Inky T O D - Premium Inks - Is It All About The Bottle? Or Is The Ink Worth The Extra Money?

[Vgimlet]

If an ink is really beautiful I don't mind paying more for it. But it has to be beautiful, and unique for me to pay a LOT more for it. Although I am looking forward to sampling some of the more expensive lines.

 

There are a lot of gorgeous inexpensive inks out there.

[inkstainedruth]

I'd really like to know which Iroshizuku inks perform like Yama Budo, but I fear that Iro fans will just tell me that they are all very much alike, which IMHO is plainly wrong.

That has been my experience as well. Other than Yama-budo, the *only* one I really want a full bottle of is Yama-guri. Tsukushi was okay, but I liked the color of Yama-guri a bit better. The rest I've tried have been disappointing in either color or behavior (0r both), or just not worth the price for some other reason.

That being said, if I had the money I'd get a backup bottle of Yama-budo in a heartbeat. Possibly also one of Yama-guri.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Algester]

That has been my experience as well. Other than Yama-budo, the *only* one I really want a full bottle of is Yama-guri. Tsukushi was okay, but I liked the color of Yama-guri a bit better. The rest I've tried have been disappointing in either color or behavior (0r both), or just not worth the price for some other reason.

That being said, if I had the money I'd get a backup bottle of Yama-budo in a heartbeat. Possibly also one of Yama-guri.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

or possibly go to Japan and hoard the inks... :< its cheaper by 50% but not without having to pay for the plane ticket and or visa heck Iroshizuku inks are cheaper than Sailor's store exclusive inks by 500-700 yen not counting the Ito-ya exclusive Iroshizuku inks which are discontinued

Edited June 28, 2014 by Algester

[WaskiSquirrel]

I have purchased a few bottles of expensive ink, mostly because of the combination of bottle and color.

 

But, I think the bottle is a big part of the expensive inks. Place Caran d'Ache into a Noodler's bottle, and people will not pay that premium price, even though the ink is the same. Similarly, I think Mr. Tardiff could charge more with a fancier bottle.

 

I think all of us can pick out a low cost ink that is amazing and functions just as well as a much more expensive ink. I can think of several. I'm convinced it's the bottle that makes the ink more expensive.

[SeeksAdvice]

I wish I could find a lower cost ink that truly does what Iroshizuku inks do. I can find well behaved blue-blacks: R&K Salix, MB-MB(IG formula), DRI in the right pen, Sailor Sei-Boku (I prefer this to just about any blue-black, but price + maintenance issues). Indeed, I don't own Shin-Kai, because I have other blue-blacks that cover it.

 

But, I've had a harder time finding blues that function as well on different papers as Iroshizuku's do. Midway Blue feathers on our office paper, Blue Eel feathers, pretty much all of the "bulletproof" inks feather/bleed, Diamine Sargasso Sea is a joke on our papers and is really hard to clean out. I invite somebody to send a non-IG, non-premium, non-nano blue ink sample that works on "Universal" brand paper, or even worse, the recycled variant.

 

Until I find such an ink, I'm sticking with supporting the "premium" inks. You can't put a price on performance.

 

Hehe ... sitting here listening to the soundtrack from "Black Lagoon," an ultra-violent anime. Ending credits piece for it is interesting, reminds me of Barber's "Adagio". In honor of the anime, I should load up a pen with Diamine Matador for the blood ;-P

[Blue_Moon]

I've never bought an ink because of the bottle. I own four Iroshizuku inks and love them. To me, they are much prettier and more vibrant than imitations or look-a-likes. I can't say this for other Irsohizuku inks (because I don't own them......yet), but I can't tell any difference in the performance of the four I own from each other. They all perform wonderfully. That said, I also love Diamine and Waterman inks very much. These three brands are pretty much all I use.

[byggyns]

I figure at some point, I will buy at least 1 bottle of each of the "premium" ink brands for the bottle if nothing else. I could of course buy an empty bottle from Goulet or someone else, but I think that finding at least one ink that I want to use from each of the manufacturers would be a better value. I will first have to try out samples before I slap down that much money for ink.

 

Currently I have some Private Reserve (which is the only brand my local pen store carries), Noodlers, & Diamine bottles

[napalm]

compared to inkjet printer ink, any fountain pen ink is a steal. and sorry, i can't write with laser toner.... not yet...

[senzen]

Colour 100%, I've had terrible problems with flow but it has always come down to the pens.

[Charles Rice]

Sure, I go for the expensive bottle - once in a while. When I'm done with my Akkerman I'll fill it with Noodler's.

