Sheaffer Purple - Abridged Format

[corniche]

Greetings all,

 

With the Season of Lent looming; I thought it might be nice to ink a pen or two with purple, (the color of {royalty and} mourning), ink for my personal correspondence. I didn’t think I had any purple ink, however, before I went and bought any, I thought I’d check my ink larder. Lo and Behold! I found a bottle of Sheaffer purple hiding in the back corner. After messing around with it for a couple of days, I thought I’d share my 2 cent opinion of it with all of you.

 

I’ll provide a general consensus here as well for those of you who find my scrawl difficult to decipher. Overall, I found SHp to be a good, all-around ink. I would say it was a red-based purple. The flow is very good; however, it does lean a little to the dry side when it comes to lubrication. On business and professional grade papers, there is no shadow or bleed-through and only mild to moderate shadow with minimal b.t. on standard grade Mead notebook paper.

 

SHp is also a nice shading ink on most papers and with most nibs. Ironically, it shaded the LEAST on my finished 25% cotton premium laser paper. Saturation is “middle of the road,” with the ink being deep enough to create clear lines; yet still a bit on the somewhat muted pastel side. Ignition in my Parker 45, Waterman Phileas and Pelikan was excellent, (there was occasional hesitation in the Sheaffer Fashion- (funny, ain’t it?)- but I also think that pen is due for a trip to the ultrasonic cleaner. There was no sign of feathering, (at least to my eyes).

 

SHp dries quickly, so it’s a good choice for lefties and fast writers and it is moderately water resistant; I was still able to read the text after swiping it with a dripping wet Q-Tip and putting water drops on the paper and leaving them there for about 5 minutes before I shook them off. Maintenance is a dream with SHp, after about 2-3 days in my converter, there was ABSOLUTELY NO TRACE OF ANY KIND OF STAIN OR TINT after I flushed it out- and it didn’t take long to flush out either, about five to six siphon/purge cycles and the water was crystal clear. The pens were also easy to flush- rare qualities for a purple ink.

 

Just so you know, SHp does have a pungent odor of esters, (esters can be likened to mixing vinegar with isopropyl alcohol), so don’t let it throw you. SHp is pH neutral at 6.8. In summation, being purple, it is not an ink I would recommend for business or test taking in school; however, it is great for general home use and personal correspondence as well as note taking, (using a dry, fine nib), and perhaps editing; albeit a touch muted in color. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to voice them.

 

All images were scanned on the flat-bed scanner of a Kodak Office 6150 set at 300 dpi and using the highest sharpening and resolution settings for the JPEG format.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: I don't know what happened, this has never been a problem with previous reviews; however, Sheaffer purple may be a challenge to modern technology. When I uploaded the images to Photobucket, they came up foggy, so I used the AutoCorrect and it did a fairly good job except that the ink color looks a bit deeper in the images than it does in reality. SHp has a somewhat muted, soft tone; so imagine the color a touch more pastel than it appears here.

 

 

All the best,

 

Sean http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/ribbons/black2.gif

 

 

 

Sheaffer Purple, Review Sheet A, Staples Copy Paper:

http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff449/quinkkid/SheafferPurple1.jpg

 

Sheaffer Purple, Review Sheet B, Staples Copy Paper:

http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff449/quinkkid/SheafferPurple2.jpg

 

Sheaffer Purple, Shadow & Bleed-Through Test, Mead Std. Grade NB Paper:

http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff449/quinkkid/SheafferPurpleBT.jpg

[lapis]

Nice review! Thanks for all the food for thought! IMO purples are always very difficult to judge and/or choose. Also, they seem to be very choosy as re monitors.

This one looks like a nice combo of all of the good properties of MB's, Waterman's and Violette Pensée.

 

Mike

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Many thanks for the Review!

 

You mention that the ink was nearly forgotten, which prompts me to ask, Is this the current production from Slovenian? or the older ink made in the USA?

 

According to your description and depiction, this is very much in the Skrip 'house style': if one likes the colour, it'll go everywhere and perform well. I was a bit surprised at the amount of perceived colour shift between a wet and dry writer.

 

I do like the straight forward colour shown in the main body of your written sample. Now that I have used the GCE Orchid for a while, my appreciation for such colours is growing. But, as you mention, it may be the case that such colours are eventually set aside.

 

From a more personal aspect, (as always - feel free to decline), would you keep this as a dedicated ink, for use only during Lent? or would you use it as you please throughout the year?

 

Bye,

S1

Edited February 23, 2011 by Sandy1

[corniche]

Hello Mike,

 

Yes, it seems that purple inks especially like to wreak havoc with computers. Yes, I think SHp is a good all around ink, blending the virtues of many brands into one.

