Parker Sapphire Blue

[barleycorn]

At Saturday's pen club meeting, someone had a bottle of Parker Sapphire Blue from the UK. Apparently, it used to be sold in NA but not any more. Does anyone know a supplier that sells some here?

[welch]

Parker Penman Sapphire was discontinued about 2002. Sometimes you can find a bottle on eBay, usually priced about $30 or $40 each. A couple of months ago, we found an eBay dealer sellling Penman Sapphire cartridges, but people seem to have bought out his stock.

[Cynergy]

I have a bottle of Parker Sapphire Blue and I keep it as a treasure. I really don't know why on earth they discontinue this excellent ink!!!

 

I also want to ask from more experience users here which are the most similar brand to Parker Sapphire Blue. What do you suggest?

 

 

Edited March 20, 2012 by Cynergy

[OcalaFlGuy]

:bunny01: Just putting my Carmen Miranda hat on and bunny dancing thru this thread 'cause I got a small metric boatload of the carts when they were last on Fleabay. :bunny01:

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[Torculus Resupinus]

There was a bottle on eBay just a couple of weeks ago, but it went for more than I wanted to spend on ink. I was one of the lucky ones that got a batch of cartridges from pokydady on eBay before they went. Just over a week ago FPN member mcbender said they may still be available at pokydady.com -- I haven't looked there myself. The carts from pokydady have suffered a fair amount of evaporation and need some distilled water adding to them to be best fit for use. Search FPN for pertinent threads.

[mcbender]

I just took another look at pokydady.com and I honestly can't tell whether they have any more or not. I don't see the listing for 100ct cartridges any more, but I do see they still have a few pens for sale which come with "5 cartridges blue" and have the Sapphire cartridges pictured. It'd be a gamble to buy from them at this point, I think.

 

That said, if they ran out of them, they did so very recently. Swanjun in the other thread apparently was able to purchase the 100ct just last weekend.

[welch]

Last time I checked -- a few days ago -- pokydady was selling what looks to be the same carts, five at a time, with Parker Vector pens. About $14 per pen and cartridge pack. Probably a good way to unload some Vectors.

 

On the other question, I don't believe that any current ink looks entirely like Penman Sapphire. Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue comes close, but lacks the glow that makes Penman Sapphire special. There is a recipe somewhere around here that is said to be close to Penman...based on Noodler's Ottoman Azure, plus some red, in just the right proportion. Probably requires some magic spell ordinarily taught at Hogwarts...

[sadiemagic]

 

 

On the other question, I don't believe that any current ink looks entirely like Penman Sapphire. Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue comes close, but lacks the glow that makes Penman Sapphire special. There is a recipe somewhere around here that is said to be close to Penman...based on Noodler's Ottoman Azure, plus some red, in just the right proportion. Probably requires some magic spell ordinarily taught at Hogwarts...

 

 

There is someone on FPN who posted two recipes for "faux Parker penman sapphire" and if you look in the recipes section you should be able to find them if you do a search. One is based on Ottoman Azure, the other on PR American Blue. No red in either one, IIRC. They look very very close to PPS in the scans.

 

I agree that the ink that comes the closest in my pens is PR DCSSB. It's close, and I've been experimenting with mixing it with PRAB. PRAB is too light on its own, PR DCSSB a tad too dark.

 

I haven't been overly happy with the results although I am fortunate to have 2.5 bottles of the real thing left. Perhaps I don't know the correct spell...I thought it was "expecto safirum" but apparently not. :-).

[welch]

On the other question, I don't believe that any current ink looks entirely like Penman Sapphire. Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue comes close, but lacks the glow that makes Penman Sapphire special. There is a recipe somewhere around here that is said to be close to Penman...based on Noodler's Ottoman Azure, plus some red, in just the right proportion. Probably requires some magic spell ordinarily taught at Hogwarts...

 

 

I agree that the ink that comes the closest in my pens is PR DCSSB. It's close, and I've been experimenting with mixing it with PRAB. PRAB is too light on its own, PR DCSSB a tad too dark.

 

I haven't been overly happy with the results although I am fortunate to have 2.5 bottles of the real thing left. Perhaps I don't know the correct spell...I thought it was "expecto safirum" but apparently not. :-).

 

I believe that JK Rowling saved the spell for her next book.

[Chris]

This ink, also known as 'unobtainium' may have a rival - Sargasso Sea from Diamine looks amazing according to the scans I've seen. So now I'm torn. How do I eagerly await this new colour from the experts at Diamine whilst anticipating the price crash of my remeining stash of Penman Sapphire that may result?