[Bigeddie]

Cheap inks can perform just as well as expensive inks... but they don't always. It seems to me that the more expensive inks like Iroshizuku tend to come in nice bottles, but the inks themselves are good performers (even if the color is not to everyone's taste) 90% of the time. Lower priced inks like Diamine, Waterman or Lamy seem to be a bit more hit and miss.

 

I like the expensive inks, and the bottle does affect my purchasing decision; the pricier looking bottle is in keeping with their design philosophy, just as Noodlers' low cost bottles are in keeping with theirs.

[VivienR]

Most of my inks are in budget range like J. Herbin, Diamine, Rohrer&Klinger, but admittedly sometimes I brought some because how the bottle looks like. Like two days ago I managed to touch my hand to Caran d'Ache Blue Sky, cost me 20$, and hell yes, basically brought for the bottle. I also ordered J. Herbin Rouge Opera in hearth shaped bottle, because I like how its looks like. So sometimes I do, kind of just for the bottle.

[Algester]

I have heard that Sailor pens Ink group goes around in Japan (normally spotted in bespoke pen stores like Ito-ya, Maruzen, Bungbox) just like their Pen clinics and make you your own artisan ink I'm not sure how thats considered premium the fact it costs about 2000 yen without tax

[tarheel1]

The bottle plays a huge roll in the inks i buy. If i had two identical inks i would buy the one in a nicer bottle. I do love my Iroshizuku and Sailor Kobe inks. First i find a color that i want and then try to find the closest to it in a nicer bottle.

[cellmatrix]

For me, I could care less about the bottle, it's all about the ink. And at the rate I use it, 2-3 bottles a year, whether it costs 12 or 25 dollars, translates to a difference of less than 10 cents a day. So what the ink costs is usually not a factor for me. For example my two favorite inks right now are sailor sei boku (expensive) and ESSRI (cheaper than noodlers).

Edited July 5, 2014 by cellmatrix

[FountainPenCowgirl]

Bottle? Never. Color? Definitely. Performance? Always. I buy the inks that appeal to me, whatever the cost, whenever. (Pennies compared to other vices I could have.)

 

In the case of my Iroshizukus, performance is a factor for all - even when I have similar/cheaper options from other brands. They flow so beautifully from whatever pen that they simply called me - Asa-Gao and Take-Sumi in particular. They have not yet disappointed me and have more than once saved problematic pens. Yama-Budo, well, because. Definitely color was the factor for that one, with the Iroshizuku performance bonus. Momiji was the same way: the just-right sweet spot that made "red" (which I hate universally) palatable. (Ageing eyes need the contrast in editing.)

 

For what it's worth, I've not been impressed by other iconic Iroshizuku colors and ended up tossing both the samples and a bottle to make space for other inks I liked better. Live and learn.

 

I have far more "affordable" inks in my growing collection - because the colors appeal and they fit my specific writing desires and needs. Bottles were never a factor. Neither was cost. I love the colors of those I've kept and use, and they flow in ways that I want.

 

To each his/her own.

Edited July 5, 2014 by FountainPenCowgirl

[Alexandra]

I would buy premium ink only for a unique color I couldn't live without or special properties such as Sailor Sei-Boku. (Permanence, shading, and sheen all rolled into one beautiful ink.)

 

Expectations rise with cost and so does disappointment.

[fiberdrunk]

For me it's mostly about the pursuit of ink permanence and not the bottle at all, though I have been known to collect those J. Herbin and Pelikan bottles with the built-in pen rest.

[dspeers58]

I have to agree, performance (e.g. water resistance, flow etc), and color. I recently bought a large bottle of Akkerman for an EXCELLENT price (Shocking Blue), and while I love the color, it seems that a number of pens do not always start up without getting the nib wet, etc. So while I love the color of the ink, I will not fight with a bad performing ink, and therefore, will pay extra for something I know works.

[AllenG]

Yes, I am influenced by the bottle.

 

I bought my first bottle of Iroshizuku, and first bottle of Akkerman's because I wanted the bottle more than what was in it. With Iro I found that I love the ink more than the bottle and now own about a third of the line.

Akkerman I like too and have bought several more bottles. I find it a good dry counterpoint to Iro's wet.

 

I have purchased more Noodler's, and Diamine than anything else. Some I love some I hate.

 

I won't buy ink in plastic bottles because I don't trust plastic as a long term storage container, and it takes me years to find the bottom of an ink bottle. I could decant them, but then they would be as expensive, or more so, as a premium ink.

Edited July 14, 2014 by AllenG