Ink Bottles With Reservoirs

[jabberwock11]

I was looking for a new ink last night and found myself continuously coming back to Sailor Jentle Black. Now, I am sure that this is a fine ink, but I already have four black inks and to be honest four is about two too many. The reason that I kept coming back to Sailor was not because it is a particularly amazing black, but rather because the bottle just happened to have an ink reservoir in it. As much as I would like to try some Sailor inks I have to admit that if they did not have the reservoir in their bottles, then I would not be nearly as interested.

 

Ink reservoirs are great little devices that help to make using bottled ink an easier process. They make filling pens less messy, they make using all of the ink in a bottle much easier, and they are just plain nifty. Ink reservoirs are great devices and should absolutely be in more bottles (I'm looking at you, J. Herbin). The very first ink bottle that I ever purchased (Pen & Ink | Sketch No-Shellac India Black) had an ink reservoir in it, and I have to admit that when I bought another ink I was pretty disappointed that it did not also come with a reservoir. Since then I have come to understand that ink reservoirs are the exception rather than the rule, and any time I find an ink with a reservoir included I become inexorably drawn to it. Which is why I found myself staring at a black ink that I would have had no real interest in otherwise.

 

I ended up passing on the Sailor Jentle Black, but I DID buy an empty Sailor Jentle bottle from iSellpens.com (I plan on putting some of my Noodler's Heart of Darkness into it). I have never been interested in buying empty ink bottles, but it seemed like the lesser of two evils to me, and I now have very little interest in spending money on an ink that I don't really need.

 

So, I am interested to know how many other folks out there have an obsession with ink bottles containing reservoirs. I can't be the only one. What are your favorite reservoir containing bottles? Would you ever consider one ink over another simply because one of them had a reservoir? To get things rolling here are a list of all of the inks (that I am aware of) which include reservoirs in their bottles:

 

Akkerman

Levenger

Mont Blanc (the long bottles)

Pen & Ink | Sketch

Pilot (70ml bottles)

Platinum (there three standard inks)

Sailor Jentle

Sheaffer Skrip (vintage bottles)

TWSBI (Not an ink, but they do make a reservoir containing ink bottle)

 

 

 

http://www.carpediemstore.com/mCustomPage/images/AAINDIAINK.jpg

 

http://static2.jetpens.com/images/a/000/019/19851.jpg?s=0f16f7d983a13d62105460a6a912018d

 

http://www.levimage.com/IMAGE/Web/Product/Pen_Ink/Refills/PR1420_paLEVINK_s1.jpg

Edited October 27, 2015 by jabberwock11

[Mr. Pink]

Add a discontinued Parker

[FOUR X FOUR]

I like the Levenger bottles.

[jabberwock11]

  On 10/27/2015 at 10:09 PM, Charles Rice said:

Add a discontinued Parker

 

Huh, I didn't know that Parker had a bottle with a reservoir, but after doing some research I turned up a couple of people lamenting the fact that they no longer did this. I would love to see one of these.

 

 

  On 10/27/2015 at 10:19 PM, FOUR X FOUR said:

I like the Levenger bottles.

 

I'm a big fan of Levenger's ink and bottles. I picked up some Amethyst for $6 with free shipping and fell in love. The bottles look good, have a great reservoir, and are nearly impossible to knock over. The inks are vibrant and interesting. They are some of my favorite inks.

[rafapa]

Rohrer and Klingner has recervoirs sold separately

http://www.lacouronneducomte.nl/webstore/main/rohrer-klingner-erka-rapid-p-6953.html

[tinta]

Not happy with the Sailor filling device. I've removed them all.

The larger Jowo #6 nibs cannot reach deep enough into Sailor's reservoir to pull up a full converter's worth of ink.

Platinum's ink reservoir is much deeper & works as designed till the bottle is almost out of ink. IMHO it's a much better design.

[jabberwock11]

  On 10/27/2015 at 11:26 PM, rafapa said:

Rohrer and Klingner has recervoirs sold separately

http://www.lacouronneducomte.nl/webstore/main/rohrer-klingner-erka-rapid-p-6953.html

 

Wow, that's really cool. I see that Goldspot has these reservoirs for $14.95, I might have to pick up a pack.

 

 

  On 10/28/2015 at 12:23 AM, tinta said:

Not happy with the Sailor filling device. I've removed them all.

The larger Jowo #6 nibs cannot reach deep enough into Sailor's reservoir to pull up a full converter's worth of ink.

Platinum's ink reservoir is much deeper & works as designed till the bottle is almost out of ink. IMHO it's a much better design.

