Pw Akkerman New Smaller Size

[Joane]

In perfume, it is far more expensive per ml to buy a smaller bottle than a larger one. I will usually buy the more "economical" large size but sometimes I buy the small size for travel convenience, even though the contents cost more.

 

I buy tubes to make my own lip balm and the smaller tubes are more expensive than the standard lip-balm size.

 

AAA batteries are more expensive than the larger AA batteries.

 

And so forth...

 

My policy is if it's not worth it to me, i don't buy it. If it is and it's within my means, I indulge and enjoy.

[Shaughn]

No matter what your reason to buy is, if you buy you have to buy and pay the whole thing: it's a package deal. The reason the price drop does not reflect the lesser amount of ink is that ink costs are next to nothing in comparison with the bottle costs. The small price drop reflects on the whole thing rather the slightly lesser costs of the package.

That may be disappointing for some, but such is life. Whether or not they are now less disappointed or satisfied by the explanations given, they are at least better informed as to why.

 

Re the production process, Pterodactylus, both 'pressed glass' and 'hand blown' are impossible to make these bottles. The former method cannot produce this type of bottle, the latter does not exist. I guess you refer to the mouth blown artisanal production. Glass bottles and jars are usually made by a blow-blow process, wherein a bottle is blown in two stages with pressed air. The so calles 'seams' outside a bottle represent the seams of the mold and are not seams in the glass itself. Sometimes people think that two bottle halves are glued together because of that.

　

　

To whom it may concern:

One of my big Akkerman bottles is almost empty - one more semester of grading papers and exams and empty it is.

I consider a PIF of the empty bottle but the shipping costst are hell.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Shaughn

[Sinistral1]

Shaughn:

 

Is your avatar a dog and if so, is it's name Bear?

 

Your PIF idea is very kind, but if you put your empty large Akkerman bottle on eBay you would make a pretty penny on it!

[daintydimsum]

I'm happy about the smaller bottles myself! I've always wanted to try Akkerman's ink but 150ml is a little too much ink for me. Someone earlier gave the example of perfume; I agree. Unless I am certain I'm going to wear that scent for the rest of my life, sometimes the smaller bottle makes more sense. I have a reasonably large ink stash - I don't have the space or inclination to collect 150ml bottles.

[JonSzanto]

As if I needed another reason to be pleased with this development (I don't): back when the larger bottles were first out, I started looking for empties, and in doing so I found that this bottle design had a history. To the person who posted the photos of the new bottle and box, Thank You! The vintage look reminds me of this following image, and lends a lot of poetry - for me - to a simple vessel for holding writing fluid...

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb204/EnvoyC/FP/gif_waterman_zps11599d4f.jpg

[lapis]

What I don't understand is why not even one company offers their inks in two or more different types of bottles (I think). Yes, Diamine does, just for the sake of us being able to save money by getting a smaller 30-ml bottle as a "big sample bottle" (same price per ml as the 80-ml bottles). But not in terms of aesthetics or beauty or individual artwork from which you are free to choose, even if they have different prices per ml, of course. All 4001 inks cum in the same bottle, all Edelsteins cum in their own bottle, but you could and still can buy an M700, M800 or M900 none of which necessarily write much differently than an M800 does. It's the optics and the feeling in the hand here.

[Shaughn]

Shaughn:

 

Is your avatar a dog and if so, is it's name Bear?

 

Your PIF idea is very kind, but if you put your empty large Akkerman bottle on eBay you would make a pretty penny on it!

 

My avatar is my dog and her name is Donna. Her mother is known to be a Frysk Stabyhoun http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabyhoun and her dad is most probably a labrador. But here she does look like a bear, I admit

 

Frankly, I haven't a clue on pennies for bottles on the bay - I haven't yet seen any bottle sold, not even the antique predecessor from Gimborn (the original 164cc). But we'll see, maybe I put up one old antique on the bay to see what it makes.

