Blue Closest To Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-Gao

[Danny Kaffee]

I'm working my way through several Goulet's samplers of blue looking for my perfect blue. I think I've found it--Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-gao. To my eye it's a true blue without tinges of purple or green I see in other blues (or is too washed out in my book--I'm looking at you Kon Peki). However, at $28 per 50 ml it is overpriced (in my book).

 

I'm wondering what thoughts others have as to another more moderately priced ink that would closely match Asa-gao.

 

Based on what I have sampled, Private Reserve American Blue is the best, although it is darker than Asa-gao. I have a sample of Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue (among others) arriving in a couple of days that might be a good match based on the online samples I have reviewed.

 

Does anyone have any other suggestions for a close match? If nothing else fits the bill, I'll just suck it up and spring for the Asa-gao since I know I love it, but I thought I would take a shot at finding something similar but cheaper.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Danny Kaffee

[TheRealScubaSteve]

I've not used Asa-Gao, but the swab below looks similar to the swab at GPC. Sandy1 did a comparison to other inks here that look very close.

 

[dcwaites]

Waterman Florida/Serenity Blue has very much the same colour, but a little less intense. If you took 10 mls of the Waterman and let it evaporate down to 6 or 7 mls over a couple of days, you might get very much the same colour as the Asa Gao.

 

Also Visconti Blue, but you might have to dilute that a bit to get the same intensity.

Edited March 31, 2015 by dcwaites

[jmccarty3]

You might consider Platinum Mix Free Aurora Blue as a less expensive alternative to Asa-Gao.

[Lou Erickson]

Or, order the Asa-Gao from Japan, where it's $13 instead of $28. If you can wangle free shipping (order enough from Engika, such as a pen) then it's much better.

[Chrissy]

Or, order the Asa-Gao from Japan, where it's $13 instead of $28. If you can wangle free shipping (order enough from Engika, such as a pen) then it's much better.

Or buy it from Amazon.com for $19.99 or maybe even less. That was just the first one I saw.

 

I just typed in "Pilot asa-gao ink." You might get more or less with Iroshizuku ink.

 

Or try typing it into the Google search box, and see which one comes up as the cheapest

Edited March 31, 2015 by Chrissy

[Aetius]

I have difficulties telling Asa-Gao apart from Omas Blue. The Omas has slightly less shading, though, but otherwise, the colours are very similar.

[lapis]

Noodler's "Blue", althouh it takes too long to dry, IMO.

 

Mike

[Danny Kaffee]

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

[dneal]

Visconti Blue

[Erik Dalton]

Sailor Blue is a close color match for Asa-gao. The difference is the way they dry. Sailor drys quicker, and with a matt/antique finish. Its a matter of taste, but if you try the sailor inks and they work for you, you may find yourself hooked.

 

I just got a bottle of the new Sailor ink, Sky Blue. The color is almost identical to kon-peki. It dries more quickly like the Sailor Blue with a matt/antique finish and without the brightness of kon-peki.

 

Sailor inks don't play well with a lot of other inks. Be sure to clean your pen really well before filling. Check the threads here on sailor inks first.

 

The second ink in place of asa-gao is American Blue by private reserve. A very free flowing, color saturated, so far non staining blue that i have been using as my everyday writer for a little over a month now. After the fact I found that this is one of Private reserve's biggest seller. I understand why. It is an extremely well behaved ink that dries on par with asa-gao. I like to use it in my fine/extra fine, and medium pens because of its free flowing characteristics and saturated color that shows up nicely in a pen that puts down a very thin line of Ink.

If there is a faint tinge of turquoise if you put out a really dry ink line. I find it really attractive. In a medium nib it's a solid blue with some personality all its own. Cleans up easily with water.

[Danny Kaffee]

UPDATE*********************

 

I sampled nearly 20 blue inks (thank you Goulet Pen Co.) and never did find anything that matched Iroshizuku Asa-gao. So I bit the bullet and bought a bottle. I love this ink. This is exactly what I think a standard every day blue ink should look like.

