Parker Penman Sapphire - Bottle

[Mercian]

On 3/31/2010 at 5:18 AM, Sandy1 said:

 

Kindly adjust the brightness & contrast of your monitor to accurately depict this Gray Scale.

As the patches are neutral gray, the colour on your monitor should also be neutral.

 



 



 

https://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/FPN047.jpg

 

 

Higher Resolution Scan - taken from blocked text on page 1.

Intended to show feathering and shading.



 

 
 

 

Paper: Clairefontaine 'Triomphe' - Page 1.

Swabs:

 

• Waterman 'Florida Blue'.
• Parker 'Penman Sapphire'.
• Private Reserve 'American Blue'

 

This Review is mostly to show how PPS is or is not changing over time. The nearly-full bottle is sound - no crud on the threads. The ink is transparent & clear. There was no sediment, slime, floaters or swimmers. No strange smells were noticed. So the ink does not show gross physical deterioration. It seems that preservation is due, in part, to the use of a solid plastic seal/liner in the cap - no cheap coated bit of cardstock that top-tier ink makers (you know who, Pilot!) still get away with. The writing experience is beyond mere words. I am using the same pen & nib that I used when I 1st used this ink: a Parker Duofold with a factory stock 18K -M- nib. |||///=@ ^. Nothing rare or exotic. As some may know, I usually include of a number of pens in my Reviews. This shall be an

 

Paper: G Lalo 'Verge de France' - Page 2.

 

exception as I don't feel like expending ink on [feed] floods & clean-up. Oh this is the white G. Lalo with an off-white warm base tint. This paper 'swallows' the luster of this ink. Perhaps it'll look better when the ink dries.

* I wanted to mention that there's been attempts to replicate this ink. I salute those who have slaved over the mixing cauldrons & vats. I think that intangibles of this ink make it so unique. Properties that I rather doubt will or can be conveyed in a mere scan: rather akin to photographing an oil painting.

 

Paper: Rhodia unlined; #18 pad - Page 3.

 

Now we have the unlined Rhodia, taken from their #18 pad. So it may not be 100% equivalent to papers that are printed with various lines.

So let's do some Ink review stuff:

Smear Test: No smear at 12 seconds. [Pool at the end of the downstroke finally dried]

Flow: A bit wet.

Nib Dry-out: OK starting after ten minutes with cap off. Ink darker.

Bleed/Feather: Neither on 3 papers. [sic Actually 4: I wrote on the back of a one-a-day calendar page, with the JRR Tolkien quotation; and my less lucid graffito.]

Saturation: Quite high.

Shading: Little if any (with this nib.)

 

I think this ink is becoming rare, as people are writefully using it for max. effect, I hope. But just because the ink is holding up well, is no reason to hoard it.

 

Drawn Swatch : Parallel lines from the review pen.

Scanner Densitometer: Generated from the Drawn Swatch - Red 92; Green 103; Blue 178; Luminosity 115.

Swirlies : From the back of a dip pen nib. Intended to show range of possible densities from this ink.

 

Soapy Soak : Not shown - nothing left.

Rain Drop : Barely there.

 

Uses:

- Business: Might be used for Internal correspondence. Signatures.

- Personal: Definitely. Animated. Classy thrills. Can be used for friendly correspondence between opposite genders without imposition.

- Billet Doux: Love to get one written in this ink.

- Scarlett Johansson has this ink in her pen. Please, click me.

 

My penmanship remains dreadful. Ah me.

Not even an exquisite ink & pen can disguise that train wreck.

 

 

-30-
 

 

Note:

I still have some ink left in the pen, so if you want me to include anything else, please let me know soonest.

Bye,

S1

 

Ink Review : Parker Penman Sapphire. March 29-30, 2010. By Sandy1

 

 

 

 

I have appended this post in order to ‘recover’ those of Sandy1’s original images for this review that I could still access.
Do, please, click on the ‘Expand’ prompt above.

 

At time-of-posting, the link that is still shown to Photobucket was not returning an image. Desolé.

 

Slàinte,
M.

[SamCapote]

The worst thing about this review is that Sandy is no longer with us.  Even the Photobucket account is dead.  

[Format]

On 2/21/2024 at 9:26 PM, Mercian said:

I have appended this post in order to ‘recover’ those of Sandy1’s original images for this review that I could still access.
Do, please, click on the ‘Expand’ prompt above.

 

At time-of-posting, the link that is still shown to Photobucket was not returning an image. Desolé.

 

Slàinte,
M.

 

 

Thank you for sorting this out Mercian

 

It may be my eyes or my monitor or a combination of both but I cannot see the red shading/background lighting that I have seen with my Penman sapphire. not sure why that should be the case,

 

I bought my last NOS  and very dusty bottle around 2006, perhaps Sandy's 2010 ink was best its best? Not sure.

[Chris1]

I have a small supply of that gorgeous PPS but I'm guarding it jealously. However, I also have four unopened bottles of the Penman Ebony that I'm unlkely to use. I had hoped there might be a place on this site where I could offer them for sale but I believe that is no longer so. However, if I'm mistaken, do please let me know where I migth post them for interested parties. I hope I've not broken any rules by asking this - some fora are sensitive about sales and pricing!

[Mercian]

On 3/11/2024 at 3:05 PM, Beechwood said:

It may be my eyes or my monitor or a combination of both but I cannot see the red shading/background lighting that I have seen with my Penman sapphire. not sure why that should be the case,

I agree with your observation.
I suspect that it is as-much attributable to the limitations of the scanner that Sandy1 had available back in 2010 as it is to anything else.

 

I have never seen any photograph or scan that fully captures the delightful slippery nuances of PPS that one can see in it oneself ‘in the flesh’.
As the good lady herself said, “I think that intangibles of this ink make it so unique. Properties that I rather doubt will or can be conveyed in a mere scan: rather akin to photographing an oil painting.”

 

Slàinte,
M.

[Format]

8 hours ago, Mercian said:

I agree with your observation.
I suspect that it is as-much attributable to the limitations of the scanner that Sandy1 had available back in 2010 as it is to anything else.

 

I have never seen any photograph or scan that fully captures the delightful slippery nuances of PPS that one can see in it oneself ‘in the flesh’.
As the good lady herself said, “I think that intangibles of this ink make it so unique. Properties that I rather doubt will or can be conveyed in a mere scan: rather akin to photographing an oil painting.”

 

Slàinte,
M.

 

 

Thanks

 

As an illustration of the red shading here us a link to Mountain of Ink site

 

https://mountainofink.com/blog/parker-penman-sapphire