Private Reserve Electric DC Blue

[Tequila]

1st ink review.

 

Tequila's attachment appears below. Please scroll down.

Edited January 4, 2008 by Ann Finley

[DilettanteG]

Great review, especially the illustrations!

 

I'm surprised it's a dark Blue. When I think electric colors, I think neon. I wonder what the brightest blue ink out there actually is?

[jd50ae]

Sigh, another PR ink to buy.

[coco]

Mine doesn't look as dark (more of a vibrant blue). I love rich, saturated ink colors, and this one fits the bill. Currently (maybe indefinitely so) my favorite blue ink.

[Pengrump]

Just bought a bottle of this ink two days ago in Boston. Coming out of a Waterman Preface with a broad Binder cursive italic nib it is much darker than the ink sample in the review, dark enough to count as blue black. I expected it to be a bit brighter. Maybe in a pen with a finer nib.

[CharlieB]

I'm surprised it's a dark Blue. When I think electric colors, I think neon. I wonder what the brightest blue ink out there actually is?

 

I think PR Lake Placid is the brightest blue, but it is a totally different shade of blue than PR Electric Blue.

 

(Perhaps DilettanteG will favor us with one of her ink reviews now that we've gotten her curiosity engaged....)

Edited November 3, 2007 by CharlieB

[dwmatteson]

Thanks for the fun ink review, Tequila! (I love the pictures!)I'm becoming quite a fan of PR inks. My current favorite is Black Magic Blue, but I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a bottle of the Electric Blue now.

 

Don

[Shelley]

Nice review, for some reason I expected electric blue to be brighter, like a spark or something. Fun pictures.

[Tequila]

Edited attachment

[saintsimon]

I received this ink a week ago from the States. It has actually the nice dark cobalt blue colour I expected from a FPN Starry Starry Night blue ink. Now I don't have to wait for that ink under construction.

[Johnson]

Apparently I'm late to the party, as I've just been using PRDCSSEB (gotta love that "abbreviation" ) for the past few weeks, but it has very quickly become my favorite ink, eclipsing both PRDCSSB and PRAB. I don't even use any other inks now. My PR Chocolat and Aurora Black sit sadly by.

 

To me, its somewhere in the middle between Midnight Blues and DCSSB. Midnight blues, while gorgeous, is a bit too thick for my tastes. DCSSEB is a vibrant, deep, cobalt blue, but has a similar consistency to DCSSB.

 

Probably time for me to get a bunch of ink together and do a big lot sale in the marketplace, because PRDCSSEB pretty much has everything I'm looking for in an ink.

[langere]

Wow, that is a dark blue! I wouldn't have guessed. Thanks for the review!

 

Erick

[WhosYerBob]

I wonder what the brightest blue ink out there actually is?

Noodler's Baystate Blue. That's as bright as it gets.

 

Edit: Baystate Blue is as bright as my tag line at the bottom of this post.

Edited February 26, 2008 by WhosYerBob

[Aysedasi]

Just bought a bottle of this. I really like the way it shades from dark to, well, not so dark..... It certainly lays down a much more vibrant line for me than in Tequila's example (using my Esterbrook J with 2442 nib).

[Nikhil]

This is my new favorite ink!

[Joe in Seattle]

It's more vibrant and saturated than the scan appears, a truly exceptional blue./

[cmd]

I've been using PRDCSSEB a lot lately and have noticed that on some paper (Black 'n Red notebooks for instance) this ink does a surprising thing - it has BRIGHT red sparkly shading! The red sparkly effect can only be seen at some angles, not all, but when the viewing angle is right the shading is something like fine glitter mixed with bright red.

 

Perhaps the word shading is not correct for this effect, because it does not transition from one shade to another, rather it is like a second ink has been applied over parts of the pen strokes on top of that great dark blue.

 

It does not appear with all paper, such as plain copy paper or Moleskine, but when it does ... candy apple red highlights, wow!

 

Has anyone else noticed this with theirs?

 

Chris

[PacificCoastPen]

This blue has a slightest touch of a reddish sheen when dried.

w

[dmendel]

I've been using PRDCSSEB a lot lately and have noticed that on some paper (Black 'n Red notebooks for instance) this ink does a surprising thing - it has BRIGHT red sparkly shading! The red sparkly effect can only be seen at some angles, not all, but when the viewing angle is right the shading is something like fine glitter mixed with bright red.

 

Perhaps the word shading is not correct for this effect, because it does not transition from one shade to another, rather it is like a second ink has been applied over parts of the pen strokes on top of that great dark blue.

 

It does not appear with all paper, such as plain copy paper or Moleskine, but when it does ... candy apple red highlights, wow!

 

Has anyone else noticed this with theirs?

 

Chris

 

Yep, you describe it perfectly. I used this ink almost exclusively for about a year because I loved that effect. It was totally unique, and a great deep, rich, saturated blue to boot. But my one complaint about this ink is that it tends to make my pens hard-starters. Not sure why, but it seems like it gets a bit sticky in the feed and on the nib.

[carroll]

I've heard adding a drop of water to the PR inks, will not only speed up the drying time, but also help them flow in your pens.

 

No one mentioned the slow drying time for the DC Elect Blue ink.