Which Royal Blue Ink To Get?

[AMlines]

What do you want the ink to do?

Not fade out one me after several years of storage.

Not get effected by moisture and humidity in the air. The notebook will be kept in places (often with no air-conditioning) that see a good amount of rain.

Not feather, bleed, or ghost. The last two being particularly important.

If you want two toned shading, you will need 90g/24 pound paper in any ink....outside of 80&90 g Rhodia.

I would prefer a simple even rich blue shade.

But if a two tone shade satisfied the criteria above, then I can go for it.

Pelikan 4001 and Lamy are dry inks that shade. Waterman blue....don't remember the 'new' name is a wet one so is not much in shading..

There are Japanese wet inks too.

I am guessing wet inks will be less suitable for my purposes. So, I guess I should get a dry ink?

I replaced my Waterman ink with one that is a bit more saturated....something Noodlers often are. A saturated in is boring monotone ....because it's is saturated, or supersaturated it can't shade.

Not just Noodlers, which is cheap ink in the States, now available in Europe for E14.00 or so.

For the same price I replaced that Waterman Blue with De Atramentis Royal Blue.

It tenges towards royal purple.

Thanks, I'll check these shades out.

What you need to do is to go to Inky Thoughts and look up blue ink, then once you have a list, go to Ink Reviews, and look for our Ink Guru.....Sandy1's reviews.

She will show you that nib width and a different good paper will make an ink look completely different.

I will-eventually. But, right now I am trying to get a basic ink that works for my use scenario. And, getting into the details will take quite some time.

For every 3 inks you buy, you should buy some good to better paper............good paper costs two mechanically delivered cans of Coke more than common printer paper. Better paper costs two cups of Starbuck's coffee more than the crud you stick in your computer..................what ever you do don't buy or use pure Ink Jet paper for writing....it is the feather king.

I will be using a notebook for journaling work, probably a Leuchturm 1917 or Rhodia. I am also figuring out a decent notebook to buy, which is the one I will take notes on, and want to keep for several years.

Other than that, there will be a good amount of writing on normal A4 sheets, but keeping them around in the long-run is not an issue.

Writing is 1/3 nib width/flex, 1/3 paper and 1/3 ink, and in that order.

Thanks. That's usefully put!

Amberleedavis, or in one of the other ink section has some color 'charts' that you will find interesting.

 

The Word on any of the Baystate inks, is to have a designated pen just for that ink, in it stains and is hard to clean.

Thanks for the forum, I'll be staying clear of this one now.

Visconti makes a real nice bright blue.....again on my wish list..............and I'm not heavy into blue.

Yes, others have recommended it too and I'll keep this top of my list of probables.

 

[Wahl]

Pelikan, Mont Blanc, Parker Quink

[minddance]

I am rather partial to Diamine Royal Blue due to its vibrance. Behaviour-wise, I have no problems in dry pens like my Pilot Custom74 F or Platinum EF and SF. Whether it fades or not, I cannot tell just yet. It certainly is not waterproof.

 

Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue is great with wet pens even on cheap copier papers.

[bemon]

Another thumb's down for Baystate blue- it's too temperamental and as others have pointed out it stains somethin' fierce. Plus it's been alledged to react badly when mixed with other inks if your pen hasn't been thoroughly cleaned before topping it up with BSB.

 

Waterman makes a solid, well behaved, affordable, and easy to clean blue. Serenity blue I think. I don't know if it counts as a royal blue, but it's '95 Corolla of inks. Boring but you know it's gonna start every time you need it to and won't offer up any nasty surprises.

[Erik Dalton]

I have looked around for years and tried all sort of ink samples to find a pleasant “ballpoint blue” ink that is well behaved and easy to clean. I’ve settled on these three Blue inks. They are safe, bright blue, well do not fade, easy to clean, and reliable. I always have one of them in my pens.

Visconti Blue, Aurora Blue, J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir.

[NeverTapOut]

I like MB Royal Blue.

It works great on fountain pen friendly paper and very good on non fountain pen friendly paper.

I use it everyday.

[praxim]

Stock well behaved blues are Aurora Blue, Pelikan Königsblau, Waterman Serenity Blue. More intensity can be gained with Diamine Sapphire, GvFC Cobalt Blue, S T Dupont Royal Blue, Visconti Blue. All of these are well behaved in my experience. I am no inky expert but I use all of these fairly regularly, most often on Leuchtturm 1917 paper with medium to fine nibs, some flexible some not.

[katerchen]

Not fade out one me after several years of storage.

Not get effected by moisture and humidity in the air. The notebook will be kept in places (often with no air-conditioning) that see a good amount of rain.

Not feather, bleed, or ghost. The last two being particularly important.

 

For those characteristics I'd use Sailor Sei-Boku. But of course its tone is nowhere near Royal Blue.

 

4001 Royal Blue definitely fades, but not to the point of obscurity. I always viewed it as a school/work ink, where archival was not a top consideration.

[Bookman]

OP, you might not get every quality you want from one royal blue or royal bluish ink. For the joy of writing, I like Akkerman #4, Aurora Blue, S. T. DuPont Royal Blue, Montblanc Royal Blue, and Waterman Bleu Sérénité. Of the RBs I've tried, I would say these are least likely to distract you while writing in class or for class. For longevity, I like Graf von Faber-Castell Cobalt Blue. It's darker than the others, but it is clearly blue with a violet tinge, and I have found it to be highly water-resistant, much more so than the reviews suggest. I can't say any of these inks are resistant to sunlight for any period. For instance I store all my kept writings indoors and away from windows. But I have journal entries using Aurora Blue, Montblanc Royal Blue, and Waterman Bleu Sérénité (Florida Blue) that are 9 years old and plainly readable, though somewhat faded. Visconti Blue (mentioned by others) has hardly not faded at all in those 9 years.

