Blackstone Sydney Harbour Blue

[bioluminescentsquid]

I got this ink at the LA pen show and did the writing samples quite a while ago, but never scanned and uploaded them until recently.

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/EPSON012%20%202_zps7o5nikqr.jpg

We'll first go over the basics - it's a very wet ink, and will flow generously out of pens. This also makes it prone to bleed on the worst of papers, although I haven't found it to be troublesome (despite for longer drying times due to sheer wetness) on friendly papers. No water resistance to note of!
I'll be first to admit that I don't like the color. I like blue-blacks, but this one is just too teal for my tastes. Still, it is acceptable when used in a very wet pen, where it almost looks black.

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/EPSON019%20_zpsvyx7atcb.jpg
Staples Bagasse paper; I dip tested this, and thus it blobbed in the start.

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/EPSON015%20_zpskao2hsj4.jpg

 

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/EPSON015%20%203_zpsdvfz0lkn.jpg

 

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/EPSON015%20%202_zpsjhqltqem.jpg

Kokuyo looseleaf

 

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/EPSON014%20_zpsuhkupdzm.jpg

 

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/EPSON014%20%202_zpsgartlevg.jpg

 

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/EPSON014%20%203_zpszfgoz52v.jpg

Daiso notebook paper

 

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/EPSON016%20_zps3okfvffj.jpg

 

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/EPSON016%20%203_zpsmti9vkoi.jpg

 

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/EPSON016%20%202_zpslu78pyop.jpg

Maruman Mnemosyne

So, now you're probably thinking that this is quite a run-of-a-mill ink. Not quite.
To end this review, I'll just slip in this scandalous photo.

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/qq22/Andy_Quaen/IMG_1741_zpsiayfpdug.jpg

(No, no photoshop/glitter was used here. I hope I got you sheen fans swooning!)

Edited March 21, 2016 by bioluminescentsquid

[visvamitra]

Very nice review. I like this ink.

[mehandiratta]

me too ... i love this ink... out of all the blackstone inks

[majolo]

I currently have my TWSBI eco stub filled with this, liking it a lot. I never see it as light as some of your samples show, but I'm currently journaling in a Leuchtturm which seems to suck in the ink a bit compared to some papers. I think there's a family resemblance to Sailor Yama-Dori, anyone else?

[Cyber6]

LOVE this ink... I do like Barrier Reef for the sheen... but Sydney Harbour has my heart for the color... One of my favorite inks. It has been in my EDC for almost a year..

 

 

 

C.

[migo984]

Lovely colour but behaviour can be kind of wild & unpredictable. This is an ultra wet ink (like their Daintree Green) & can feather like crazy. Had some batch variations. Nib gauge can look at least a size wider. Even had bleed through on Tomoegawa. I like it a lot though!

[mehandiratta]

[TheDutchGuy]

This is an ultra wet ink ... can feather like crazy. Had some batch variations. Nib gauge can look at least a size wider.

 

Interesting. Not my experience at all. It puts down a line exactly as wide as the contact area and doesn’t feather even on some non-coated papers. It shades and sheens like crazy, which I like. I adore this ink in moderately wet pens with very fine nibs (Japanese F territory), where it will form a super-crisp rope of ink behind the nib that doesn’t spread in any way.

 

^—this is grocery-list grade paper (my iPad camera distorted the colours). No feathering at all. No bleed-through and hardly any show-through. There’s no scale in the image, but the line width is Sailor F territory.

Edited April 11, 2020 by TheDutchGuy

[migo984]

Interesting. Not my experience at all. It puts down a line exactly as wide as the contact area and doesn’t feather even on some non-coated papers. It shades and sheens like crazy, which I like. I adore this ink in moderately wet pens with very fine nibs (Japanese F territory), where it will form a super-crisp rope of ink behind the nib that doesn’t spread in any way.

 

^—this is grocery-list grade paper (my iPad camera distorted the colours). No feathering at all. No bleed-through and hardly any show-through. There’s no scale in the image, but the line width is Sailor F territory.

Well my post was written a while ago & my experience was with ink bought maybe five or six ago, back when Kevin had just started making his Blackstone inks. Perhaps quality and/or formulation has improved since......?

[TheDutchGuy]

Yes, could be. It’s one of the most saturated inks I know, by the way. A real sheen machine. I have two bottles, one 33% diluted, one pure. In certain pens, the ink is magical.

[Jamerelbe]

Well my post was written a while ago & my experience was with ink bought maybe five or six ago, back when Kevin had just started making his Blackstone inks. Perhaps quality and/or formulation has improved since......?

 

I was also a very 'early adopter' with this ink, and had no problems of this sort with my first bottle - but yes it's possible there have been improvements to the formulation of these inks. I really like it - except in the driest of pens, it's prone to sheen a little (to a lot), and is a lovely dark blue with just a hint of grey-green.

[TheDutchGuy]

I love the hue of this ink, but always had difficulty to call it a ‘blue’. At most, I’d call it a very saturated teal. In dry pens, the teal dominates a bit more and it becomes a bit blue-ish. In wet pens, I see mostly a very saturated, very dark green with undertones of red (mostly sheen), black and blue-black.