Ink Brand Loyalty

[amberleadavis]

  On 1/13/2016 at 4:10 PM, misterdimeo said:

I have bought ink based on the fact the title had the word Zeppelin in it !!!!!!

 

The ink was De Atramentis Ferdinand Von Zeppelin and luckily the ink looks really nice and is very well behaved. It is also sold under the name Atlantic Blue

 

Other than that, I have become fond of J Herbin, Diamine, Noodlers and Private Reserve.....

 

I have that one inked up today, so now I know that it's also Atlantic Blue. I'll cross them both off my Shawndo Sample Mayhem list.

[penswordnoassemblyrequired]

If we're counting bottles, then KWZI. Very reliable, dependable inks in my pens.

[miwishi63]

I have been partial to Noodler's, love Diamine Ancient Copper, and have begun ordering samples to I can add to the growing herd...

[domnortheast]

I have ended up gravitating to ESSRI, there is only one colour but I like it, the ink is very well behaved and is permanent. I have a moral objection to paying for an ink that is ephemeral and can be washed away or which fades easily, no matter how funky the colour. I also want to support the business that makes it (ESS), a small producer making a product (iron gall ink) that is getting more difficult to get hold of as time goes on.

 

I am about to place an order with KWZ for exactly the same reasons.

[tinta]

No loyalty to specific brands, per se,... just loyalty to individual inks.

I only have a limited pallete of colours that I like to use:

blue/blacks (mostly IG inks), mid-blues, sepias, claret, dark green, purple & black (nothing too saturated except for the black)

I prefer European or Japanese inks to the currently manufactured North American ones.

Edited January 13, 2016 by tinta

[lapis]

  On 1/13/2016 at 6:58 AM, Barkingpig said:

 

... I have ordered newly released books from the UK to receive them before American release; & found I am equally willing to pay European post to receive inks before they are "stateside." I could be dead before they are released HERE!

Ditto here, i.e. me too, just the other way around (geographically speaking).... I'm already willing to pay more to get a new German ink out of anywhere outside of Germany because it's sometimes {a} faster and {b} even possible. E.g. most Montblanc inks are available in the US, UK and Netherlands before they are in Germany; some Lamy inks in bottles are available in the US, Japan and Australia, but only in cartridges in Germany. If that's the way the ball bounces, I guess I can live with it (because I have to) but weirder yet is the fact that neither of those two companies even know about that situation, let alone "Why"!

 

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu264/peli46/1_ani.gif

[Sailor Kenshin]

  On 1/13/2016 at 12:10 AM, jabberwock11 said:

I am a huge fan of Chesterfield ink, and before I consider buying an ink from a different company I always look to see if I can purchase a similar color from Chesterfield first. (I realize that Chesterfield is just a repackaged and rebranded Diamine, but Chesterfield inks come in spiffy Nalgene bottles, cost far less than Diamine, and have more sizing options. They may be the same ink as Diamine, but I think of them as a separate entity.) The only other ink company that I use as often as Chesterfield is Rohrer & Klingner. With these two companies covering the vast majority of colors and options (both have iron gall inks, permanent document inks, and a wide variety of colors) I rarely see the need to go elsewhere for my inks. I have an ink or two from other companies and I have a hand full of samples from other companies, but to be perfectly honest I always end up coming right back to my big two.

 

This realization really hit home when I realized that I will buy a full bottle from either Chesterfield or R&K without first sampling the color, but I will not even consider buying ink from another company without trying a sample first. As it turns out, I am a loyal user of these two inks and I didn't even know it. So, my question is: how many folks out there find themselves loyal to certain brands of ink? What is it about those inks that keep you coming back? I am curious to know if I am alone in sticking mostly to one or two brands or if there are others like me out there.

I'm all over the place with ink. Which is why I largely go for samples rather than bottles. But...well....if we're talking bottles....okay, Skrip! Easy to use in all pens, good bottles.

 

It used to be J Herbin for me, but I'm also getting to be that way about Iroshizuku and Sailor's Kobe line.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

As to the OP question, "What is it about those inks that keep you coming back?"

• Curiosity
• Confidence

Most often I use Blue-centric inks, so for a wee shufti will often pick what looks to me like an up-the-middle ink, assuming that if a Co. can't deliver an admirable [best-seller] work horse ink, then my desire to explore other inks of that marque is diminished.

 

I never ever never discount offerings of inky innovators, such as the ink boffins at Sailor nor the individuality and ingenuity of Herr Dr Franz-Josef Jansen and Mr Tardif. (I do wonder what their inky dreams might be.)

 

And then we have others who conjure and produce admirable inks in lower volume/availability, such as Organics Studios, Scribal Work Shop and Herr Gröschkeof of kallipos.de plus others who are too numerous to mention.

 

My inky quest seems to be without end, and I'm OK with that, so brand loyalty is to me an anathema.

 

Gather your crew (FPN Members and FP friends), set a course, wait for the tide, hoist your sails, then venture upon the inky seas in search of booty and adventure.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited January 14, 2016 by Sandy1

[Fabienne]

I like: Noodler's (every color and lots of shading), herbin (some of them), Sailor (seduce and abandon me, baby), R&K (sweet little reliable baby), Akkerman (that bottle--Oooooo), Chesterfield (a wonderful ink company, I am loving Capri....OK they may be another company but they are sweet). Sure I like others, but there are some stars out there, and so far these are my superstars.

