Platinum Chou Kuro: Ink Review

Platinum Chou Kuro Ultimate Carbon Black fountain pen ink is the blackest ink ever created from Platinum in its 104-year history! An ink that is blacker than black and 46.8% darker than Platinum's famous Carbon Black, this new permanent ink from Platinum will set the new standard of what is possible from permanent black ink in the fountain pen market. Read more below to see what we think about it!

Ink Review 

Supplies Used:

• LAMY AL-star with medium steel nib
• Rhodia No. 16 dot pad, 80g white paper
• Tomoé River 52 gsm white paper
• Leuchtturm1917 80g notebook

Smear Test (Dry Time):

• ~30 seconds – Depending on the paper. This ink seemed to dry faster on Leuchtturm1917 paper and Tomoe River than Rhodia, but it dried quickly regardless. When writing in a notebook, the paper was dry enough not to smudge by the time I turned the page.

Drip Test (Water Resistance):

• High – Regular water droplets and even running a wet q-tip over it did not cause smudges or smearing. However, using an ink as a watercolor wash did cause the ink to bleed a tiny bit. It would be great for letters, journaling, and addressing envelopes, but if you are using it for art, you might have the line blur a little bit. 

Saturation:

• High – This ink was as dark on the first swab as the third pass. It is undeniably dark.

Ease of Cleaning:

• Easy – I was prepared for this ink to be hard to clean, both from the pen and from my hands, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was neither. Using the traditional converter cleaning method took a little longer than the "fast flush" method we recommend, but it was less than 2 minutes from start to stop cleaning it out of the pen. Even the ink on my hands washed away easily with soap and water and about 30 seconds of hand washing!

Shading:

• Low/None – The line was consistently dark on each stroke of the letters, and every line written.

Flow:

• Medium Wet – It flowed from the pen easily, but was not super wet on the paper.

 Packaging and Aesthetics:

• The 60ml glass bottle comes with a built-in ink reservoir. It is exceptionally easy to fill from the bottle.

If you're interested in similar colors, check out our Swab Shop where you can compare shades side by side.

Summary:

This is an incredibly dark black ink, with a slight matte finish on most papers. It was smooth and wet while writing but did not take a long time to dry, and is definitely one of the more water resistant inks out there. It's a great addition to the Platinum ink line up. It will continue to set the standard for the darkest black ink!

This color is available in a 60ml Bottle.