I got a vial of PR Black Cherry via the Ink Exchange, and my tests show much less color than others that have posted.

Click to view attachment

I did some swabs and got very light coverage as well as heavy coverage, to see if I was simply getting too much ink on the page. But it's unmistakably gray with a hint of red, hardly reddish like others report.

Has anyone had trouble with this ink separating or changing color with time?

--John

Please do a search - you will find more than a couple of threads discussing this ink and this colour change (Burgundy Mist may do it also). The red dye appears to have been unstable in some older batches of these inks - it simply becomes desaturated over time, in the bottle. I have had the same problem occur with Fiesta Red - a fabulous colour, that is now quite brownish (yet still very attractive!).

A fresh bottle will yield a very different result.

Yep one pen store bemoaned the fact that all of the red component PR inks that were left out as displays were changing colors!

Kurt

PR or the seller should replace with a proper bottle. Another reason I've given up on red inks.

Very strange - I should mention that this came from one of my ink vials for the ink sample swapping program. I remember it as a very nice burgundy and, well, black cherry color. Hardly this...
I think I bought the bottle somewhere within the summer of last year; could be why the color is now gone. I also haven't used it in a while, just stored it neatly in that vial.

Sorry about that, John! Do PM me if there's anything I could do for that fault.

- Anthony

Hum.... I've been using Waterman Red for decades without a problem, actually when I want to make sure somethings is a bit more water resistant, I mix with it just to improve waterfastness. But is also true that those notes are closed and not directly exposed to sunlight.
Is not the reds, but PR's red components that seem to have a noticeable color virage.

Very interesting: Look at Stale Black Cherry next to Tulipe Noire:





Although there is more shading in the Tulipe Noire, it includes the hue of this stale Black Cherry! In fact, I wondered for a moment if the vial was mislabeled that thus the end of the mystery. But it doesn't really look the same. You might not tell on your monitor (I can't see it on an uncalibrated LCD on this laptop) but there is a red/magenta difference. If you look at the numbers, which I also show here, you can see that the Saturation values are different even at the same Hue.

So, with a scanner that does both flatbed and negatives (so it has the high resolution and precision to image individual pen strokes) you can identify an ink by matching its spectrum. Assuming the exposure is the same on all your samples.

--John

Wasn't it the last of the bottle too? Maybe it doesn't like air. Might have to use finish preserve or bloxygen in the ink bottle. Why not! It's another part of the ritual that mere mortals will not keep up with.

--John

I'm pretty sure I've got a bottle of the grey stuff, too.

Yes, it is one of my older bottles, too, which would confirm
the theory of fading red component. Since I've got
Diamine Grey, Omas Grey, and Noodlers Lexington,
it seems like maybe I don't need this ink. For noire-tinged
purples, I have MB Violett and Tulipe Noire is supposed
to be on the way.

However, if any one wants swabbed or dip pen samples
of old, deteriorated PR Burgundy Mist or Black Cherry,
please PM me your snailing address and I can send them
to you before I get rid of the inks.

Anyone know exactly what causes such dramatic loss of color? My previously opened Sheaffer Skrip Red from the 1950's seems to be brighter and redder than even NEW Skrip red, though a fair part of this could be due to saturation from evaporation. It's definitely not faded, however.

[acronym="For What It's Worth"]FWIW[/acronym], my old bottle of Noodler's Ottoman Rose shifted to purple (before going south altogether). Here's a before and after (same bottle of ink!):

I have had very good experience with PR. You tell them something is wrong with ink and chances are good they'll send you a new one. I had issues with PR Fast dry Sherwood Green and Burgundy Mist. New bottles of each snet after complaint raised. No questions. GREAT seller. No affiliation.