Vintage Parker Superchrome Jet Black

[eharriett]

I had forgotten I had this bottle. So I decided it was time to see what it was all about.

 

"Only use inks from companies that makes pens" was one of the first pieces of advice I was ever given. I have since learned that this was not good advice (the second piece of advice was equally bad, but I shall not share it in this review -- and they both involve Parker, coincidentally). But this is "the bad ink" "the ink that breaks pens" "the ink that will destroy that which you love."

 

So naturally I had to try it.

 

It is BLACK ink. See my pics, but it is unusually black. My other inks of the same era (I've included a couple samples" are not this black. It is as black as a modern black ink. It was also slow drying for me. But, at least short term, was a well behaved ink that was really interesting to use.

 

Would I use it again? Yes! Would I use it in a sac pen? No, I would agree, looking at the crusting on the bottle, that this ink should be washed out after use. Is it a fast dryer, as advertised? Also no. And I do not know if it is due to the ravages of time or just isn't as quick to dry as expected. But I can see myself no going out on a hunt for this, and the earlier line of 51 inks and using them.

 

[silverlifter]

Thanks for the review.

 

The Aurora Black swatch at the bottom seems weirdly off: too gray and washed out. AB is one of the blackest blacks available. Had you only just washed out the pen before filling it?

[eharriett]

I used a dip pen, might have been a bit lighter, but that is my bottle of Aurora black. My platinum Carbon black has always been darker. Didn't want to include that in this one

[inkstainedruth]

Very interesting experiment. The long dry time would be a dealbreaker for me even without all the bad buzz about Superchrome.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Jerome Tarshis]

Reading the handwritten text, I find I have a few things to add:

 

(1) The advice to use inks made (or at least sold) by companies that make pens is *not* code for "don't use Noodler's," and it is not affected by whether or not Noodler's sells pens under its name. The advice has to do with inks that are on the average more saturated and idiosyncratic than what has come down to us as the idea of fountain-pen ink.

 

It applies with much force to Private Reserve inks, and to a great many recently formulated inks that have nothing to do with Nathan Tardif except that in some cases they will have been inspired by a general climate of acceptance for more saturated inks than you are going to buy from Sheaffer or Waterman or Pelikan. The company that makes Diamine ink, formerly called Stephens IIRC, is not a pen manufacturer but makes inks generally accepted by conservative users as suitable for fountain pens.

 

(2) As Frank Dubiel pointed out in a number of Web postings, Parker 51 and Superchrome inks did damage some pens, but there is no reason to believe that they damaged every pen they were used in, even if those pens weren't a Parker 51 or 21. They had a *tendency* to damage pens.

 

If one is an individual user, like eharriett, that need not be a big problem. You take care of the pen, and you can hope to get away without damage. The Parker Pen Company is not an individual user. If it sells a product that will damage pens, not necessarily all pens, but many pens, and it has thousands if not millions of customers all over the world, it is going to have a lot of complaints and trouble on its hands. Good idea to stop selling the ink.

 

I myself don't use what we think of as boutique inks, but do not disparage those who do. This is a hobby. If you know you are to some extent asking for trouble, go right ahead. And the boutique inks ought to be evaluated one at a time. Perhaps in relation to individual pens, for that matter. There are a lot of specifics about the relation of pens and inks and papers.

 

(3) Although the Aurora Black sample does indeed look grayer than what I would expect from mine, there may be specific reasons why that is true in this instance. As a general principle, dip pens are not at their best with fountain-pen inks. The calligraphers among us may use anything, including throwaway Bics, but for what is conventionally thought of as serious work with a dip pen one is advised to use drawing inks or calligraphy inks, not fountain-pen inks. Or else hold one's peace if Aurora Black seems a little gray. I am OK with that sample.

 

And I applaud eharriett's experiment.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Jerome Tarshis