J Herbin Bleu Calanque — Ink Review #194

 

J Herbin Bleu Calanque

 

Ink Review # 194

 

Originally posted on FPN: Jul 17, 2025 

 

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🧾 Description

Ink: Bleu Calanque

Brand: Jacques Herbin

Country: France

Available: 10 ml and 30 ml bottles and cartridges in most stationery stores and online.

Pens Used: Pilot F3A EF, Lamy (EF/F/M/B/stub 1.1), Osmiroid Copperplate.

 

This ink is a happy turquoise, great for summertime, when one’s soul yearns for the sea.

It is wet, well lubricated, and a pleasure to use. There’s some shading and a faint sheen on Iroful. 

 

It’s not suitable for copy paper. It ghosts and bleeds through like a bad horror movie. :)

 

This ink, along with Bleu des Profondeurs, is one of the more recent additions to J. Herbin’s classic fountain pen ink lineup. It’s a gorgeous, well-behaved turquoise with excellent flow and generous lubrication — wetter and smoother than most Herbin inks.

The ink is named after the Calanques, a series of steep-walled limestone inlets along the southern coast of France, between Marseille and Cassis. This protected seascape is known for its dazzling turquoise waters and rugged cliffs.

 

Fun fact: the wreckage of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s plane — the author of The Little Prince — was discovered off the coast of Marseille in the Calanques region in 2000, solving one of France’s most famous literary mysteries.

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 🧪 Chroma

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 ✍️ Writing Samples (scan)

JEF stands for Japanese EF nib.

Rhodia / Iroful

Midori /Tomoe River 68gsm

 

Hammermill 20lb

 

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 📸 Photo

Rhodia, Iroful, Hammermill 

Midori / Tomoe River 68 gsm

Close-up (Iroful – Rhodia)

 🔍 Comparison
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 💧 Water Test

 

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 🎨 Artwork

A Dragon is Born
Kala Nostalgia Abstraction Moonlight Tide, KWZ Orange, and J Herbin Bleu Calanque.



If I Were a Sardine...

Inktober yearlong challenge: 2025 Sardine
I imagined a story about a sardine and a tuna, influenced by a lost fiddle in the sea, imagining different storylines (think 'If I Were a Rich Man...'), before being caught by a trawler and transformed into cans of fish. A bit dark, but such is life. 
Inks used: J Herbin Bleu Calanque, Bouton d'or, Kaweco Stormy Grey, and Tintenlabor Goldrausch for outlines; silver marker. Paper: Strathmore. Note: A little Stormy Grey was mixed into the deeper blue areas.

Mask

Inks used: De Atramentis Document Brown and J Herbin Bleu Calanque.

 

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- What I Liked: Fresh, happy turquoise, which takes me on a trip to Southern France. 

- What I Did Not Like: Lack of water resistance.  

- What Some Might Not Like: Longish dry times on Japanese paper. 

- Writing Experience: Gorgeous. 

- Pros: Lovely vacation ink, easy to clean.

- Cons: Not waterproof. Doesn’t like copy paper.  

 🧷 Ink Characteristics

- Shading: Yes

- Ghosting: Yes, on copy paper. 

- Bleed Through: Same as above. 

- Flow Rate: Wet

- Lubrication: Excellent. 

- Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. 

- Start-up: Great. 

- Saturation: Nope. 

- Sheen: Very faint. 

- Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Yes, on copy paper.  

- Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice.

- Staining (Pen): No

- Clogging: No.

- Cleaning: Easy

- Water Resistance: None

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 💬 Closing

There are too many turquoises. This is a good bet for journaling on good paper. However, its lack of water resistance could be problematic.  

 

No fountain pens were hurt in preparing this review. 😉

 

Please don’t hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments — the more the merrier. 😊

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