I was chatting with my sister about my favorite ink color from elementary school, Scheaffer's Peacock Blue. I understand that they don't make this color any more. Does anyone have a recipe that they think comes close?

I would love to know also !!!

I'd especially be interested in a bulletproof approximation.

I have two bottles of Peacock Blue that were my mother's. I've noticed on various websites that Sheaffer currently makes a turquoise that looks like it may be close to Peacock Blue. I wonder if anyone has compared these two? I don't have any of the Sheaffer turquoise so I can't make the comparison. If anyone wants a written sample of Peacock Blue, PM me with your address.

Judybug

I like this color too. Problem is, Skrip peacock blue fades like a madman in any kind of light. It is not even slightly water resistant. I use it for temporary editing and first drafts only.

Paddler

Hey, Judybug -- I've read that the Skrip turquoise is close, but not the same as we all remember. Would love to see your samples, though. I shall drop you a note with my address.

I just happen to have a few examples of turquoise inks in my collection. I did this scan this morning:



Original Peacock blue does fade pretty badly when exposed to sunlight, the Slovenia wersion seems to be more fade resistant. None of the over the counter turquoises I've tested has much water resistance, The best was PR Blue Suede, which really pushes the boundries of what a turquoise should look like. I threw in the Quink blue as a control.

These were written with the same dip pen, washed and dried between colors. The swatch with a q-tip gives an idea of the relative intensity of each ink. The paper is from a Rhodia pad.

Herer's the inspiration for the inks we're looking at:



I know it isn't a recipe, but I thought it might help to know what's out there.

Larry

I dont use it myself but a company called Green and Stone, www.greenandstone.com sell a peacock blue ink

consider PR Dephine Blue, to me it is close.

I don't know how to mix or change a turquoise ink, except by diluting an existing one, but I agree it's also useful to discuss ready-bottled inks on this topic thread.

Larry T, that's a great comparison page of ready-bottled inks!

The new Sheaffer Skrip Turquoise is just a little bit darker or bluer (I don't know which) than the old Peacock, on Larry T's scan and in Clark's 2006 Sampler.

The closest-looking swabs in Clark's turquoise section, keeping in mind that all swabs are inexact samples and I don't have real training in painting, photography, printing or graphic design:

Aladine Lagoon Blue (close)
Diamine Turquoise, also Yard-O-Led Turquoise (close)
J Herbin Bleu Pervenche (lighter and bluer than Peacock?)
Levenger Blue Bahamas (close; "G"ood in water and sunlight resistance, relatively the toughest in this little list)
Mont Blanc Turquoise (lighter in Clark and in Larry T's scan, greener in the latter)
Private Reserve Daphne Blue (lighter)
Swisher Nantucket Blue (lighter)

Clark's "G"ood rating for water resistance, in my own experience with a few of the inks he's rated, seems to mean that the writing is still very legible after drops of water that are quickly blotted up.

From the Turquoise comparison page at The Writing Desk, I would choose from this list (with the same disclaimer):
Diamine Aqua Blue
Diamine Turquoise (also Yard-O-Led Turquoise)
Roher & Klingner Blu Mare
Visconti Turquoise

The inexactness of swabs shows up in the differences between these lists.

(Edit) From the swabs on Pendemonium's website, I would add
Noodler's Dostoevsky (waterproof)
Noodler's Britannia's Blue Waves (waterproof)
(End edit)

Feel free to disagree, of course!

I have Dostoevsky and the Pendemonium swabs are deceiving - it's in no way a turquoise. It's a nice colour, but more like a muted Blue Suede than Turquoise.

Sheaffer Peacock was a favorite school ink of mine also, but to be honest with all the fabulous new turquoises out, I don't know if I would really go out of my way to hunt it down. Maybe I've also grown to prefer slightly darker shades of turquoise as well. I really like Noodler's Navajo Turquoise, and it's probably the next Turquoise I will order.

I think it I were to try to mix the old Peacock, I would try Lamy Turquoise with a wee bit of Blue Suede (because that's what I have on hand). I think I still have some old writing samples in Peacock so I'll have something to go by.

Larry, thanks for the scan comparisons! It does kind of confirm for me that what was my favorite then probably wouldn't be my favorite now, nostalgia aside.

I had no idea there were so many turquoises already out there! I would agree that with the selection, it's probably best to put nostaglia aside, and simply choose one that appeals. Truth to tell, without seeing a sample of Peacock Blue, I can't remember the subtleties of its color and tone. I just remember it being part of that great experimentation that went along with penmanship -- what color of ink will I use, what style of writing will I use, what will express the real me (ah the angst of pre-pubescent teens!) Fortunately I never went as far as dotting my "i"s with little hearts

I shall peruse the excellent selection above, and choose one that is closest to my memory.

As Blue Suede is one of my favorite colors, if you have a chance to do a side-by-side scan of these two ink colors, I'd really appreciate it.

Deirdre, I have a scan on this thread:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...mp;#entry407495

Pam, I agree - it was just thrilling to go to the drugstore and find cartridges of ink called Peacock blue. So I do have fond memories of it, certainly. But after I read this thread earlier I went upstairs and found an old diary circa 1979. Honestly, the peacock blue in there is a wee bit anemic. I suppose it could have faded over the years (although it's been in a closed diary stored in a steamer trunk) but I have to say I'm happy I have more choices available to me now.

I thought briefly of scanning it, but there's just too much adolescent angst in there.

