Next up on my inksploration is Jinhao Black!

I have some reservations about Jinhao Black ink because it’s so cheap, and has some strange properties I’ll get into soon, but it’s a budget option that punches well above its price.

Jinhao Black is a deep, rich black with a very slight blue-violet undertone that only shows up in smears or if you get your writing wet. In normal writing, though, it’s just a dark, saturated black. And I mean VERY saturated. To the point where it has me concerned.

It’s fairly well-behaved with a moderate flow, but for some reason, it feels thick. Like, writing with india ink or gel pen thick. It concerns me about how safe it is to leave in a pen for extended periods of time, but in the month I had it inked in a pen, it didn’t cause any noticeable issues.

Samples done on Clairefontaine, Graphilo, and Tomoe River papers

It takes a fairly long time to dry, at around 50 seconds. And it has no real water resistance when it does dry, though on some papers you will be able to recover some of the lines within the smear of dye.

Despite the lack of water resistance, it’s stubborn to clean. I had to do two or three rounds of my usual cleaning routine to get the ink fully out of my pens. I think that has to do with the excessive saturation that I suspect causes the thick feeling.

In addition to that thick feeling, another thing that makes me think of India ink or gel pens is the fact that when dry, it has the same gold glossy finish that you get with most India ink and gel pens. It’s not quite a sheen, like other fountain pen inks get. It’s just a full shine when the light hits it a certain way.

Other than those concerns stated above, and my usual misgivings about a company that steals designs, there’s not much to dislike. Especially for the price. I paid $6 USD for a 25ml bottle, and you can get it in larger sizes. I saw 30ml, 50ml, and 100ml bottles for sale. They also come in cartridges, but those are Chinese standard size, not Standard International, so they might not fit in your pens.

For that price, it’s hard to fault the quality. You might have to hunt on AliExpress to buy bottles, but if you’re on a tight budget, it might be worth it for you. For me, though, I have enough other black inks that concern me less. I won’t be getting more once I run out of the 25ml I purchased.