 

 

Edit: substituted "not" for "hardly."

Edited August 14, 2019 by Bookman

[AMlines]

I have looked around for years and tried all sort of ink samples to find a pleasant ballpoint blue ink that is well behaved and easy to clean. Ive settled on these three Blue inks. They are safe, bright blue, well do not fade, easy to clean, and reliable. I always have one of them in my pens.

Visconti Blue, Aurora Blue, J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir.

Thanks. The first two are coming up in several posts here. At this point it seems a safe bet for me to start off on my fountain pen adventures

But I will check the Saphor too.

[AMlines]

Stock well behaved blues are Aurora Blue, Pelikan Königsblau, Waterman Serenity Blue. More intensity can be gained with Diamine Sapphire, GvFC Cobalt Blue, S T Dupont Royal Blue, Visconti Blue. All of these are well behaved in my experience. I am no inky expert but I use all of these fairly regularly, most often on Leuchtturm 1917 paper with medium to fine nibs, some flexible some not.

Thanks. Ill check these out too.

Im thinking of choosing between leuchtturm, Rhodes, Clairfontaine. Leuchtturm seems a bit heavy, and Im looking for a lighter book.

[AMlines]

 

For those characteristics I'd use Sailor Sei-Boku. But of course its tone is nowhere near Royal Blue.

 

 

Ill check this out as my requirements take priority too. Writing detailed notes Ive come to feel that a bright shade like royal blue allows for an easier flow of thoughts than say black. There may be some scientific basis to this or it could be just an idiosyncrasy or mine.

 

4001 Royal Blue definitely fades, but not to the point of obscurity. I always viewed it as a school/work ink, where archival was not a top consideration.

While on the subject, which inks (royal blue, blue, black) would you recommend for archival writing?

 

And how many years is that normally? 10, 20? More?

[AMlines]

OP, you might not get every quality you want from one royal blue or royal bluish ink. For the joy of writing, I like Akkerman #4, Aurora Blue, S. T. DuPont Royal Blue, Montblanc Royal Blue, and Waterman Bleu Sérénité. Of the RBs I've tried, I would say these are least likely to distract you while writing in class or for class.

Interesting that you bring this up. Can you elaborate a bit on what you mean by distractions while note taking?

 

I thought black being the darkest shade should be less distracting than RB. The reason I want RB is because it makes the text stand-out and aids in comprehension than other shades. Red is too bright for my tastes.

For longevity, I like Graf von Faber-Castell Cobalt Blue. It's darker than the others, but it is clearly blue with a violet tinge, and I have found it to be highly water-resistant, much more so than the reviews suggest.

Thanks, I’ll look this one up too. When you say longevity how many years do you have in mind? I’d like to have the ink be clearly legible, if a little faded, at least 15 years from now. After that point I can scan my writing and keep it in my records.

 

That’s also the reason I am interested in moisture/water resistance. Humidity is an enemy of the ink as well as the notebook paper.

I can't say any of these inks are resistant to sunlight for any period. For instance I store all my kept writings indoors and away from windows. But I have journal entries using Aurora Blue, Montblanc Royal Blue, and Waterman Bleu Sérénité (Florida Blue) that are 9 years old and plainly readable, though somewhat faded.

What exactly does exposure to sunlight mean? That the sun rays are directly falling on the notebook from a window? Or, even indirect sunlight counts?

And, what is the best way to be storing a notebook that one wants to preserve over the long run?

Visconti Blue (mentioned by others) has hardly not faded at all in those 9 years.

Many others have recommended the Visconti and I’ll definitely give it a serious look. In fact, I am choosing between Visconti, Aurora, Diamine, Waterman, Iroshizuku Asa-gao.

[Larry Barrieau]

I like Parker Quink Royal Blue Premanent from the mid 40's.

[bizhe]

I'm enjoying Rohrer/Klingner konigsblau, which flows well and does not feather.

[John UK]

What you would very probably have used at school was Parker Quink Royal Blue 'washable'. It is still very widely available, cheap and works well, although I am aware they have changed the formulation to remove the "solvo X' cleaner that used to be in there (phenol based I believe).

Worth a try.

[BernieC]

https://andersonpens.com/private-reserve-naples-blue-ink-sample-3ml-vial/

[SwipedFromTruman]

Lately I've taken a liking to the Robert Oster inks. Specifically School Blue and Blue Water Ice. I don't think you can really go wrong with Iroshizuku Kon-peki either. And one that's hyper paper-dependent on what color blue you actually get - I really like Robert Oster's Lake of Fire. It's like a choose-your-own adventure book! It can vary a lot from one paper-type to another, but I really like each color it 'becomes'.

[NobodysPerfect]

There are a lot of great blues out there worth getting samples for (Iroshizuku Asa gao and Aurora blue are both pretty great), but if I could only have one blue, it would probably be Namiki. It's constantly inked in one of my pens and is the only bottle I keep at work. Specifically, it's really well behaved on cheap paper and has some water-resistance/permanence, while still being really low maintenance in pens (no staining, nib creep, etc.). It's also very affordable.

 

It's also good to keep in mind that your taste might differ from some of ours (I have given away quite a few bottles of ink that didn't work for me but were popular brands and colors), so you should look into getting samples of some of the recommendations that sound good to you.

[txomsy]

If I may, I would like to put forward Montblanc Permanent Blue. It is archival permanent and very well behaved so it should meet your requirements, and to me, the blue is a very nice one.