What Are Some Of *your* Favorite Fountain Pen Inks? =)

[Noihvo]

[Tasmith]

Very nice Intensity!

 

Lately I've been impressed by Diamine Archival Registar's ink. Very well behaved and like other iron gall inks, writes well on the cheapest and other paper types that make most other fountain pen inks either bleed, feather, smear or bead up and refuse to dry.

[pgcauk]

OK, I think I have boiled down to a core group of seven;

Stone Green - Kobe #45 Hachibuse Silhouette

Blue (= Dirty Cyan) - Birmingham Pens' Rachel Carson Silent Spring

Violet - Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa

Persimmon - Noodlers' Antietam

"Gentleman's Pink" - J. Herbin Rouille D'Ancre

Golden dirt - De Atramentis' Umber

Earth Green - De Atramentis' Jean Jaques Rousseau

[Tasmith]

OK, I think I have boiled down to a core group of seven;

Stone Green - Kobe #45 Hachibuse Silhouette

Blue (= Dirty Cyan) - Birmingham Pens' Rachel Carson Silent Spring

Violet - Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa

Persimmon - Noodlers' Antietam

"Gentleman's Pink" - J. Herbin Rouille D'Ancre

Golden dirt - De Atramentis' Umber

Earth Green - De Atramentis' Jean Jaques Rousseau

WOW!

[VivaTerlingua]

OK, I think I have boiled down to a core group of seven;

Stone Green - Kobe #45 Hachibuse Silhouette

Blue (= Dirty Cyan) - Birmingham Pens' Rachel Carson Silent Spring

Violet - Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa

Persimmon - Noodlers' Antietam

"Gentleman's Pink" - J. Herbin Rouille D'Ancre

Golden dirt - De Atramentis' Umber

Earth Green - De Atramentis' Jean Jaques Rousseau

 

I've noticed that I have extremely similar taste to you in inks, but Rouille d'Ancre was one that I had sworn off from ever trying. Got a sample based on your enjoyment of it, and it is actually surprisingly quite nice. Need to try some of these De Atramentis inks, that is a brand I have never personally used.

[Intensity]

OK, I think I have boiled down to a core group of seven;

Stone Green - Kobe #45 Hachibuse Silhouette

Blue (= Dirty Cyan) - Birmingham Pens' Rachel Carson Silent Spring

Violet - Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa

Persimmon - Noodlers' Antietam

"Gentleman's Pink" - J. Herbin Rouille D'Ancre

Golden dirt - De Atramentis' Umber

Earth Green - De Atramentis' Jean Jaques Rousseau

 

Gorgeous!

 

Rouille d'Ancre has that beautiful outlining effect I love. Someday I'll get a bottle. You got me interested in BPC's Silent Spring for my next order of Birmingham inks (which will include Boiler Steam Blue Black again).

[Kalessin]

Vintage Skrip Peacock Blue -- There isn't another turquoise exactly like it

Parker Penman Sapphire -- Everyone should try this unique ink once; Monteverde Horizon Blue is a good currently-available substitute

Pilot/Namiki Blue (Namiki is Pilot's luxury brand; it's the same ink in two different bottles) -- Fantastic serious-writing blue, I use it at work all the time.

[Greenpenman111]

Pilot Iroshizuku momji, kon peki, and montblanc velvet red and homer

[CMaurer]

LAMY Blue-Black is one of my go-tos, but I also really enjoy Diamine Oxblood. Both are great for work/school. Another one that I really love, but isn't quite as dark is Kyoto Hisoku, a really lovely light blue-grey. Noodler's apache sunset is a really great one too, by the way! I can see why it's already one of your favorites

[Lamyliz]

Lamy blue is an everyday favourite.

 

I love lamy petrol but can't get it now so enjoy diamine dark forest as it's similar.

 

Iroshizuko ku-jaku but very expensive so bought pure pens Celtic seas which I find to be a good substitute.

 

All the diamine shimmering inks I love especially spearmint diva in my moonman mini pocket pen.

 

Can't find the love for Apache subset not 54th Massachusetts (must be the only person!) I can't take to the colours.

 

Diamine Imperial purple, turquoise, poppy red, hope pink I also enjoy

[ygv]

Montblanc Homer Greek Blue

[jsrnn]

Well I have waaaaaaaaaaaaayyy too many inks (about 50) in an OCD fueled buying craze but there are some inks I refill and use a lot. It changes often but here are some of the current contenders.

 

Diamine Syrah and Sailor Souteen in wet Stubs.

Waterman Serenity Blue

RK Salix & Scabiosa

MB Toffee Brown

Waterman Blurple Mix

 

I use Vert Empire and Pelikan 4001 RB & BB a lot also.

 

For the crazy colors, I dig Diamine Bilberry, RK Cassia is a good purple. Depending on the pen I love/hate Nightshade. I cycle Red Dragon/Oxblood/Ancient Copper for a legible reddish color. They are all OK and good situationally. But I can do without them. Actually I really like Parker Quink Black for a grey-black ink. I think Black needs to be kinda interesting. Cacao de Brasil is GREAT on wet nibs. Imperial Purple is AMAZING in some pens. Walnut is OK. Expected darker or more established color. The Herbin browns are OK situationally (Terre, Lie, Cafe) but none of them blew me away.

[Restored]

I only have 3

 

Monteverde Horizon Blue great with any nib. Good blue color.
Diamine Merlot with a slight amount of Syrah added - Consistent with nibs. I had to move it to a prescription bottle and I may add a little Shaeffer Red to it to see if I can make it more maroon.

Monteverde Amathyst - Two different inks. In a F nib, it is a light purple. In a medium nib, it is darker. I wish that was the other way but oh well.

