Levenger Cobalt Blue

[dizzypen]

I just filled my Estie with this ink and thought I might as well post a review of it. I know that there have been some disparaging remarks about this ink on the forums, but I happen to like it quite a bit. It's a nice rich dark blue. It's hue is true to its name; it reminds me most of cobalt colored glass. It does have a couple drawback: it feathers on poorer quality paper and will smear on coated papers like some of the laser jet papers.

 

I will say that it stained one of my pens, but I'm inclined to blame the pen rather than the ink. It is one of those Chinese squeeze filler pens. The clear sac is now blue tinted, but this is the only staining I have seen. I have put this ink through every pen I own and it has not stained any other pens or converters and it is not terribly difficult to wash out of a pen.

 

The info:

Will feather on poorer quality papers

Will bleed through a little bit on poorer papers and a lot on thinner papers, but is just fine on good quality papers like Rhodia etc.

It flows readily and lubricates well.

It has a measure of water resistance, but not much.

Heavily saturated; may stain clear sacs

 

http://images49.fotki.com/v1494/photos/4/1482744/7318469/Cobaltcard-vi.jpg

 

I happen to like the way this ink looks on ivory paper:

http://images49.fotki.com/v1495/photos/4/1482744/7318469/cobaltonivory-vi.jpg

Edited May 6, 2009 by dizzypen

[amh210]

Nice review!

 

Levenger Cobalt Blue is my favorite blue ink despite its challenges. It is very saturated and quite slow to dry on most papers. I find that using it in a pen with a Fine or X-Fine nib works best as it limits the amount of ink available to smear.

 

Andy

[Inka]

Cobalt Blue was my first bottled Levenger ink, still @ 3/4 full and sitting on my desk.

I love the Levenger bottles with the inner dip well, plus the shape of them looks nice to me.

Cobalt Blue is a beautiful color, has some very dark blue-purple hues to it on some paper types.

If you don't need a permanent ink, this is one nice choice that I would buy again when I run out.

Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[Dave Johannsen]

Just to add my two cents...

 

I just got a bottle of this ink in a trade - it's my first exposure Levenger's ink. The ink is really a nice very saturated dark blue with some purple'ish overtones (though it's not a purple ink, like PR Black Magic Blue). This ink flows really well in all three pens that I've filled (it's one of the more free flowing inks that I've used). The wet writing does mean that the ink tends to feather a bit on photocopier paper (the backside of previously used pages is my writing staple) and it makes nibs run a bit more broad than they normally do. The drying time is maybe a bit on the slow side, though given how wet the ink writes this is not a huge surprise. All-in-all, my experiences match pretty well those of the previous reviewers. If you like the color and want a wet ink, then the mild feathering is not really a major drawback.

 

 

Dave

[OrchidUnicorn]

I have this ink and love it! I have not had any feathering problems, but I tend to use this ink for my journals and some note taking and I tend to favor heavier good quality paper for both tasks. It does dry slower than some, but what I like is it seems to retain sort of a wet look even after it is dry.

 

Lashelle

[Ed Ronax]

Nice review, a very interesting shade of blue.

[ajcoleman]

Nice review! I really like this shade of blue, and I didn't have any problems on the paper I used it with, but I got it cartridges, and I tended to get vapor lock with them. Air would get trapped in the bottom of the cart and block the ink flow. I regularly had to flick it to get it going again. Maybe worth trying in a bottle sometime.

[Ondina]

I agree with Johansen's views, saturated, but flows well and looks very nice. Many thanks for the review, Dizzy.

[Lloyd]

I've successfully mixed this ink with Pilot Blue (1:1) to make it 50% water-resistant and quicker drying.

[tonybelding]

I tried this ink a long time ago and disliked it intensely. I didn't like the feathering, and I didn't like the purple-tinted hue. (I like the Levenger ink bottle, though. It's my second favorite bottle after Parker Penman.)

 

Ironically, Baystate Blue is starting to grow on me now, even though it has some similar traits.

[lapis]

Thanks for the review.

One of my favourite 3-4-5 dark blues.

