PR Purple Mojo is my favorite ink at the moment because its very saturated, yet bright on the page.

I'm searching for a green-blue ink that shares both these characteristics. I want it to be VERY saturated color (not at all watery) and yet be bright on the page, not dark or dull. Ideally, I'd like a color that makes you stare at it, unable to decide whether it's green or blue.

I have learned that due to the vagaries of digital photography and the variations in computer monitors, I can't trust the colors shown on the various color charts online. I'd rather rely on the expertise of you, the FPN faithful.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

First one that comes to mind is PR Blue Suede, which has lots of green in it.
Another saturated ink might be Noodlers Sequeteague (spelling?), which is
supposed to be the color of a particular fish.

Other possibilities are Rohrer and Klingner Verdigris, Diamine Steel Blue,
Noodlers Aircorps Blue Black, which actually has green in it, and
possible Pinstripe Homage, from Art Brown.

Your mileage may vary. Swatches on paper sometimes help, the Greg
Clark Ink Sampler book being a big compendium of them.

I haven't tried Squeteague yet, but Aircorps is definitely a blue/green black, not a teal. Skrip Turquoise isn't teal, Noodler's Navajo Turquoise is more blue yet, but you might try the Skip. Might be too thin for you though, it's a "vintage" style ink (replaced Skrip Peacock, my all time favorite ink).

You may have to mix one.

Peter

Diamine Blue Black is actually a blue green, or Legal Lapis.

I found a recipe for what was called a dark teal. 50% Waterman Green and 50% Fla Blue. Just tried it. Don't know that I would call it dark, might need 1/2 drop black for that, but it is a nice green teal. May not have put in enough Fla Blue. While I don't call it dark, it is fully colored.

Another recipe called for Turquoise ... Waterman, Sheaffer or Pelikan and adding the same brand of Black. Said it would be a dark blue-green. I tried something like it the other day and a little black goes very far!!! On my attempt, I was adding Sheaffer Turquoise to a very, very empty black cartridge. Couldn't even see the Blue-green. Few days after using, added a drop of yellow and now have a nice dark, black green teal.

I'm enjoying the mixing and "knock on wood" haven't created mud-grey yet.

I suspect that Squeteague, Aircorp B-B and Pinstripe may all be too dark for GNL, based on the desiderata in the original post. I'd take a good look at Noodler's Aquamarine (sold only by Swisher), a cheery bright blue with some green undertones. Waterproof, to boot.

I made a custom mix that I really liked myself, which was 90% Waterman South Seas Blue + 10% Noodler's Black (or was it 95:5, not sure). Suprisingly, this mixture is more green than you'd think.

I think you'll like Naples Blue. This is a very bright blue, with a good bit of green in it. Noodler's Navaho Turquoise is very similar, but the PR is slightly, very slightly, brighter. The Noodler's is a bit more permanent though, some of it anyway.

Another choice is one of my most favorites, Diamine Mediterranean Blue, which is bright, but bluer. PR Tropical Blue is close--it's bright too, and not bad at all.

Another really good one that isn't much talked around here is Noodler's Turquoise, plain Turquoise, which I'd say is a true blue green. But this one is a bit darker than the other ones I'm talking about.

I'd stay away from any of the Diamines--I've read comments suggesting Diamines--but I don't think they're what you're looking for. I've got all their blues and Mediterranean Blue and Aqua are the only two that are bright at all.

Blue Suede is not a bright ink. At least I'd say it's not.

Viseguy suggested Aquamarine--I've never seen it--but if Viseguy has seen it and isn't just making some suggestion--if he's seen it, I'd take his suggestion seriously.

And what you might consider is a bottle of Noodler's Yellow and a bottle of some pure blue or some green tinted blue, such as Lake Placid, American Blue, Noodler's Blue, DC Blue and coming up with your own mix--and for this, I recommend Melnicki's method of mixing in the cartridge, using a syringe.

I've seen it. I have it.

Viseguy,

I looked at Swisher's website and their Noodler's Aquamarine looks entirely blue - no green in it at all, at least on my monitor. Is that an illusion? Would you say this color is actually blue-green?

Try Sheaffer Green in the bottle. It's one of my favorites. It's a green turqoise - not watery at all, but it dries fast. Gives nice shading in my Pelikan M200.

Judybug

It's predominantly blue, for sure. But it leans towards turquoise, so.... Definitely not a purply blue. You could tweak it with a little green.