[tubular]

If I used broad nibs I wouldn't be able to resist deep, luscious greens and golden browns. But I use mostly fine nibs (my Sailor KOP medium is the broadest I have), and so I favor inks that declare themselves in fine strokes:

 

 

Bungubox Sweet Potato Purple

Bungubox L'Amant

Bungubox Fujiyama Blue and June Bride (I am decades too old for these but love them anyway)

Iroshizuku Asa-Gao

 

But these are my two newest favorites, which I love better than any others:

 

Sailor Kingdom Note Rosalia batesi (a bright, very clean teal)

Sailor Kingdom Note Cambaroides japonicus (a softer, almost powdery gray-blue)

[gyasko]

I have a bunch of vintage inks to go with my vintage pens :

 

1. Parker Quink BB

2. Skrip Burgundy

3. Montblanc BB (the old IG version)

4. Parker Quink Washable Blue

5. Skrip Red

 

The Quink BB and Skrip Burgundy are my all-time favorite inks. I have a lifetime supply of the Washable Blue, but i'm going to run out of the others. When that happens, i'll have to switch to modern inks.

 

Here are my top 5 modern inks :

 

1. R&K Scabiosa.

2. Herbin Rose Cyclamen

3. Herbin Bleu des profondeurs

4. Herbin éclat de sapphire

5. R&K Salix

 

I'm not crazy about Salix, but i do have it around for addressing envelopes. It's useful for that. I use the Scabiosa and Rose Cyclamen for marking papers and editing. The blues are general writing inks that i enjoy using.

[RudraDev]

Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo, Diamine Majestic Blue and Waterman Tender Purple are my top 3.

Apart from this I love almost all of the Iroshizuku inks and some Noodler's inks.

[TSherbs]

My single favorite ink is Aurora Black.

[ScarletWoodland]

These are my top three for sure and it troubles me when one of them isn't inked up in anything:

 

Robert Oster Blue Sea

Monteverde California Teal

Noodler's Ottoman Rose

 

After these things get tricky, so we'll say honourable mentions go to:

 

Diamine Honey Burst

Iroshizuku Momiji

Noodler's Navy

Monteverde Capri Blue

Diamine Desert Burst

Noodler's Saguaro Wine

Monteverde Olivine

 

.. and run away before the list gets any longer

[DilettanteG]

Black: Noodlers Heart of Darkness excellent flow, opaque, good dry time, and bonds to cellulose on contact. This ink lives in my namiki falcon with a spencerian nib.

Blue Black: Noodlers Legal Lapis for Pendemonium, good flow, great shading, fraud resistant, my go to contract ink. Noodlers Swishmix Tahitian Pearl is a slightly darker, but faster drying alternative.

Blue: Noodlers Baystate Blue: So saturated it makes even my Parker Penman Sapphire look dull. Its also alkaline and dyes everything, so I only use it in a rugged stainless steel Sheaffer Prelude with a cursive italic nib and easily replaced converter.

Red: Levenger Cardinal Red, a bright, true red that dries without a trace or orange, brown , or pink; unique among my many bottles of red.

Purple: Montblanc Violet just a really satisfying dark purple with a hint of black. Flow could be a little wetter, but I love the color. J. Herbins Poussiere de Lune is a close match, but a touch more gray, has lovely shading.

Yellow: Noodlers Firefly, the perfect fluorescent highlighter ink. Practically glows.

Brown: Noodlers Beaver is a nice dark brown with a slight purple undertone. Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown is a nice alternative for a lighter brown with interesting shading. Noodlers Walnut is a great option for a permanent very dark brown.

Gray: Noodlers Lexington Gray is a nice, permanent, true gray. with good shading. J. Herbins Gris Nuage is a lovely, lighter, delicate pale gray without any blue or green tones and excellent shading.

Orange: Noodlers Apache Sunset has lovely shading. For a super saturated orange Noodlers Dragon Napalm is a good choice.

Turquoise: Caran dAche Caribbean Sea a lovely, super, saturated aqua blue with just a hint of green. Good dry time as well. Replaced Sheaffer Skrip Peacock as my go to turquoise.

Teal: Noodlers Turquoise is intensely saturated, great color. Private Reserve Blue Suede is a very similar color, but a touch greener. Noodlers Squeteague is darker than both and another great color. I really like teal.

Pink: Noodlers American Eel Cactus Fruit is a slightly purple hot pink, but writes very smoothly. Levenger Pinkly is much more of a true hot pink, but the American Eel does a better job of smoothing out scratchier nibs.

Green: Parker Penman Emerald is a lovely Dark Green. Private Reserve Sherwood Green or Noodlers Green Marine were my favorites before I found it.

Light Green: Rohrer and Klingner Alt Goldgrun, lovely shading.

Sparkly Ink: I love all the J. Herbin 1670 and 1798 inks. Its tough to pick a favorite, but I think the Emeraude de Chivor shows off the metallic particles the best. Honestly, theyve become favorites for the color, flow, and shading alone.

Best Scented Ink: Montblanc Je taime Love Letter or J. Herbins Encre Rouge Parfumee Rose seems to be the same stuff. Nice rose scent plus a nice red with good shading.

My first bottles of Sailor and Pilot are on the way, so well see if I get on the Japanese ink band wagon. I may need to order some sheening inks as well.

Edited April 3, 2019 by DilettanteG

[KaB]

I don't do black or regular blue. So:

 

Iro Tsuki-Yo

Sailor Yama Dori

R&K Alt-Goldgrün

Diamine Chocolate Brown

Sailor Rikyu-Cha (murky green)

Sailor Kin-Mokusei (orange)