Hello everyone,

I've always used browns and plum-coloured inks, and have decided to purchase my first BLUE.
I'd like something vibrant, but not too bright. I quite like the look of the Waterman Florida Blue,
and Diamine Royal Blue, but am a big Herbin fan, so perhaps the Sapphire???

Any inky thoughts?

Thanks!

Emma

Florida Blue is the best! Sheaffer Skrip Blue is also good.

For a really vibrant blue, I strongly suggest Private Reserve DC Electric Blue. It comes in a decent size pot and is by far the best coloured blue I've found, and is fairly well behaved in other aspects (drying time, feather-resistance etc).

The Writing Desk (.co.uk) sells it in the UK (and their service is infallible, by the way, it's where I got mine). You can see a good review here, which captures the colour very well.

I have come to like Manhattan Blue by Noodler's for Art Brown. For a near permanent I use Noodler's Navy.

Hi Emma:
Try Aurora Blue. It's a bit deeper than Florida Blue, but still has all the well-behaved qualities of Waterman's: excellent flow and easy to clean out of pens.
Gerry

Hi Emma:

Try Private Reserve Electric DC Blue, or a little lighter Supershow DC Blue,

Julio

Emma:

Well, I have always been a fan of the Sheaffer Skrip Permanent Blue, but I am also a big fan of the new Pilot Iroshizuku inks. All of these are in the blue family.

-----
Mark

Assuming that Noodler's Baystate Blue is a little too bright, you might want to take a look at Noodler's Luxury Blue, if you can get it.

J. Herbin's Bleu Nuit looks like blueberries...so if you're into that....

Aurora Blue, PR Lake Placid Blue and Diamine Sapphire Blue

I second the Aurora Blue suggestion; I never tire of this ink.

If you like blues with a bit of purple in it, than J. Herbin Eclat de Sapphir would be perfect. I have some for sale (see the link in my signature) if you want some.

All good suggestions but I cannot believe no one has suggested Visconti Blue! Pretty awesome blue. I am also partial to South Seas Blue by Waterman.

I agree. Visconti Blue is a superb blue.

Good blues that are purple-leaning and eradicable (a useful feature if you want it; the sulfur in most paper will fade these inks somewhat over the years):
Waterman Florida Blue (vibrant from most pens)
Sheaffer Skrip Blue (vibrant from a wet writer)
Aurora Blue (darker than the other two but very good-looking from any pen).

I haven't seen Diamine Washable Blue on paper, but it looks vibrant through the FPN. I don't know how wet the pen needs to be for vibrancy, and I don't know if this ink is sulfur-eradicable.

Vibrant blues that are not sulfur-eradicable:
J Herbin Eclat de Saphir
Diamine Sapphire and Tropical Blue
PR American Blue, Tropical Blue and the DC blues
Noodler's standard Blue (non-waterproof) and Baystate Blue
Namiki-Pilot Blue from a wet writer (water-resistant too)
Visconti Blue

Fabulous! Thanks so much. There's several here I hadn't come across - looks like I might need to try a few...

Florida blue. Very reliable and very nice colour. One of the best inks imho.

Yes, another one for Visconti blue. When dry it still looks like the wet Waterman Florida blue!

And Diamine Imperial blue is also a nice vibrant blue. A little bit more purplish than Visconti but not as purplish as Diamine Sapphire or even Aurora blue.

A little late to the party, but I'll chip in anyway...

Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue: the blue to end all blues, in my opinion.
Diamine WES Imperial Blue: a more 'normal' kind of ink than the DCSS, vibrant, slight purple tones (but still blue).
Visconti Blue: to me, almost like the Diamine WES without the purple.
Herbin Eclat de Saphir: all round a bit gentler, quite strong purple leanings, the blue that turned me on to blues

The above are all blues I use regularly and enjoy a lot. I believe you can get them all from The Writing Desk.

Towards blue-black, I also dig PR Black Magic Blues and the FPN Van Gogh Starry Night - both mix character with respectability

Waterman Florida gets another vote here - good colour, reliable and pens seem to love it.
Bay State is my favourite to look at, but too vibrant for what you're lookng for
No one has mentioned the Lamy Blue - now that's a rich even and attractive blue that comes at a good price - even in Australia.

Visconti Blue is my current favorite. It's a beautiful rich, deep blue, and it doesn't fade on the page the way Waterman Florida Blue does.

Lamy blue can be a nice blue - in a pen with wet ink flow.
It is one of my test inks and I have one M400 with a wet medium nib that is the perfect match for Lamy blue.

Thanks for all the responses

Your top three, within this post anyway, are:

Aurora Blue and Waterman Florida Blue, tying second and third place with 4 votes each; and.....
Visconti Blue, with 6 votes!

I'm going to try some cartridges of all three of the winners, and then buy a bottle of the champion blue when I've tried them with all my various nibs/pens. But then I should probably try the DC Supershow, and several of the Noodlers blues too, just to make sure...

Emma

One more vote for Florida Blue!

I have to admit that Florida blue is fine.

My fave No. 2 is MB's Royal blue (no iron gall). It is similar but a somewhat "purer" blue.
But My fave No. 1 here is Herbin'e Eclat de Saphir: illustrious, radiant, strikingly honest, an even "purer" blue.
Herbin's Bleu de Nuit isn't a real blue-black but rather a blue-blackish blue, or as the name says quite nicely, "a Night Blue"

Hugh

Thanks, Hugh. The Florida Blue seems to be making a come back against the Visconti.
After seeing a recent ink review of PR Naples Blue, though, I'm thinking that looks pretty fine too.
But all the Herbin inks look good to me - must add the Sapphire onto my list.

Another vote for Waterman Florida Blue
Also nice colors, Diamine Imperial blue, Levengers Cobalt, DC supershow blue

This is somewhat contrary to my experiences. I found Aurora blue to be stingy with flow, and offer little by the way of lubrication. It also fades quite readily. <-- All comments I've heard echoed elsewhere as well. Not worth the money.

I have not tried Visconti blue, but based upon my experiences with their other inks, I would certainly try it, especially in the plastic bottles (which are a major bargain).

My recommendation, based upon what I've tried, would be Noodler's Ottoman Azure. Seems to fit your requirements. I don't like blue inks in particular (more of a blue-black guy), but the Ottoman definitely had my attention (in a good way).

I'm with what other folks have said- Florida Blue is great, so is DC Supershow Blue. For me, DC Supershow Blue makes for some great shading when mixed with other inks; with both Noodler's Polar Blue and Platinum BB I get a strong and steady blue most of the time, with near-fluorescence on lighter strokes and near-blue-black on the wetter strokes. It looks very smart, and adds a nice style to writing, even when done in a pen that hasn't any line variation.

Aaron

I just bought a Pilot blue. Its a nice cobalt blue. Not too faint and not too dark... It just perfect for me. It comes in 30cc bottle.

I've had this ink for about a month, and it continues to grow on me. It's a nice deep blue, shades as I want it to (that is, not too much), and otherwise behaves well. It's much less purple than Florida Blue, without appearing green to me. It does show quite a lot of variation with nib width, being much darker in an F than an M (I say on the basis of very limited experience). Good stuff.