is one of my fave grey greens!

[@christopherbritton293]

@@i.widiastuti8718 Yes, it is quite subtle in its own way. The green is quite subdued but definitely there if you see it in the right light.

[@PenultimateDave]

Ah no I haven't tried Diamine Salamander yet, I will add it to my list!

[@basta.dotto_]

Thanks Dave! The more you write with Venvstas Fumo di Londra in your Currently Inked videos, the more it's growing on me❤. I had planned to ink up my new Stresemann M805 EF with this ink, but I used Waterman Serenity Blue instead because this is the go-to ink I've been using to test nibs out of the box with my other pens: my version of standardized testing😉 For those of us who love grey inks, there is a fantastic 👏👏👏👍article titled "The Great Grey Fountain Pen Ink Comparison", where John Bosley compares 42, yes 42!, grey inks on his "Fountain Pen Love" site. That is how I discovered Kobe no. 10 Mikage Grey, which, with Diamine Earl Grey, are the ones I reach for the most. It was written in 2019, so newer grey inks have not been added to the comparison (Venvstas, Scribo, for ex.); still, at 42 inks, with a detailed analysis for each one, there is plenty to choose from! ❤ The grey inks are also grouped by characteristics: warm, cool, dark, light, best shading, and his personal favourites. Such a herculean task. A must read! ✅🙏 You will also find "The Massive List Of Fountain Pen Friendly Paper Ratings" (massive is an understatement) on his site, as well as "Which Papers Are Good Tomoe River Replacements". Two other must reads! ✅🙏✅🙏 Also, check out mountainofink blogposts. She has 62 grey inks under "Ink by colour", so great information resource there too. Be forewarned: plenty of samples will be added on Wishlists; I decline all responsibility! 👏🙏

[@PenultimateDave]

Yeah I was the same with Venvstas Fumo di Londra, it started to grow on me too over time.

[@wegotthepower]

Whaaat?! Is Kiri-same discontinued?? I haven’t been able to get a full bottle of it yet! 😮 I have a smaller bottle of that one as well as Fuyu-syogun (also Pilot Iroshizuku). Have you tried that one? So interesting to see these comparisons as well! The Venvusta & Vinta ones looks very blue vs green to me. The first one I think is the most grey one of those two. I should’ve labelled it as green, as you said 😅 Btw - I’d recommend Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun if you like bluish greys 😊 I have like five Diamine inks (my first inks), but I find that I rarely use them since they seem to smear A LOT for me.. how’s your experience with that? Thanks for doing these interesting videos!

[@basta.dotto_]

Kiri-Same isn't discontinued. Pilot just came out with the cartridges of this ink. However, Tsukushi, Tsuyu-kusa and Ina-ho are discontinued.

[@PenultimateDave]

Last I checked nobody had it in stock and I heard it had been discontinued, but checking a few retailers today it does seem that it's now back in stock and not discontiinued. I haven't tried Fuyu-syogun but it's on my list to try. I haven't had any issues with Diamine inks smearing, especially after they have dried unless they are high sheening inks.

[@peoplevrobot]

Love Diamine Earl Grey. First saw it on your channel and it's my go to Grey now. However, one I would love to try is GVFC Stone Grey. Anybody tried that?

[@PenultimateDave]

GVFC Stone Grey is still one I'm looking to pick up at some point, not tried it yet.

[@oscarcalva2189]

A nicer Vinta gray is Armada, also very dry, but has great shading and color variation, and not as greenish

[@SwayvillDelgarian]

Excellent choice of grey inks! I like your Venustas Fumo di Londra. A shame that MB discontinued Oyster Grey, it was my favorite grey as well. Do you know of another ink that would be close to Oyster Grey and could replace it ? I also have Kiri-same that I also like, but it is not exactly like Oyster Grey, it is more on the brownish side.

[@PenultimateDave]

I haven't really found anything as close to Montblanc Oyster Grey so far. From what I have seen DeAtramentis Silver Grey is similar but slightly lighter. Diamine do have a lot of grey's so they probably have something that comes close.

[@Case16710]

I believe the Montblanc Oyster Grey has just been renamed Cool Grey. Strange name for it tho, as I feel it’s pretty neutral, or maybe even a little warm/yellow. Either way, it looks to be the same, as far as I can tell.

[@PenultimateDave]

I haven't tried Cool Grey yet but from the ink swatches online, it looked a different shade of grey.

[@peggylove1]

I love your videos. I have a question that I hope you can answer. We Americans are trying to identify the beautiful pen your King signed with at his Coronation. Was it the Onoto Coronation Pen? It also looked like a YOL. Do you know?

[@PenultimateDave]

Hi Peggy it wasn't an Onoto, but it was I believe a custom pen made in the Birmingham Jewellery quarter which is where many of the Onoto Sterling Silver pens are made. There is a Royal Jeweller that Onoto also use from time to time and many products the Royal Family use are made by the Royal Jeweller.