Ink Swatch Wednesday: PW Akkerman SBRE Brown
I have yet another ink sample from Vanness that I'd ordered along with the Vinta Inks holiday set (previous posts here, here, and here), my first ink from Akkerman, or PW Akkerman. I saw that the SBRE Brown sample was available (although on the day I'm writing this, it appears to be sold out), so I picked it up since it's a "celebrity" ink from a well-known personality in the FP community.
When I first swatched it, I thought that I would not like it because it's quite warm and orangey. Orangey inks aren't my favorite, except for a select few that I like for fall. I really like brown inks (just go back in my fountain pen archives to see how much), but most of them are on the cooler side. SBRE Brown really breaks that mold.
On a whim, I put it into my Jinhao 9019 with a medium nib because it's a good nib that shows off shading and shimmer. Lo, and behold, I really like it in this pen! The orangey-brown shade is very, very fall to me. It kind of reminds me of what color I think of for "saddle-brown leather", even though saddle leather can be different shades of brown. 😅 And the way the Jinhao "renders" the ink is great.
I really like the huge #8 nib on the Jinhao 9019. The nib isn't just a regular round-tipped nib; it's somewhat of an italic with thicker downstrokes vs cross-strokes. I think this might be emulating the Montblanc wider nib sizes? My impression of them is that the broad nibs have an italic shape. 🤔 The accompanying plastic feed is large enough to handle most shimmer inks quite well, also. It's a great nib to use when you really want to see an ink's characteristics. I'm lucky that it's tuned well for reverse writing.
Anyway, the M nib shows off the color and the shading of this Akkerman ink well, and feels smooth. The pen and ink combination is really nice, which makes me like the ink even more.
Comparisons
I really don't have many warm browns in my library, but I did find a couple inks that are okay comparisons.
Jacques Herbin 1670 Caroube de Chypre is the warmest brown ink I have.
SBRE Brown on the left, Caroube de Chypre on the right, both on Sanzen Tomoe River 52gsm paper
Clearly Caroube de Chypre is not even close to being as orangey. I also haven't been a fan of this ink when I've tried it in pens before, but maybe next time I'll try it in the Jinhao 9019 to see how the M nib makes it look. I think it's supposed to have shimmer, but I've never really seen it look shimmery.
The next and final ink comparison I have is Fireside Snug from Diamine's Inkvent 2023 set:
Akkerman SBRE Brown on left, Diamine Fireside Snug on the right, both swatches on Sanzen Tomoe River 52gsm paper
Fireside Snug is a brownish-orange as opposed to an orange-brown, but it gives me similar fall vibes. It looks like it has some brown sheen where it pools heavily. It's like if you wanted the orangey flipside of SBRE Brown, this would be the ink to check out.
Well, as always, I'm surprised how I take to some inks that are seemingly not my current preference. I'm not sure why my fountain pen ink likes are so malleable, but I like it. It allows me to explore even more broadly. What do you think of SBRE Brown? Do you know of other inks that look like it? Apparently Diamine makes Akkerman inks, or at least this one, so perhaps they have some other warm browns that would be easier-to-acquire dupes.
In the mood for more fountain pen posts? You can browse the archives here.
