Let me say this first: If you see this ink on a shop shelf, buy it. You won't be disappointed by the colour.

Having said that, I have heard some people complain of problems with some pens, especially (apparently) the 51 of the same brand. I've tried it in several of my collection and have had no problems so far.

This blue is a wonderful, vibrant colour, with excellent flow, fairly high saturation, and it's great for flexies. Anyway, here's the sample:



Questions and feedback appreciated.

Thanks, vermiculus, for the tip about using in a flexy nib. I keep it in a 0.9 cursive italic nib, but have a navy blue Eversharp Skyline with a lovely flex nib that I just flushed. I think I'll load it with my Parker Penman Sapphire. Fantastic color!

This ink is so hard to find now, the only time I have seen it is in a Portugese stationers and on my Doctors desk!

I have a bottle at home which I am holding onto but I agree, it is an excellent colour.

I must try and blend other inks to get a near match, has anyone tried this?

There's been several discussions about find the replacement for Parker Penman Sapphire. Check out http://fountainpenforum.com/e107/e107_plug...t.php?content.7 and see if you agree or if it's 'close enough'. Good luck in your search

Thanks for the link - I couldn't find it earlier.

I have to say that nothing so far has captured the colour of PP Sapphire for me as yet. I did mention it to Phil at Diamine inks once, but I don't know if he's going to have a chance to try anything.

So nice to see a review of the Penman Sapphire. I used to use both that and the Penman Mocha (think that was the colour name). Great inks and I found the bottles again a few years ago, sadly the Mocha had gone mouldy and the Sapphire seemed very gunky, tried it out in a cheap pen, but it obviously wasn't as it was supposed to be.

PR's Lake Placid Blue, American Blue and DCSS Blue all deserve to be contestants, and it would probably take side by side comparison to tell then from each other and Sapphire. They are about the same blue with slight differences in chroma or darkness. I would rank them, beginning withe darkest, DCSS, Sapphire, American, Lake Placid. With certain nibs and papers, there could be enough interatction to swap some rankings. In side by side comparison, I prefer the DCSS, but the point is certainly debatable and the difference subtle. To me, Lake Placid is the most different, being noticably (barely) lighter. The other three are very close.