[encremental]

Mike - I think your memory is playing you tricks

 

Visconti used to offer their ink in 50ml as well as the more expensive but peculiarly bottled 40ml. I have some Lamy blue in both 30ml and 50 ml, Pelikan 4001 in 30ml and 62.5 ml bottles (and don't they sell the blue by the litre in Germany?). Then Herbin comes (for some colours at least) in 10ml, 30ml and 100ml.

 

Diamine do win this particular race though, as you can buy their ink in 28.4 ml sizes (as Yard-O-Led) 30ml (as Diamine), 60ml (as Akkerman), 80ml (as Diamine, Conway Stewart or Onoto) 100ml (as The Writing Desk - who have the decency not to pretend it's anything else!) and 150ml (Akkerman, if you're quick).

 

In some ways, Diamine offering a 30ml bottle is against their interests, as people regard it as a 'sample' when in fact it is the same size as pricer Herbin, ST Dupont, some MBs, old-style Caran d'Ache etc). Maybe it is because the 30ml is plastic. I remember they used to do it as a glass bottle, but at that time I think I was too young in sin to notice.

 

John

[JonSzanto]

And then there were the old Sheaffer 32-oz bottles...

 

http://www.100tonsofstuff.com/images/Bottles/Ink/Item2204-240-SheaffersInk1959.jpg

[encremental]

Jon - gosh, what an exquisite flagon that is. As much as anything, there is a thrill in the idea of people actually needing ink in that kind of quantity. Does it write well, and is the RC-35 still doing its job?

 

BTW, and talking of obsolete ink, is anyone else a fan of 'This Is Jinsy', the UK comedy series broadcast on Sky Atlantic? In a recent episode featuring feral accountants, Ben Miller (and his slatternly daughter Burpetta, also played by Ben Miller) swigged from pint (at least) bottles of Stephens Ink delightfully cool and fresh from the stationery cupboard, giving them blue lips in the manner of the mentats in David Lynch's movie 'Dune'. I would love to know where the prop buyer sourced it from.

 

http://www.svt.se/cachable_image/1391163000000/this-is-jinsy/article1775406.svt/ALTERNATES/medium/jinsy_klipp.jpg

 

John

Edited February 9, 2014 by encremental

[Shaughn]

Offered on our local ebay clone, a stoneware ink 'bottle':

 

http://link.marktplaats.nl/774973992

 

 

I suppose offices and schools used those quantities.

[lapis]

Mike - I think your memory is playing you tricks

 

Visconti used to offer their ink in 50ml as well as the more expensive but peculiarly bottled 40ml. I have some Lamy blue in both 30ml and 50 ml, Pelikan 4001 in 30ml and 62.5 ml bottles (and don't they sell the blue by the litre in Germany?). Then Herbin comes (for some colours at least) in 10ml, 30ml and 100ml.

 

Diamine do win this particular race though, as you can buy their ink in 28.4 ml sizes (as Yard-O-Led) 30ml (as Diamine), 60ml (as Akkerman), 80ml (as Diamine, Conway Stewart or Onoto) 100ml (as The Writing Desk - who have the decency not to pretend it's anything else!) and 150ml (Akkerman, if you're quick).

 

In some ways, Diamine offering a 30ml bottle is against their interests, as people regard it as a 'sample' when in fact it is the same size as pricer Herbin, ST Dupont, some MBs, old-style Caran d'Ache etc). Maybe it is because the 30ml is plastic. I remember they used to do it as a glass bottle, but at that time I think I was too young in sin to notice.

 

John

 

John, thanks. I maybe didn't say it right...

 

- I have all of the Viscontis, also in 75-ml bottles, also the 40s in glass and plastic, so I know the exist. They all have the same shape (but different packagings).

- Same for Lamys (30 ml are designated T 51 = 3 colours; 50 ml T 52 = 6 colours but no pink; cartridges T 10 = 7 colours including pink). But there's no difference here in the form of the bottle here either.

- Pelikan, yes, but both sizes don't come in all colours. And: both bottle sizes look exactly the same, here, too.

