Hello,

In my efforts to spread the word, I seem to have cultivated an interest in fountain pens in one of my relatives. But although she is enjoying her pens, she has only one ink. She's very busy and there's no easy way for her to learn about the varieties of ink out there, so I'm planning on giving her a "starter package" of favorite inks. I'm planning to spend about $150, and I'd like for the package to represent a real variety of colors, brands, saturation levels, etc. She probably wouldn't have much use for particularly exotic colors, but I'll throw in one or two just to see what she thinks.

I'm definitely including Noodler's Black, Noodler's Legal Lapis, and Private Reserve Tanzanite, as all three are so useful in their different ways.

So, if you were going to spend $150 on ink for a newbie, what would you buy?

Thanks!

Macrina

What you could do with the remaining money is order a ink sampler from James at Pear Tree pens and leave the rest as a gift certificate so she could get what she wants!

t

Get her a complete set of Waterman inks and a sprinkling of Noodlers and Private Reserve inks to fill in the more specialized colors not available from Waterman.

I would include some of the Visconti and J Herbin and Diamine inks in that mix... great inks that seem to write well in all pens...
I really like the Visconti Burgundy... a good conservative color and also like the J Herbin Lierre Sauvage, a gorgeous green.

Can I come live at your house? I don't eat much and am very quiet (well, when I am not practicing flamenco)

I like the ink sampler(s) plus gift certificate idea. I'd also second the inclusion of Diamine.
I really like their inks. It's hard to tell what colors another person would like or use.

Have fun.

Levengers sells niced boxed sets of their 12 inks. It would make an attractive gift.

Andy

I would third the ink sampler from Pear Tree and gift certificate.

For a real variety of brands and colors I would include:

Diamine Orange
Sheaffer (Slovenian) Red (Slovenian is the current version for sale at retailers.)
Pelikan 4001 Brown
Montblanc Turquoise
Caran d'Ache Amazon Green
J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir (vivid blue)
Rohrer & Klingner Solferino (red violet)
Waterman Purple

For a more exotic color, maybe Levenger Always Greener--it's a deep lime.

The only drawbacks with the Pear Tree samples is that you can only get 4 each month and, you can't fill your pens directly from the little sample bottles. They're great for color samples though.

Best, Ann

Advice:

Ink is, of course, all about color. All of the inks I have are colors I respond to in some way. I don't need 50 blues, so after I have 2-3 blues I like that are different, I stop. At least until those ones are gone!

I would do some research and find out what colors she really responds to. Also, what paper is she going to use - white or colored? That could have a bearing too. I like the "idea" of ink samplers but in all practicality, there are bound to be colors in there that she just won't like...

My "must have" colors since reconnecting with FPs are burgundy reds, softer browns, blue/black, violet/purples, a turquoise blue and one green (about to be two). I have one "all around blue" on order too.

I don't have a lot of blue or black because, heck, I have been writing with those colors for years. I want people to know that this copy came from something different - a fountain pen!

My list:

Waterman South Sea Blue
Pelikan Brown
Pelikan Violet
Mont Blanc Sienna (cart)
Mont Blanc Burgundy (cart)
Lamy Purple (cart)
PR Tanzanite
PR Burgundy Mist
PR Copper Burst
PR Sherwood Forest
PR Midnight Blues
PR Purple Mojo
and "Laverty Green Mix" (a custom blend, on order - a softer, almost vintage look green)

Of this list, the ones I use the least are South Sea Blue and Sherwood Forest. I like these as colors, but find they are on the "dark" and "light" extremes for ink. So there is not, I admit, a 100% "I like this color" = "I like this ink" match.

Hopefully, you like at least one, buy it, and reset your clock.

I agree with Kurt's suggestion. In fact, I was going to post just that until I read down and saw he had beat me to it. If you're determined to go ahead and buy bottles of ink, I'd definitely recommend:

Diamine Orange
Visconti Blue and Brown
Diamine Woodland Green and Monaco Red
Pelikan Violet
Lamy Turquoise

For $150 you will only get about 10-12 bottles of ink. My suggestions for 9 are below:

Levangers Cobalt Blue

Noodlers Eternal Black

Noodlers Burgundy Red

Noodlers Legal Lapis Blue

Private Reserve American Blue

Private Reserve Blue Suede

Private Reserve Chocolat Brown

Private Reserve Sherwood Green

Waterman Florida Blue

I am chiming in with everyone's warning that it's hard to predict what someone else will like. Heck, I'm often wrong about what I think I might like. (Thank goodness for the Pear Tree Pen sampler program and, I swear I'll get around to it someday, the ink exchange program here). For instance, I am not fond of Waterman inks. But, as you just want to give your relative an easy exposure to a bunch of different inks (what a thoughtful idea!), here are my thoughts on an "ink wardrobe."

