Every now and then you hit upon a pen and ink combination that makes you want to clean out everything else you have inked. I’m currently obsessed with Birmingham Pen Co. Ultramarine ink in my Karas Kustoms tumbled INK with a medium titanium nib. Oh, my! What a pair!
Ultramarine is a deep, deep blue with a trick up its sleeve.
In the right light—like in the light of my desk lamp—the sheen POPS. Deep dark blue with red sheen? Yes, please.
When the ink arrived, I was mulling over which pen to put it in when I noticed my uninked INK and remembered that I always enjoyed the titanium nib on that pen. It turns out that “enjoyed” is quite the understatement. WOW. It’s smooooooth and springy—truly effortless.
I have ten or so inked pens at the ready, but this combination—along with my homemade cold-brew—is what gets me out of bed at 4:30 am every weekday morning to journal for an hour or so. It’s that good.
I can’t do this nib or ink justice with my simple words and imperfectly lit photos. You have to be there—feeling and watching your handwritten words flow from that nib, pool up on the page, then slowly dry, revealing high sheen in just the right light.
It’s incredibly satisfying to pair the right pen with the right ink purely by chance. This is a simple pleasure that’s difficult to explain and photograph, but you definitely know it when you find it. I think that’s the pen-lover’s quest in a nutshell—pairing a pen and an ink that triggers a “WOW!” every single time the nib touches the page. Pure bliss.
Note: The Karas Kustoms INK fountain pen and Birmingham Pen Co. Ultramarine ink were purchased with my own funds. There are no affiliate links in this post.
From the Pen Cup 
Oh man! I have such penmanship envy! Your script is beautiful! If only the right pen could magically make my hand so lovely! Loved this post! Thanks!
Aw, thanks! My handwriting used to be pretty “random,” but years of writing with these pens has helped so much.
This post warms my heart. I recently received Birmingham Ink Company’s Voltaic and it is a superb ink with a magnificent sheen! I know why it gives you such pleasure to find perfect companions!
I have that one, too! In fact, I bought all four of their new sheening inks. Can’t wait to swap each one into this pen.
It was lovely to sit with a cup of tea this misty Sunday morning and read about your love of this pen and ink combination. Don’t be hard on yourself about your photos – the more I inhabit social media the more I appreciate photos that look like someone’s real life rather than a studio set which is never actually used, and your photos give an idea of the sheen of the ink which makes me quite jealous about not seeing it in person!
I did have one slight “oh, dear me” moment: when you mentioned your cold-brew my mind leapt to beer and I was a bit taken-aback that you were getting up at 4.30am for it!!!! Then I realised it was probably coffee.
HAHA…YES…coffee!
I know exactly what you mean about finding such a perfect combo that you almost could put all the others away. The concept of such a combo getting you out of bed in the morning to journal, is the same for me too.
One such combo for me at present is the humble Moonman S5, clear demo eyedropper pen with its oblique broad nib and Waterman Serenity blue. It comes with three nibs. It was so good that I bought another. That one also came with three nibs but they were one extra fine and two mediums, no OB this time. However the medium nibs were jolly good too, smooth and stubby and I am enjoying a different writing experience with Cult Pens Deep Dark Red.
Thanks for the post. That ink is gorgeous with the sheen. I used to be an avid sheen-chaser several years ago, I was crazy about Diamine Sargasso Sea, and later Bungbox 4B struck my fancy in an obsessive kind of way. Now I’m a bit curious about this Birmingham Ultramarine ink. Birmingham, in general, is less pricey than some of the boutique inks (I’m looking at you 4B) but I’ve got stockpiles of lots of sheeny inks, Sailor Sky High also being part of the list. I need to use up my current supply before I can think of shopping around again. Also, of late, I’ve stuck the the boring and dependable, Namiki Black, Blue, and Blue-Black, so I’ve not been making a dent in my store room’s ink compartment.
On the topic of sheeny inks, for the longest time I’ve been in search of a black ink with a heavy sheen (sheen, not sparkles), any sheen will do, red, silver, golden, anything. But it’s so illusive. Maybe something like that doesn’t exists and maybe it not chemically possible either, I will never know.
Can you please mention the names of the other Birmingham inks that are part of the sheen-lineup. I’d like to go window shopping for a bit.
Thanks again for the post.
The other sheening Birmingham inks are Tesla Coil and Voltaic Arc. Both are quite similar to Ultramarine, but I use and love them all. Jade Inferno also sheens, and is more, well, jade. Another good one. I’d also like a black ink with sheen! Let me know if you find one!