- Yes, Herbin = 100 for the 5 most-bought colours. But there's no real difference or "mode" in bottle beauty here.

 

All I was getting at is that AFAIK no company offers one and the same ink simultaneously in differently architectured bottles. E.g. "expensively"-bottled new CdAs or GvFCs or Iroshis and at the same time also in "more ordinary" bottles like those of Noodler's or OS or even Diamine -- so that you can pick the bottle you want your ink to be delivered in.

 

Bottom line: however "good" the ink is, we're often paying a lot for the bottle itself and not the ink itself. That's nothing new and I guess we have to live with that. I myself can, for sure. An expensive wine or whisky is almost always offered in one single type of bottle because they know that we're not interested in the bottle, but solely in the content.

 

Mike

[JonSzanto]

Jon - gosh, what an exquisite flagon that is. As much as anything, there is a thrill in the idea of people actually needing ink in that kind of quantity. Does it write well, and is the RC-35 still doing its job?

 

I don't actually have any of those bottles (or that particular ink), but I tend to believe those were frequently in service of filling inkwells for dip pens. Back in the day, many banks, offices, etc had inkwells with dedicated dip pens for customers to use, and those would have to be filled up as the ink was used. It does appear that the cap is an aid in pouring into another vessel/container.

 

But, yeah, Sheaffer inks hold up remarkably well, as I showed just last night...

[encremental]

Yes Mike - I do see what you mean, although I would argue that you can get Diamine ink in everything from basic plastic to fancy glass with commensurate pricing - even within Diamine's own brand labelling. From Y-O-L to Akkerman then you really have a choice of bottle and price (although I take your point that they are not actually branded as Diamine). Incidentally, I have never seen 75ml bottles of Visconti - were they the glass version of the tulip shape?

 

Yes, of course we are paying for the bottle. The ink itself is always the cheapest component. I would say that when you buy a bottle of MB ink from the boutique, absolutely everything costs more than the ink itself. Those lovely little lined carrier bags with the special string and the ribbed card covers for your receipt, they cost serious money. I would think £1.45 per bag at least. Ink? 30-40p at most.

 

Pelikan - well, here in the UK all colours are available in both 30 and 62.5 ml sizes ( I refer you to Niche Pens) and then there is that curious bottle with the pen rest for the blue and the black - is that in the spirit of what you were thinking?). Herbin also do their inks in the fancy heart shaped bottles etc for extra cash and then the new 10 ml vials - each offering different levels of beauty & extravagance.

 

Of course, as collectors, we are used to buying the same nib in different and differently priced costumes (think of the ways that Conway Stewart package their one and only nib ) - and why not? There is no reason why ink should be any different, and I speak as someone who has just completed his complete collection of Iroshizuku inks (and thanks to Santa Trading, via Amazon they are the same price as a standard MB ink, which seems about right). Nice enough ink, lovely glass, but of couse it was the silver string that I just had to have.

 

John

[encremental]

Jon - just wow. Yama Budo eat your heart out! Just out of interest, how is the water resistance of these old inks?

 

John

[lapis]

John, good to hear. To put it in plain English, it's simply all a matter of marketing. ach, ja.......................

 

Mike

[amberleadavis]

Not very fade resistant or water resistant.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/INK/attachments/01-2012-10-28_01_small.jpg

[amberleadavis]

http://sheismylawyer.com/INK/attachments/06-2012-10-14_001.jpg

[Joane]

And then there were the old Sheaffer 32-oz bottles...

 

http://www.100tonsofstuff.com/images/Bottles/Ink/Item2204-240-SheaffersInk1959.jpg

Teachers used to use these bottles to refill desk inkwells, back when students learned script with dip pens.

[JonSzanto]

Jon - just wow. Yama Budo eat your heart out! Just out of interest, how is the water resistance of these old inks?

 

John

 

I'm no expert on the history and forumas of Sheaffer (Skrip) inks. There are the obvious signs that some came in both "Washable" and "Permanent" formulas. I only picked up this bottle yesterday from a colleague, but when I've got some time I'll do a little test/review.