I just received my Parker '44 51 vac back from Richard....

It is pristine (India Blk.), and has been fitted with a vintage M nib (which...according to Richard translates well to a modern F).

I'm looking for the ultimate retro look ink. Ink & paper combo information would also be appreciated...as I have surmised from this community that Waterman Havana Brown with a creme color paper hits the retro spot pretty well...I wish Rhodia offered a creme tablet paper...

Any other suggestions??

Thanks...for your consideration and input.


Peter

You might like to try and get your hands on those old 1930s/40s Parker Quink bottles...



This is brown, but I just wanted to show the general design of the bottles. I think they're really neat. You can still buy them, either full or empty. You could clean it out and fill it with an ink of your choice.

Havana is an attractive ink and a nice choice. I would also suggest you look at Waterman Blue-Black, often when dry it has a green tint, I'm told that's vintage-ish. I like a blend of Waterman Green and Fla Blue, for me a touch more Fla Blue. It's a nice Teal, looks stately and old.

I have a Black "51" Vac, bought from a dear friend. She used it getting her Masters and though her work career. She said it wrote many, many pages of notes and was used for her thesis. Initially I put Waterman Purple in it to help clean out after setting for a long time. I had lots of Purple and the last time I cleaned an old "51" it had Black stuck in corners of the sac. Using the Purple made a Black- dark Purple. Beautiful but I could see it could also be quite manly. Wish I could make that color again.

One day my friend asked how the "51" was doing, I said fine, fearing she wanted it back. She went on to say she thought the pen would be happy with Turquoise ink. She was correct it's thrilled with Waterman South Seas. So these Vac "51"s can be refined, stately or wildly living life to the fullest.

One of my favorite vintage-looking inks is Sheaffer Skrip Blue-Black. And I know it's ultra safe for vintage pens, too.

I was going to ask this questions as well... I've begun using a Vac 51 (thanks julio!), and it's quite snazzy... But it's very picky about inks. I was pretty amazed to find that the ink that's played well with every pen and paper I've tried, vintage 60s/70s/80s (?) Parker Super Quink B/B Permanent, didn't like the 51. Went on the paper as a light violet line. Nor did a lot of other vintage inks I've tried- flow was poor, and generally very, very dry. Skrip Jet Black was a light gray. Microfilm Black went on an even lighter gray. Pelikan Black, however, goes on pretty wet and smooth, as does Swisher Midnight Black. I was going to ask myself for recommendations.

That said, vintage Skrip BB is snazzy. I just bought some from vintageinks.com (no association, just a happy customer) which sells various inks at good prices. It's a very green BB, an in some pens it looks not unlike Noodlers Legal Lapis - you could to a 5:1 vintage Skrip BB to Legal Lapis for a "safer" Legal Lapis pretty well.

As an aside, I'm going to post a review of the inks I purchased there as soon as I can find the bleating charger for my camera... Water and bleach tests, and all that. Some surprising results! Here's one of them- Carter's Washable Blue held up the best in the water soak category.

Aaron

D'oh- I forgot the original question! Vintage look. How vintage? R&K Sepia is hella vintage, but more of a pre-1950s vintage, esp on cream paper.

Aaron

I have a Vac 51 that I use every day. I just use Quink, and it seems fine.

I haven't tried it in a 51, but Diamine Indigo always strikes me as having a distinctly vintage appearance. It dries to a lovely dusty blue, shades very nicely, and behaves well in every pen with which I've ever tried it.

Neil

Oh, this is just my Vac- I don't mean each and every. But that is a potential issue. Modern Quink Black works fine, but all of the vintage inks I've tried in it don't work well. Mostly because it's pretty darn dry, I think.

Aaron

I think your pen is unreasonably dry, and probably needs attention.
There may be some dried gunk in the feed slit or between the tines. If PQ Blue-Black with Solv-X doesn't clean it out, then it's insoluble and the pen needs attention. That particular ink is quite 'wet' and free-flowing.
I had a similar problem with a P51 nib until I ran a piece of paper down between the tines. A large chunk of gunge came out and it has been brilliant ever since.

My black "51" with a medium nib is one of my favorite pens. It's always on my desk, ready to go, and it always has Noodler's Black in it (ok, except for one fill of blue-black about a year and a half ago). Writes like a dream, first time, every time. Definitely, one of the best!

Thank you everyone for the input...I get the feeling that blue/black by nature is vintagelike in appearance...so I will try several. I do like Havana Brown very much...it will always be in one of my everyday pens.

thanks
Peter

Don't forget about burgundy inks. I use MB Bordeaux a lot, and it looks antique as soon as it dries on paper. It gets along with any of the "51's" I have used it in.

...that's just it- it is only dry with some inks. With anything Noodlers, it is quite wet, though not unreasonably so. With the exception of Zhivago, for some reason. Private Reserve and R&K work well too. Just none of the vintage inks I have.

I'll run through what it's filled with now, fill it again with the Super Quink BB and run it through that to see if I clean it out somehow further... I think it's just quirky, but not quinky. Nothing in the tines, looked at it under a loupe.

Regards,
Aaron