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This is a review of SKB Ink-220, what I call "Sky Blue" On my recent trip to Taiwan, I found a bottle of SKB Ink-220. SKB is one of the historic fountain pen manufacturers in Taiwan. The company was established in 1959 and at one time was one of the top 3 Taiwanese fountain pen manufacturers. While not widely known here in the US, they manufacture a wide range of fountain pens. While I am not certain if SKB produces their own fountain pen ink, they market it under their name. The ink comes in a number of colors. I was only able to obtain one - Ink-220. SKB Ink 220 comes in a very nice square glass bottle with a heavy plastic screw on cap. The bottle opening is a standard size, similar to DeAtramentis or J. Herbin bottles. The bottle is fairly deep and holds 30 mL of ink. I purchased the bottle for right around $7.00. According to one of my interpreters, SKB stands for: S = Smooth; K = Knowing; B = Beauty Here is my written review of the ink. The paper used for this review is Cambridge Executive spiral notebook paper - a reasonably smooth, less absorbent paper similar to HP copier paper: Positives: There is some water resistance, although the letters do spread as the paper dries. My sample was submerged for 5 minutes until the paper was fully saturated. The ink appears fairly resistant to water droplets or simple smearing. The ink dries fairly fast - even with a wet nib on Tomoe River paper. It cleans easily from the pen and converters without staining. Negatives: The color is too pale for EF nibs or possibly F nibs. There is some bleedthrough with broad or stub nibs on more absorbent papers. While SKB Ink 220 will likely not be in my regular rotation, it is well behaved, and will be an ink that I will use for special purposes.

I just ordered two of these SKB F20 and one of the SKB F19 pens on eBay. The F20 is $3.29US and the F19 is $2.98. I watched chrisrap52's YouTube video on the F19 and thought I'd give them a try. For these prices it will be a lovely surprise if they turn out to be nice writers but no biggie if they end up being tossable. I bought a pack of three Uniball rollerball fine points the other day for more than these three pens. I know they are plastic, but I like the colours and the clear feeds. I also like the F20 body style as it matches my Kaigelus and my Picasso. But mostly, I like that they have a blind cap that unscrews and has a silicone O-ring the seals the bottom and there are no metal parts in the section, so the converter can be tossed and these pens used as eyedroppers. The transparent version that chrisrap52 reviews is a little more expensive. I purchased one F20 in green and one in black, and one F19 in black. Here are the colour options for both pens: