Black Swan In Australian Roses

July 29, 2015

A friend sent me a bottle of Black Swan in Australian Roses with a hand written note on top with the letters "BSAR NEW."

From what I gather, there must have been two versions of this ink. If so, why did that happen? Did the first one cause problems? Why not just give the second version a completely new name? Excuse me for asking a question that likely most of you already know the answer.

C. S.

July 29, 2015

BSAR Old had a lovely reddish tint to it that shaded to black. Mr. Nathan Tardiff, after a few years, found he could not get the materials to make the original BSAR. He came out with a similar ink, with a more purpleish cast. Let's call it BSAR II. Many penmen enjoyed it, many more wanted Nathan to get back to the Original colour. Eventually, Nathan came out with BSAR III, an ink that has the reddish tint and shades like the original.

So, if you have a bottle of Black Swan in Australian Roses New, it should have a reddish tint (perhaps closer to burgendy) and shade to a black.

Best of luck, and enjoy,

July 31, 2015

The one you have is the BSiAR II. It's more purple than the standard BSiAR because Mr. Tardif received a changed dye that was an important component of the ink. You should also have a sample of the original BSiAR for comparison purposes.