Review - Parker Quink - Permanent Blue

[Black Rose]

Well Sean didn't lead me down the wrong path with this one. I really like what I am seeing so far.

 

Really flows nicely from my Pilot 78G M.

 

The only issue I've had with it so far was due to my own stupidity. I was using a pen that had Quink Blue Black in it and it ran out of ink last night.

I thought that pen was loaded with QPB, so I simply refilled the pen (squeeze converter) with QPB without flushing QBB out of the old pen

 

So I now have a small amount of QBB mixed into my new bottle of QPD

[corniche]

Hello Black Rose,

 

Thanks BR. Yes, you'll never experience any flow problems with Qpb; unless there is something wrong with the pen. Very glad you're enjoying it- I hope your wife enjoys it too. I was afraid I might have had to put you up for a few nights if she hadn't liked it.

 

No problem about getting a few drops of Qpb in the Qbb- unless the bottle starts vibrating- then you should throw a steel mesh blanket over it and evacuate the house.

 

All the best,

 

Sean http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/ribbons/black2.gif

Edited February 17, 2011 by S. P. Colfer

[handwriter]

S. P. Colfer,

Thanks for the review, I look forward to the incoming review you mentioned. Could it be useful to include pics of the bottles? The reason I wonder is that I have an open bottle of Parker Quink, it is the Blue Black, but I do not keep the paper box, and the label on the bottle does not contain any detail beyond Parker Quink. Also, If someone has a bottle purchased long ago, is not always easy to tell whether it is the currently available ink or the older stuff.

[Black Rose]

 

Thanks BR. Yes, you'll never experience any flow problems with Qpb; unless there is something wrong with the pen. Very glad you're enjoying it- I hope your wife enjoys it too. I was afraid I might have had to put you up for a few nights if she hadn't liked it.

No worries about that. She now has her own fountain pen (NOS Lamy Safari 2009 SE (Pink)) and wants a couple Pilot 78Gs as well.

 

No problem about getting a few drops of Qpb in the Qbb-

The amount of ink that was in the pen was so small that the pen would even not write, so a very small amount got mixed in.

[John Cullen]

Hi Sean-

I remember some time ago you posted a note and I asked you which ink the pen had used to write the note. You said Quink Blue, and I could not believe how nice it looked compared to the Quink I had tried.

 

I ordered a couple of bottles of the permanent from Pilotfish on ebay and they arrived yesterday. Yes, this ink is a nicer, darker blue than the washable blue I had picked up at a local Staples in the US a few years ago.

 

It does need a medium or nicely flowing nib to really catch the blue sapphire look. I used it in a weak flowing fine point and the ink looked decent but a bit washed out.

 

Anyway, the permanent made in France Quink that pilotfish sent me is very nice.

 

Note: there is no way to tell from the box or bottle that this is permanent as opposed to the washable.

[Black Rose]

Note: there is no way to tell from the box or bottle that this is permanent as opposed to the washable.

I think the only way might be the last 5 digits of the UPC code.

 

The boxes I received don't look anything like the Quink boxes I see here at Staples, which are either brown/blue(black?) or silver.

[corniche]

Hello Handwriter, Yes, pictures of the bottles/packaging would be helpful. I have a GE digital camera that I picked up cheap, but the photo quality is terrible. I am waiting for delivery of a new Canon digital camera that I will use in future reviews. BTW, the comparison reviews between the old and new Quink and Waterman blue-blacks have already been done and are posted in the Comparisons Section at the top of the page.

 

Hello Black Rose, That’s good- when your spouse is also hooked, it makes things a lot easier- but a lot more expensive.

 

Hello John, Yes, there is a big difference between the two, isn’t there. Unfortunately, we Americans and Canadians have to import Qpb from England- I don’t know why Parker only makes the Washable available in the States. (Some day, I’m going to write them and ask). Yes, a wet pen also makes all the difference in the world- (with most inks for that matter, IMHO). I’m not sure; however, I do believe the colored labels are slightly different- the Permanent Blue has a slightly darker label than the Washable, (and the blue-black has an even darker label).