 

For the record, two blues that came close and I liked were Diamine Blue Velvet and Private Reserve Lake Placid. Blue Velvet was a little darker than Asa-gao and Lake Placid was a little lighter. I would bet there is a mix of the two that would match Asa-gao (maybe 2/3 Lake Placid and 1/3 Blue Velvet) but I prefer to keep it simple and just get Asa-gao.

 

I also picked up a bottle of Private Reserve Blue Velvet just in case I want something a little darker.

 

Thanks to everyone who replied.

 

For the record, this is what I tested:

 

Diamine Blue Velvet

Parker Quink Blue

Waterman Serenity Blue

Noodler's Liberty's Elysium

Private Reserve Supershow Blue

Private Reserve Cosmic Cobalt

De Atramentis Sapphire Blue

Iroshizunka Tsuyu-Kusa

Diamine Majestic Blue

Noodler's Baystate Blue

Diamine Electric Blue

Private Reserve American Blue

Iroshizuku Kon-Peki

J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir

Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue

Diamine Royal Blue

Diamine Presidential Blue

Diamine Kensington Blue

Edited April 10, 2015 by Danny Kaffee

[Oranges and Apples]

I was going to add, if you have the means to test out so many samples why not buy the ink you tested to suit you amongst the ones tested. I know I wouldn't test anything I wasn't able to buy. It seems like you've put a lot of effort forward, it would be a waste to pick something which you ranked number 5.

[Danny Kaffee]

I was going to add, if you have the means to test out so many samples why not buy the ink you tested to suit you amongst the ones tested. I know I wouldn't test anything I wasn't able to buy. It seems like you've put a lot of effort forward, it would be a waste to pick something which you ranked number 5.

 

 

The samples began with a search for an ink I loved and I got them in 2 batches. The Asa-gao was in the first batch and nothing in the second batch took it out. If I had found a perfect match at $11 a bottle instead of $28 I would have gotten it--but you are correct--no reason to pinch pennies and not have an ink I love. I don't envision going through more than a bottle a year anyway (if that).

Edited April 10, 2015 by Danny Kaffee

[Danny Kaffee]

Just an update on this thread. I've found my replacement for Asa-gao (to my eye anyway). It's Diamine Sargasso Sea in a 2:1 mix with water (2 parts ink, 1 part water). It's a perfect match for Asa-gao. And with the ability to extend it 1/3 with water it is way, way cheaper than Asa-gao. That leaves me more money to spend on other inks to experiment with.

 

Now that I have that settled I'm off to find a Parker Penman Sapphire mix that fits my eye...

 

 

 

(as an aside, sampling inks is so much cheaper than sampling pens)

Edited October 2, 2015 by Danny Kaffee

[Blue_Moon]

I still prefer the real thing. Iroshizuku inks are simply high quality inks. No getting around it. I do like Diamine, but Iroshizuku is top notch.

[Danny Kaffee]

I still prefer the real thing. Iroshizuku inks are simply high quality inks. No getting around it. I do like Diamine, but Iroshizuku is top notch.

 

I agree that Iroshizuku inks are excellent. But they aren't excellent to the point of being worth twice the price of nearly every other quality ink. How Pilot has priced their inks in the USA compared to Japan is offensive to me, and I'd prefer not to play their game. I can afford any ink I want, but I don't like to pay more than I need to.

[Danny Kaffee]

As an update 3 parts Diamine Sargasso Sea and 1 part water might be the closest match. But it's just a matter of tweaking the dilution ratio. The shade of Sargasso Sea is a dead ringer for Asa-gao when diluted properly. I'm very happy to have made this discovery.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Danny Kaffee

[lapis]

Montblanc's Royal Blue??

[Coop]

As an update 3 parts Diamine Sargasso Sea and 1 part water might be the closest match. But it's just a matter of tweaking the dilution ratio. The shade of Sargasso Sea is a dead ringer for Asa-gao when diluted properly. I'm very happy to have made this discovery.

 

Thank you for this. Asa-gao is my favorite blue, but I started using Sargasso Sea for daily use as it is a *little* cheaper (Iroshizuku is €39 for 50ml here, Diamine is €7.95 for 80ml).

 

I noticed Sargasso Sea was very close to Asa-gao, just darker. But I haven't tried diluting it yet.