 

Chris

[lapis]

There is someone on FPN who posted two recipes for "faux Parker penman sapphire" and if you look in the recipes section you should be able to find them if you do a search. One is based on Ottoman Azure, the other on PR American Blue. No red in either one, IIRC. They look very very close to PPS in the scans.

 

I agree that the ink that comes the closest in my pens is PR DCSSB. It's close, and I've been experimenting with mixing it with PRAB. PRAB is too light on its own, PR DCSSB a tad too dark.

 

I haven't been overly happy with the results although I am fortunate to have 2.5 bottles of the real thing left. Perhaps I don't know the correct spell...I thought it was "expecto safirum" but apparently not. :-).

Try this out for the American Blue version. Ocala, could you please give us the origianal recipe (DCWaites using Noodler's Azure Blue as the main base with bits of PR Tanzanite and Blue Suede)? I'll try that one out for sure!

 

MIke

[radellaf]

dcwaites final recipe was 15 ottoman: 2 tanzanite : 1 blue suede

 

I have the ottoman but may try this with DC Violet and some other teal (diamine umber?). I also need to try the other mix I saw, and mixed, 5 ottoman : 2 water : 1 noodler's blue.

[lapis]

Thanks! Now all I need is the blue suede!!

 

Mike

PS: if and when you have all 3 mixes ready, maybe you could post a comparison under Ink Comparison.

[DanF]

I saw a thread recently that talked about what I think was 1:1 mix of Noodler's Polar blue with Visconte Blue. Look for that thread.

 

Dan

[barleycorn]

Thank you all for your input. I guess I will have to search the ocean of other blues to find an alternative. It is a shame that Parker does not issue another ink similar in hue without the perceived problems of the original.

[amberleadavis]

I saw a thread recently that talked about what I think was 1:1 mix of Noodler's Polar blue with Visconte Blue. Look for that thread.

 

Dan

 

That was me... I am glad you read my post.

 

The Visconti may have gotten a little more vibrant because it was in an inkwell that was not airtight.

 

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/inksamples/ambersduex.png

 

 

 

[amberleadavis]

Thank you all for your input. I guess I will have to search the ocean of other blues to find an alternative. It is a shame that Parker does not issue another ink similar in hue without the perceived problems of the original.

 

Look here and see if you find an ink with a similar hue - I will then try and get you a better scan.

http://www.sheismylawyer.com/TI/pages/_128.html

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for posting this link. It was really interesting to see the range of colors. Although I'm not entirely sure of the original intent of duplicating the samples on the left and right sides (and the link doesn't seem to say anyplace); was this for purposes of water or UV testing, or for something else? Anybody out there know?

I guess that an equivalent to Penman Sapphire Blue is some sort of Grail Quest, but I'm too new to have any experience with it. I *am* looking forward to the release of the Diamine Sargasso Sea, simply for its own sake based on the samples someone posted awhile back. (Is it summer yet?....)

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[amberleadavis]

Thanks for posting this link. It was really interesting to see the range of colors. Although I'm not entirely sure of the original intent of duplicating the samples on the left and right sides (and the link doesn't seem to say anyplace); was this for purposes of water or UV testing, or for something else? Anybody out there know?

I guess that an equivalent to Penman Sapphire Blue is some sort of Grail Quest, but I'm too new to have any experience with it. I *am* looking forward to the release of the Diamine Sargasso Sea, simply for its own sake based on the samples someone posted awhile back. (Is it summer yet?....)

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Sorry about the links. I have more details on my other posts. The paper is business card stock. I then put 1/2 in the window for some endurance testing.

 

The Quest Colors are mixes of Visconti Blue and Noodler's Polar Blue.

Edited March 23, 2012 by amberleadavis

[welch]

Thanks for posting this link. It was really interesting to see the range of colors. Although I'm not entirely sure of the original intent of duplicating the samples on the left and right sides (and the link doesn't seem to say anyplace); was this for purposes of water or UV testing, or for something else? Anybody out there know?

I guess that an equivalent to Penman Sapphire Blue is some sort of Grail Quest, but I'm too new to have any experience with it. I *am* looking forward to the release of the Diamine Sargasso Sea, simply for its own sake based on the samples someone posted awhile back. (Is it summer yet?....)

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I've been thinking the same about Diamine Sargasso Sea. The sample looks blue with other colors inside...

 

(Inspired to fill an old reliable P51 Special with Penman Sapphire: PPS goes to work tomorrow!)