Blue G2 refill that is not a boring color?

[PithyProlix]

I've been buying nice secondhand ballpoints when I find them at great prices and the writing experience with a good refill, while not close to as sublime and expressive as writing with a fountain pen, isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I guess I used too many Bics and other cheap ballpoints back when I used to use them. I've started keeping one in my bag as a backup and when needed to fill out forms on bad paper, etc. and I think I've settled on a Caran d'Ache Ecridor Venetian for that, which can take a G2 refill, I think ... or, at least, a G2 can be modified to fit it.

 

I'd like to find a 'professional' looking blue refill that writes well and is not a boring color. Not boring for me tends to be blues and blue blacks that lean grey and are not as saturated as typical ballpoint ink. I'm thinking of something like Diamine Prussian Blue, Sailor sou-boku, Iroshizuku shin kai, or even fuyu syogen. Does something like this exist?

 

 

[Anne-Sophie]

Pilot sells, in some markets, a set of novelty colors g2, one of them is a blue-black, they might sell these colors individually, the pens being in blister packs, in your market.

[PithyProlix]

On 9/9/2024 at 12:32 PM, Anne-Sophie said:

Pilot sells, in some markets, a set of novelty colors g2, one of them is a blue-black, they might sell these colors individually, the pens being in blister packs, in your market.

 

Thank you for that lead - it helped me start a search.

 

My market (Thailand) does not have the pen named "G2" but it has two other refillable gel pens, one called "Juice" and another called "Juice Up" in a variety of colors. The Juice is available in 0.5mm & 0.7mm tips, in 17 colors, including blue-black. (Juice "05" - Pilot pen Thailand) The Juice Up is available in 0.4mm (my preference) with 8 'regular' colors, also including blue-black (Juice up "04" - Pilot pen Thailand) and 6 pastel colors Juice up "04" PASTEL COLOR - Pilot pen Thailand). Their's also a Juice Up in 0.5mm and 4 colors, one of which is blue-black. (Juice up "05" - Pilot pen Thailand) It's not clear that either model use G2 cartridges, though. I will probably buy one of each model and see what type of cartidge they have.

 

EDIT: I think the Pilot Juice/Juice Up refills might be Euro style.

[PithyProlix]

On 9/9/2024 at 12:32 PM, Anne-Sophie said:

Pilot sells, in some markets, a set of novelty colors g2, one of them is a blue-black, they might sell these colors individually, the pens being in blister packs, in your market.

 

So, after searching some more, I think there may be some misunderstanding. I meant to ask about the Parker G2-style refill, a standard of sorts. It seems as if the Pilot G2 pen takes a Euro-style refill and I don't think that will fit my CdA Ecridor. Yes, it is confusing.

 

Regardless, thanks for the suggestion.

[Claes]

@PithyProlix I do not know whether this will make things easier or not, but here are the cartridges in question.

 

From the top:

• Pilot G-2
• CdA Goliat
• Senator G2
• Parker Jotter

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

[PithyProlix]

On 9/14/2024 at 9:12 PM, Claes said:

@PithyProlix I do not know whether this will make things easier or not, but here are the cartridges in question.

 

From the top:

• Pilot G-2
• CdA Goliat
• Senator G2
• Parker Jotter

Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden

 

Thanks - that makes it obvious that the Pilot G2 cartridge is not the standard Parker G2 cartridge (which seems to be an ISO standard), nor anything close to it. Surely, Pilot must have known that they would create some confusion by using that name? Interesting that the Senator G2 has a bit different geometry at the interface of the neck and the ink tank - I suspect that it won't fit in some pens designed for the standard Parker G2.

 

The Caran d'Ache cartridges are a little different from Parker G2-type. Sometimes they fit, depending on the particular CdA pen, but, if not, the plastic piece on the Parker G2-type can be trimmed down to make them fit.

 

BTW, while I was searching around I found some really nice colors in gel-ink pens from Pilot, Zebra, and Dianshi, which I ordered, hoping the cartridges can be harvested from and adapted to fit some circa 1980-1990s ST Dupont rollerball pens I have. Those Duponts have been sitting around looking pretty but not much else because, although they are super-nice pens, I am not inspired to use them due to their prosaic black and blue cartridges. 

• Pilot Juice Up Classic Glossy pens
  
  [image from AliExpress]
• Zebra Sarasa Clip Vintage
  
  [image from https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2019/10/17/zebra-sarasa-push-clip-vintage-colors-review]
• There are also copies of the Zebra Sarasa Clip pens but with different, interesting colors: Dianshi Vintage. I ordered two colors to see what they are like.
  
  
  [images from shopee.co.th]