Inks of Choice | Inks of Note

Blue

Diamine Majestic Blue

Diamine Ink released this new colour in the later partof 2009. I had to opportunity to try the in in December and it has quickly become one of my Inks of Note.

It is a very dark, saturated blue, almost a blue black but does not have the dullness that black tends to add to blue.

Generally the Diamine Inks have bery good flow, and this in is no exception. It flows freely from the variety of pens that I have been using. The sample to the right is with a Stipula Alter Ego with a 1.1 nib. As the samples show, good strong lines of ink, a little but of shading occuring. I have a heavy writer so a fair amount of ink is hitting the paper.

The ink has a good dry time, with the ink generally being dry within five seconds of being on the paper. With some of my pens, especialy those with large nibs, I notice that where my stroke ends, and the pen rests on the paper for a second, there is a litle more ink build up and that is where I would find any smear to occur. This is a characteristic of most of the inks that I use, it is a combination of my stroke, the weight I put on the nib and the size of the nib.

So I have delcared this "my blue" to now enter the new 2010 decade. When I look at the sample of Parker Penmen Sapphire Blue below, I think I have finally found the ink to replace that colour, a colour that was up to now, the ultimate blue for me.

Well done Diamine!

A full review of all Diamine colours is found on this site.

Iroshizuku - tsuki-you Moonlight)

Iroshizuku inks come in 17 different colours and Moonlight, is an exceptional blue ink that has instantly become one of my "Inks of Note".

The blue has a deep, saturated tone. It is one of those colours that has a presence on the page. It just nicely stands out, in a good way. Flow is very good. I have been using it mainly in pens with broad and stub nibs and the ink performs well.

There has been no feathering, regardless of the paper I have been using - although they are all good quality bonds or upper end office paper.

As the expanded scan shows, there is some nice shadding taking place on the strokes, but nothing that distracts from the overall appearance.

The bottles are also something for which you can expect to receive some comments. The ink comes in a 50 ml heavy glass bottle. It is tall and narrow which makes getting a large nib submerged in the ink easy. The bottle is heavy and there is a good feeling of stability. If you are filling piston pens, for example, then that means one hand can hold the pen while another twists the top to draw up the ink and you do not have to worry about a fragile or light bottle tipping over.

I have other samples on the Inks Page.

 

Parker Penmen Sapphire Blue

Here it is 2009, many years after Parker Penmen inks have stopped production and I still have a number of bottles of the ink left in my cupboard. I use this ink on special occasions.

It is the blue by which I measure so many other blues. A bold, dark, rich blue. It was an ink that was on the top of the discussion board topics. It was a hate-it or love-it type of ink. As you can guess, I was on the love-it end of the spectrum. I never have had problems with the ink, and with all the pens I rotate there were periods of time when Sapphire Blue would have just sat in a pen unused for over a month. No problems.

So the ink is no longer available but what I have remains one of my Inks of Note.

 

Visconti Blue

I had never used Visconti Ink until after my visit with Visconti in 2008. I was impressed with the company, and also impressed with their ink. The blue was a very pleasant surprise.

The blue is rich and bold. In fact, I found it very similar in a number of ways to my old favourite, Parker Penmen Sapphire Blue.

The ink has good flow, and since I started using it I have filled a range of my pens with the ink and it performances in the full range. Most of my nibs are broad or stuf, so I need an ink that will leave a good solid line without too much colour distortion. A little shadding is fine, but a consistent line of ink is one of the challenges of writing with broad nibs. There were no issues with this ink.

The added bonus was the ink bottle is well designed. When I first saw the bottle I was worried about stability. But in using the bottle now for more than a year I have had no issues.

There is a tall relatively narrow space for the entire nib to sit and draw up ink. Dante del Vecchio designed the bottle and good job!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aurora Blue

Aurora makes ink in two colours: blue, black. My comments on their black echo those of many users. The blue is a solid strong colour, and I enjoy using it, but there is a purple undertone to the blue.

Over the years I have used this ink in a number of different pens and it is consistently good in terms of its flow. The ink has a good drying time and it dries flat, with no stickiness that can be found with some inks so you can use this and not have a worry that a finger touching the ink some time later will result in a smear.

Here again, I like the bottle. It is tall and relatively narrow that this provides a good design to put a large nib into the ink and get a good fill with no air.

 

Waterman Florida Blue

This is a staple. If you are unsure what blue ink to buy, get this. If you have a pen that you are worried about inks and will the leave an ink stain, get Waterman Blue. it is consistently referred to by pen stores as one of the safer inks to use.

I enjoy this blue and my only complain is that over the years I have found some variance in the intensity of blues depending on the shipment.

I use this pen with a feeling of confidence that it will not stain the pen (for staining see my comments on inks such as violets/purples) and you can check out your convertor after a few months, does the plastic have a colour stain?

In terms of smooth flow, this is the ink I recommend to anyone that tells me they have a pen with flow issues. This ink makes any pen a great writer.

Montegrappa Blue

In 2009 I had the opportunity to visit the Montegrappa factory in Bassano del Grappa, Italy and I was also introduced to Montegrappa Blue ink.

First of all I really like the bottle. It is a octagon vertical bottle with a classy label. The vertical height of the bottle makes filling a pen with a big nib easier than some bottle designs.

Once your pen is filled, the blue has enough depth of colour to make it to my list of ink. There are purple undertones to the ink and in fact it is just about identical to Aurora Blue.