Inky T O D - If You Had To Rebuild Your Ink Collection From Scratch, What Would Be Your Initial Selections?

[SamCapote]

I have too many inks, so I can’t even think about replacing them all. 

[JulieParadise]

11 minutes ago, SamCapote said:

I have too many inks, so I can’t even think about replacing them all. 

 

That could be part of your tactic: Those you can't name without looking them up do not need to be replaced anyway. 😉

[como]

I definitely cannot go down the rabbit holes of inks. I already have 20+ bottles. It was not intentional nor strategic! I don’t know what happened 🤔

[Plume145]

This actually made me realise how close I am to being pared down to what I genuinely need and can use! I've been on a trend of paring down for a few years now, so it's cool to realise I actually low-key met my goal without really realising it. 

 

The only thing I need to get all the way there is to get rid of a sackful of mostly empty ink samples still lying around, which I will once I have them swatched (for comparison purposes). Thereafter, I'll only keep inks I actually love using, everything else gets swatched and then dumped/rehomed. 

 

Anyway, to play along:

1) Herbin Bleu Nuit, all-around staple. 

2) Something reddish, something blueish, something brownish. (I'm easy, there's several I like in each). Preferably mini sized (sample, small bottles, or cartridges that I cut out and dump into a vial). 

3) An ink mixing kit - Blackstone, Nick Stewart if it comes out again, or even Platinum (although that's got more colors so it eats up more room). Full size. 

4) Sparkly stuff, again small. If anybody ever makes add-in shimmer for inks, I'll get that instead 

😉

A funny thing: I thought I'd be crazy about scented inks, but I'm really not. I'm big on scent in all kinds of other things, but apparently with inks I'm all about the visual 🤷‍♀️

 

[Detman101]

1. Pilot Iroshizuku - Kon Peki (Was my first way back then, would be my first again! 🥰)
2. Robert Oster Caffe Crema (spent months looking for something better...nope!)

3. Montblanc - 💓Irish Green💓 (My heart, my love, this is the ink of my soul!!)
4. Sailor - Manyo Nekoyanagi (This variable ink is always interesting...wish I'd found it sooner)
5. Troublemaker - Milky Ocean (Would get LOTS of it earlier just because it went vaporware 😢)

[Estycollector]

Ha ha, I would have started with Waterman Serenity blue instead of the bottle of Pelikan black and one of Waterman black. 😁

[Rainbowpizza]

1. Noodler's - 54th Massachusetts.

That is all.

[WalterC]

Waterman Serenity Blue

Aurora Black

Diamine Blue Velvet

a red and a green for editing and markup (I have and rarely use Diamine Ultra Green and Red Dragon)

Nice to have would be:

Yama Budo and Take Sume

Diamine Sepia

 

[ParramattaPaul]

I may have replied to this earlier, but at the moment, I would be happy with just two inks -- Diamine Oxford Blue and Blackbird Kingfisher Blue.  Those are the two inks I commonly use.

[Newjelan]

My answer today is likely different to yesterday, and may change again tomorrow. 😏 I would always include Diamine Jalur Gemilang; after that Lamy Dark Lilac, Private Reserve Midnight Blues, Rohrer & Klingner Alt-goldgrün

[amberleadavis]

On 12/21/2020 at 2:51 AM, SamCapote said:

I have too many inks, so I can’t even think about replacing them all. 

 

 

If you had to start again, would you buy them all again?  Where would you start?

[SF Susan]

I’d start with Iroshizuku Asa-Gao because it’s my favorite ink. Then I’d get a few Waterman Inks for my vintage pens. For color variety I’d get a selection of Diamine inks because they’re as reliable as Iroshizuku but more affordable. Finally, I’d fill out my collection with a few favorite inks like Sailor Shikiori Yamadori, Iroshizuku Yama Budo, and maybe J Herbin Emeraude de Chivor. 

[amberleadavis]

1 hour ago, SF Susan said:

I’d start with Iroshizuku Asa-Gao because it’s my favorite ink. Then I’d get a few Waterman Inks for my vintage pens. For color variety I’d get a selection of Diamine inks because they’re as reliable as Iroshizuku but more affordable. Finally, I’d fill out my collection with a few favorite inks like Sailor Shikiori Yamadori, Iroshizuku Yama Budo, and maybe J Herbin Emeraude de Chivor. 

 

 

Very nice selection!

[ausserirdischesindgesund]

Pelikan Fount India: While it is not as black as other black inks, it has some aspects of true india ink (which it is not). And its flow is like a dream. It is cheap. What's not to like? My everyday black, and my favourite ink. Clean your pen once in a while, it has pigments. But unlike other pigment inks, this one has been around for decades. If it ate pens, we would know.

