After reading all the rave reviews about Visconti Blue I went to buy it, it was the last bottle in the shop. And the box was coming apart, so it must have been ancient.
After putting it in my Pilot Decimo, I am very disappointed. The color looks nothing like in the scans in FPN. It is washed out, light and unsaturated. This is how it looks in my binder F nib, in the factory M nib, it is even lighter. Notice how the color is inconsistent throughout the page?

Did I get a bad bottle or is this how it is supposed to be?

Are there any blue recommendations that don't bleed through cheap paper, don't feather, and can be used with highlighters? I am thinking of getting PR American Blue or DC Supershow Blue, or Waterman Florida Blue.

I like blues that are not dark and are bright.

I have a Noodler's Black that lays down a consistent black line all the time, but I prefer to read blue ink on white paper.

I found this is our Index of Ink Reviews: Visconti Blue. Scroll down to the middle of the page for a photo. In my pens it looked just a shade darker than this, but is a bright blue. I didn't try it in my Decimo. I'd suggest trying it in some different pens to see if you get the same result. If so, you may have a bad bottle.

Best, Ann

Waterman Florida Blue is brighter and less dark to me than my PR American Blue. To me, PR Am Blue is really a dark navy blue and Waterman Fl Blue is in the royal blue family with a hint of violet (but still business acceptable).

I only have 1 pen so I am afraid I can't compare if its the pen or the ink. It definitely looks nothing like the one shown in the review. In the review the colour was great, not dark, sufficiently saturated and bright at the same time. But mine looks watery, and I hate how the colour is inconsistent even in the same sentence.

If PR American Blue is dark then I think I should go for Waterman FB instead, I prefer a medium to light/bright blue. Preferably something that pops, which Noodler's baystate blue claims to do, but is not available here in Singapore.

Can anyone please tell me how does Waterman FB hold up with highlighters?

I have Visconti and others such as Waterman's, DC Supershow, Diamine WES, Parker Penman Sapphire and Visconti is a wonderful bright blue. Your scan looks nothing like the Visconti I have - and I've tried it in a variety of pens. I would take it back and get them either to order another bottle or buy it on the internet. If you go with Waterman's Florida Blue I suspect that you will be disappointed - it is pretty washed out in the pens I have.

Good luck

I just got a waterman florida blue, it is more saturated than my visconti, but it seems to feather a tad more than my visconti. Just a tad though, I think my visconti is a bad bottle, however in Singapore there is no return policy so I'm stuck with a bad bottle.

I liked how cheap the Waterman is, looks like it'll be a keeper till I find my perfect blue.

I wonder if your bottle is an older bottle, rather than a "bad" bottle. There was a previous version of blue Visconti ink, as described by gary:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...amp;hl=visconti

I think I might have seen this older style bottle, but I've never seen the ink itself.

Also, in case it tells you anything, my (recent) bottle of Visconti Blue ink did not come in a cardboard outer box. Instead, it came with a textured blue-colored leather-look case that held the ink bottle directly inside. The ink is a vivid blue color and does not look like the color shown in your scan.

My Visconti Blue is so washed out, even with broad nibs. More so after it dries. I know don't whats all the rave about. At least it has that distinctive ink smell and comes in a fancy bottle.

Definitely not like the Visconti Blue I recently purchased. Maybe shake the bottle a bit?

Diamine Sapphire Blue is wonderful--bright but not dark.

Any chance there was some water and black ink residue in your pen when you filled it with the Visconti Blue? I agree that your scan looks nothing like my Visconti Blue ink. It does vary quite a bit in appearance with dry and wet writing pens, but it is always a dense color with minimum shading , in my experience. It also looks quite different in daylight/flourescent light versus incandescent.

If you woud have told me that was Pelikan Blue I would have believed you. It looks nothing like my Visconti Blue, no matter from what pen it comes.

i got that same effect with my monteverde using miscellaneous cartridges, it would start strong, but "overheat" and get light after a few lines of constant writing.

Mine came in a grey box with the mushroom bottle. Maybe its old or bad I don't know, I used a Q tip to do a swab and its still as unsaturated and washed out as the writings.

Florida blue though more saturated than my visconti, is now a dark blue which isn't exciting. But I think I shall use the Waterman for a while before buying another bottle so fast.

Any recommendations for a ink that is brighter, and will make my fine nib write smoother? I like the smoothness of a medium but like the look of a fine nib more.

*Edit*

Eew the Waterman FB feathers alot !! Looks like the best behaved ink so far that I have is Noodler's black.... does Noodler's blue behave as well as its black ?? If so I think I'll just get it and stop wasting money. To me it is very important that the ink behaves well on cheap paper, minimum feathering and bleeding. How's PR inks in this aspect ? Does anyone happen to know? The ink reviews don't usually touch on these aspects.

Thank you very much for your help.

Having looked at your scans, had you said Parker Washable Blue or Pelikan Blue, I'd have thought you were right on. Your bottle is definitely either the older stuff or a bad batch. The current Visconti Blue comes in a mushroom bottle but in a blue box. It is definitely more saturated than Waterman Florida Blue (I just did comparative swabs two days ago before reading this post). Get a new/good bottle of Visconti and you'll be glad you did.

Does not look like my Visconti blue at all!
Pelikan blue comes nearest to the scan. Visconti blue is a wonderful medium-dark blue a little bit like Diamine WES Imperial without the violet hues.