Ink Snippet: Robert Oster Rubine

I put this ink, by luck, in what might have been the perfect pen. The pen is a Kaweco Classic Sport with a broad nib that Dan Smith, the Nibsmith, modified to an architect’s point.

Robert Oster Rubine is an ink that rewards a huge, showy nib like this. It’s just a stunning red ink. It’s not much different than a standard red, but it’s somehow better. It shades, though not excessively. It’s the color that’s special.

Here’s a writing sample on Rhodia.

Here it is on cream-colored Tomoe River.

Will Rubine sheen? Yes it will. Because that rhymes.

Unfortunately, last week when I took these photos we were near the end of a three-week stretch without one sunny day. It was like we lived in a cave. Or Seattle. But still you can just make out sheenability below, even without sunshine, on the edges of the “R.”

Rubine did very well on poor paper. It kept its color nicely. It showed good resistance to feathering, even with the broad nib. There was some showthrough on the thinner papers.

Here’s a writing sample on Staples Sustainable Earth legal pad paper.

Rubine has been nicely lubricated in this pen, and has flowed very well.

As for the color, I just adore it. I adore any red or burgundy ink with a slight bit of pink, because I think that perks up any red or burgundy. And I believe Rubine has it. But, if you hate pink, don’t be put off. It is almost imperceptible.

Here though are swabs of two Robert Oster reds: Fire Engine Red next to Rubine. The first has a redder, perhaps every so slightly orange, tint. The second, a tiny pinkish tint, I believe.

Robert Oster Rubine is one of the inks in the Chicago Pen Show’s Ink Testing Station, which is why I tried it out and why I’m previewing it here.

All I can say is, you have any interest at all in red inks, if you leave our show without having tried Rubine, I think you’ll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon.

“And for the rest of my life?”

Well, let’s try to avoid that. Here are your letters of transit; go to Chicago.