Parker (Vintage 1940S) Quink Blue-Black With Solv-X

[musicman123]

First off, I must give a super big shout-out to Larry Barrieau (Larry Barrieau) of FPN, for sending me a very generous sample of this ink to try out! As a bit of shameless advertisement, he is selling 30mL bottles of this ink for just $12. This is a super rare vintage Parker ink. It is part of their old Solv-X line, which is claimed to clean your pens as you write with the ink. You better snag one soon if you want one, because he only has 10 left, as of the time of posting.

 

This review will follow my normal standard format for reviews, with pictures following a small blurb. The pictures were taken with an iPhone 6, back camera, in artificial lighting. Effort has been made to show the true color, but your milage may vary depending on your monitor. If you would like to see all my ink images, you are free to go to http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews

 

Here is a preview of the ink. It is a blue-black leaning towards a grey. Ignore my spelling screw-up.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Parker/Quink/Blue%20Black%20with%20Solv-X/Ink.jpg

 

The review was written with my favorite, the Nemosine Singularity Demonstrator, in a TWSBI B nib. The TWSBI B is slightly finer than the Nemosine B, but not by much. It's only a hairline difference.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Parker/Quink/Blue%20Black%20with%20Solv-X/Pen.jpg

 

The review was written on HP 32lb Premium Laser Paper, which can be found at Staples for the whooping price of $19.99, or on Amazon for $15.39. This is my new "standard" paper I will be using for all my reviews, writing, and comparisons. I still have a bit of HP 28lb, which is now discontinued, but I am going to be moving to this one now, as it is much better, IMO.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Parker/Quink/Blue%20Black%20with%20Solv-X/Paper.jpg

 

Here is the swab of the ink.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Parker/Quink/Blue%20Black%20with%20Solv-X/Swab.jpg

 

The ink behaves well in this pen, with no major problems. The ink flows quite wetly, and is fairly lubricating. There is a bit of shading from a light blue-black to a darker blue-black color. The ink exhibits zero feathering, show through, or bleed through. The ink is a tad bit light, but I haven't really had any experience with blue-blacks so I'm not too sure what to expect.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Parker/Quink/Blue%20Black%20with%20Solv-X/Characteristics.jpg

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Parker/Quink/Blue%20Black%20with%20Solv-X/Characteristics%202.jpg

 

The ink dries a bit faster than average, at roughly around 16 seconds on this non-absorbent paper. http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Parker/Quink/Blue%20Black%20with%20Solv-X/Dry%20Time.jpg

 

Here is a comparison with other ink colors. Use this as a calibration for your monitors and the photos. I did not intend this to show similar colors.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Parker/Quink/Blue%20Black%20with%20Solv-X/Comparison.jpg

 

Here is a poorly drawn ghost to show how the ink looks with sketching, and coloring.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Parker/Quink/Blue%20Black%20with%20Solv-X/Ghost.jpg

 

Here is a water test. The top grid had drops of water placed for 10 seconds, then vigorously wiped downwards. The bottom text did not receive any drops of water and was only wiped with in the same motion as the grid. The ink fared EXTREMELY WELL with this test. I was actually super shocked when I saw how well the ink behaved. There was little to no lifting in the drops, and very little wet smear. This is not a bulletproof ink, but will definitely survive a small spill.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Parker/Quink/Blue%20Black%20with%20Solv-X/Water%20After.jpg

 

Lastly, here is a scan of the review. Use the scan to read the rest of the review. I did not intend for it to show color accuracy. The pictures are the most accurate representation of the color.

 

http://files.goviralforyou.com/Inks/Reviews/Parker/Quink/Blue%20Black%20with%20Solv-X/Scan.jpg

[The Good Captain]

I bought a bottle of this a while back and it's just as described. Lost a bit of the 'blue' with the passage of time I suspect. Great ink.

[AlejoPlay]

I have a bottle of vintage Quink Blue Black with Solv-X. Not sure of the year, but I think it may be a later vintage as the bottle screams late 50s/early 60s to me in terms of design. It's quite gorgeous. I have it in a stubby flexy Geha Schullfuller and I get such gorgeous shading with it.

 

It's probably the one Bl-Bk I have that gives me that iron gall look without the dryness.

[fireant]

Thank you for this review. I was lucky enough to receive some of this ink from Larry as well.

[Larry Barrieau]

Thanks to everyone for your feedback. I'm glad I got to share some nice ink.

[Moynihan]

I have a fair amount of this stuff, and seldom use it. Some i consolidated into large bottles, but still have 1/2 doz. or so bottles in their boxes. Doe tend to be a light side of the blue-black spectrum. When i use it, it is with a we fine nib, and it seems a tad darker.