Kaweco Ruby Red: A replacement for the no longer available Caran d'Ache Sunset. I am on the fence if is identical, colour wise, or if I should mix in a tiny bit of violet or blue to shift it a tiny tiny bit towards pink. There is a new 50ml bottle now, at the same price. This has made Kaweco's inks a lot cheaper. It is no longer an expensive ink.

Lamy Blue or Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue: These two more or less look identical to me. I suspect the pigments are more or less identical. Both are trouble free inks, that are available cheaply. For flushing out weird inks, testing pens, having an ink that you can give to your child in school, that will wash out nicely from clothes, that can be deleted with ink erasers etc.

Montblanc Royal Blue: Like above, but not for flushing&testing pens. Too expensive for that. On the other hand: To me the nicest of the washable/deletable/bleachable inks (I think I have tested them all, including Aurora, Parker, R&K ...).

Rohrer and Klingner Scabiosa: It is weird and wonderful, the way it changes colour. It looks old fashioned, it is cheap. What's not to like? Its dryness, maybe.

I could live with these for quite some time. Probably a true violet would be next, a green would come afterwards.

 

Edited May 1, 2021 by ausserirdischesindgesund

[amberleadavis]

4 hours ago, ausserirdischesindgesund said:

Pelikan Fount India: While it is not as black as other black inks, it has some aspects of true india ink (which it is not). And its flow is like a dream. It is cheap. What's not to like? My everyday black, and my favourite ink. Clean your pen once in a while, it has pigments. But unlike other pigment inks, this one has been around for decades. If it ate pens, we would know.

Kaweco Ruby Red: A replacement for the no longer available Caran d'Ache Sunset. I am on the fence if is identical, colour wise, or if I should mix in a tiny bit of violet or blue to shift it a tiny tiny bit towards pink. There is a new 50ml bottle now, at the same price. This has made Kaweco's inks a lot cheaper. It is no longer an expensive ink.

Lamy Blue or Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue: These two more or less look identical to me. I suspect the pigments are more or less identical. Both are trouble free inks, that are available cheaply. For flushing out weird inks, testing pens, having an ink that you can give to your child in school, that will wash out nicely from clothes, that can be deleted with ink erasers etc.

Montblanc Royal Blue: Like above, but not for flushing&testing pens. Too expensive for that. On the other hand: To me the nicest of the washable/deletable/bleachable inks (I think I have tested them all, including Aurora, Parker, R&K ...).

Rohrer and Klingner Scabiosa: It is weird and wonderful, the way it changes colour. It looks old fashioned, it is cheap. What's not to like? Its dryness, maybe.

I could live with these for quite some time. Probably a true violet would be next, a green would come afterwards.

 

 

 

Welcome aboard!  Very nice selections.

[white_lotus]

Losing my ink collection would be a great tragedy. For me of course, not anyone else.

 

Many of my beloved inks are shop-exclusive Sailor inks and are essentially unobtainable now.

 

The inks I can get are

 

Noodler's FPH Subway Sepia, Old Dutch Colony Sepia, Henry Hudson Blue.

Sailor's Rikyu-cha, Kiwa-guro, Shigure

Kobe (Sailor) #38 Kitanosaka Night Blue, #14 Maya Lapis, #3 Old Foreigner's Ward Sepia

Monteverde Horizon Blue (as a PPS substitute)

 

I'd probably have to try and get a bottle of Kingdom Note (Sailor) Tanna japonesis "Evening cicada" as a murky olive green. It shows up repeatedly in my list of ink fills.

[amberleadavis]

On 5/1/2021 at 6:58 PM, white_lotus said:

Losing my ink collection would be a great tragedy. For me of course, not anyone else.

 

Many of my beloved inks are shop-exclusive Sailor inks and are essentially unobtainable now.

 

The inks I can get are

 

Noodler's FPH Subway Sepia, Old Dutch Colony Sepia, Henry Hudson Blue.

Sailor's Rikyu-cha, Kiwa-guro, Shigure

Kobe (Sailor) #38 Kitanosaka Night Blue, #14 Maya Lapis, #3 Old Foreigner's Ward Sepia

Monteverde Horizon Blue (as a PPS substitute)

 

I'd probably have to try and get a bottle of Kingdom Note (Sailor) Tanna japonesis "Evening cicada" as a murky olive green. It shows up repeatedly in my list of ink fills.

Evening cicada is such a surprising ink - I'm not even into murky olive greens and I still find it in my pens along with Pen and Messenger Cigar.

[white_lotus]

Wonderful. That is quite an endorsement coming from a retina-searing ink lover!

[AkitaMom]

I started out in the early ʻ60s with Parker Quink. Still have the empty bottle. Sigh

[amberleadavis]

On 5/9/2021 at 12:26 PM, AkitaMom said:

I started out in the early ʻ60s with Parker Quink. Still have the empty bottle. Sigh

 

Welcome aboard!