What Is Your Favorite Ink?

[MKeith]

These are my favorites in order. Sorry I cannot limit it to one.

 

1. Chesterfield Xircon (I'm still not sure what Diamine ink this is.)

2. Diamine Aurora Borealis

3. J. Herbin Lie de The

4. Diamine Pelham Blue

5. Chesterfield Capri (again not sure what Diamine ink this is)

6. Mont Blanc Irish Green

7. Mont Blanc Toffee Brown.

[pgcauk]

So what are the other three in your overall top four? I'm guessing that Scabiosa is among them.

Yes, yes! Well my "basic carry" is a violet, a green and an orange, or secondary triad, generally with violet tending blue, green tending olive and orange tending brick (the other skew, teal, magenta and peach makes me shudder!). I keep looking for alternatives but the old faves are; Scabiosa, Kobe #49 and Autumn Oak (which is way too good, imho, to be a seasonal ink). So those are tops . . .

but I do have a paler iteration on the go at the moment which is really rather pleasant; Robert Oster Sydney Lavender (which I call "Pewter", again the name really lets the ink down!), Graf von Faber Castell Olive and Diamine Terracotta, which I interpret as "flower pot pink"!

 

Hmmm, in terms of "color voices", the green is for observations, the violet for wishes and ideas while the orange is for actions, annotations etc. I like both Autumn Oak and Terracotta for corrections etc. as they stand out without being too assertive (see the thread on red ink!)!

[Mongoosey]

Right now, I'm loving Platinum Carbon Black , especially with my Lamy Vista - EF.

 

It's not the best behaved ink in the pen; it requires some more flushes from time to time,

 

And it's no Kiwa-Guro with cheap paper, but it's good enough for journaling on Mead Paper,

 

And I also love the feel of it with that pen on Mead paper, which means I save lots of money on notebooks : )

 

And I thoroughly enjoy using it : )

Edited July 18, 2020 by Mongoosey

[Dip n Scratch]

In terms of quantity used it has to be Hero iron-gall Blue/Black. This you will find as Hero 232 or 202. The difference is just down to the bottle style.

Hero 233 is a standard washable blue. I've had some, but wasn't enthused by it.

I have been through two bottles of it & I have a third on order right now. I came to it after experiencing Pelikan 4001 Blue/Black.

 

I haven't used a great deal of standard blue, just odd bottles of Hero 233, Camlin Blue, Parker Permanent Royal Blue and Herbin Eclat de Saphir

The hunt for a blue I like is still ongoing. Presently I like Raduga Blue and Diamine Sargasso Sea is a close second.

[linkoiram]

In terms of quantity used it has to be Hero iron-gall Blue/Black. This you will find as Hero 232 or 202. The difference is just down to the bottle style.

Hero 233 is a standard washable blue. I've had some, but wasn't enthused by it.

I have been through two bottles of it & I have a third on order right now. I came to it after experiencing Pelikan 4001 Blue/Black.

 

I haven't used a great deal of standard blue, just odd bottles of Hero 233, Camlin Blue, Parker Permanent Royal Blue and Herbin Eclat de Saphir

The hunt for a blue I like is still ongoing. Presently I like Raduga Blue and Diamine Sargasso Sea is a close second.

Do you find that hero blue/black is a wetter ink than the Pelikan equivalent? I got a bottle of 4001 bb and I must say it is too dry for me to enjoy very much.

[carola]

I will try to limit my favourites to three for this thread:

 

1. Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrün

2. Pelikan Brilliant Brown

3. Diamine Red Dragon

 

There would have been Pelikan Brilliant Green on this list, but sadly it was discontinued.

[MHBru]

It's been several months since my initial post in this thread and not surprisingly, things change. Currently I have a few favorites...

Herbin Bleu Austral

Sailor Manyo Haha

Herbin Bleu de Minuit

 

ask me again later and it will be a different list but I seem to migrate to shades of blue whenever I think of a favorite.

[khalameet]

For me it would be a toss up between two inks. It really depends on my mood, though, so I switch between these two.

 

Pilot Blue Black

KWZ IG Blue Black

 

Overall the Pilot gets a little bit more use because of it's versatility. The KWZ has a dry time which is seldom bothering me, if I am in a hurry and have to turn the page. Otherwise, I could really not decide, other than that it feels right to fill my Pilot pens with a Pilot ink. But that is not really an argument, right?

 

I think both inks get the same amount of use.

[arcfide]

My current top 5 list:

 

1. Platinum Blue Black (by a wide margin right now)

2. Platinum Classic Inks (Citrus, Cassis, and Lavender)

3. Platinum Carbon Black

4. MB Permanent Black

5. Noodler's Legal Blue

Honorable Mentions:

Noodler's 54th Mass.

Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi

Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo

PIlot Iroshizuku Kon-peki

 

(Edited to reflect new information)

Edited August 28, 2020 by arcfide

[chromantic]

Can one use an ink a lot, daily even, and not consider it a favorite?

 

I use 1864 almost every day at work, primarily because I have it in a snap-cap. While I do really like the color, my favorite BB is Stipula Dark Blue but that's in an M400 in my "nice" pen rotation so it doesn't get used nearly as much.

