Ink Comparison From 15+ Years Ago

[ErrantSmudge]

While cleaning and organizing, I stumbled across two pages of writing samples that I made in the late '90s to early 2000s, when I had first discovered fountain pens. These pages have been stored in a dark place all this time, so effects of sunlight or room light should be close to nil. Of course, the inks may have changed color during this time. For instance, Lamy Blue looks like it has faded considerably from a writing sample I made with a modern Lamy Blue cart.

 

One line of Lamy Violet is crossed out because I think that had been written with a pen that had not been flushed properly; so the line without the crossout is more true to the actual ink color.

 

Some of these inks I have given away as PIFs here on FPN; other inks (such as the Sheaffer family) have been reformulated to new colors.

 

I notice three Levenger inks (Cocoa, Cardinal Red, and Gemstone Green) that appear here but weren't in my ink drawer this fall, when I came back to serious fountain pen collecting after several years hiatus. Looking at the writing samples, there's plenty of spread with Cardinal Red and Cocoa, showthrough with Cocoa (which no other inks on that page did, which is heavy weight copy paper). And Gemstone Green had feathering problems with many papers. I'm pretty sure I was so dissatisfied with those three inks that I poured them down the drain. (And I just recently gave away Cobalt, Raven Black, and Amethyst as PIFs).

 

From the Private Reserve inks, I flushed my bottle of Orange Crush down the drain due to SITB issues, so that ink is no longer in my collection. I no longer have the bottle of PR Spearmint that produced that writing sample; again because the ink developed slime in the bottle.

 

I also no longer have PR Tangerine Dream or Hot Bubble Gum Pink. These two inks were the Bay State Blues of their day - they stank, they indelibly stained EVERYTHING they touched, and they could not mix with any other inks. As fun as the colors were, I think those inks got dumped too because of their troublesome nature. I have a Schneider kid's pen that is indelibly stained by Hot Bubble Gum Pink.

 

The OMAS Roma Blue was a nice royal blue and I used up most of the bottle I had. When I checked my ink stash this fall, the remainder had evaporated completely because the bottle had a defective cap that could never seal quite properly. So I lost the remainder of that ink. The Triratna Orange I gave away as a PIF. I still have the Amerigo Vespucci Red and Sepia, and look forward to using them in my pens.

 

Anyway, nice inky trip down memory lane.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[antichresis]

This is very cool! Thank you

[visvamitra]

Very useful. And you've just reminded me how cool Sheaffer's King Gold was.

[bleair]

Interesting. Thanks for posting.

 

Would you say that the Lamy blue and the Sheaffer blue both faded over time compared to new writing?

They look the most faded to me, though maybe they start that way?

 

My oldest FP written page is 3 years ago done in Waterman blue and it's faded a teeny tiny bit, but I should do a check to see if continues to fade over time.

[Old_Inkyhand]

I love Sheaffer's King Gold and Herbin's Orange! It's a shame I can't get them. Orange Indien is, unfortunately, different. That Levenger Cobalt Blue looks cool... On the other hand, Waterman's Blue Black is more turquoise than mine. Maybe it has faded a little.

[ErrantSmudge]

@bleair - Your questions are interesting ones.

 

It turns out I saved some pages of the exact same paper I made the samples on so long ago. So I made some new samples, with pens that are currently inked with the same colors. I've included them below.

 

I'm not sure I can answer your question definitively for Sheaffer Blue. I have some cartridges that date back to then, but the ink inside the cartridge has evaporated somewhat. And I gather the modern-day formulation for this ink has changed since then. I would say the Sheaffer Blue has faded somewhat, but how much I cannot say.

 

@Old_Inkyhand - the "Herbin Orange" in the sample is indeed Orange Indien. I still have the same bottle of Waterman Blue-Black, so I may likely do another followup with more new writing samples from the same bottles.

 

Aurora Blue (still from the same bottle, now almost empty)

 

Lamy Blue (2017 sample from a recently purchased cartridge)

 

Lamy Turquoise (from the same bottle I had back then, but I also used this in cartridge BITD so not certain it's the same ink. Still, to my eyes there's no discernable change between then and now).

Edited January 15, 2017 by ErrantSmudge

[Olya]

Any washable blue will most definitely fade, some mere hours after writing. That includes Lamy Blue, Waterman (Serenity) Blue (marketed in France as "erasable"), Pelikan Royal Blue etc. Can't say whether Sheaffer Blue is the same, but generally if the Pelikan Pirate ink eraser erases an ink, then it's going to fade (fairly quickly) even in the best conditions, as can be seen above on th example of Lamy Blue.

Other blues that might be problematic are listed here (just saw that Sheaffer old & new was erased, so that's a risky ink re longevity)

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/6887-eradicable-inks-and-the-pelikan-super-pirat/?do=findComment&comment=89648

 

ETA: Great thread! Thanks for posting ErrantSmudge!

Edited January 15, 2017 by Olya

[Old_Inkyhand]

@Old_Inkyhand - the "Herbin Orange" in the sample is indeed Orange Indien. I still have the same bottle of Waterman Blue-Black, so I may likely do another followup with more new writing samples from the same bottles.

