Parker Quink Blue Black

[Alastair]

First post, so apologies if I don't get it quite right.

 

I agree with the comments about smooth flow and improving pen performance. That the ink dries with a green tinge is my slight concern and this has encouraged me to look elsewhere, unfortunately Waterman Blue-Black seems to have the same properties. Is it reacting with the chemicals in the paper (acidity)?

 

 

[simonrob]

First post, so apologies if I don't get it quite right.

 

I agree with the comments about smooth flow and improving pen performance. That the ink dries with a green tinge is my slight concern and this has encouraged me to look elsewhere, unfortunately Waterman Blue-Black seems to have the same properties. Is it reacting with the chemicals in the paper (acidity)?

 

Inks often change colour as they dry - many ho-hum blues (Waterman Florida, Sheaffer, Conway Stewart, Pelikan) have a vibrant purplish quality that diminishes considerably as the ink dries, reds lose their brilliance, etc. If you otherwise like Parker/Waterman/Yard-o-lead (these three are all very similar) blue black but wish they didn't turn greenish, you can fix that problem very easily by adding a little Waterman Havana. The result is much closer to what I think of as blue-black (at any rate, it's closer to the blue-blacks I grew up with). Here's a scan I did yesterday and posted elsewhere, in case this sounds at all promising to you:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=62949

 

Simon

[Shamouti]

 

 

 

edited by moderator to remove duplicate image

Hi,

 

Yesterday I went to my local pen shop downtown to check on purchasing Parker Blue Black. I decided to load my Sheaffer Snorkel Clipper with a Medium nib and this is what I found.

 

The ink is bluer than old school Parker Blue Black. In fact, I have a nice plastic Quink Washable Blue from the late 80's and it's darker than the new color. You don't suppose they changed the formula again, huh?

 

The closest I came up with is Quink Washable Blue from the 90's. It's pretty much the same as the new Parker Blue Black. Sometimes when you use a pen more often, the ink becomes darker. In this case, it's more of a Royal Pelikan Blue than a traditional Blue Black.

 

We'll see how things go on as more writing commences.

 

Shamouti

[sofian]

Hmm.. I think I enjoy your handwriting as much as I do your reviews. In fact, I'm thinking of remodeling my own handwriting to emulate yours - if I can.

[Neill78]

Hi, I'm just attaching a small picture of how Parker Quink Blue Black looks using a Pencraft pen. It looks very different from what I saw in the review above, so, ya, just adding some additional perspective.

 

Mine looks more like yours - much the same washy teal as Waterman's Blue Black, starting off a very promising deep blue while wet, but changing as it dries. At some point (when it moved to France?) Parker's Blue Black changed colour, and not, I think, for the better - the stuff I grew up with in England in the 1970s was darker and not greenish. (The same is true of Waterman's.) The current shades are quite pleasant, but I think they should be given a different name.

 

Simon

 

When I bought this ink I was very disappointed. It actually looks really great when it's wet, but it soon dries to teal. It reminds me of the San Jose Sharks' jerseys. It's neither blue nor black. I feel gypped. I agree that they should change the name!

 

Neill

Edited June 16, 2008 by Neill78

[katfisch]

Like most people here I have tried a variety of inks but always seem to come back to Parker Quink or Waterman inks - best flowing inks by a mile.

That's so true... I have a modern Parker Duofold with a needle point nib which has been back to Janesville for adjustments twice -- hesitant flow, skipping, nib dries out quickly. I've finally given up trying exotic inks, and have it filled with Parker Blue-Black Quink -- the pen finally writes pretty well.

[supernovastarfish]

did you mix this yourself? i bought a bottle from Smiths and it's coming out in a really really ugly shade of dark turqoise.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I use this as my work-ink, and it never fails to please. It holds its colour far better than Waterman's (a recent interview on penandco.com reveals that they're entirely different formulations), which I think is a response to the bleaches in the paper or some similar issue. Things at work I wrote on with the desk pen a year and more ago are still a pleasing blue, while some items written on with a pocket-pen of Waterman's have gone a very definite St. Patrick's Day tone.

 

i bought a bottle from Smiths and it's coming out in a really really ugly shade of dark turqoise.

 

What sort of pen is it going into? I recently got a newly-made hard rubber eyedropper, and the sulfurous outgassing turned the ink a bright green.

[Douglas]

I have a bottle of vintage Quick Blue Black and like it better than the modern blue black.

[mafpolo]

Your penmanship is outstanding. Nice color ink. I am a big Parker Q. Blue

[Jared]

Looks like Pelikan BB. I'll have to do a comparison.

 

I have a bottle of vintage Quink BB and it's one of my best inks.

 

 

[Jeff Gibson]

I just got an old bottle of Quink blue-black off the bay this week and I really like it.

 

Here it is in a Piccadilly notebook:

 

[SweetieStarr]

 

 

 

edited by moderator to remove duplicate image

 

 

My compliments on a beautiful hand.

 

JMM

 

I second that - lovely handwriting.

[derkleineHerrFriedemann]

I just got an old bottle of Quink blue-black off the bay this week and I really like it.

 

Here it is in a Piccadilly notebook:

 

 

Nice! Looks very different then the scan of the modern Quink blue-black. I prefer it. Thanks a lot for posting this.

[Bill Smith]

Why can't the boys and girls at Sanford Fine Writing make the "New" Quink Blue Black look like the old Quink Blue Black?

 

Ok, question, is there a modern ink out there that looks like Super Quink Blue Black??

Edited March 22, 2009 by Bill Smith

[Gran]

Bill, the Hero Doctor blue-black I have looks very similar to this: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...mp;#entry502184

 

I don't have any old Quink to compare it to, just comparing it to this review.

[Bill Smith]

I had a look at my writing with De Atramentis Dark Blue and it's not a bad approximation for old Super Quink Blue Black.

[joaogmoreira]

Hi,

 

I bought my first bottle of Quink Blue Black 3 years ago and I noticed it was made in england. It writes dark but after a short time it fades to a pale blue with some green on it, almost like a turquoise. Initially I didn't like it, but after some use of it I started to appreciate it and now I really like it, especially in my golden striated brown vacumatic major with a fine nib.

 

So, 3 weeks ago I decided to buy a second bottle and I noticed it was made to be sold in asiatic market, it seems to me that the box is written in japanese. This second bottle has a totally different ink! It is exactly like the one shown by Jeff Gibson. I tried it with some pens and to me it is more appealing with my Lamy italic 1.1mm where some shading adds beauty to this ink. With EF nibs it becomes more gray and with F and M wet nibs it is very dark.

 

I like both versions of Quink Blue Black. Would there be a third version of it?

 

Just my 0.02...

 

cheers

 

Joao

[dval]

My experience tells it is not an archiving ink at all. It gets way too green. But it does flow very well in my Rotring.

 

My $0.02.-

[Sandy1]

Hello,

 

If you wish to see what I believe are the differences between the older 'classic' PQ BlBk (Permanent, with SOLV-X, made in England), and the 'new' PQ BlBk (not Permanent, made in France), please refer to my comparison.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/148828-parker-quink-blue-black-old-vs-new/

 

Bye,

S1