I've been trying a variety of inks, and I am rediscovering why I love washable blue.
I really like its light, non-saturated, watercolory blue. It looks like what one would expect to come out of a fountain pen, because with some nibs, there is nice variation in color which I guess is called shading. Its non-saturated color is very expressive, because it's not just a uniform dark line. That's all subjective. Objectively, i've found it to be a very free flowing ink, and haven't found a pen that doesn't write well with it. In fact, I swear some nibs feel smoother with it than other inks.

Any other fans? Any other blues like it?

Regards,
J

Hi,

I though that it was not as dark as Pelikan Old Royal Blue and even lighter than the new Royal Blue. Well, I had a hard time with it--it faded very easily in sunlight. I had a letter sitting on my desk for a day, and by the next day, it was faded.

Dillon

I keep a bottle for the kids; it's the only ink I'll let them use, for obvious reasons.

Ray

It was the first fountain pen ink I used; some of it came in a cartridge with my Parker Reflex. I liked the color, but I switched to black anyhow since the black Parker cartridges are more readily available. The variation, on my recollection, was pretty nice.

I liked the old style Sheaffer washed out light blue colour. Is there a replacement available?
-Hans

sorry jeen, can't join in on the QWB club. The ink I think is most like it in terms of color is Diamine Prussian Blue. But PB doesn't fade. I've found letters from friends who used QWB and i could barely read them they had faded so much.

I kept a bottle for nib work for a long time because it's cheap and easy to clean up. but i don't particularly like it for writing.

of course, to each their own and what matters is that *you* like it. i probably sent letters in Copperburst (back when i liked it) that were hard for my snailees to read.

My sentences disappearing!
Now I really love it.

I brought the Parker Quink washable blue yesterday. I love the color! It's very pretty. I wonder if it will really fade if I put it in the sun though. Is there a non-washable blue? Why in the world did they make this ink washable?

Here's an image i used before for an Aurora blue review -



1. Aurora blue
2. Florida blue
3. Quink washable blue
4. Mont blanc blue
5. Waterman blue black
6. Aurora black

Regards,
J

Hi,

They actually used to have a non-washable version, but all we have now is the washable sort.

Dillon

A full circle experience for me.
For years, I have tried to find a blue ink that reminded me of the Quink Blue that I started with @ 3rd grade.

I tried Aurora Blue, PR Lake Placid, Florida Blue (top choice besides QWB), PR Black Magic Blue, PR DC Supershow, Pelikan Blue, OMAS ROMA 2000 (another top choice), and back to QWB.

Most of the time, I felt like a part of me is missing if one of my pens is not filled with QWB. So there will always be one pen filled with QWB whenever I go to work or play.

QWB has its place but I find it a bit to washed out!! I guess thats why they call is Washable blue!!! Anyways, I am more into saturated inks. Eventhough I wouldnt consider the Parker Quink Blue/Black highly saturated I really love the color and its writing characteristics!!!
As for the QWB, my wife likes to use it. So I gave her the practically full bottle!!

TNS

Someone else loves QWB!
It was my first favorite ink too, so a sense of fond familiarity is involved. 9

Cheers,
Jeen

I like the color, but the only one I know is the old one, and that had a funny smell.

Washable is nice.

the "washable" nature of it, to my understanding, so that when you get the ink on your clothes as you will inevitably do, it will wash out. I think that was of more importance when washable inks were first produced. now... well, the BP market makes it almost a quaint characteristic rather than a need.

Hi Jeen,

I like bright blues, and Quink W.B. was one of the first inks I tried when I returned to the FP fold seven years ago. But it was just too thin for me.

I've become a big fan of Noodler's Aquamarine (sold by Swisher). It's a bright, cheery blue, flows well, dries quickly, and it's fadeproof/waterproof. A great all-around blue. 9

I like QWB too. When I just got in FP and inks, I was looking mostly for well saturated inks like PR American blue, but with time I get bored with them and washed out inks grew on me. I bought Parker Frontier wich came with QWB cartridge, which I immediatly loaded in the pen, and was amazed with color. I liked the ink because it's transparet look, but pretty bright blue, love it. I went ahead and ordered bottle of QWB, unfortunately it turned out little bit dull, not like I had in cartridge. I am not talking about difference in saturation, which could be caused by partial evaporation, but cartridge variant was brighter.

Anybody see similar difference between bottled and cartrige inks?

I like another blue which is Delta Blue. I got small bottle of Delta blue, which was given away by Delta dealers on Washington DC Pen Show. I did not like it on first try and the bottle was sitting unused, recently I gave it a second try (I was grinding a nib and decided to use that ink for testing) and fell in love with with it. In tone it is close to QWB, but not that transparent and little bit flatter, my another favorite.

I like bright (but saturated) blues too, and I'm still trying to find the right one.

I like the Noodlers Aquamarine, but the color is not exactly what I'm looking for (it's like it has too much gray in it).

Swisher pens antigua blue is a really good match for me, but performs not well at all on moleskines (maybe I need to find a better journal <sigh>).

PR American Blue is nice, but less bright than I would like.

I think that blue is by far the most difficult color! Maybe because I'm looking to match the color of the sky ...

Stephen

<QUOTE>
I think that blue is by far the most difficult color! Maybe because I'm looking to match the color of the sky ...
</QUOTE>

Stephen,

then definitely you need Skies of Blue from Levenger ;-)

I find PR Lake Placid Blue to be a brighter blue than PR American Blue. You might try that one, but it is not a great ink for Moleskines. I mostly use Waterman Florida Blue in my Moleskine. The off-white paper in the Moleskine makes every ink look duller to me. Try a Clairfontaine notebook. The super white paper makes all ink look brighter.

John

I really like Clairefontaine paper, but not the purple lines. Anyone know if they make either blank sheets or paper with a different color ruling?

Stephen

What? I LOVE the Clairefontaine paper for the purple lines as first reason and the thick high quality paper as second reason

Hi,

Purple?? Yes! I need some.

Betty, sjould you even want a smell of that ink, I can send a small sample.

Dillon

I just find that the purple clashes with some colors, and would prefer something more neutral, like a light grey.

I can see that, for people who used this paper throughout their school career (like much of France), it would hold a lot of associations.

Stephen

Wow! France students get to use such high quality paper in school? All we got was thin looseleaf and even worst, those recyled paper that when you erase, fibers get stuck to the eraser

Hi Stephen,

plain blank Clairefontaine paper comes in reams of 500, under the name Clairalfa. I have never seen it in the US though. It might not be imported.

This is how it looks. It also comes in a large variety of colours.

Interresting to find out on Clairefontaine's website that Clairefontaine, Rhodia and Clairalfa etc. are Brands of the same Company

Now, that is interesting!

Bill

Yes, the big group is Exacompta-Clairefontaine : Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Exacompta, Quo Vadis, among others. It also includes the high quality stationery G.Lalo.

Hmm, I see that you can get the clothbound notebook in plain paper:

http://www.exaclairinc.com/notebooks_detail.html

Also, the green "Prybylski" notebook comes in blank paper and is a very nice looking small notebook.

Ooh, leather notebooks: http://www.exaclairinc.com/leather_notebooks.html

Also, in my comments about the purple-ness of the lines -- I wonder if it's because I have the graph paper. Lots of horizontal and vertical lines closely spaced together really bring out the purple.

Stephen