Jacques Herbin - Rouge Hematite

Jacques Herbin - Rouge Hematite - ink drop

Today’s ink, Rouge Hematite, is part of the 1670 series of gold shimmer inks. Released in 2010, it helped mark Jacques Herbin’s 340th anniversary. The name Rouge (red) Hematite (an iron ore commonly used to make red pigments) perfectly reflects the ink’s powerful base color.

Visually, this ink is a potent elixir! The base color is a rich, heavily saturated, powdery, mid-to-dark candy red. It shades lighter and darker, with subtle hints of rusty browns and green undertones. Areas of pooling ooze a rich, oily, green-gold sheen, which can also be seen as a wide halo edging on strokes. A deep, yellow gold shimmer is evenly distributed throughout strokes, as well.

Jacques Herbin - Rouge Hematite - shades

As a writing ink, Rouge Hematite does quite well despite carrying so much. It was flawless on all five test papers, including office copy! Of the premium papers, Rhodia and Kokuyo were best, with the sharpest profiles and darkest halo sheen. Kokuyo dried the fastest, but all four premiums were 20-30 seconds. There was some shading and tons of sheen. Office copy wasn’t as sharp, but was still very good, and dried in 10-15 seconds.

Jacques Herbin - Rouge Hematite - ink swatch card

Jacques Herbin Rouge Hematite requires some caution. It has the potential to create quite a mess, and possibly stain pens. Strict hygiene practices are needed. With inks like this, I ink a pen, write, and clean it out when finished. Rolling your pen as you hold it keeps shimmer in suspension, and that helps avoid clogged feeds.

In the right pen, Rouge Hematite is a beautiful combination of colors and effects, but it can also overwhelm. I recommend using it with caution and respect, but definitely it should be enjoyed!

November 2020