My ideas for colors: black, which you have; blue black or very dark blue; red, pink or orange -- the J. Herbin scented red ink might be nice; a purplish blue; a true blue or a bright blue (e.g., J. Herbin Royal Blue or P.R. D.C. Supershow Blue); green; turquoise; brown; burgundy; purple. Or, you could throw in one of the the near blacks (Zhivago, Noodler's Blue Black, Tahitian Pearl).

My personal-taste list of possibilities, which doesn't include all of the above (or even some of my other favorites, since I'm trying to think mainstream):
Noodler's Black and Legal Lapis you already mentioned.

P.R. Midnight Blues
Visconti Blue (I haven't tried Aurora Blue.)
J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune or (my favorite) Caran d'Ache Storm
P.R. Copper Burst
Noodler's Turquoise
R&K Alt Burgundy (haven't tried yet, but I like the Alt-Goldgruen)
MontBlanc Racing Green, which is dark and mossy, or Noodler's Zhivago
Noodler's Apache Sunset
Diamine Prussian Blue

I won't duplicate the 'personal-taste' posts, though I do agree, but I'm going to add that including one scented ink would be a nice touch, imo. James at Pear Tree Pens has most if not all the J Herbin scented inks, plus there are a couple from Mont Blanc (I think they still sell them).

Apparently there are a lot of scented inks from de Atramentis, but last time I looked the minimum postage to the states was $125 (and no, I did not leave out the decimal point)!

What a fun gift.

Wow I bought 3 bottles of De Atramentis, Chocolate, Vanilla and Coffee for US $45.61 including shipping!

= price: 7,15 € / glass (without German VAT) x 3 = 21,45 € + 12,90 € postage = total sum: 34,35 €
From Rolf at www.missing-pen.de

Hi,

I would remove the Tanzanite from the list due to various problems with the ink.

I would add Aurora Blue and Aurora Black. These two are very nice rich colors that don't have a tendency to stain pens. I also like Omas green and turquoise. (they are more pastel though)

Dillon

I would definitely stick with Noodler's and Private Reserve, except if you want to go for a real orange, Diamine Orange is the best choice. For $150, you could get more different varieties if you stick with PR because each bottle is cheaper.

Here's about what I'd get:

PR:
American Blue
Sherwood
Purple Mojo
Spearmint (or Noodler's Gruen Cactus)
Plum (or Noodler's Ottoman Rose)
Naples

Noodler's:
Zhivago
Green Marine
Brown
Red
Black
Turquoise

Regarding Waterman's--I've got every single Waterman ink and if I were you, I wouldn't touch any of them with a ten foot pole--except maybe the violet. And anybody who recommends Waterman inks--I gotta wonder how much experience that person has with Noodler's and PR inks. I've got this idea that people who have Florida Blue or Waterman's Blue-Black as their favorite ink haven't seen many Noodler's or PR inks--and maybe absolutely no Noodler's or PR inks.

The thing about Noodler's and PR inks--I've got over 100 bottles of ink and I've never regretted a Noodler's or a PR purchase--but these other brands, including Diamine, I regret buying about 50% of them--or probably even a higher percentage than that. Maybe I wouldn't regret those purchases if I didn't have the Noodler's and the PR inks to compare them with. The other brands just don't stack up. They might have a decent ink or two, but generally all that means is they've got an ink or two that's just as good--not better--than a similar Noodler's or PR ink.

I didn't read all the posts ahead of mine, but I will say Old Griz is right about the Visconti Burgundy. That is a good one. Somebody else also recommended Diamine Woodland Green: Another good one.

Blue:

Visconti
Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue
Aurora
Lamy
Waterman Florida Blue

Green:

Diamine Emerald
Quink (discontinued but still available)

Black:

Skrip
Waterman

Red:

Waterman
Quink (discontinued but still available)

Violet:

Pelikan
Diamine Claret

Here are some of my favorites/most wanted:

Black
Noodler's Bulletproof Black

Gray
Noodler's Lexington Gray

Blue
Private Reserve American Blue or DC Supershow Blue
Diamine Royal Blue
Noodler's Blue
Noodler's Navajo Turquoise
Sheaffer Skrip Blue

Blue-Black
Noodler's Blue-Black
Noodler's Manhattan Blue
Private Reserve Midnight Blues

Brown
Noodler's Walnut
Omas Sepia

Green
Noodler's Green Marine
Noodler's Sequoia
Diamine Umber

Red/Orange
Diamine Monaco Red
Noodler's Ottoman Rose
Noodler's Saguaro Wine
Noodler's Habanero
Noodler's Apache Sunset

Purple
Noodler's La Couleur Royale
Noodler's Purple Wampum

Have fun!

