I have a bad relationship with this ink.
I can't lay all the blame on the ink itself though. I underestimated the amount of shimmer it contained and filled a medium nib Franklin-Christoph with it.
Big mistake.
DAY ONE: Chloé tries to review the ink. It has other ideas.
It was just a normal day. After filling the pen with it, I prepared to analyse the sample ink. Nobody could have predicted the nightmare that followed. Nobody knew that Columbia Blue has a dark side. A monster lurking in the depths of the seemingly innocent sample vial.
Shimmer wouldn't come out when I was writing. Then the ink stopped coming out too. As a result, I tried to twist the converter too get the ink moving again... but the converter didn't move.
Odd. Before this, I'd never had a pen clog.
After trying multiple times to get the thing going again, I removed the converter. What can only be described as a long, thick worm of shimmer oozed out of the converter and dangled on the end of it, before flopping on to the tissue in a very disconcerting manner.
I am rather sorry I didn't photograph this remarkable phenomenom. Unfortunately, I was busy wishing unpleasant fates upon shimmer worms. It took me a long time to unclog the section, but I just about managed it - afterwards, I left the review for another day and went to bed, blue glittery hands marking me as one defeated by a colourful inanimate liquid.
DAY TWO: Chloé, avoiding the intent gaze of the evil vial of Columbia Blue sitting on her desk, brews a strong cup of coffee and prepares to write about her new enemy.
I'll put my personal grudge aside, learn from this near-tragedy, and get on with the review. But be warned, use a broad nib pen for this ink if you value your sanity.
Columbia Blue, colour-wise, is quite similar to Montblanc Royal Blue, except that has a little bit of a purple hue and this ink is blue through and through. The copper shimmer (which as you may have already guessed, De Atramentis were generous with) goes well with it. You do tend to see more copper than blue, but I think that it looks quite pretty.
There is some shading in swatches, but in writing it is overshadowed by... that's right, the shimmer!
I've used De Atramentis inks before and they do tend to be just a little too wet for my liking, but this one is very nicely balanced so perhaps they reformulated. It behaved well with no feathering or bleeding, and I did not need to de-worm the broad-nib pen I used.
In conclusion, there's really nothing wrong with the ink other than perhaps a bit too much shimmer, you just need to be sure to select a pen that can handle it.
Or face THE WRATH OF THE SHIMMER WORM...
DISCLAIMER: Izumi Pens provided this ink for review purposes. All opinions expressed in this article are my own.