I use Blue Suede when I want teal

I am fond of green-blue myself. I would say that PR Blue Suede is the brightest and most saturated green-blue that I have seen, but it is more green than blue and seems to darken very, very quickly in my pen. Within a day or two, it is a very dark green and little more - you'll probably need to fill little and often to get the best out of it.

I'm personally looking for something that is more of a greenish turquoise (since I like turquoise too), and I am considering Diamine Steel Blue, JH Vert Reseda, and JH Diabolo Menthe. If anyone has used the Diabolo Menthe, I'd be interested in comments - it doesn't seem to have been mentioned or reviewed at all in the forums. Maybe I'll have to get it and be the first...

Update (12.25 BST): Well, I plumped for the Diamine Steel Blue and just ordered it (along with a bottle of R&K Helianthus).

Obviously I like PR Blue Suede a lot. It is by far the most saturated ink in that color range. I just got Caran D'Ache's Carribean Sea, a very nice saturated green turquoise. It is a lighter hue than Blue Suede but still a very striking, bright color. I just got a mixing kit and was thinking of mixing the two. Wish I had a scanner...something I need to remedy!

I have Diamine Steel Blue and find it rather weak looking and Diamine Woodland Green is too green and weak as well, at least for me.

Donald

How do Caran d'Ache Caribbean Sea and Diamine Steel Blue compare in terms of color, darkness, saturation, etc.?

Thanks in advance. Bye.

DC Supershow Blue (and American Blue) are so darned saturated and deep they leap off the page, and this *pop* still shows through when you mix. I use Verdun as the green base for my green-blue mix; Verdun is an Eternal and thus not that saturated, but the DCSS takes care of making sure it's saturated. I suppose if you went the Aquamarine route, you could make it a deeper color with a heavily-saturated green. Cowdad (and others) have put their chips in Sherwood Green's corner many times as the "American/DCSS Blue of greens". I have Green Marine, which is very saturated and dark, but in comparisons of Sherwood to Gr.Marine, Sherwood definitely looks like it wins.

My blue-green mix (3:1 Verdun:DCSS, I think; I call it "Sari Blue" because it's a gift for my brother's fiancee, named Sari) definitely fits your criteria -- is it blue or green? Depends what it's next to. It's very saturated. Best of all, I'd call it a near-bulletproof. I'll scan it in some day.

Cowdad, you want to tell them about your trick to make an ink more saturated?

Ooh, that sounds like a nice mix.

Stephen

One more vote for PR Blue Suede

Who makes Verdun?

I think one of the nicest green-blues is Rotring turquoise. Unfortunately I've only ever found it in international cartridges, and even those are hard to find. One of my favorites!

Petra

The Diamine is more blue and subdued than the Caran d'Ache Carribean Sea which is greener, brighter and more saturated. I bought the Steel Blue and the PR Blue Suede at the same time when trying for a 'pthalo' blue-green ink. I loved the Blue Suede and have never used the Steel Blue. I do use the Carribean Sea all the time. I will add that none of the color samples I have seen online showing the color of Steel Blue are accurate. They are all much more saturated than I found it to be. I think I might try to use the Steel Blue in a mix now that I have a mixing kit! Ciao.

Melnicki, next writing sample you send, how about including a sample of that DC/Verdun.

A way to increase saturation--what I've done is put some ink in a glass vial and then put the glass vial on a coffee maker burner. I just let it dry out completely and then add ink to it. I do this will a few ml's rather than a whole bottle. This works a lot faster than leaving the cap off the bottle for a week--and who knows what might float down in the ink if you leave the cap off the bottle.

The ink generally flows about the same. But if I think it's not flowing so well, I'll put a drop of soap water in the cartridge by way of a syringe.

Speaking of Sherwood--I have tried some Sherwood/American mixes and didn't like how they came out. But then I hardly know what I'm doing.

From my stable:

Noodlers Aircorp Blue-Black - definitely a greenish blue-black. Pretty dark
Noodlers Legal Lapis - Also a greenish blue, more green than ABB and lighter
Noodlers Squeteague - A nice color, midway between blue and green. I've got in in a pen today.....not especially vibrant
Private Reserve Blue Suede - A bright blue-green. Much like a lighter, vibrant Squeteague.

