Abyssal Black
Black fountain pen inks come with a variety of descriptive names: Onyx Black; Black Ash; Jet Black; Black Pearl; Velvet Black, and so on. In an effort to suggest 'none more black', J. Herbin have come up with the name Noir Abyssal for the black ink in their les encres essentielles line. While it sounds impressive, it isn't the blackest ink one can buy, and doubtless actual abysses can outdo any ink in the depths of their darknesses. A bottle of it arrived here on Wednesday. While I've yet to fill a pen with it, I'm confident it will be quite black enough for my workaday note-taking needs. I shall strive not to gaze too long into the ink lest the ink gaze back.
I had originally intended to order a different ink. I've been a satisfied user of the Italian-made Aurora black ink for years. Aurora were long known for making ink in only two sober colours: black and blue-black, with both being excellent if somewhat costly exemplars of those shades. Since my last re-order, however, things have evidently changed. They have a re-designed bottle, and there is now a range of ten colours. While the new range does not exclude black, I was unable to find any in that shade on offer at the UK stockists I tried. Reading someone claim on-line that Noir Abyssal is very similar to Aurora black, I resorted to ordering some of that instead (Fig. 8).
J. Herbin's regular Perle Noir retails for about £10 for a 30ml bottle; whereas Noir Abyssal is ca. £30 for 50ml, making the latter, drop for drop, roughly 1.8 times more expensive. It may be slightly blacker but I'd imagine most of the extra cost has gone to the fancier, heavier bottle, more strenuous marketing, and a wider profit margin. What can I say: it worked on parting this fool from some of his money – and I do like the look & feel of the bottle.
By way of my Christmas wish-list I was given several albums on CD including three more from my current favourite record-label International Anthem. These were: the first Fly Or Die offering from the late jamie branch, et al.; Off The Record, the new set of four EPs by Makaya McCraven and collaborators; and How You Been, the second record by SML. These have joined other CDs by the same artists already on my shelves. All have hit the spot and I’ve been giving them second/third listens over the past week.
The cheese of the week has been Clawson Farms 1912 Golden Blue, an agreeably mellow and Stiltonesque number.