 

All the best,

 

Sean http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/ribbons/black2.gif

[Nellie]

How does this ink hold up over time for fading?

not at all (link)

[corniche]

How does this ink hold up over time for fading?

not at all (link)

 

Greetings Nellie,

 

When does the fading begin? I have notes on cheap notebook paper that are 7 months old and still show no signs of fading. In fact, all these stories about Quink Permanent Blue got me looking like a moax in this post:

 

Fade to White - LOL

 

I've yet to see this ink fade.

 

All the best,

 

Sean http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/ribbons/black2.gif

Aka, the friendly curmudgeon

Edited March 6, 2011 by S. P. Colfer

[Nellie]

When does the fading begin?

Hi Sean,

As I don't spend all my time looking at my notes for fading, I don't know - my review of this ink says the faded note was written three months before I scanned it. You can clearly see the difference between newly laid down and faded Quink in that scan.

I've been using FPs all my life, and have found that all eradicable blue inks (Pelikan, Lamy, Waterman Florida Blue, ...) fade much more than other colours such as Pelikan Turquoise or Parker Penman Emerald. In my notebooks from ten years ago the turquoise and green writing is still perfect and the blue notes have faded to a very light grey-blue. I also used an ink eradicator in the scans in my review, btw..

As has been pointed out, it depends on the paper, too. However, this ink does certainly fade more than other inks (and not just Noodler's), with UV exposure even completely in a very short time.

Nellie

edited to add: Just write a note, stick it in your window and you will see your writing fade

Most inks do this in the long run, btw., but eradicable blue inks, disappear a lot faster than other colours ((link).

Edited March 11, 2011 by Nellie

[benn093]

I have Washable Blue Quink handwriting still legible in notes I wrote at uni in the early 1980s. I suppose it depends upon the paper and how the paper is stored. I bought a bottle of the Permanent blue last time i was in the UK (Feb 2011) and am still using it and really, really like the colour. I notice a lot of variation in blue-black Quinks from the last 10 years or so. I also note that cartridges i bought in the UK have a dark blue band on them whereas Quink blue cartridges bought here in Bc have the lighter blue band - is this because the UK ones contain the permanent blue (the colour of the ink does seem deeper?

 

When does the fading begin?

Hi Sean,

As I don't spend all my time looking at my notes for fading, I don't know - my review of this ink says the faded note was written three months before I scanned it. You can clearly see the difference between newly laid down and faded Quink in that scan.

I've been using FPs all my life, and have found that all eradicable blue inks (Pelikan, Lamy, Waterman Florida Blue, ...) fade much more than other colours such as Pelikan Turquoise or Parker Penman Emerald. In my notebooks from ten years ago the turquoise and green writing is still perfect and the blue notes have faded to a very light grey-blue. I also used an ink eradicator in the scans in my review, btw..

As has been pointed out, it depends on the paper, too. However, this ink does certainly fade more than other inks (and not just Noodler's), with UV exposure even completely in a very short time.

Nellie

edited to add: Just write a note, stick it in your window and you will see your writing fade

Most inks do this in the long run, btw., but eradicable blue inks, disappear a lot faster than other colours ((link).

[adamselene]

I purchased 4 bottles of superquink permanent blue Parker ink from Ebay. They were black plastic bottles, and had been bought at Staples.

 

I read the bad reviews due to fading, and stuck them away.

 

However, I have a beautiful Argentine P51with very fine nib, that had me very frustrated. It just wrote so dry'. Even with Quink blue black, and Aurora Black, my superflow fix for dry pens.

 

Amazing result with the Superquink permanent blue. Pen flows freely. I like the blue also.

 

I will put a note away and check it over time for fading, but it lets me use this pen!