 

Hello Sandy,

 

You’re welcome. BTW, you’ll have more to look forward to; I found a whole cache of Sheaffer inks in the back corner- blue, blue-black, green, turquoise, purple and black. I see more reviews on the horizon! (Hopefully).

 

Yes, these are the Slovenian formulas in the cone shaped bottles. I checked off “current production” on the form- but don’t feel bad about missing it; the text on those forms is a bit cramped because I’m trying to preserve band-width for FPN by cramming as much as I can in as small a space as I can.

 

That’s a good question; however, since I have only just re-discovered this ink and haven’t used it over an extended period of time, I can’t really answer it. Like you, I was never a huge fan of purple inks, (as you can tell by my review- I was hard-pressed to come up with similar colors); however, it is a color that grows on you- like Everflo orchid has for you. So, I might decide I really like it and keep using it beyond Lent; or I may tire of it and stop using it- or still another option might be to keep it dedicated to Lent as a statement color. I really don’t know. . . yet.

 

All the best,

 

Sean http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/ribbons/black2.gif

Edited February 23, 2011 by S. P. Colfer

[kurazaybo]

Sorry for being picky/sexist but I am looking for a nice purple ink and really do not want it to look "femenine", I guess that leaves me with the deep, dark purples and, if the color in reality looks more pastel than the pictures, I guess this ink is *almost* there but not quite. Any sugestions?

[Scrawler]

Thanks for this review. I too have been looking for a bold purple ink. I agree with kurazaybo, this ink is almost there, but not quite.

[corniche]

Greetings Kurazaybo and Scrawler,

 

Yes, I agree; I would prefer a deeper, more royal purple myself. However, I am not a purple ink user myself; I am using this primarily for religious reasons; once Lent is over, I will be going back to my deep blue and blue-black standards. Based on that, and being on the cheap side, I didn't want to have to purchase a whole new bottle of ink for such limited use; so it was a blessing to me to find the Sheaffer purple in my stash.

 

If you guys are looking for a purple you'd be using on a more regular basis, I would suggest:

 

1. Private Reserve Original Tanzanite, (not the fast drying- there is a difference in color).

2. Noodlers Standard Purple

3. Noodlers Bay State Concord Grape

 

I haven't used any of these myself; however, according to the color charts I've seen, they are all nice, deep royal purples.

 

Hope this helps.

 

All the best,

 

Sean http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/ribbons/black2.gif

Aka, the friendly curmudgeon

[Scrawler]

3. Noodlers Bay State Concord Grape

 

I have this one. I like the color, but this is a bleedy, penetrating ink. I bleeds and penetrates all the way through every paper I have used it on.

[Trebster]

3. Noodlers Bay State Concord Grape

 

I have this one. I like the color, but this is a bleedy, penetrating ink. I bleeds and penetrates all the way through every paper I have used it on.

 

Which is bleedy? Are you talking about Skrip Purple or BSCG? I've been using Skrip Purple steadily for several months and have not seen any unbecoming behavior <shrug>

[Aysedasi]

It looks almost exactly the same as Waterman Purple (Violette) to me......

[Scrawler]

3. Noodlers Bay State Concord Grape

 

I have this one. I like the color, but this is a bleedy, penetrating ink. I bleeds and penetrates all the way through every paper I have used it on.

 

Which is bleedy? Are you talking about Skrip Purple or BSCG? I've been using Skrip Purple steadily for several months and have not seen any unbecoming behavior <shrug>

Noodlers Bay State Concord Grape.

[kurazaybo]

Greetings Kurazaybo and Scrawler,

 

 

 

If you guys are looking for a purple you'd be using on a more regular basis, I would suggest:

 

1. Private Reserve Original Tanzanite, (not the fast drying- there is a difference in color).

2. Noodlers Standard Purple

3. Noodlers Bay State Concord Grape

 

 

 

Wow, the Tanzanite looks really nice, thanks!

[Trebster]

It looks almost exactly the same as Waterman Purple (Violette) to me......

 

Waterman Purple is much louder than Skrip Purple. Skrip (to my eye) is closer to Violette Pensée, and Omas Purple is softer than Skrip Purple.

[corniche]

Greetings Kurazaybo and Scrawler,

 

 

 

If you guys are looking for a purple you'd be using on a more regular basis, I would suggest:

 

1. Private Reserve Original Tanzanite, (not the fast drying- there is a difference in color).

2. Noodlers Standard Purple

3. Noodlers Bay State Concord Grape

 

 

 

Wow, the Tanzanite looks really nice, thanks!

 

Greetings Kurazaybo,

 

You're welcome- glad it caught your eye. As I said, I've never used it; however, not only is the color nice but PR Tanzanite is supposed to have really excellent flow. Some have even said it actually "cleaned" their pens as they used it, i.e., the flow increased as they used it. Enjoy.