Skip

It's a Noodler's eternal ink made exclusively for Swisher Pens. Swisher's has three whole lines of their own Noodler's inks -- a quick-drying set, an eternal set, and a set with a mixture of both (Swishmix). Verdun, in my bottle, is a bluish green. It looks a lot like cyanobacteria, but then again I think I'm the only one here who works in a photosynthesis laboratory. Hmm... a bit of a "shamrock" color. not a grassy green, though it's named after the Battle of Verdun (which involved a knoll, I believe). Disclaimer -- other people's scans looked like a Kermit the Frog pale greyish green... is there an alternative to saying YMMV (your mileage might vary) for those of us that prefer bicycles?

Today I put Diamine Steel Blue in a Sailor with EF and Noodlers Dostoevsky in a
Pelikan Steno pen. The Steel Blue looks like a diluted version of the Dostoevsky,
but they are in similar families.

Noodler's Turquoise -- not the Navajo Turquoise -- is a vibrant and saturated green-blue. It sounds like exactly what you are looking for.

I recently picked up PR's Blue Suede. When I inked my pen, my immediate thought was "This looks just like Levenger Gemstone Green!" As it happens, I have a pen inked with Gemstone Green and I compared them side-by-side.

They look very similar. Blue Suede appears to have a bit more blue, but I notice this only in the side-by-side comparison.

To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed with Blue Suede. After noticing the similarity with GG, I'm left wondering where the blue is (beyond the ink's name).

Thanks everyone for your excellent advice. I ordered samples from Pear Tree of PR Blue Suede and Noodler's Turquoise. Review to follow.

GNL

Hey everyone, I did receive the PR Blue Suede and Noodler's Turquoise. The Turquoise is definitely my preference between the two, providing a gorgeous true turquoise. The Blue Suede is almost fluorescent, it's so bright, and a little too pale in hue for my taste.

However, this turquoise is not the green-blue I have in mind. I remember as a kid using cheap Sheaffer fountain pens with this green-blue ink. The search continues...

Well, I've been using the Diamine Steel Blue for about a week now, so time for a very quick review...

When I first opened the bottle and did a quick swab (not having an empty pen to hand at the time), I was disappointed: it looked just like the PR Blue Suede. Having loaded it into a pen, however, it is certainly paler than Blue Suede, less intense, and with some nice shading. It doesn't lubricate quite as smoothly as the Blue Suede, but the flow is absolutely fine. So, I kind of like it and am using it quite a lot, but it wasn't really what I was looking for: I wanted something a bit more blue-turquoise, about half-way between the Diamine Steel Blue as it is and a standard turquoise - for example, Lamy.

Incidentally, when it goes onto the page wet, it is much more like what you might call a true Steel Blue (blue-green-grey), but it dries very quickly to the greenish colour.

Well, I think I've found it! I haven't filled a pen with it yet, but yesterday at Flax in Westwood (L.A., CA) I tried a number of greens out of the bottle and Waterman green looks EXACTLY like the green-blue I remember using as a kid.

More updates once I fill a pen with it...

Looking forward to seeing a scan! I've been looking for blue-green as well, and have been using PR Blue Suede. It's nice, but not quite what I want. At one point in the last week, I took out the converter with Blue Suede and popped on a Pelikan royal blue cartridge without cleaning my pen, so the inks blended as I kept writing. I really liked the mix of colours - I think I'm going to end up mixing inks to get what I really want.

I'll scan the comparison between the two-three colors when I fill a pen with the new Pelikan green. Shouldn't be long now...

The only old Sheaffer Skrip I can think of that might fit is Peacock Blue. (More blue than green I think, but very vibrant.)You can still find those bottles floating around on eBay from time to time.

I have the Swisher/Noodler's Waterproof Verden Green. My bottle is a very chalky and washed out green. I much prefer the Eternal Hunter Green, but YMMV.

Of all the other inks suggested, I quite like the Caran D'Ache Caribbean Blue and Levenger's Blue Bahamas as well as the Noodler's Turquoise and the PR Blue Suede. All of these fit my broad definition of Teal. It sounds like you're looking for an actual green though, closer to the blue side of the spectrum than the yellow. I think PR Sherwood Green is my favorite in this category. It's a deep, rich true green to my eye with more blue than yellow dye in the mix, plus a touch of black. Noodler's Green Marine is also very nice, but a few shades lighter (less black dye I guess.) The most saturated true green I've found so far is the Noodler's American Eel Gruene Cactus. You might try a sample of that too. Just my two cents...