If there has been some topic about it, please tell me.

What fountain pen inks has the most masculine shade of red? Can red ink be masculine? It must not be pinkish, that’s for sure.

I'd vote for Noodler's Widow Maker. Name is somewhat appropriate for this thread, huh? I think Empire Red is a little too light for my taste.

PR Fiesta Red is a brownish red. Several burgundy inks, such as Visconti and Montblanc, are actually dark reds.

I agree with CharlieB, something with a bit of brown and something darker too. I quite like Noodler's Red-Black and PR Chocolat has a nice `manly' colour.

From scan/review the Noodler's Nikita may be suitable as it looks to be a "pure" red to me. If I wanted something a bit more dark I'd be tempted to order Nikita and Heart of Darkness and mix to suit...

I like Diamine's Monaco Red. Not sure what that says about me, but hey.....

Out of the 4 red inks I have, I'd say all meet your criteria: Noodlers/Swisher's Devil Red (bulletproof), Waterman Red, Diamine Monaco Red, and Caran d'Ache Sunset.

Let's see...
To make a widow you have to kill....a man. Not solidly pro-masculine sentiment!

Happy Valentine's Day,
gary

I saw Old Griz's review of Visconti Burgundy and have just bought a bottle, waiting for delivery. I think that's a "masculine" a red as possible, not that I'm Mr. Macho

Not Lamy red then, however my best red is skrip red, its a pure red red, no pink, no orange, no brown, just good old fashioned red.

I'm a fan of Monaco Red as well. Best,
David

Hmmm. Pure red -- the colour of fire engines, London buses, mailboxes, ripe tomatoes etc. -- has always struck me as a rather masculine colour (unlike crimson, magenta, etc.), though it's not easy to find that colour in ink; too many red inks end up looking a bit drab and thin when they're dry. Noodler's Red and Nikita (though this has a lot of orange in it) come fairly close. Mixing Noodler's Shah's Rose and Yellow in various proportions results in a range of excellent reds (a fairly high proportion of yellow keeps the pink at bay). If masculine suggests something darker, adding black to any of these results in a marvelous range of rich, deep brownish reds. Although they all have a pinkish element to some extent (less so when used with a wet nib), some burgundies might suit, though they're not really red; I'm especially fond of PR's Burgundy Mist and Cartier's Burgundy.

Simon

I really like Waterman red in my Sheaffer Targa fine point. It's a nice clean red.

I have Tienanmen and Monaco Red. Both strong dark true reds.

Another vote for Noodler's WidowMaker

ユハベッカさん、

FPN Tulipe Noire is more red/burgundy than purple, IMHO.

Whether any given color is "masculine" or "feminine" is related to cultural expectations, and as I'm in the US and have never been to Finland, I'm making some assumptions. As an example of differing cultural norms, in Istanbul (and throughout the Muslim world to greater or lesser extents), rose is perceived as a man's scent; it was one of the Prophet's favorites. In the US, it's a woman's scent.

Here, "orange" reds are perceived as masculine, and "blue" reds are perceived as feminine, with the exception that wine-like colors and dark reds are okay for both regardless of their undertones.

From my scans yesterday, I'd say that Noodler's Red Black is a very dark masculine red, Montblanc Bordeaux, Noodler's Highland Heather, and Noodler's FPN Dumas Tulip Noire are at least arguably masculine, and Herbin Rouge Fuchsia, Noodler's Kuprin, and Private Reserve Plum are feminine.

Add another vote for PR Fiesta Red. The dusky undertones of Montblanc's bordeaux also provide a redish color that this man is not shy about using.

Dude, like, just write with your blood. Now, that, is what a man would do. I'm talking just chopping of the tip of your finger and writing with the stump.

Better, yet, just rip off a fingernail and write with the nail bed.

I would go for a darker red like Noodler's Tiananmen or Burgundy or Swisher's Maroon.

Rohrer & Klingner Alt Bordeaux is weird and wonderful, but purple-wine colored. Same goes for Montblanc Burgundy.

Widowmaker is a bit like a deep red rose, so I would stay away. I think masculine vs feminine is a strange dichotomy that ought to be challenged, but nevertheless, avoiding pinkish and bright inks is what you are considering. PR Fiesta Red seems perfect, but I've heard of operational issues, and it turning brown (is this substantiated?) The recommendation for Sunset should be disregarded, because it is pinkish (it is an amazing ink, though, one of the boldest red-spectrum inks I've seen!). Devil Red is a bit pale, but surprisingly is nice and mature for a mid-spectrum red. It's not as pink as Empire Red, a little browner but still mid-spectrum. It depends if you want to avoid a light ink, but it is bulletproof, which is a nice bonus.

