Ink Review: Waterman Intense Black
- whimsicaleccentric
- Feb 1, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 27, 2024
COLOR
I know that this is not the best black on the market. It isn't the darkest black available, but I still love it. It is a very nice black that can show some dark gray tones in drier nibs.
I may be biased against this ink as it was one of the first ink bottles I picked up on my fountain pen journey.
Waterman Intense Black is a pretty neutral black. it is lighter overall than Platinum Carbon Black, but darker than Diamine Quartz Black. Of my other black inks, it is closest in color to Colorverse Sunspot.
CHARACTER
In large swatches on Tomoe River paper this ink features a very subtle bronze sheen. Occasionally, I can see this sheen show up on slower-drying papers.
In a few paper types I see some variation in shade. It's not enough to call this a shading ink in any way, but if you're looking for a SOLID black ink this is not it.
CONSISTENCY
I've used this ink for a number of years and it behaves very well for me. It's a decently wet ink that dries quickly on paper, yet doesn't dry out too quickly in the nib.
It's also not too bad when it comes to bleedthrough, so I do find myself using it pretty confidently at work on cheaper papers.
Nebula, Clairefontaine, and Tomoe River paper
CONCLUSION
Waterman Intense Black is a good ink for the price. It is one of my go-to workhorse inks and works well for note-taking. I haven't had many issues with it - it doesn't feather easily, and bleedthrough is pretty nonexistent on most papers. I've gone through a number of bottles and still enjoy using it!
It's consistently an ink that I return to and the first one I grab when I want to match a black pen to a black ink, or am having troubles with a nib and want to judge if it's an ink issue or a pen issue.
DISCLAIMER: Pens and inks purchased by myself. Photos and opinions are my own.
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