I hope your pens are thirsty for more sparkling ink! The pioneer of the shimmer craze, J. Herbin, introduces the next evolution of the Anniversary ink collection - the 1798 Amethyst de l'Oural.

In the year 1798, the French Revolution was ending, ushering in a new era of modern ideas and discovery. At the same time, the steel nib dip pen began to replace quill pens as the primary writing instrument. Herbin, the commercial establishment founded by Jacques Herbin in 1670, relocated to expand the production and influence of their sealing wax and inks.

Amethyste de l'Oural is the first in the new 1798 ink collection. The ink is inspired by the gemstone trade of the 16th and 17th centuries. Amethyst stones from Russia, Brazil and the island of Sri Lanka were eagerly sought after for the calming, meditative and lucid dream like qualities.

Fans of the 1670 Anniversary ink collection will want to continue on with this deep, rich purple that exhibits a silver sparkly sheen. The new 1798 ink bottle (50mL capacity) has a wider mouth for easier filling access.

Yay! One can finally fit a decent sized nib and section in the bottle now! This is a much needed improvement over the 1670 bottle design. Especially if you want to get the most out sparkle out of your ink (see swatch below).

In response to J. Herbin's success with shimmer inks, Diamine had created a lineup of shimmering fountain pen ink that included two purple shimmer inks - Lilac Satin and Purple Pazzazz. We took samples and compared these side by side with the J. Herbin Amethyste de l'Oural to show you the difference in hue and saturation.

The saturation of Jacques Herbin's Amethyste de l'Oural appears to be similar to Diamine's Purple Pazzazz, while having a purple hue that leans more bluish. The plummy Pazzazz has a gold shimmer while Amethyste exhibits silver shimmer. Diamine's Lilac Satin has the silver shimmer, but is also quite lighter in saturation and softer in hue.

Anyone who has written extensively with the 1670 anniversary inks can expect the same performance in terms of saturation, viscosity and behavior of the shimmer particles. The same advice would apply to the newest 1798 ink in that you should always shake the bottle before filling to ensure that you will get some sparkle in your fill. The ink is quite saturated, so you would do best to use a nib that writes wetter. To get the best effect, write using a pen that has a broad or stub nib that lays down a lot of ink.

For more tips on how to get the most satisfaction out of your J. Herbin Anniversary shimmer ink, read our article that offers several tips on enjoying them to their fullest.

Pre-Order the Jacques Herbin 1798 Amethyste de l'Oural so you can be the first to get a bottle when they arrive in the United States by September, 2017.

What do you think of the new anniversary ink? Please leave us your comments below and let us know if you'll be looking forward to this new color.