Wm Havana

[memphislawyer]

wow, i saw two browns on opposite ends of the brown spectrum that i liked. just when you think you only want one brown ink . . . . .

 

sam

[KCat]

only one brown ink...

 

yeah - like having only one blue - one green - one purple.

 

not possible.

 

Bryan's scan of Nightshade looks like what I wanted it to look like. But now how my batch looked.

[Robert Hughes]

After starting up with Parker Quink inks - Washable Blue and Green - I decided to branch out and try WM Havana. Wow, that's a strong brown. I half expected it to smell like fine cigars, the color is so right. I've filled up my P51 "demi" with it and have successfully written on supercheap notebook paper, laserjet bond and the ink sample page of my brand-new Moleskine. Now I see why this ink is considered the standard against which all other browns are judged. It's that good!

[Opus104]

Havana Brown is my absolute favorite. I love waterman inks. Florida blue is great for business. Binder Blurple mix - a little heavier on the blue - is nice. You can also mix a great green-black and purple-black.

[CharlieB]

Havana Brown is my absolute favorite. I love waterman inks. Florida blue is great for business. Binder Blurple mix - a little heavier on the blue - is nice. You can also mix a great green-black and purple-black.

 

I agree completely! Waterman Havana Brown and Florida Blue are my two favorite inks!

 

Have you ever tried mixing Waterman Black with Florida Blue to get a darker blue black, without the green hue that characterizes Waterman Blue Black?

[bdngrd]

I've mixed WM black with WM Florida blue about 1 to 5 and had great results. A great Blue Black.

[tcheuchter]

Would it be a bother to see a scan of the WM Black and WM Florida Blue mix?

[Shelley]

I have a bottle of WM Havana, and whilst the results can be inconsistent I rather like it, it is a bit like my van Gogh, in that it seldoms seems to be the same colour, write with it and some letters or parts of a letter will be darker some lighter, presumably this is due to inconsistent pressure when writing or something similar but its a nice touch.

A good ink.

[Jazzbaby]

I bought a bottle of Havana a couple of years ago. It's a well behaved ink but I hate the color of it. Too dark, too boring, too just plain brown, Not being a person to just toss things out, I tried watering it to make it lighter, tried adding some PR Shoreline Gold to make it more vibrant, tried everyting I could do to make something I would like. No luck. Finally I dumped it in with the remains of a green I didn't like either and now I have a decent black ink, something I'd been planning to buy anyway. Problem solved and no waste. Go figure.

[mikey]

If at first you don't succeed, try try again...

 

I bought a bottle of Havana a couple of years ago. It's a well behaved ink but I hate the color of it. Too dark, too boring, too just plain brown, Not being a person to just toss things out, I tried watering it to make it lighter, tried adding some PR Shoreline Gold to make it more vibrant, tried everyting I could do to make something I would like. No luck. Finally I dumped it in with the remains of a green I didn't like either and now I have a decent black ink, something I'd been planning to buy anyway. Problem solved and no waste. Go figure.

 

[afagjoi]

I don't like too. But their ink properties (in all Waterman's ink) made it a good choice. I like more J. Herbin Cacao de Brésil or Diamine Saddle Brown.

 

Really interesting reply Jazzbaby, but, would be great that the next time you'll finished your review with some ink alternatives... for feedback proposes only.

 

regards.

 

I bought a bottle of Havana a couple of years ago. It's a well behaved ink but I hate the color of it. Too dark, too boring, too just plain brown, Not being a person to just toss things out, I tried watering it to make it lighter, tried adding some PR Shoreline Gold to make it more vibrant, tried everyting I could do to make something I would like. No luck. Finally I dumped it in with the remains of a green I didn't like either and now I have a decent black ink, something I'd been planning to buy anyway. Problem solved and no waste. Go figure.

[oracle202]

This is my favorite ink as well. I have two holy grail inks. The other is Noodlers "Nightshade" which is more of a eggplant color.

[liapuyat]

I just received my bottle of Havana Brown and I find it pleasing. While I am also interested in other browns, this ink agrees with all my pens so far. I currently have it in my Pelikan M200 (M nib) and find it is quite pleasant to read an entire page of correspondence written with it.

[trent]

I love the color of this ink, but it does not work well in all my pens. The Pelikans are ok with it, but my P51's lose flow and smoothness with it and generally get gunked up---after a few days without use there is real build up on the nib, like sludge or mud! The Bexley bx on the other hand accepts it perfectly. Has anyone else had these varying results?

[Ondina]

I love the color of this ink, but it does not work well in all my pens. The Pelikans are ok with it, but my P51's lose flow and smoothness with it and generally get gunked up---after a few days without use there is real build up on the nib, like sludge or mud! The Bexley bx on the other hand accepts it perfectly. Has anyone else had these varying results?

 

Waterman Havana Brown has a solid reputation of being one great color of flawless behaviour. If your 51's gunk up, they need cleaning; previous inks may interact with HB and give your issues.

[trent]

I love the color of this ink, but it does not work well in all my pens. The Pelikans are ok with it, but my P51's lose flow and smoothness with it and generally get gunked up---after a few days without use there is real build up on the nib, like sludge or mud! The Bexley bx on the other hand accepts it perfectly. Has anyone else had these varying results?

 

Waterman Havana Brown has a solid reputation of being one great color of flawless behaviour. If your 51's gunk up, they need cleaning; previous inks may interact with HB and give your issues.

 

Alas, I do clean my P51's. I would never put in new ink without a thorough flushing, a drop of dish washing soap, overnight drying, etc.

Edited March 2, 2010 by trent

[Ondina]

 

Alas, I do clean my P51's. I would never put in new ink without a thorough flushing, a drop of dish washing soap, overnight drying, etc.

So, ink from the same bottle, that behaves well in other pens, turns to sludge in you 51's. Is clearly something in the pens, residual inks are not always easy to clean away and they not play nicely among eachother sometimes. It could be the sac, but I would rule out ink interactions first.

Edited March 3, 2010 by Ondina

[Anna Cecilia]

Great review, Havana brown has been my favourite ink for over 10 years, still not bored with it. I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to try a brown ink but not knowing which one to go for.