Kaweco Midnight Blue

Kaweco is a Germany based pen and ink manufacturer with a long history dating back to 1889. Kaweco make some of the most beloved pocket sized pens with their Sport series, which is usually found on “best starter pens” lists. The most recent iteration of the Kaweco pen company was launched in 1994, when Kaweco was purchased by a cosmetics company, Gutberlet GmBH.

The majority of the Kaweco pens take short international cartridges, due to their size, however Kaweco have also produced converters for these pens, with varying success. Along with these, Kaweco make a handful of inks, which are made in Australia.

I purchased one of these, Midnight Blue, when I was in my Blue Black ink obsession phase.

Kaweco Midnight blue is a lovely, well behaving, blue black ink that has a slight purple undertone. It seems to behave reasonably well on most of the papers I tried, including cheap photocopy paper. It doesn’t run wet or dry, it has a pretty average flow which makes it suitable for most nibs. It also cleans out of pens reasonably easily, for a dark blue black ink.

There’s a little bit of shading but its not as obvious as something like Iroshizuku Shin Kai which is bluer and less pigmented. I can see it in some of the writing samples, but its not overwhelming. There’s also no sheening that I can detect on any of the papers tested.

This lack of character makes Midnight Blue a little plain when compared to inks that are in fashion today. In that way, it’s the perfect, work appropriate ink for the conservative office. However, even in my blue black phase, it was a little plain and flat for my taste. 

To my eye, Lamy Blue Black, De Atramentis Benjamin Franklin and Diamine Prussian Blue are pretty similar to Kaweco Midnight blue, although the Kaweco has that extra purple tinge that I don’t see in the other three. All three options are less expensive per ml than the Kaweco.

Kaweco fountain pen inks come in a smaller sized bottle, at 30 mls, which makes it a good size if you want to try something new but don’t want to invest too much in a large bottle. There are 10 colours available in the series. For me, I find this particular ink well behaving if a bit plain. Its also pricey, compared to other options like Diamine, which has over 100 colours to choose from and is about a fifth of the price of Kaweco.