Tanzanite

[KCat]

Well, it's not a Wim quality/depth review but...

 

there was discussion about a good dark blue on PT the other day and someone suggest Tanzanite. To my eye, i couldn't see how Tanzanite could be considered a blue.

 

I decided to try it in various pens - hoping for some shading to show it's color range a little better and help me decide if it is a purple or a blue.

 

But, fortunately or unfortunately, the ink lived up to it's nickname as the "ex-lax of inks" and flowed freely out of all the pens I used. For the sake of comparison I wrote with a few other blue or purple inks. I'd say that Tanzanite is solidly halfway between a blue and a purple. But not either.

 

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t67/kcattx/tanzrvw.jpg

 

Purple Martin may be next. I expected it to be very like Tanzanite and instead it is very close to a burgundy mix I made many moons ago.

 

But first I gotta do something about all those pens with Tanzanite in them... considering I don't really *love* the ink. It's good for balky pens and it is okay, just not terribly pretty to my eye. still... it is unique and that's one of my criteria for choosing a blue-purple ink.

Edited August 20, 2008 by KCat

[wimg]

Hi KCat,

 

Nice to see the variation of this ink in different pens. Of course I didn't know that there was a tradition already, regarding reviews, but then, in this digital age everything goes faster, even for us Fountain Pen Nuts .

 

Anyway, you're setting new standards here: not only several pens with the same ink, but in addition several with a "similar" colour. Nice touch. I like it.

 

Thanks!

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Fulcanelli]

That's amazing, the color variations with different pens. I guess I haven't experimented enough...or I've been using black ink too often.

[philm]

Very Nice....never really sat back and thought of this ink as anything but a repair ink for balky feed systems. Thanks for the comparisons this morning.

[KCat]

That's amazing, the color variations with different pens. I guess I haven't experimented enough...or I've been using black ink too often.

well, i'm not seeing a lot of color variation with this ink. I'm sure because it is so free-flowing. I am going to put it in one of my osmiroids which is just hopelessly dry... and if there's any actual shading (i'm dubious) I'll post it here as well.

 

but the scanner does not show that are *some* small differences in color mostly when talking line width. in a wet broad line, the ink is a bit bluer to my eye. and in a dryer (but still not "dry") narrow line, it's purple-ness seems to come out better.

 

Is that what you're seeing?

 

black ink can show a lot of differences too - depending on the ink and the pen. Noodler's black may not show as much variation as some of the other "less saturated"* black inks.

 

*i hate using these terms because my training is that "saturated" is an absolute. Like pregnant. You can't be more or less. But it's the easiest way to express the concept in ink discussions unless someone can tell me a better expression.

[KCat]

Very Nice....never really sat back and thought of this ink as anything but a repair ink for balky feed systems. Thanks for the comparisons this morning.

yeah - that's about the only reason I bought it.

 

I'm finding however that it "matches" my Phileas NOS blue marble perfectly. This was not a balky pen so the line is quite wet but the body of the pen is just that "is it blue or is it purple" shade that makes Tanzanite unique and rather more enjoyable to use.

[Maja]

That's amazing, the color variations with different pens.  I guess I haven't experimented enough...or I've been using black ink too often.

well, i'm not seeing a lot of color variation with this ink. I'm sure because it is so free-flowing. I am going to put it in one of my osmiroids which is just hopelessly dry... and if there's any actual shading (i'm dubious) I'll post it here as well.

 

but the scanner does not show that are *some* small differences in color mostly when talking line width. in a wet broad line, the ink is a bit bluer to my eye. and in a dryer (but still not "dry") narrow line, it's purple-ness seems to come out better.

 

Is that what you're seeing?

 

Yep...and I've only used it in my gold-plated Redipoint FP, which lays down a very wet line, so I didn't see much purpleness 'til now. I did notice that PR Tanzanite takes a while to dry on the page, though!

 

Thanks for the scans, KCat--much appreciated!

[Ann Finley]

Isn't Tanzanite the color they called Blue Violet in the Crayola box? (At least it looks like it on my monitor.)

 

Ann

[John]

Tanzanite really is an oddball. In some pens I have tried it in I'd definitely call it purple, in others it comes out much bluer.

[AndrewW]

Tanzanite really is an oddball. In some pens I have tried it in I'd definitely call it purple, in others it comes out much bluer.

It always looked like a very dark blue in my broad-nibbed Sheaffer -- that's the main reason I stopped using it. The purple tones only really showed when writing on yellow paper. I also found that it had a strange metallic patina -- maybe due to the ingredients used for making this shade??

[*david*]

*i hate using these terms because my training is that "saturated" is an absolute. Like pregnant.  You can't be more or less. But it's the easiest way to express the concept in ink discussions unless someone can tell me a better expression.

"Saturation" is a completely different term in colour than it is in chemistry. In chemistry, yes, saturation is the precise point where no more x will dissolve in y - but in colour terminology the saturation of a sample is a numerical value on a scale from zero to some high number, corresponding (at least roughly) to what we mean with ink. So, probably no need to think of a new word - we may be slightly misusing this term, but at least we're not totally missing the point.

[KCat]

"Saturation" is a completely different term in colour than it is in chemistry. In chemistry, yes, saturation is the precise point where no more x will dissolve in y - but in colour terminology the saturation of a sample is a numerical value on a scale from zero to some high number, corresponding (at least roughly) to what we mean with ink. So, probably no need to think of a new word - we may be slightly misusing this term, but at least we're not totally missing the point.

Thanks David. You can see my chemist/biologist lean here, eh?

 

I'll be comfortable with it from now on then for use in this context.

 

chicken-egg question... which came first?

[Philip1209]

Does the ink come out more blue or purple in a (fine nib) Lamy 2000? I ask because the pen has a thick ink flow already.

[RLTodd]

FWIW, I have come to the unshakeable point that:

 

(1) the ink is purple.

 

(2) it needs to be diluted 3:1 with water.

 

(3) it is not a general purpose ink as Skrip (and most likely Watermans, Pakrers, Pelikan) Purple will work in more pens, on more surfaces of paper, with less problem.

 

 

[Limerick]

Tanzanite is a nice colour, but I think the ink was disappointing. I bought it because KCat's scans look so marvellous and because the ink is supposed to be very fluid, which is very important to me. Well, KCat just has wetter pens than I do and so in my pens the ink looks not as exciting as on the scan and much lighter than I have expected. And even not a bluish purple that I have expected, but a "true" violet. Only when I compare it to Waterman or Pelikan purple, I see the difference in blue, but that is somewhat disappointing.

 

I'll get DC Supershow soon and then I'll go mixing it with the blue, because I definitively wish the colour to be a bit "more blue".

[Viseguy]

I didn't used to think of Tanzanite as a blue, either, until I put it side-by-side with a purple (in this case, Purple Wampum). Here's a detail (yeah, that's ol' Ex-Lax on the left):

 

[TwilightFury]

I agree with RLTodd that it needs to be mixed with water. I love it then.

 

Interesting note: I find that while wet its purple but then dries to a bluish purple.