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Hi folks, I've done some snooping around reviews and threads and can't seem to find the info. for which I'm looking. Basically, I'm looking for the perfect (or 'pur'-fect purple) ink. I know what works for me, but I can't seem to find one ink that comes close on enough of the characteristics. I figured I'd throw this out to the ink-brain trust and see what y'all think. Here's the short version: I like the properties of NAV and the color of Diamine Majestic Purple. Here's the long version: For many of its properties, Noodler's North African Violet feels great to me: limited feathering and bleed through, water resistant, relatively fast drying and a great flow. But (there's always a but) ... once it's dry it's hard for me to tell the difference (at a glance) between it and BSB in terms of color. This is relevant to me because I color-code my notes, lists and various other scribblings. Sparingly, I love using BSB - there's no other blue quite like it. Here's the rub: I've found a purple with a great color for me: Diamine Majestic Purple. But I'm not a big fan of its properties. If I want to use cheaper paper, it's great if I want to make bleeding art (pun intended). Dry time is okay, but it feels like the very definition of NOT water resistant. The nice part about that is that it's easier to clean but if my hand is even damp, my nearly illegible writing will be completely unreadable - even to me. A friend of mine, before leaving the country, gave me what was left of her bottle of Purple Martin. I have plenty of that - almost a half-bottle - but smudges like crazy on ink-resistant paper, seems to take a while to dry and (again) lacks much water resistance. I'm not sure what to do with the rest of my bottle of that. For now, I've just set it aside - might do a PIF of Purple Martin samples at some point. I buy ink twice a year. Usually, it's purchase ... test ... purchase again ... wait for next year. Now is one of those times and I'm stuck on my purple conundrum. I'm putting in an order to replenish some of my dwindling stock. It's not that I don't have an ink acquisition disorder. It's more that I simply can't afford one, so I set aside money as I use at a rate a little faster than I use. Oh yeah, that's the other thing. I'm on a shoestring budget. Really. I thought about buying a bottle of NAV and then adding some pink to it, but I've never tried anything like that and would hate to buy a bottle for naught. My current thinking is including a small bottle of (Diamine) imperial purple with my semi-annual order to GPC. It's properties are closer to what I need (not as good as NAV) and the color stands out a bit more (compared to NAV) but it's still a little dark. Or maybe try a few more samples. But which ones? What say you? This topic may have been covered before in another thread. If so, point me in the right direction and away I'll go. Thanks to all. ps. Apologies for the typos, rambling narrative, etc.

Here is a brief handwritten review of Diamine Majestic Purple Ink. It is difficult to display the true color of this ink. It has a vibrancy to it but it is definitely not searing bright. It is a medium purple with pink undertones. (When diluted it is a pretty pink color.) I think it is a very nice medium purple and very easy to read. As noted in my review, this ink appears much darker in a wetter pen (like the Ahab) as well with broader nibs (I have tried a stub 1.1 and 1.5) http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1d/06/3b/1d063b5d998b929012ff08e3d774563a.jpg More detailed photos are here: http://tessymoon.wix.com/tessymoon#!fountain-pen-love/cp8t