[amberleadavis]

  On 1/14/2016 at 12:30 AM, Sandy1 said:

Hi,

 

As to the OP question, "What is it about those inks that keep you coming back?"

• Curiosity
• Confidence

Most often I use Blue-centric inks, so for a wee shufti will often pick what looks to me like an up-the-middle ink, assuming that if a Co. can't deliver an admirable [best-seller] work horse ink, then my desire to explore other inks of that marque is diminished.

 

I never ever never discount offerings of inky innovators, such as the ink boffins at Sailor nor the individuality and ingenuity of Herr Dr Franz-Josef Jansen and Mr Tardif. (I do wonder what their inky dreams might be.)

 

And then we have others who conjure and produce admirable inks in lower volume/availability, such as Organics Studios, Scribal Work Shop and Herr Gröschkeof of kallipos.de plus others who are too numerous to mention.

 

My inky quest seems to be without end, and I'm OK with that, so brand loyalty is to me an anathema.

 

Gather your crew (FPN Members and FP friends), set a course, wait for the tide, hoist your sails, then venture upon the inky seas in search of booty and adventure.

 

Bye,

S1

 

 

OMG, Sandy, you are killing me. I now "need" more inks and a new glass pen.

 

http://www.kallipos.de/glasfeder-spitzen.html

[Sandy1]

  On 1/14/2016 at 1:34 AM, amberleadavis said:

 

 

OMG, Sandy, you are killing me. I now "need" more inks and a new glass pen.

 

http://www.kallipos.de/glasfeder-spitzen.html

 

[Bookman]

I must be partial to Diamine inks. I own more of its inks than any other maker's. As to loyalty, I started with Waterman in 1990. As long as I've used a fountain pen I've had at least one Waterman ink at all times. On the other hand, if one of them ever got out of line I'd flush it down the toilet without batting an eyelash. If authorities questioned me about it I'd swear I never saw it before in my life.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Bookman

[Freedom]

I seem to gravitate towards J.Herbin & Noodler's Inks.

Those two companies have distinc ink properties and I enjoy using both.

And since fountain pens & inks are also about "visual pleasure", I'll admit that

I love Noddler's labels! lol And those J.Herbin bottles might not be well designed to get

the last drop of ink out but they are pretty damn cute also!

[torstar]

The black widow spider and Tiananmen tanks labels did tilt me towards leaving them on the office desk even though red is not the colour of my true love's ink.

[richila]

I have J. Herbin and Levenger. It is what my family has as well, because I buy the ink .

[Pensei]

  On 1/13/2016 at 6:18 AM, FayeV said:

 

I haven't been in any hurry to pick up Sepia because I'm a not a big fan of brown. I only own one bottle of brown ink, however it is a gorgeous brown color which I love. (Iroshizuku Yama Guri) I'm sure I'll add Sepia to my collection someday, just to help complete the set.

 

My two favorite R&K colors are Verdigris (which permanently lives in my Lamy 2000) and Alt Goldgrun (which permanently lives in my Pelikan M400 White Tortoise). My other pens rotate through the other R&K colors I own.

Thanks for the reply to my question. I have a sample of Alt Goldgrun arriving in the mail in a day or two, and look forward to giving it a spin. Verdigris looks very nice, but it's on my "later" list because I seem to be overloaded with colors in that neighborhood. (Funny side note: I do a bit of collecting of copper coins, and in that context verdigris is a *very* bad thing. I have to overcome my first reaction to the name.) Best regards.

[dcwaites]

I made a mistake. Fellow member whichwatch sent me a couple of samples of Sailor Bung Box Sapphire, to compare with the other PPS replicants and clones. As a PPS clone, I wasn't impressed, it was too much of everything - too blue, too shady, too sheeny, etc.

 

However, I decided I should give it a run in a pen just for it's own sake. OMG, what a brilliant bl**dy ink. Smooth, blue, instant starter, shady, sheeny. I now have need to get a proper bottle or 10 of this ink, but at a price that won't force me to skip food for a week*. I know that Vanness have it on their list, and their shipping isn't too bad.

 

Anyway, back to normal programming. I have probably bought more Noodler's inks than any other brand, and have even more due to the kindness of Amberlea. I have also bought a number of Diamine inks, almost all in 30 ml smaller bottles. Other honourable mentions go to Parker, Private Reserve, Sheaffer, Waterman, Sailor and Wancher.

Patriotic Loyalty, though, must go to Kevin of Blackstone and his Colours of Aus. inks.

 

 

 

 

* On second thought, maybe not a bad thing...

[whichwatch]

My favorites are Iroshizuku, Sailor Kobe, and Diamine. I have grown away from Noodlers primarily due to lack of reproducibility. Nathan mentions this as a positive, but to me it is a cardinal sin in manufacturing.

[Buzz_130]

I'm still too new in my inky journey to settle on a brand. I write in blue, and I enjoy going through all of the brands that sell blue to see what I like. The good part - everyone sells blue! So I'm still searching.

 

Buzz

[zwack]

  On 1/16/2016 at 2:33 AM, Buzz_130 said:

I'm still too new in my inky journey to settle on a brand. I write in blue, and I enjoy going through all of the brands that sell blue to see what I like. The good part - everyone sells blue!

And many of them sell more than one blue too. You can keep going for quite a while.