Noodlers V-Mail North African Violet

[penguinmaster]

Disclaimer: This is a handwritten review with one pen. The color may not always match perfectly what you see in your pens or on your screen. I try very hard to color match as much as I can with my reviews, but I cannot account for all variables. If there are huge discrepancies please discuss in the thread!

 

The complete series of inks is up for review at my site: Pens and Ink Check them out. Over the next few days I'll have them all up on FPN as well, I'm just trying to abide by the 3 a day limit!

 

http://facstaff.uww.edu/pellizzt/ink%20reviews/Noodlers%20V-Mail%20North%20African%20Violet.jpg

[GardenWeasel]

Beautiful color - I just (this afternoon) did a cleanup from using this ink in my new-to-me Waterman LeMan 200. My convertor is no longer clear, but a greenish-blue. It's soaking in water now. I'm not sure whether this is some kind of reaction to whatever the previous owner had in the convertor, or does this ink stain?

 

Regardless - it is a gorgeous color!

[Mongo]

I've been spending a week with each of the V-Mail inks in all of the pens I use during the week. When I finished up the week with North African Violet, I was sure that it had stained the converter in my Levenger True Writer. It hadn't...it just took more work to get the color out than I expected.

 

I generally clean pens with a dozen fills of water, then a dozen fills of an Ammonia solution, and then a dozen more with water. I had to add another cycle of Ammonia and then a final water cycle, but the converter was back to clear when I finished. (This wasn't nearly as hard as getting Diamine Majestic blue out of various pens...that takes real work.)

 

-- Dave

[GardenWeasel]

I've been spending a week with each of the V-Mail inks in all of the pens I use during the week. When I finished up the week with North African Violet, I was sure that it had stained the converter in my Levenger True Writer. It hadn't...it just took more work to get the color out than I expected.

 

I generally clean pens with a dozen fills of water, then a dozen fills of an Ammonia solution, and then a dozen more with water. I had to add another cycle of Ammonia and then a final water cycle, but the converter was back to clear when I finished. (This wasn't nearly as hard as getting Diamine Majestic blue out of various pens...that takes real work.)

 

-- Dave

 

Glad to hear that! Mine is still soaking - and the water is very blue! hmmmm...guess I could just dedicate this convertor to this ink!!

[HDoug]

I like this ink, but for information I'd like to note a couple of peculiarities. It wouldn't flow in my Pelikan M620. This pen has had all kinds of Noodler's bulletproof/eternals in it and it just wouldn't flow through this pen. Dunno why -- even after a complete flush/rinse. I put Noodler's Nakahama Manjiro (the ink, not the man) back in and it's flowing fine again. But NAV does flow well in my Lamy AL-Star, which is generally a drier writer. Once again, dunno.

 

It also stained my stainless steel sink and took a pretty vigorous scrubbing to get clean again. I tried mixing it with Violet Vote and that combination completely plugged the Pelikan (didn't try it in anything else) and stained the glass bottle! That took some work, but the stain is gone. But not the thrill. Will continue to use this pen despite these idiosyncrasies because of its vibrant color and water resistance.

 

Doug

 

 

[AlejoPlay]

I'm having the same issues with this ink--clogging, staining, etc.

 

It's weird because Noodler's Bulletproof Black is nowhere near this finicky. And I've discovered it does not like to be mixed (at least with Waterman). It dried out my Waterman Kultur and makes my Parker 45 a hard starter. It likes a Hero 329 a lot and I've put it in a Pilot Knight that will write really well and then just stop.

[Jared]

This looks like Waterman Purple to me...but I can't do a sample check at the Goulet Swab Shop because they don't sell Waterman ink (strangely enough).

[jpnyc]

While this is an old thread, it's still linked to on the ink reviews section, so I assume it's a place people might end up looking for information on this ink.

 

NAV has badly stained every steel surface it has come into contact with (my sink, the section on my Lamy 2000, etc.). However, the neon purple dye stain dissolves very readily in 70% isopropyl alcohol. Obviously don't put that stuff in your pen, get it into contact with the plastic on your pen, etc., but it works very well for pure steel.

 

Also, the flow characteristics seem a bit finicky (I've only used NAV for about a day of work), but not nearly as bad as some of my other more niche Noodler's inks.

 

This ink does not actually look like Waterman Purple, despite very similar looking internet swabs. It's considerably more saturated and has much more blue in the purple, although not enough that I'd call it blurple.

Edited April 17, 2014 by jpnyc

[amberleadavis]

I really like NAV and I love it mixed with Midway Blue.

 

No other purple is really like it. Here are some samples.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink_Companies/Noodlers/slides/2012-02-25_01_NAV.jpg

[amberleadavis]

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink_Companies/Noodlers/slides/2013-01-13-NAV-Doodle_1.jpg

[amberleadavis]

The closest I have found it Concord Grape.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink_Companies/Noodlers/slides/Concord_Grape.png

[WOBentley]

NAV is a favorite of mine...an awesome color with good flow and lubrication.

[jpnyc]

 

This ink does not actually look like Waterman Purple, despite very similar looking internet swabs. It's considerably more saturated and has much more blue in the purple, although not enough that I'd call it blurple.

 

I have to correct myself here. I found an old notebook in which I had written with both waterman purple and NAV with the same pen, and I could just barely tell the two apart. NAV was slightly more vibrant and blue, but one has to strain to tell any difference.

 

So, in general, if one wants a vibrant blue, he might take Waterman for better ink behavior and NAV with more finicky behavior (and staining) but good water resistance.

Edited May 12, 2014 by jpnyc

[inkstainedruth]

I don't have Waterman Purple, but NAV is very similar in color to Private Reserve Purple Mojo. PRPM is a bit softer in color, but dries a little faster.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[archimom]

I recently got a sample of this ink and really like the color. But I have been doing short term UV tests (two weeks in my SoCal window) to all my new sample inks and have found that this does not hold up well when exposed to light (like every other ink I have found with 'violet' in the name). I have tried Omas Violet, Diamine Lavender and Violet, Violet Pensee, Sheaffer Violet, Pelikan 4001 Violet, and Waterman's Purple. Of those, only the Waterman Purple holds up for more than a day in the window. The others fade significantly the first day and disappear within a week. I discovered this by posting up some notes written in Pelikan 4001 Violet in my office with a skylight. I am not so concerned with water resistance as I am with fading.

 

I really like the color and want an Ink that would be appropriate for use in a piston fill pen. I.E. An ink where I won't want/need to take it apart and scrub out the feeds every fill.

 

Any suggestions?

[amberleadavis]

Glad you asked. You can read the threads with my Fade Experiments, or see oodles of pages here:

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Tests/Fade/index.html

 

This link has the most comprehensive pictures.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Tests/Fade/2012/Subjects/slides/19-2012_10_29.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Bright purple is a problem child even in ballpoints.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Tests/Fade/2012/Subjects/slides/26-2012_10_29.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Diamine Bilberry fades to black.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Tests/Fade/2012/Subjects/slides/62-2012-10-14_001.jpg

 

PR Super Show DC Violet fades to Red

 

BUT look at Levenger (Amethyst fades) but Regal which I don't think of as purple, does not fade.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Tests/Fade/2012/Subjects/slides/119.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Noodler's KTC never fades.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Tests/Fade/2012/First_Tests/2012-Exp2/slides/2012-07-06-exp2_06.jpg

[archimom]

Wow! Thank you soo much! I am not so wild about the grey-ness of Kung te Cheng, but perhaps will try La Reine mauve and Levenger Regal.

 

Thank you for posting all that. It is really great information.

 

am