Maybe a fresh bottle would look nicer, though.

I loved the blueish and intensely bright green component in peacock...sadly it fades like nuts. I swapped to Naples blue

Thanks! Dostoevsky looks like it'd suit me just fine.

I quite like both my Visconti and Mont Blanc turquoise ink. I feel the Visconti is a tad more vibrant.

How appropriately timely this thread is for me! I was just this week reminiscing about Peacock Blue. Like many others, this was one of my favorite inks as a child. My mother was, at the time, a speech and hearing therapist at a school system . Every year she had to go to a school-supply house to outfit her office with supplies. In order to convince me to come along and play nicely, she'd allow me to buy some neat supplies for myself. Being a fan of fountain pens & calligraphy, I always brought some ink home with me. Peacock Blue was one of my favorites, and hard to come by with the limited selection of these supply sales. I loved the color and used it very sparingly, almost "hoarding" it It was one of my favorite "personal" colors (writing things for me only, not for school or others). Not a color I'd want my classmates to see me writing with, LOL, but one I enjoyed in private very much.

To this day I seek out "personal" colors for my eyes only.

I am currently using Herbin Vert Olive in that employ, with some forays into Herbin Bleu Azur. But recently I picked up a bottle of Herbin Bleu Pervenche, and immediately was reminded a little of Peacock Blue.

Memory is a dangerous thing, and having not seen a sample of Peacock Blue in MANY years I cannot say what it looks like at this time. I do recall the feeling I got when writing with it, and Bleu Azur does give me that "secret writing for my eyes only" feel. Azur is obviously much lighter than Peacock, and doesn't have the green content. I think the Bleu Pervenche is a little more blue than Peacock, as well as a little darker? I'm not sure, I've only inked a few pages so far.

Regardless, it's really fun to find out others felt the same about Peacock Blue. I'd love to see a scan if someone has one handy.

Well, I got a bottle of Bleu Pervenche yesterday. I also still have a notebook full of writing in Sheaffer Peacock Blue (my 6th form Latin notebook from ca. 1983-85). I would tend to agree with both of your comments: Bleu Pervenche is a little bit more blue and a tiny bit darker. But, allowing for a little bit of ageing, it is certainly very close to the old Peacock Blue. It is a much better match than Waterman SSB, Lamy Turquoise, or Rohrer and Klingner Blue Mare, which are the other turquoises that I have.

What I really like about Bleu Pervenche is that it has a wonderfully vibrant brightness that is missing from the other three turquoise inks that I mentioned. Indeed, in direct sunlight, it looks almost fluorescent. I think it will now certainly be my favourite turquoise for private use (though I will probably stick to the darker Lamy Turquoise for work purposes). It also provides some shading.

It occurs to me that even without a calibrated reference, if you scan your different inks and measure the Hue/Sat/Value in a paint program, you can tell what direction you are going in and use that to guide your mixture. That is, you can quantify the different hue of blue as you add a drop at a time of a different ink.

Ahh, Peacock Blue. That colour generates fond memories of the blister pack Sheaffer pens at Woolworth's. Waterman SS Blue always resembled Peacock Blue to me.

Anyway, I have always liked turquoise inks, and have several of those in the scan. I would also like to suggest Lamy turquoise, Conway Stewart Turquoise, Caran d'Ache Caribbean Sea.

after playing with a number of different turquoises:

Pelikan Turqoise
Lamy Turquoise
Noodler's Navajo Turquoise
PR Naples Blue
Waterman South Sea Blue

I've noticed that for me, it depends partly on the pen, and partly on how long the ink has been sitting in the pen. This really seems to vary the color and intensity I get, and it doesn't even have to be a long period of sitting - 3-5 days sometimes.

I'll have to try Bleu Pervenche next - thanks for the little review. So far, though, Waterman SSB is the closest match for me to old notes written in Peacock Blue.

In a desperate attempt to get a quick fix of an approximation of Peacock Blue I bought a bottle of Pelikan 4001 Turquoise.

It is a nice colour but boy is it ICY. It doesn't have the warmth of Peacock Blue. (Or at least my childhood memories of Peacock Blue.)

I just found two cartridges of Peacock Blue. I can remember writing my former girlfriend a letter with that ink back in 1998. Sadly, when it arrived in Singapore, it had gotten very wet, and the ink had ran and was next to impossible to read. This taught me to use a better grade of ink that was more "waterproof" in the future.

I got the samples you sent, and I must report that the vintage Skrip Peacock Blue and the new Skrip Turquoise from Slovenia are indistinguishable to normal human vision under sunlight. The tonal and brightness range of the two samples overlap. Perhaps one has a tiny more variation than the other; perhaps you were just writing lighter or dryer. I think the difference is less than normal writing variation with the same pen.

--John
"The Calibrator"

John - I agree. I can't tell any difference in Peacock Blue and the new Turquiose. (To explain to the others reading this thread - I purchased a bottle of Skrip Turquoise since making the January post, quoted above. I did samples of both these inks and sent them to John last week.)

Judybug

Here are 3200 dpi scans of the two writing samples. You can open these files in an editing program and use the "eyedropper" tool to read the color of the (calibrated) pixels within the file. How's that for a cheap densitometer? Look at the variation in hue and brightness within the letters: at this magnification you can clearly see the darker areas of overlap within the 'q'! Her pen strokes are 0.017 inches wide, or about 50 pixels at this scale.

Vintage:
Click to view attachment

Modern:
Click to view attachment