 

All the best,

 

Sean http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/ribbons/black2.gif

Aka, the friendly curmudgeon

[Trebster]

Greetings Kurazaybo and Scrawler,

 

 

 

If you guys are looking for a purple you'd be using on a more regular basis, I would suggest:

 

1. Private Reserve Original Tanzanite, (not the fast drying- there is a difference in color).

2. Noodlers Standard Purple

3. Noodlers Bay State Concord Grape

 

 

 

Wow, the Tanzanite looks really nice, thanks!

 

PR Tanzanite is fabulous, but it is not purple. Nor is it blue. It's both, depending on too many factors to list. Sometimes it looks purple-blue, sometimes it looks blue-purple. And yes, Tanzanite is widely acknowledged as the original Ex Lax for pens.

[Scrawler]

 

 

PR Tanzanite is fabulous, but it is not purple. Nor is it blue. It's both, depending on too many factors to list. Sometimes it looks purple-blue, sometimes it looks blue-purple. And yes, Tanzanite is widely acknowledged as the original Ex Laxfor pens.

At the risk of appearing ignorant, could I ask you to expand on this?.

[Trebster]

 

 

PR Tanzanite is fabulous, but it is not purple. Nor is it blue. It's both, depending on too many factors to list. Sometimes it looks purple-blue, sometimes it looks blue-purple. And yes, Tanzanite is widely acknowledged as the original Ex Laxfor pens.

At the risk of appearing ignorant, could I ask you to expand on this?.

 

As this is a thread about Sheaffer Purple.... I'm not here to steal Sean's thunder but I can answer your question and expand on some of Sean's observations.

 

Private Reserve Tanzanite was the first - in my memory - to be recognized as the ink to try in balky pens. High flow properties brought much praise from many who had a pen that was stingy. I think it was Richard Binder who coined the Ex Lax phrase, but who knows? It was a long time ago.

 

Tanzanite took so many rave reviews when it was introduced, I decided to try it for myself. Tanzanite was the ink that opened my eyes to inks that, well, weren't brown. Brown was not just my signature ink, it was my only ink color for, um, 20, 25 years?

 

Fast forward to these modern, now-a-go-go days where I consider purple perfectly acceptable as a winter color. I've been running Sheaffer Purple in one or another pen since late November. Factory stubs, mediums, fines, old pens, new pens, red pens, blue pens. And this is what I find:

 

It is remarkably similar in color to Violette Pensée. It feels just a tad drier than the Herbin but I have not observed any flow problems, drying problems, bleeding problems - well, no problems at all. None. Perfectly well-behaved.

 

Subjectively, that's a different matter. I find it is not as loud as Waterman Purple. Which is to say I find a full page of Waterman Purple to be, um, visually disconcerting jarring overwhelming. Now that's just me. Waterman Purple is top drawer ink and I do use it. It's just that I like my words on paper to carry more weight than the ink I use to make them. If it's really intense purple purple I want, something so purple as to make the Soul Cake Duck run and hide, I go straight for PR Purple Mojo.

 

But for day to day purple (if there is such a thing!), Sheaffer fills the bill nicely. I can and do swap it with Violette Pensée and I probably couldn't tell the difference at gunpoint.

 

For a milder purple effect, I turn to Omas Purple. It's lighter than Sheaffer Purple by a semiquaver. I may switch one pen to Omas Purple come the vernal equinox for that spring flower feel, but I have also reserved springtime slots for Sailor Fuji Musume and Herbin Bouquet D'Antan.

 

Oh, back to Sheaffer Purple. That was the topic? Sean's excellent review is spot on. Though we note that generations of French students took their tests in purple, and if some wag swapped Sheaffer for their Herbin, even Sister Mary Elephant wouldn't be likely to notice.

[corniche]

Hello Trebster,

 

No worries, no thunder stolen. I appreciate your input; as I said, I was going by electronic color charts, I've never actually used Tanzanite, so I'm glad to have input from someone who has. From the way you describe it; it must be one of those blue-violet type colors.

 

All the best,

 

Sean http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/ribbons/black2.gif

Aka, the friendly curmudgeon

[saketb]

Oh that's a great review for the Purple from Sheaffer...

 

I, just bought one for myself for my daily writings. Have to try it but I'm sure it should be the same as mentioned here.

 

Thanks for the review.

[corniche]

Hello Saketb,

 

You're welcome and thank you.

 

Yes, I think Sheaffer Purple is a good choice for daily use because the color is strong enough without being too wild, vibrant or painful to the eyes. (J. Herbin's Violette Pensée is also a good choice for a soft on the eyes purple but it is more expensive).

 

All the best,

 

Sean

Edited October 6, 2011 by S. P. Colfer