Wearingeul The Happy Prince — 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample

Hue: A muted, greyed slate blue with a dusty violet undertone in thinner passages. Retailers describe it variously as pastel blue or violet-blue; my swatches on Tomoe River read noticeably cooler, greyer and deeper than "pastel" suggests — closer to weathered blue-grey than to a soft sky blue. The written line is lighter and greyer still than the swabs.

Shading: Yes, medium. Clear light-to-dark variation across the swab bar and good contrast at the edges of pooled areas, where it drops to a dark navy-charcoal.

Sheen: None observed.

Shimmer: Gold, and heavily loaded. In the swabs it settles into thick bands that read as an aged, slightly olive-toned antique gold rather than a bright yellow gold, and it carries visibly into ordinary handwriting — the writing sample sparkles without needing a broad nib.

Flow: Medium, tending dry.

The interesting bit: Part of Wearingeul's Oscar Wilde series, made in South Korea under their ongoing "Colour of Literature" project, where each ink is built to hold a scene rather than just a shade. Wilde published The Happy Prince in 1888, in a collection written for his own two sons. The statue of the prince stands gilded and jewelled above the city until a swallow, at his request, strips the gold leaf away piece by piece to carry it to the poor — leaving him dull, grey and, in the eyes of the town councillors, shabby enough to pull down. The ink is that statue: cold blue-grey metal under gold leaf that's flaking off it.

This is a hand-decanted 4ml sample vial from my own bottle.
Photos are my own swatches on Tomoe River Paper.
I'm a collector and I'm always happy to talk ink, so please message me if you have any questions.