The KWZ Ink Interview, Part One: How It All Began

Posted on by Laura

KWZ2

KWZ Ink is a boutique ink maker, crafting small batches of fountain pen inks ranging from beautifully executed standard colors to more unusual colors, in both iron gall and dye-based formulas.

Konrad Wojciech Żurawski and his wife Agnieszka Żurawska run KWZ Ink from Nowe Grocholice, near Warsaw, in Poland.

I have been using and reviewing KWZ inks for more than a year and a half, and I’m a huge fan. There are a lot of reasons why.

KWZ Ink has created some wonderful, innovative ink colors. They have mastered how to make inks that are fairly saturated but are easy to clean from pens. They have an entire line of gentle modern iron gall inks, which is so cutting-edge some people have a hard time believing it. But yes, a KWZ iron gall ink can be as low-maintenance as a traditional dye based ink. (KWZ Ink also offers one traditional iron gall ink that’s not so gentle, but is archival.)

Konrad and Agnieszka make their inks by hand in small batches, right down to the hand-written labels. But they devote the same attention to quality control that you find from the very best, long-standing brands.

So instead of reviewing individual inks right now, I wanted to interview Konrad and Agnieszka about KWZ — to get an overview of how they began, and to learn more about the process and the philosophy behind the inks. This is Part One: how they got started.

(click Page 2 below to continue)

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11 thoughts on “The KWZ Ink Interview, Part One: How It All Began”

  2. This is such a wonderful story! I especially appreciate their dedication to quality control. I love shopping from independent makers (in anything, I don’t mean inks specifically) but part of that is accepting that quality can be hit or miss – especially if you repurchase the same thing. So it’s really great that they cracked that right from the start.

    I don’t know if the bottles are still the pill bottles used initially but I think they’re great! I love how simple and serious they are, they aren’t trying to be this sculptural masterpiece or prestigious industrial design. I mean those are fun too, but this way it really underscores how it’s all about the ink 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Actually they have moved on from the pill bottles. 😁 But yes you are exactly right: they use a nice glass bottle now, but not an elaborate or fancy one, because they want to keep it affordable. It is all about the ink, as you say. 😁

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  3. Great article, Laura!

    I am the North American FPN member (singular) that sparked the interest in KWZ inks (I just had to share my love for Blue #3). I asked Konrad if I could include his email address in case people were interested. I said he might receive thousands of emails or none, but was he prepared for a deluge?

    The deluge came condensed in the form of the first group buy — organized by Cyber6 and amberleigh (and maybe one or two others). The rest is history.

    I didn’t do the heavy lifting, but I’m happy I was the conduit. 🙂 Konrad and Agnieszka are a lovely couple, and people who boycott other ink-makers for political reasons can buy KWZ with an untroubled conscience. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  7. I liked hearing about this great ink company, and how it started. I have enjoyed their ink very much too. I look forward to part two. I am anxious to hear about their upcoming water resistant inks!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thank you. They really are the greatest people. This is part one, based on the interview, and part two will be up soon, before I turn into a pumpkin tomorrow for the pen show. 😊

      Liked by 1 person

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