Ink #2 in my series of reviews and tests of all the black inks I can find. I'm a bit tardy in reviewing this, a result of having too much stuff to do piling up all over the place. Hopefully I'll get through enough ink samples in the next week that I can justify pestering James at Pear Tree Pens for another round.
Quink. I love the name. I had to try this ink next. But dear me, this is not what I'd call a good black ink. The first thing I noticed was that it isn't really black, it's more of a very dark grey. It's thin (in color) enough to be somewhat translucent. There's definite shading, which I don't consider a good attribute in a black ink, though opinions may of course differ on the subject. A black ink, to me, should be black; leave shading to the colors or the greys.
Parker Quink Black doesn't dry particularly quickly, either. It smeared on every test up to the 15-second delay, which would make it difficult to use for note-taking or any other situation in which pages might have to be turned quickly. It may not be obvious from this scan, but in the three colored-in squares (hatching, colored and blotted, colored and left to dry), the middle square, which was blotted, is noticeably paler than the one left to dry. The ink isn't at all waterproof, but sufficient traces to be legible were left behind when the dried ink was wiped with warm water. The ink flows reasonably well, but it didn't strike me as particularly wet or dry.
The Verdict: No thanks. I see no reason to recommend Parker Quink Black. It isn't a bad ink, but neither is it good. Slightly translucent not-quite black color, slow drying times, poor water resistance: it doesn't excel in any area.
