A Comparison Of Old And New Lamy Blue-Blacks In The Bottle

July 15, 2013

Due to a recent note on the bar code numbers of the old and new Lamy Blue-blacks in bottles, it was ascertained today that these bar code numbers have remained the same. Also, the whole packaging and bottles remain unchanged. So I asked myself again, "But what about the inks themselves?"

First, I did a paper chromatography as usual (3.5 µl of ink on a stripe of blotting paper; isopropanol in distilled water, 50:50):

This is the type of difference I was expecting. The old version is definitely more "steadfast", permanent, immovable etc.: a "usual" property of an iron-gall ink. OTOH the new version is distinctly less permanent; i.e. it can be washed out much more easily, even if not completely. That image of the old version demonstrates practically the very same (chromatographic) finding for the most "steadfast" blacks I posted recently.

Next, I thought about specific gravities (relative densities) because I happened to discover that the whole weight of brand new (old and new version) inks in an unopened bottle in an unopened box were different. (Yes, the bottle filling administration will lead to non-identical fillings for different bottles of one and the same ink, but I measured the differences here -- out of 5 bottles of the old version -- to be ± 0.65%.

Weighing in exactly 1000.0 µl of each of the two inks on a medical/scientific scale led to the following:

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Lamy bottled Blue-black Specific gravity

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Old version 1.019

New version 1.002

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Thus, the difference between the values for the old and new inks is already as high as 1.7%.

Now that doesn't prove anything but all I'm saying is that that corresponds to analyses we all made in the lab at one time or another: [A] the "colouring effect" of dyes is so much higher than that of inorganic chemicals (especially salts like the ferrous sulfate in iron-gall inks) so that much less is required in the first place, and such salts dissolved in water are almost always much more highly soluble in water than organic aromatic compounds (e.g. dyes) are, so that any use of these salts will result in a higher concentration in the end.

On Rhodia white paper, and on Rhodia yellow paper (both 80 g/m²), it came as expected. There was no noticeable difference (optically) on paper. However -- and I wasn't even looking forward to this -- the very interesting feature was that the new ink has a slightly better flow but a marked increase in lubrication. I saw no differences in bleeding or feathering between the two inks.

After those writings on paper had dried for an hour and were then subjected to a complete submersion in water for 60 s, they now look like this.... IMO no surprise....

The next thing (which I'm actually not at all that hot about) might be to at least try and find out whether or not the new Lamy Blue-black in the bottle is the same as the old (and/or current) Lamy Blue-black in cartridges. We'll see....

Crass

Edited July 15, 2013 by lapis

July 15, 2013

WOW! Great stuff, old dye-hard compadre. I look forward to the continuing saga.

July 15, 2013

Great Post. Makes me want an old bottle even more

July 15, 2013

Personally, I care more for the actual color than anything else.

So, if you say you can't see the difference on paper (unless you moisten it at least), it's fine by me.

Thank you so much for taking the time to figure this out and of course for sharing it with us!

July 15, 2013

Thanks, you guys! Actually, I myself am not all that interested in these Lamy inks themselves, even if they are -- in comparison to so many other inks -- quite inexpensive. I am, in general, still very interested in iron galls and am, at present, more into MB, R&K, ESSRI and our Pharmacist's iron galls.

Nevertheless, for the sake of comparisons -- especially in regard to an analytical endeavour -- I might find the time and inclination to jott down a word or two about the coresponding Lamy Blue-black cartridges.

Sigh