Col-o-Ring
Description[edit]
The Col-o-ring is a stationery product of ring-bound paper cards used for testing ink colors and other properties. The form factor allows for for easy storage, transport, reorganizing, and comparison of inks. The Col-o-ring was created by Ana Reinert and her husband Bob Atkins as a collaboration between Well-Appointed Desk and Skylab Letterpress. The original product is sold with 100 sheets of paper, but, the ring-binding allows for easy reordering, and even adding more sheets to the ring.
The Col-o-ring debuted in March 2017 at the Arkansas Pen Show.[1] Stationery enthusiasts and reviewers have used them to help document larger collections of inks for quick reference, and brought them to pen shows to quickly test colors from the show against inks in peoples' collections.
Ana and Bob meticulously tested paper products since October 2016, finally deciding to use a distributor local to Kansas City, Missouri for the paper from a 400-year-old European mill.
The paper was rigorously tested to ensure that inks would not feather, bleed or show through. Inks can be tested with fountain pen, glass pen, dip pen, swabs or paintbrush on the front or back of the sheet.[2]
The product is considered a very good replacement for the Maruman Mnemsyne Word Book, which has very similar specifications but it no longer in production.[3]
Additional Products[edit]
The Col-o-ring line was expanded with the Col-o-Dex, a rolodex form factor, which was introduced at the Arkansas Pen Show in March 2018. An accessory pack for the Col-o-Dex offers tabbed cards to help divide and organize the swatches.
Reception[edit]
Specifications[edit]
- 2"x4" with die-cut rounded corners
- 100 sheets of 100#/160gsm European paper from a 400-year-old mill
- Acid-free bright, natural white paper
- Slightly toothy paper but not enough to catch even the sharpest dip nib
- Sturdy chipboard covers letterpress printed with a crisp application of "afterburner" black
- Handy split ring so pages can be removed, rearranged and reinserted as needed
References and Notes[edit]
- ↑ Original announcement post on Well-Appointed Desk https://www.wellappointeddesk.com/2017/03/coming-soon-col-o-ring-ink-testing-books/
- ↑ Statement from the product page http://wellappointeddesk.bigcartel.com/product/col-o-ring-ink-testing-book
- ↑ Unsharpen.com - Col-o-ring Ink Testing Book Review