I take it you mean that PR is cheaper per bottle than Noodlers. Watermans are cheaper still, at least where I am.

As a starter pack, you´d want black (Noodlers´) and the standard colours. So I´d go for the cheaper Watermans or the even cheaper 1 oz Pelikcan/Cross bottles.

Then add the receipient´s favorite colour, and a couple of "crazys"; weird colours, scented ink or Montblanc bottles - as far as the money goes.

My favourite "of the beaten track" inks are Noodlers Saguaro wine and Sun Never Sets (a golden-orange that throws a deposit in the bottle but is otherwise well behaved, unlike some of the other UK Eternals).

The only ink I regret buying is Noodlers blue, which never dries and smears when dry. Not good for anyone, but for a left hander it is awfull.


Could you elaborate?

I'd get one iron gall (Mont Blanc Blue Black seems to be the most available) with the usual warnings about washing the pen out often (and this also gets you that cool Mont Blanc bottle). Then I'd get a good black (I've got Cross/Pelikan, but Noodler's has a bulletproof black that might be worth having, or two (one permanent, one washable). The PR Burgundy Mist was one of my favorite grading colors. Noodler's Apache Sunset is a weird ink that needs at least a somewhat flexible and wet nib -- it's more a fun ink than a useful ink. Noodler's also makes "la couleur royale" which is a good purple. Red is too much a copy editor's/grader's color for me. I have Copper Burst for the brown/copper (I'm on my second bottle of this).

If she's looking for legibility, the darker inks work better. Also, long term survival or not? I find myself using the Mont Blanc blue black the most when writing in a journal.

Round out with a darker green or blue. Unless you know she likes wilder colors, I'd keep mostly on the dark side with one or two bottles of fun things like Apache Sunset.

I would include Aurora Black and Blue (the only colors they make)
all of the Watermans
a large sampling of Diamine
Private Reserve Tanzanite, Plum and a few other colors she likes
Some of the Visconti
a few Noodler's such as Apache Sunset and Saguaro Wine

try to find someone who will sell at a discount if you buy in bulk. Ink is expensive and it's always nice to get a break even if it's a small one. If a dealer is fair I will always return another time to spend my money in their shop, virtual or otherwise.

If she's too busy to shop, she's probably too busy to mix ink as well... but if she seemed interested, I'd include a bottle each of Noodler's Yellow, Shah's Rose, and Navajo Turquoise with the Bulletproof Black. Add some empty bottles and a color-mixing wheel and she'd be able to concoct a whole wardrobe of colors in as large or small a quantity as she needs. If she's not a fan of exotic colors, any hue can be shaded with black to make a more conservative color (the ink wouldn't go to waste, in other words). At around $50 for those four, you'd have plenty left for a good sampling of other brands, as well.

Check out Pendemoniums ink pages, and look for a wide variety of colors and a few that just make you excited with the prettiness. It doesn't hurt to shop around the internet after you've made a list, to see who has the best prices.

I too would include the two Aurora colours as staples, then I would add a bottle of Visconti (bordeux) perhapes, nice colour but wonderful bottle, for the same reason I would add a bottle of MB, maybe the turquise (its a good colour), hard to go past Watermans Havanah as your brown, my favourite red is Skrip Red, noodlers blue ghost would be fun too add as well (along with a light to work it), PR has some nice greens-spearmint or sherwood forest, that leaves a purple, and a yellow or orange and a gray-gray is understaed IMO.

Everybody has their own range of favourites, so all we can really suggest is outstanding examples of their type. One such would be Noodler's Navajo Turquoise, another would be Private Reserve Midnight Blues or if you're looking for something a little more "off-the-wall", PR Black Magic blues.

My best suggestion would be to go to The Writing Desk and have a browse to see what you think your relative would like.

HTH

I have nothing new to add to the many wonderful ink recommendations, but I must say, what a thoughtful gift! I'm sure your relative will be thrilled.

Lisa