There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
My most commonly used inks tend to be French made Parker Quink or Waterman. Either can be found in 50ml bottles for under $10 easily. They are often considered some of the safest inks, and I use Quink Blue-Black the most. In my modern pens, I use mostly Japanese inks (Pilot Iroshizuku) or other European brands (Diamine ink from UK, Lamy/Monteverde from Germany/Austria).
Many like Diamine ink, and I only like the Oxblood for it's color and that it works with my 1.1 Italic Nib for my Lamy Safari. Otherwise, I find the Diamine inks to feel like you are writing on a (google time) slate? Is that the correct word? You know the black or dark green board you had to write on with with chalk crayons with in school? Sorry, not a native speaker and some words are just really off for us. Still - I get that feeling especially on Rhodia paper, but even with Clairfontaine, Leuchturm or even Moleskin - it's like it just adds friction to the pen.
Right now I like the J.Herbin for its hues and easy flow. Sailor Jentle Inks, Pilot and for the lower cost inks I absolutely love the KWZ inks. :)