I just recommended it elsewhere a few minutes ago, before reading your review.

Feathering and bleeding never realy bothered me, I'm more interested in the good flow and low maintenance.

 

Mike

[jomielll]

I just got this as my first experience of Levenger inks, and I love the blue color. It's a bit more saturated, slightly darker, and more purple than J. Herbin eclat de saphir. It has slight water resistance; when I rinsed under the tap the blue washed off, leaving a grayish blue-black on the page. Unfortunately, it feathers on cheap copy paper and has a bit of showthrough even in my Pilot F nib, so it's not so great for work use. Looks wonderful on nicer papers though, and a lovely blue color I haven't seen in other inks.

[KCat]

  On 1/13/2011 at 7:47 PM, jomielll said:

I just got this as my first experience of Levenger inks, and I love the blue color. It's a bit more saturated, slightly darker, and more purple than J. Herbin eclat de saphir. It has slight water resistance; when I rinsed under the tap the blue washed off, leaving a grayish blue-black on the page. Unfortunately, it feathers on cheap copy paper and has a bit of showthrough even in my Pilot F nib, so it's not so great for work use. Looks wonderful on nicer papers though, and a lovely blue color I haven't seen in other inks.

 

this was my second blue after Aurora and I adored this ink. Yes, it can get concentrated in the pen and become a bit "smeary" over time so you do need to use a Cobalt-inked pen daily, IMO. But what a gorgeous dark blue. I tried to go to Midnight Blues (PR) for a cheaper version and just wasn't ever happy with the latter. A little more purplish.

 

So, I have a small amount of Cobalt left that I still play with now and then but I'm kinda over heavily saturated inks for the time being. But if you're patient with this ink, it is well worth savoring it's beauty. I am surprised some have experienced feathering and assume that the formula has changed somewhat since 10 years ago when I purchased mine. My Cobalt did not feather or bleed but my Amethyst and Cocoa did so excessively. Especially on Levenger paper!

[fjf]

The sad thing is that this one is not available in Europe.

 

However, from these scans I think that Diamine majestic blue comes close.

Edited January 14, 2011 by fjf

[jsonewald]

For color this is one of my favorite blues. It ranks very close to Penman Sapphire in my best blue list. For general ink behavior, it is not. The drying time and smearing, especially being a lefty, led to it being one of the dusty bottles in my collection.

[jomielll]

It might just be my paper, at our office we use 30% recycled 20lb paper and cheap composition notebooks. I guess I should have quantified that the feathering is really not that bad and my Decimo F oddly has a tendency to write very wet like a semiflex nib. Showthrough is also acceptable. Actually I feel the ink quality is similar to Noodler's Heart of Darkness: very lubricating, very wet, and great to use for fast writing with a fine nib.

 

Cobalt Blue is such a great blue that as I go on using it it's really growing on me more and more. It's a very nice statement blue that stands off the white page. Strangely it is the same color as my Pyrex tupperware lid...?

[FloridaMike]

I've been using Levenger Cobalt Blue for years now, primarily for signatures,and I find that when it dries the color darkens to a near-black with hints of red tones. I'm moving on to other blues for while, because the long drying time and the color change don't suit me.

 

Thanks for the review!

[PhxPiper]

Have this ink and enjoy the colour- however i always know that by end of day I will have some writing smeared on my hand due to the slower dry time- just need to be a bit more diligent when using this ink and on what paper i use it on- Post-it note are a fail, but on the bond paper i use- the colour just resonates. Very good point to use this particular ink with either a fine point or extra- does not allow for "wet" writing as much.

[colrehogan]

I currently have some of this ink in my MB Boheme BB nib. Writes like a dream! I do get the occasional smear. In fact, I was writing in a journal earlier this week and one of my cats decided to step on the spot near the bottom of a page where I had just written the last word of a sentence. Needless to say, I had to re-write the last word, but then continued on with no problems.

[Lloyd]

I use this ink mixed 1:1 with Pilot Blue for a nice, reasonably quick drying ink with good water resistance.