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I love the color blue, and I love writing with blue ink. Of the 8-13 pens that I have inked at any given time, at least half will be inked with a blue ink. Currently, I have about 30 different bottles of blue ink. There are scores of great reviews and comparisons of blue inks on FPN. Why another? Mainly because I felt like sharing this, but also to perhaps spark some interest in sharing your blue inks. Of the blues shown below, all but the Akkerman ink, I have a bottle of. Well, not quite, I just finished the bottle of Monteverde Caribbean Blue. These are not necessarily my favorite blues, but they are all very good inks. Qualities each of these inks share: All are medium to wet inks - Akkerman Cerulean Blue is the driest and J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche is the wettest All have some lubrication - Monteverde Horizon Blue seems to be the most lubricated and Akkerman Cerulean Blue seems to be the least All are well behaved in the several pens I have used them in. All are easy to clean. All are well behaved all on but the cheapest paper with no bleedthrough and minimal seethrough. Each of the colors are very pleasing to the eye. There is no offensive smell/odor (which I seem to be particularly sensitive to) Here is a quick comparison of several very nice blue inks: Monteverde Sapphire Blue (MSB), Monteverde Malibu Blue (MMB), Monteverde Horizon Blue (MHB), Monteverde Caribbean Blue (MCB), Akkermans Dutch Masters 01 Cerulean Blauw (ACB), Stipula Calamo Deep Blue (SCDB), J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche (JHBP) All samples are written on 68 GSM Tomoe River Cream Paper. The following is a scan, with photos thereafter. In terms of shading qualities, I find that Monteverde Caribbean Blue shades the most. J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche and Stipula Calamo Deep Blue also shade nicely. Of the Monteverde inks, Horizon Blue seems to shade the best. In terms of sheening qualities, Monteverde Malibu Blue wins. Of the Monteverde inks except Caribbean Blue show some sheen, along with Stipula Calamo Deep Blue. 1st line: Monteverde Sapphire Blue 2nd line: Monteverde Malibu Blue 3rd line: Akkerman Cerulean Blue 4th line: Stipula Calamo Deep Blue 5th line: Monteverde Horizon Blue 6th line: Monteverde Caribbean Blue 7th line: J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche So, share with me, both in photos and writing, what some of your favorite blues are.

I am enjoying some of my turquoise inks and thought I would share some thoughts about them. Here's a writing sample: This is done on Xerox UltraWhite copy paper. On this paper, the sheen of these inks does not show as readily as on Tomoe River or Clairefontaine papers. 1). Waterman South Seas (now Inspired Blue) - 9/10: This is one of my very favorite inks. It is one of those inks that works well in just about every fountain pen I have. It shades beautifully and has a lovely sheen on Tomoe River and Clairefontaine papers, and even on my Cambridge notebook paper. It is dries fairly quickly and cleans easily. It is very little water resistance, however. The ink does not feather or bleedthrough except on the cheapest papers, and does not readily showthrough. For those who like medium turquoise, this is a winner! 2). Franklin Christoph Spanish Blue - 8/10: This is one of my newest turquoise inks. It is just a bit bluer than Waterman South Seas or J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche. I first tried it my TWSBI Diamond 580 with medium nib. The ink flows very nicely and behaves very well. I then tried it in my Delta Capri Marina with broad fusion nib. This is a very wet pen and really shows off the beautiful shading with some sheen of this ink. The ink dries fairly quickly but, again, has little water resistance. I also like the fact that it doesn't feather or bleed through on inexpensive papers. 3). J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche - 7/10: This was one of the first turquoise inks which I purchased. I loved it then, and still love it today. Very reliable in almost every pen, it shades and sheens beautifully especially on Tomoe River paper. Like almost all of my inks, Bleu Pervenche has little water resistance. Unfortunately, of all the turquoises in this line up, it feathers and bleedsthrough the worst on cheap paper. 4). DeAtramentis Mint Turquoise - 7/10: This medium greenish turquoise is another lovely ink. It seems to be a bit drier than the others shown, particularly in my Lamy Al-Star. But it does behave well and shades very nicely on any paper I use it on. It dries fairly quickly, but has little water resistance. There is minimal feathering and bleedthrough on inexpensive papers. 5). DeAtramentis Steel Blue - 8/10: This is a lovely dark turquoise that behaves well in every pen I have used it in. Even in my driest pen, it lubricates and flows nicely. It is a little bit more work to clean than the others, however. Steel Blue takes a bit longer to dry on the paper, and does bleedthrough on inexpensive paper, but not excessively so. It does have a small amount of water resistance. I use this ink frequently for business purposes.