Kobe Hummingbird ($35 for 50ml bottle) is a collaboration between Vanness Pen Shop and Nagasawa Kobe inks. The color was inspired by the Arkansas hummingbird plumage and came about when Lisa Vanness was speaking with the team at Nagasawa Kobe and discovered that hummingbirds do not exist in Japan. So to share the love of these tiny birds fueled by sugar with the world, this vibrant green ink was created.
The color is a vivid green with moderate sheen. It will be noticed most often on Tomoe River, with wider nibs but may not be as noticeable on other papers or with finer nibs.
I like to test and experiment with inks in a few different ways including using a waterbrush for the title to see the undertones and the range of light and dark qualities of the ink. Hummingbird is definitely green with a slight lean to blue with a reddish pink sheen. In writing (using a Pilot Metropolitan F Nib) the color is a solid evergreen-ish green that is legible with a little shading.
Since this is a Kobe Ink, it is a Sailor ink under the hood so it is smooth and well-made.
Comparing to other inks:
I was surprised to find that I have a lot of inks that are in the similar hue with various amounts of sheen. I’d say that Coloverese Shrodinger is the closest but its slightly more yellow in its undertone. November Rain from Diamine is a ittle darker but in the same color hue and more sheeny. Vinta Kayangan Elysium and Lamy Crystal Peridot are both darker but the same base hue.
I also found a couple shimmer inks in the same color range: Dromgoole’s x Monteverde Cathedral Grove (gold sheen) and Ferris Wheel Press Misguided Mistletoe (silver shimmer, I think. I couldn’t see much of the sheen in this swatch).
Final Comments:
I love Sailor inks and Kobe inks still come in the plentiful 50ml bottles which I like. I love the story behind this ink but I do have to admit that I have a lot of similar greens in my collection. I either need to start using these up or make some choice about which bottles stay and which go. If you don’t already have one of these other inks in a similar green, then I would recommend Hummingbird as a great addition but if you are like me with a foolish amount of green ink, I’d think twice about it just so that you don’t have multiple bottles of essentially the same color.
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