Ah, I thought it was this mysterious scented orange ink, which looks a bit different than Orange Indien! It's yet another proof that either the formulation has changed or I have a 'wrong' bottle. My Orange Indien is less yellow, more red, with some dusty, rusty undertones. I can't say I dislike it, but it looks more like rust than freshly squeezed orange juice. The Waterman BB comparison would be great. Mine was more BB and turning into pale teal after some time.

[Barkingpig]

Your Orange Indien is the same brown leaning ink as mine then; I also had hoped that this was another color & dashed about tring to discover what it might have been. I tried the "scented" inks, but the orange scent is identified as being with an "amber" colored ink, when pictured on the bottle label looked pretty "orange." I have settled with oranges that please me but it never hurts to be "on the lookout" for another.

[Old_Inkyhand]

Your Orange Indien is the same brown leaning ink as mine then; I also had hoped that this was another color & dashed about tring to discover what it might have been. I tried the "scented" inks, but the orange scent is identified as being with an "amber" colored ink, when pictured on the bottle label looked pretty "orange." I have settled with oranges that please me but it never hurts to be "on the lookout" for another.

I find Sailor Kin-Mokusei closer to what I want; I hope it will become available worldwide sooner than later. Orange Indien was a little disappointing also because it is too watery for my taste; I mean the feeling, not the colour. It doesn't lubricate the nib in a satisfactory way. I used to use it in Parker Frontier and I wasn't very happy with the pen; now I inked it with my custom ink mix and it instantly became much much better.

[inkstainedruth]

I love Sheaffer's King Gold and Herbin's Orange! It's a shame I can't get them. Orange Indien is, unfortunately, different. That Levenger Cobalt Blue looks cool... On the other hand, Waterman's Blue Black is more turquoise than mine. Maybe it has faded a little.

 

It would be interesting to see a side by side between King's Gold and something like KWZI IG Mandarin.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Old_Inkyhand]

 

It would be interesting to see a side by side between King's Gold and something like KWZI IG Mandarin.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I can't help you with these two, but I today I had a possibility to test my friend's Edelstein Amber and it looked just like King's Gold (with less pronounced shading, but the paper was quite absorbent). It isn't much helpful, as it is very hard to get as well. I think that KWZ IG Mandarin is browner. I don't know if tyou are aware of Lgsoltek's Study in Gold. There are two versions of IG Mandarin in this comparison, only one is correct, so be careful

 

You'd want to look at the updated version of the comparison, which is is here.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Old_Inkyhand

[amberleadavis]

Very cool. Thank you.

[Cyber6]

OMG... You still have the Omas Vespucci and Omas Triratna bottles???

 

 

C.

[ErrantSmudge]

OMG... You still have the Omas Vespucci and Omas Triratna bottles???

 

 

C.

 

I still have the Vespucci, it's mostly full. The Triratna I gave away as a PIF.

 

As I understand it, Vespucci Red is now one of those "legendary" unobtanium out-of-production inks - maybe not on the same tier as Parker Penman Sapphire, but still desirable nonetheless. Maybe Triratna as well - in which case the PIF recipient got a lucky deal!

[Sh.Andrews]

Thank you for sharing! I find this type of post very helpful. My eye was drawn to the striking Rotring Seville Red - new to me.

[ErrantSmudge]

Thank you for sharing! I find this type of post very helpful. My eye was drawn to the striking Rotring Seville Red - new to me.

 

Sadly, all Rotring fountain pen inks are out of production, so the color is now unobtanium. I have a very small amount left - about a sample's worth - but the ink has changed over the years (perhaps due to air exposure, the cap cracked) and it is now a rusty color that looks nowhere near the writing sample from 15 years ago.

 

It might be a good project to find a modern-day red ink to match my writing sample.

[jmccarty3]

The OMAS Triratna was a stunning color, but no matter, now that Mr. Oster is turning out oranges to beat the band. It's too bad that Waterman Serenity Blue fades like that--it's such a nice, well-behaved ink that I never worry about putting in any pen.

[Old_Inkyhand]

Thank you for sharing! I find this type of post very helpful. My eye was drawn to the striking Rotring Seville Red - new to me.

I have only three red inks, one seems to be a close match - Montblanc William Shakespeare Velvet Red. If you like it, grab it as fast as you can, because this is a limited edition. I am very pleased with it. I would place this Rotring somewhere between Diamine Matador and Diamine Oxblood. But I am no expert.

[tmurfet]

An old message thread, but I'll contribute. I'm researching Rotring history and attempting to gather information for a website I plan to spin-up. I have collected all the Brillant inks in boxed cartridges. Including two shades of red. Brick Red, and plain Red. I'm convinced Seville Red is the same recipe as one of those two. I'm also trying to find out how Rotring manufactured their inks. I have a working assumption that they contracted that out. Maybe Pelikan, or Schneider perhaps. I do have a contact that worked at the Rotring factory for 40 years, I haven't questioned him as yet as his English is very limited and I have to use Google Translate to communicate most of the time. But I digress ...

BTW is there a consensus in this community as to the value of rehydrating bone dry ink cartridges? I recently revived a Rotring Turquoise with a very pleasing result.

Cheers.