Inks of Choice | Inks of Note

Blue Black

I am a big fan ob blue black inks. I enjoy the rich dark blue tones on the page. It has never been one of those colour choices that after writing a page or so I have looked down and asked: "why did I choose that colour?" Seems I have had quite a few bottles of ink that invoke that question.

Hide   Show 350S-MB-Midnight Midnight Blue by Montblanc - 2010 Release 350S-MB-Midnight-Full There is almost a Black look to this ink when it dries on the paper. 350S-Waterman-Blue-Black Waerman Blue Black has more blue tones to the ink. 350S-Waterman-Blue-Black-Full Blue tones comes out on each stroke. 350S-MV-Waterman-BlueBlack Comparison: Montblanc on Top, Waterman on Bottom 350S-MV-Waterman-BlueBlack-Full Comparison: Montblanc on Top, Waterman on Bottom 350S-Noodler-Navy Noodler Navy Blue is a rich Blue Black 350S-Noodler-Navy-Full Noodler Nanvy Blue

 

Noodler's Navy

This ink, although called blue, is really a dark blue-black. The ink has a rich tone, and the under tone shades black nicely come out as the ink dries.

The Noodler ink bottles are tall and narrow and that makes filing a pen with a large nib a little easier than stubby-shaped bottles.

Rich in tone, and this ink flows with no hesitation. It dries on the paper in a short order so I have not had problems with it smearing and leaving a sticky feel to the ink.

 

 

 

Waterman Blue-Black

This is one of my staples. In fact, if I could only take one bottle of ink with me on a trip, this would most likely be the bottle that I would grab.

The Waterman ink bottle is a great design, the slanted sides allow you to have the bottle to safely lay on one of its sides to ensure that the nib is submerged in the ink.

The ink dries a slightly lighter tone and the blues come out as the ink dries.

My only cautionary note about this ink relates to consistency. I have picked up some bottles, from various production lots and sometimes the ink has been lighter than I would have preferred. That being said, overall, this is one of my favourite inks.

 

 

 

Montblanc Midnight Blue

This ink came out in 2010 and although up to now not that many of the Montblanc inks get into my ink of note catagory, I have found myself using this ink alot.

I find the ink writes on the paper in almost a mild black. When you look at the ink in the bottle you see the blue in the ink come out very clearly. But as it dries on the paper, black is more the tone.

Some of the characteristics of this ink result from it have iron gall content. It can be made from the tannic acid from oak galls - that is where it came from the 12th century, or more likely today from ferrous sulfate and gallotannic acid.

Iron gall inks would go onto the paper with a paler colour and then darken as it dries. Originally to a purplish black. And, this ink is a little more permanent in terms of holding to the paper.

Articles will be quick to point out that iron gall ink is not suitable for fountain pens due to corrosion. Montblanc notes there is some iron gall content to this ink, so we are not talking about full strength, and that is why you will not see dramatic colour change from when the ink hits the paper to when it dries, but do be aware of that characteristic of the ink. So my take is that \his ink has a corrosive content, not with gold nibs, but with other metals parts. The amount of gall content in the ink is not known, but noted by Montblanc.