Category Archives: Monthly Post

Fountain Pens, Monthly Post

September Daily Sample Review, Akkerman

I was really intrigued by the shape of Akkerman’s bottles. They look antique and have a glass marble in the neck which is to help make filling the pen easier. It’s a really interesting idea! I sampled this month out of vials, but I may decide I need a whole bottle of at least one color so I can try out this whole marble thing. I believe the inks I sampled this month were from a line to honor their 100 years of existence in 2010, and the names are related to the city of The Hague. Fun!

A notebook page listing the inks that were sampled in September. The list can be found in the post.The inks are listed twice, once on the left in alternating purple and orange ink. The list on the right is in the color of the day. There is also a dot of color on the left edge of the page matching the right side list.
I like to list the inks out ahead of time and then rewrite them in that day’s ink sample, also I find making the color dots every day very fun. Look at how fun that looks!

It didn’t take me long to realize I was going to be sampling colors grouped together – which ended up being something I found really pleasing – for some reason? Although I wish the purple group had been larger, sigh. Quite the variety of blues and reds. The greens were also a small group – so my two favorite colors, the least number of inks. Boooo.
None of these popped out at me, but I have heard they are very solid and reliable inks. So I assume at some point in the future I’ll need one for a good basic color. They performed well and consistently when I was sampling them. More specifics with the color groupings below! 

11 sample cards of different blue stacked on top of each other, only the color band at the top is visible on 10 of the cards. The last one is fully visible. It reads “Akkerman 11 Treves Turquoise, xxxooosssssss, 22SeptVent-11, standard” There is a stamp of a nib with a B on it, and a pool of the color used on the card.
So many blues! Each distinct.

The Blues! Listed in order seen on photo from top to bottom.

01 Passage Blauw

02 Redidentie Blauw

03 Blauw 

04 Nassaus Blauw

05 Shocking Blue

06 Binnenhof Blues

07 Koninginne Nach-Blauw

08 DiepDuin Water Blauw

09 Laan van Niew Oost-Indigo

10 Ijzer-galnoten Blauw-Zwart

11 Treves Turquois 

I think by the fourth or fifth blue I was just impressed at how many blues their were already and still to come! I like that there is a wide variety and that none of them look exactly the same. There are two or three in there that are similar, but still distinct. And 05, Shocking Blue, looks like something I’ll use in a future palette…

4 sample cards of different purples stacked on top of each other, only the color band at the top is visible on 3 of the cards. The last one is fully visible. It reads “Akkerman 15 Voorhout Violet, xxxooosssssss, 22SeptVent-15, standard” There is a stamp of a nib with a B on it, and a pool of the color used on the card.
4 purples – only 4! And that’s only if you consider Magenta a purple which…I sometimes do not. Sad Spoon.

The Purples!

12 Mauritshuis Magenta

13 Simplisties Violet

14 Parkpop Purpur

15 Voorhout Violet

There weren’t as many of these, but I do love them. I’m not a huge fan of magenta’s, but the other three are really pretty, and I hope I have an excuse to use them soon. Especially that 13, Simplisties Violet! 

8 sample cards of an orange, different reds, and a couple of browns stacked on top of each other, only the color band at the top is visible on 7 of the cards. The last one is fully visible. It reads “Akkerman 23 Bekakt Haags, xxxooosssssss, 22SeptVent-23, standard” There is a stamp of a nib with a B on it, and a pool of the color used on the card.

The Reds! Okay maybe more than just reds…

16 Oranje Boven

17 Staten-Generaal Rood

18 Garuda Rood

19 Rood Haags Pluche

20 Pulchri Pink

21 ChinaTown Red

22 Hopjesbruin

23 Bekakt Haags

Okay, so there is an orange and some tan/browns mixed into this pile, but its close enough! Let’s call these Fall colors instead of just Reds…Red is not my favorite color ink, but I found a couple of these intriguing. Super not a fan or tan/brown but they are still solid colors. And orange is becoming a favorite ink color for some reason, so glad that I got at least one of those!

7 sample cards of different greens and greys stacked on top of each other, only the color band at the top is visible on 6 of the cards. The last one is fully visible. It reads “Akkerman 30 Het Swarte Pad, xxxooosssssss, 22SeptVent-30, standard” There is a stamp of a nib with a B on it, and a pool of the color used on the card.
Greens and greys!

The Greens!

24 Zuiderpark Blue-Green

25 Denneweg Groen

26 Goenmarkt Smaragd

27 Bezuidenwoud Groen

28 Hofkwartier Groen

29 Hofvijer Grijs 

30 Het Zwarte Pad

Greens! I’m always looking for good greens, because they go well with purples! There is a good variety here. There are also two greys which is nice. The only color really missing is a yellow, but not a bad rainbow!

A close up of a planner notebook page. This page is for a single line for each day, and starts with “9 September” and the space underneath says “Akkerman.” Each line starts with a number of the day and the first letter of the day of the week. Each line is a different color, from the daily sample used.

Overall I enjoyed this month’s inks. None of them seemed to really be problematic at all, and all of them will be solid additions to my library. Now…which one do I buy a bottle of… 🙂