J. Herbin Émeraude de Chivor (sample)

This is the Whitney Houston of inks. The diva of all divas. Stunning to look at, behaves atrociously – yet rightly an icon you can't help but love.

To give you an idea of what this ink is like, it is the ink we used – in a flex nib – as our nuclear test when searching for the perfect writing paper. If it could hold up to Émeraude de Chivor in a flex nib without bleeding through to the other side, we figured it could stand up to anything.

This ink shimmers and sheens like its life depends on it. It's wet, badly behaved...and oh so stunning. It's not an ink you can use as a daily driver – it's not an ink you can use for many things, to be honest – but it's an ink every fountain pen lover must at least sample in their lifetime, as there's nothing else quite like it.