[arcfide]

Can one use an ink a lot, daily even, and not consider it a favorite?

 

I use 1864 almost every day at work, primarily because I have it in a snap-cap. While I do really like the color, my favorite BB is Stipula Dark Blue but that's in an M400 in my "nice" pen rotation so it doesn't get used nearly as much.

 

That's really curious. Is there a reason that you don't use something you like more in the daily writers?

[kronos77]

For writing, my own mix of Waterman Florida Blue and Havana Brown resulting in Waterman Indigo.

 

For sketching and drawing, I think I have a new favorite: Sailor Doyou. Black with a brown undertone...or the reverse?

 

Diamine Saddle is a new one for me and it is creeping up the ranks, but doesn't surpass the Indigo for writing or the DoYou for drawing.

[A Smug Dill]

That's really curious. Is there a reason that you don't use something you like more in the daily writers?

 

As much as I like Platinum Classic Ink Khaki Black — arguably my favourite cool brown-black ink — I cannot imagine using it as my 'primary' brown ink, when the replacement cost is > A$40 for a 60ml bottle, and I have 16.9 50ml bottles of Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz ink I managed to get for A$9 each (inclusive of shipping and tax-not-collected), when the latter is also a very nice ink with decent water resistance.

 

Platinum Carbon Black is absolutely great, but at more than eighteen-fold the price of Hero 234 carbon black ink (of which I still have nearly four 56ml bottles) to replace, I think I'll use the Hero ink for any artefacts that end up being passed into someone else's keeping and/or for someone else to read (e.g. work-related documents, envelopes and Customs Declaration forms) on which permanency and extreme water-resistance would be beneficial, instead of depleting my limited hoard of Platinum Carbon Black ink.

[arcfide]

 

As much as I like Platinum Classic Ink Khaki Black — arguably my favourite cool brown-black ink — I cannot imagine using it as my 'primary' brown ink, when the replacement cost is > A$40 for a 60ml bottle, and I have 16.9 50ml bottles of Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz ink I managed to get for A$9 each (inclusive of shipping and tax-not-collected), when the latter is also a very nice ink with decent water resistance.

 

Platinum Carbon Black is absolutely great, but at more than eighteen-fold the price of Hero 234 carbon black ink (of which I still have nearly four 56ml bottles) to replace, I think I'll use the Hero ink for any artefacts that end up being passed into someone else's keeping and/or for someone else to read (e.g. work-related documents, envelopes and Customs Declaration forms) on which permanency and extreme water-resistance would be beneficial, instead of depleting my limited hoard of Platinum Carbon Black ink.

 

Initially I thought those were insane prices, but I assume that your quoting Austrialian dollars? With conversion that would put them as more expensive, but not insanely more expensive than what I can get here in the US for the same inks, so I guess I can see your point, especially if you have so much of the other ink and the writing isn't as important to you. On the other hand, I just checked out the inks that I use predominantly and they are in the range of 27 - 35 AUD, so I guess maybe I'm doing exactly that and paying for pricey inks. But I definitely don't have a nice stockpile of adequate and much more affordable inks either.

[LittleMissHijaabHead]

I'm loving Diamine Ancient copper and sapphire blue despite not loving blue ink in general. They're mily first diamine inks and I'm wondering why i left it so long to try them!

[RJS]

I go through phases of using different inks depending on which pens Im using. My fine nibbed Japanese pens for example, theyre fussy with many inks and stark skipping with my fast handwriting. My go to ink for most of my life remains the same: Pilot Blue Black. It behaves so well in my Japanese pens and Ive always liked the colour.

 

Ive tried a cornucopia of inks, and its interesting that I always return to the one that is probably the cheapest of the lot. Ive moved back to England after a few years abroad, and found this ink is now only available in cartridge form. There was a stationers near my childhood home that always carried a lot of Pilot goodies, but sadly the business has shut up shop.

 

Another ink Ive used frequently is Waterman Harmonious Green- great for annotating documents and marking. Theres probably nicer greens out there, but I havent tried one that is a nicer colour and behaves as well.

 

The Iroshizuku ink line is tremendous, but expensive, particularly in the UK. I also like Mont Blanc Royal Blue, as a consistent writer.

 

I actually found this thread whilst looking for some new ink to try, as I havent been trying new inks as much as I used to- plus now my favourite Pilot Blue Black is only available on import for more than the Mont Blanc ink. Last time I bought a pot it cost about £3, not £20!

[Karmachanic]

This weeks favourite is Maruzena Athena Renga.

[nibtip]

This weeks favourite is Maruzena Athena Renga.

Premium choice. I think it is stunning. Nice shading and smoothness. Not overly wet.

I have many brown and orange leaning inks but this is my one and only reddish.

[RJS]

That ink does look fantastic- I like extremely dark reds like that. Great shading too.

[RJS]

Do many of you also do this: you buy a new ink, you really like the ink, but when you finish it you simply buy something new just for the sake of change?

 

Case in point- Ive nearly finished a bottle of Monteverde Horizon Blue- its great, no complaints at all- but Ill probably buy something similar next.