Iroshizuku Shin-Kai vs Montblanc Midnight Blue

[Recursion]

I thought I should put two of my favourite inks next to each other. 

 

Pens and ink used:

• Pilot Custom 823 (f) with Iroshizuku Shin-Kai
• Montblanc Meisterstück 149 (f) with Montblanc Midnight Blue

Paper: 

• 80 gsm Rhodia DotPad

 

In daily writing I carry both pens and they are always inked up with the same inks. In my Tomoe River notebook, I often use them randomly throughout the day. And I noticed that I could only tell which pen the page was written by the linewidth as my fine MB 149 writes more like a medium/broad for my handwriting (which is microscopically small, people tend to tell me). The difference in ink colour does not seem that apparent.

 

I thought it to be fun to put them next to each other to see if there is an actual difference. I did 3 passes of each ink with the fountain pens.

 

 

The Iroshizuku Shin-Kai seems to have a more blueish tone and with the 3rd pass it turns to a dark (navy?) blue. The Montblanc Midnight Blue has a more greyish look to it and with the 3rd pass it starts to look more on the black side of things.

 

Fun to see the difference as this does not show up that distinctly for me in daily writing.

 

Out of the 100+ ink bottles I always tend to be drawn to the blue (or green)-black kind of inks, my favourites, so far, are (in order):

1.     Akkerman #08 Diep-Duinwaterblauw (deep dune water blue)

2.     Montblanc Midnight Blue

3.     Iroshizuku Shin-Kai

4.     Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo

5.     Akkerman #10 IJzer-Galnoten blauw/zwart (Iron Gall)

 

There are some inks on their way to (hopefully) fit my preferences: Diamine Denim, Diamine Blue - Black, Diamine Twilight & Diamine Green Black.

 

Do any of you have recommendations for blue/green-blackish inks I could try?

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, Recursion said:

Do any of you have recommendations for blue/green-blackish inks I could try?

 

Sailor Shikiori Yonaga -- rich and dark in colour; sheens green which is unusual (and gorgeous) for a blue ink

Platinum Blue-Black -- my favourite iron-gall ink, rich in blueness unlike many other readily available blue-black iron-gall ink, and sheens readily

Sailor Souboku and Seiboku pigment inks -- well-behaved, and almost completely waterproof. 

[Recursion]

2 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

Sailor Shikiori Yonaga -- rich and dark in colour; sheens green which is unusual (and gorgeous) for a blue ink

Platinum Blue-Black -- my favourite iron-gall ink, rich in blueness unlike many other readily available blue-black iron-gall ink, and sheens readily

Sailor Souboku and Seiboku pigment inks -- well-behaved, and almost completely waterproof. 

Thank you so much for your recommendations 👍

[MHBru]

+1 for yonaga and tsuki yo (two of my favorite inks, actually).  Edelstein Tanzanite is a real nice blue/black as well  

[Recursion]

1 minute ago, MHBru said:

Edelstein Tanzanite is a real nice blue/black as well  

Thank you for your recommendation! I Will check it out.

[arcfide]

On 2/5/2022 at 6:51 AM, A Smug Dill said:

 

Sailor Shikiori Yonaga -- rich and dark in colour; sheens green which is unusual (and gorgeous) for a blue ink

Platinum Blue-Black -- my favourite iron-gall ink, rich in blueness unlike many other readily available blue-black iron-gall ink, and sheens readily

Sailor Souboku and Seiboku pigment inks -- well-behaved, and almost completely waterproof. 

 

I second this list. Four of the best inks on the market today, IMO. I also have a lot of fun playing with Lamy Benitoite, but I can't recommend that one as highly as the above. 

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for sharing!

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

MB Midnight loses its blueness within some time, does Shin- kai do the same?

 

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

MB Midnight loses its blueness within some time, does Shin- kai do the same?

 

In the bottle? Not that I'm aware, and I've had my small 15ml bottle for three? four? years now.

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

MB midnight loses blueness on paper (might be a paper problem, but it's happened on every type of paper I've used), perhaps in the bottle too. Would like to know if Shin-kai loses it on paper, as that would spare me the trouble of buying a bottle/sample.

 

[Recursion]

1 hour ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

Would like to know if Shin-kai loses it on paper

It changes slightly, to a bit darker blue

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

Could you perhaps post a picture of these words a week later? It would help greatly in comparing the final colours.

[Recursion]

48 minutes ago, IlikeInksandIcannotlie said:

Could you perhaps post a picture of these words a week later?

Sorry mate, I’ve tossed the paper already. I’ll make a new one for comparison