That's too bad, I have a lot of pens with #5 nibs, so hopefully the Sailor bottle that I purchased will work out better for me than it did for you. If not, then I'll just try another one (maybe that R & K reservoir will fit into some of my other ink bottles as well).

[FayeV]

  On 10/27/2015 at 11:26 PM, rafapa said:

Rohrer and Klingner has recervoirs sold separately

http://www.lacouronneducomte.nl/webstore/main/rohrer-klingner-erka-rapid-p-6953.html

 

Very cool! I had no idea they made such an add-on.

[max dog]

I think the Waterman bottles are pretty clever with the sides angled so you can tilt the bottle for a better fill when the ink level gets lower.

[ksm]

How about big Iroshizuku and Lamy bottles?

They do not have reservoirs, but a recess in the center of the bottle which makes it easier to use (almost) all of the ink.

[Chrissy]

  On 10/27/2015 at 10:39 PM, jabberwock11 said:

 

Huh, I didn't know that Parker had a bottle with a reservoir, but after doing some research I turned up a couple of people lamenting the fact that they no longer did this. I would love to see one of these.

 

The Parker Penman ink bottles are the ones that have a reservoir inside.

[jabberwock11]

There are some great bottles out there that use design rather than a reservoir to make life easier, but I still prefer a reservoir. Reservoirs just make more sense to me.

 

I looked up Parker Penman inks...wow, that is some pricey stuff. They seem to have developed a sort of cult following since they were discontinued, which has driven up the price. The bottles look fairly similar to Levenger's ink bottles, I wonder if there was any overlap with Parker's design folks.

[Chrissy]

  On 10/28/2015 at 7:27 AM, jabberwock11 said:

There are some great bottles out there that use design rather than a reservoir to make life easier, but I still prefer a reservoir. Reservoirs just make more sense to me.

 

I looked up Parker Penman inks...wow, that is some pricey stuff. They seem to have developed a sort of cult following since they were discontinued, which has driven up the price. The bottles look fairly similar to Levenger's ink bottles, I wonder if there was any overlap with Parker's design folks.

 

If it was a bottle that you wanted, then you would probably get the best price by buying Parker Penman Ebony. I think that's the least popular colour. Sapphire and Emerald now go for very high prices

[Algester]

even then not all Sailor inks have a reservoir Kobe for instance I know doesnt have them

Sailor Storia does have them

their taller ink bottles doesnt, and the luminous tall bottles too... and perhaps the special edition inks from store exclusive shops with limited editions pens may or may not contain reservoirs (under these theres a LOT)

[Mr. Pink]

  On 10/28/2015 at 7:46 AM, Chrissy said:

 

If it was a bottle that you wanted, then you would probably get the best price by buying Parker Penman Ebony. I think that's the least popular colour. Sapphire and Emerald now go for very high prices

And of course I toss all my empties. Dang.

[ink-syringe]

and of course the old waterman bottles which is what Akkerman mimics (oddly no one ever points this out)

 

 

http://gopens.com/Pen-Blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Jif-Waterman-Ink-Bottles-Waterman-Past-and-Present-2.jpg

 

  On 10/28/2015 at 5:23 AM, max dog said:

I think the Waterman bottles are pretty clever with the sides angled so you can tilt the bottle for a better fill when the ink level gets lower.

 

[ac12]

I move 5ml of ink into an ink vial with a pipette, and fill from the ink vial.

This prevents stupid mistakes like contaminating the bottle with a different ink. I did this to an ink vial, so I did not loose much ink. So yes, people WILL DO stupid things.

Edited October 28, 2015 by ac12

[Sasha Royale]

My Pelikan 4001 bottle has "slanted" flat sides. A half-full bottle can be tilted to rest on its side, at

approximately 45º. I have the old Parker bottle, and several Script bottles. I look forward to opening my Levenger bottle to see if it has a reservoir.

[JonSzanto]

Yeah, reservoirs can be a very good thing, though some big nibbed pens may have issues (my OS Balances are picky with depth). I like the old, rounded MB "shoe" design, vintage Skrip with the "Skrip-well" built in, and the Akkerman bottles. The others with inserts, such as the Levenger, Sailor, etc, are nice if the nib/section fits. All of them make it a bit easier when the level in the bottle starts getting low, but I mainly have a few of the favored bottles that now hold my go-to inks in them. A swell invention.

 

And there have been a lot of very poor ink bottle designs over the years to keep the universe in balance!

[ac12]

Jon

You mean the current Sheaffer Skrip bottle?

 

It is a good/bad design.

Good, very hard to tip over.

Bad, very hard to get the last bit of ink out of it.

 

It could benefit a LOT from one of those inserts.

Edited October 29, 2015 by ac12