Some good comparisons to help you out:
DennisU's ink listing
Blueiris's burgundy comparison
Thefsb's red comparison

Dierdre, that is so interesting about rose scents in the Muslim world!! Goes to show how everything depends on its surroundings (like, is Red Black a red or a brown? Depends what's everything around it is saying!!)

How about Levenger Cardinal Red? It's a very solid red that says blood more than hearts to me.

It's Waterman Red for me.

Actually, Noodler's Ottoman Rose is pretty masculine, IMO. As opposed to Shah's Rose, which is definitely girlie. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

It's not really masculine vs. feminine but I think there are differences in perception of colors among different cultures. In Japan if you ask kids to draw a picture of the sun most of them would use red. I noticed in the U.S. kids draw the sun with yellow.

I'll vote for PR Fiesta Red, too. I was using it with a really wet dip pen a few days ago and the thickest shades dried to a deep, dark red that reminded me slightly of coagulating blood. Despite the gory associations, the overall effect was both strong and pleasant -- and moderated slightly by the lighter shades elsewhere. I also have another dark red on my desk at the moment: Waterman Red mixed with sufficient PR Velvet Black to yield a relatively deep red.

To me PR Black Cherry is the ultimate red. It looks pretty similar to blood actually.

Agreeing with Klaus, PR Black Cherry is a really strong dark red.

Caran d'Ache Sunset??

/Tojusi

I like this ink, also. It really does look like writing with blood, though, esp. once it's dry. I tend to use it when I am in a bad mood...I wonder why! heh

I find Noodlers Tienanmen a nice shade. I haven't read the whole thread but saw it mentioned once or twice. It matches my Danitrio Mikado colse enough. Extremely close, not dead on. It has some beautiful flow characteristics and drying time is not unreasonable. I'm putting up a picture of the Dani Mikado I got from Kevin's (winedoc) website, internetpens.net. Of course ink colors vary from batch to batch I would expect.

Define masculine.

I have that Caran d'Ache Sunset, already. It is some kind of wine-red, but sometimes it looks pinkish. It is nice ink, anyway.

I don't know about the masculine / feminine aspect of red. Red just says CORRECTION to me. Like marks on your essays or Xs on your algebra answer. I don't mind my brown ink having a tad of red, but red ink is like a red flag to me.

Use maru, not tenten.

ごめんなさい、ユハペッカさん Small fonts are hard on my aging eyes

It's got testosterone in it.

Or

When you write with it, someone does not say, "where's the chick who wrote this with the girlie ink?"

FPN Galileo Manuscript. OK, it's supposed to be a brown, but it's pretty darn red if you ask me. And I think it would go really well with the wood paneling in the den of my bachelor pad, so there you go.

You want masculine? You can't get more masculine that this!



(Diamine Monaco Red)

Better than "who's the ponce who wrote this?"

Awesome drawing two posts above! This is the work of an artist, not a writer!

Reminds me of Handlebar when he's in moderator mode.

And great drawing too with the Monaco red.

My go-to ink lately has been Noodlers red-black. I've been taking lots of notes in this ink, and I feel it has staying power.






Stephen

I use Noodler's Antietam. It's not red-red, but red enough compared to the other inks I use along with it to fool the eye into thinking it's a rich red.

My vote would be Noodler's Tiananmen or Burgundy.

I ordered some stuff from HisNibs, once. It also had some letter written in Private Reserve Black Cherry (Norman Haase has such a habit to write name of used ink somewhere near the written text). Ink in that letter looks more like brown than red, IMHO.

Ha ha ha.... I almost wrote that the drawing reminded me of Handlebar, but then I decided to have mercy on poor Jim. I also noted that the clothing in the drawing didn't live up to Jim's sartorial standards.

Once again, Ghost Plane shows us how her military training allows her to be bold and fearless!

I hear you, but I don't entirely agree. Both my profs and I, when I taught in graduate school (decades ago), used it as "teacher's color." It could mark things correct and make favorable comments as well as it could mark things wrong. It writes 100% as well as 60%. But it makes the marks stand out, separate from the rest of the page. Note that I made these remarks in black

I do agree it is "markup ink" or "holiday ink." A page of it is too much. I use Levenger Cardinal Red, which I describe as VERY red, bold, and gender neutral. A fine markup ink for man or woman.

What the heck, I will add in a vote for Noodlers Tienanmen. I still need to buy a bottle of that stuff!