[inkobsessed]

My notes from the eighties written with washable and permanent blue Quink are still very readable. The washable blue flows very well and has a very nice shade and to my experiance is even a bit more smudgeproof/waterresistant than the permanent blue. Quink blue-black tends to turn to teal which I don't like anymore. Actually it looks like a less bright and more modest Pelikan Edelstein Topaaz, (which also ended up in the sink). My only ink that faded very bad till unreadable,even stored in the dark, is Pelikan 4001 Royal blue.

 

Joop

[welch]

On telling Permanent Blue bottle from Washable: the Quink Permanent Blue has a defiantly purple-blue label. It smacks you in the eye: "I am a purplish Quink Permanent Blue". The Washable is a lighter blue with no purple in the label. (And Blue-black has a very dark label).

[jess.alpha]

I just bought a Parker Quink Blue, (there isn't permanent written anwhere, but its not washable). It RESISTS WATER, its completley leggible when soaked (neither I could believe it), I don't know about light and time though. It's made in france so I don't know if the difference is a change in formula over time or its origin that changes.

[Beckwith]

Hi Sean,

As I don't spend all my time looking at my notes for fading, I don't know - my review of this ink says the faded note was written three months before I scanned it. You can clearly see the difference between newly laid down and faded Quink in that scan.

I've been using FPs all my life, and have found that all eradicable blue inks (Pelikan, Lamy, Waterman Florida Blue, ...) fade much more than other colours such as Pelikan Turquoise or Parker Penman Emerald. In my notebooks from ten years ago the turquoise and green writing is still perfect and the blue notes have faded to a very light grey-blue. I also used an ink eradicator in the scans in my review, btw..

As has been pointed out, it depends on the paper, too. However, this ink does certainly fade more than other inks (and not just Noodler's), with UV exposure even completely in a very short time.

Nellie

edited to add: Just write a note, stick it in your window and you will see your writing fade

Most inks do this in the long run, btw., but eradicable blue inks, disappear a lot faster than other colours ((link).

 

I've had some very intense fading issues as well. Just between writing and drying the ink gets a few shades lighter... but then after a few months it gets much, much lighter. In particular I have one book that I read and annotated over the summer in Quink, and as I was flipping through it the other week I literally thought I must have skipped a bunch of pages because the annotations were entirely transparent. Admittedly that book is the only time I've seen it fade that badly - it was made of that real thick paper that gets rough cut on the exposed edges.

[welch]

 

I've had some very intense fading issues as well. Just between writing and drying the ink gets a few shades lighter... but then after a few months it gets much, much lighter. In particular I have one book that I read and annotated over the summer in Quink, and as I was flipping through it the other week I literally thought I must have skipped a bunch of pages because the annotations were entirely transparent. Admittedly that book is the only time I've seen it fade that badly - it was made of that real thick paper that gets rough cut on the exposed edges.

 

I found that behavior in Quink Washable Blue. My Quink Blue, Permanent Blue, does not fade. It's from The Writing Desk. Bottle says it was made in France.

[GreenMountain]

I just bought a Parker Quink Blue, (there isn't permanent written anwhere, but its not washable). It RESISTS WATER, its completley leggible when soaked (neither I could believe it), I don't know about light and time though. It's made in france so I don't know if the difference is a change in formula over time or its origin that changes.

OK, Jess, how is your French ink doing now, 7 years later?

 

Thanks

[corniche]

OK, Jess, how is your French ink doing now, 7 years later?

 

Thanks

Hi Green Mountain,

 

As the author of this ink-spill, is there anything I can help you with?

 

Sean

[GreenMountain]

Wondering if the color or consistency has changed over the 7 years (ink you use now vs the ink used after 7 years)

 

By the way, Sean, based on your review I bought this ink (French bottle from eBay) to mix to make a very faded vintage Parker Blue Black more blue. I like the color on it's own, and also the mixture. I think now I have to add some Parker Black to get the exact color I have in mind.

I previously posted my ink card on another thread...re-posting here.