Ink Brand Loyalty

[View from the Loft]

I have many Diamine inks because the are made in the UK and have good availability for me, but I also have Iro, Pelikan Edelstein, Waterman, Noodlers and Aurora inks. I have also tried many others, some to be repeated, others not.

 

I'm not swayed by the name on the ink; what is important to me is the colour and the ink's properties, that it is readily available and is low maintenance.

 

I like trying inks via samples, and when our ink supply goes down, there will be a couple of MB inks purchased.

[pixelbunny]

I'm still brand new to this world and am still working on finishing my Lamy blue cartridge. I do, however, have a bottle of J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir I'm anxiously waiting to try out!

[snowbear]

I am still new to this and haven't met an ink I didn't like in one way or another, I seem to lean towards Noodler's and Iroshizuku.

[Merlin676]

Diamine. Out of all of the bottle's I own, I have only been disappointed twice - those were Poppy Red and Wagner.

[snowbear]

Diamine. Out of all of the bottle's I own, I have only been disappointed twice - those were Poppy Red and Wagner.

What didn't you like about the Poppy Red?

[Merlin676]

What didn't you like about the Poppy Red?

 

I thought the colour was a little pink-ish for my liking, and it would smudge REALLY easily. As in, I couldn't write letters that crossed over themselves (eg/ e, f, x etc) without the pen smudging it as it traveled through.

[hbdk]

Looking at my collection I see mainly Diamine inks or derivatives (Cultpens' Deep Dark inks e.g.). They are for the most part very well behaved and come in a multitude of colours. Only other ink that I use on a daily basis is Aurora Black - Diamine's Jet Black only looks black in the wettest of pens and I like a black ink to be just that - not dark grey, not dark purple, or.... Most of the other inks I own are just for fun

[Merlin676]

Looking at my collection I see mainly Diamine inks or derivatives (Cultpens' Deep Dark inks e.g.). They are for the most part very well behaved and come in a multitude of colours. Only other ink that I use on a daily basis is Aurora Black - Diamine's Jet Black only looks black in the wettest of pens and I like a black ink to be just that - not dark grey, not dark purple, or.... Most of the other inks I own are just for fun

 

What are the Cultpen's Deep Dark inks like? Would you say that the images on the website are quite accurate or not?

[ScienceChick]

Akkerman, KWZI and De Atramentis are the top three for me with Diamine running a close fourth.

[Arkanabar]

I do have my intentions to stay loyal to a small set of inks going forward:

 

Black: Pelikan 4001, possibly Heart of Darkness, Perle Noire, and/or Borealis Black -- if I ever use up the other blacks I currently have, which unfortunately include a bottle of Bad Black Moccasin

Blue-Black: Tough choice between Pilot Blue-Black and Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo

Purple: Noodler's Violet, though I also contemplate the possibility of Diamine Damson. I have a fade test comparison going, you see...

Blue: Noodler's Blue.

Green: Diamine Sherwood.

Brown: Iroshizuku Yama-Guri

Red: Sheaffer Skrip Red -- if I ever run out of Noodler's Widow-Maker, an unlikely occurence

Turquoise: Sheaffer Skrip Turquoise

[fplover01]

For a generic all around blue ink, I generally stay loyal to Lamy Blue. Black and Blue Black are Pelikan 4001.

 

I am slowly moving into R&K Salix these days.

[Vgimlet]

I am a bumblebee as well, I like to try new things. With that said, I have a distinct fondness for Noodler's, Diamine, Caran D'Ache, Diatramentis and Pilot Iroshizuku, all for different reasons, and somewhat in that order. But I never rule out any ink maker. Or type of ink.

 

I tend to prefer inexpensive pens for this reason, so I don't need to worry about my pens, for me it's all about the ink. Mostly.

[hbdk]

 

What are the Cultpen's Deep Dark inks like? Would you say that the images on the website are quite accurate or not?

Quiet close except for the orange and the purple - on my monitor the orange looks like a saturated red but IRL it looks a lot more orange maybe with a touch of brown. The purple looks a bit darker and more purple than the image. They are nice and well behaved inks but it takes a bit of effort to clean the pens. Haven't seen any staining so far.

[torstar]

I'm still brand new to this world and am still working on finishing my Lamy blue cartridge. I do, however, have a bottle of J. Herbin Eclat de Saphir I'm anxiously waiting to try out!

 

Careful, the urge to spend and collect multiplies like the creature in you avatar.

[Guest Gracie]

Great discussion! I have to admit I'm a bit of a traditionalist, and have all the Sheaffer, Waterman and Pelikan inks, which tend to provide everything I need in the way of "dry or wet", or for both vintage and quality contemporary pens. But Iroshizuku is certainly in that same quality class, and I have (blushing badly) almost all the Iro inks, and find that their colours are impossible to beat, at least in my experience.

 

Occasionally I branch out into another line as an experiment or because I love the bottle or the look of the colour or I'm just lusting after yet another ink, but I am almost inevitably disappointed because it will be largely identical to something I already have, but without as much brilliance, vibrancy or quality. My exceptions would be Montblanc Lavender Purple, Jonathan Swift, and Bordeaux, the only Montblanc inks I have, and they all seem to be quite unique in colour.

 

I have had negative experiences with Herbin and Private Reserve inks to the point where I wouldn't purchase another; as well as Diamine Ancient Copper, Meadow, and a few others, although I love their Syrah and have used it without problems. I use Noodler's Lexington Grey for legal documents, and also use Black Swan in Australian Roses without problems, although I have had to give up on my beloved Habanero except in a cheaper pen.

 

Such a wealth of riches we have....

[Arkanabar]

As far as J. Herbin goes, they had severe SITB issues back in 2012, due to unforeseen consequences of changes in their production process required by new regulations. After a year or two, they ironed the issues out. There used to be a pinned thread regarding the whole kerfuffle.

[inkstainedruth]

I haven't encountered vast differences between brands used so I select by colors & reviews of inks here from reviewers that I feel comfortable with based on frequency of their reviews. Only once have I tried a sample before wanting the ink & I had the sample among probably a hundred or more that I have NOT used. A review here caused me to "look about" in the sample boxes & sure enough it was every bit as pleasant as the review indicated. If I hadn't found the sample I would have assuredly purchased the ink anyway.

 

I am impatient & would not want to:

 

1.Order & pay for sample to be shipped

2. Wait for sample's delivery

3. Order ink & wait for delivery

 

I would just as well skip 1 & 2, besides cost of sample & shipping & "MOVE along to Number 3!"

 

I read about people making lists of inks they will consider for later purchase...............& not really "understand" how that is possible. I have ordered newly released books from the UK to receive them before American release; & found I am equally willing to pay European post to receive inks before they are "stateside." I could be dead before they are released HERE!

 

I'm one of those "people making lists". Okay, part of that is because I'm a little OCD -- I've ALWAYS made lists (ask me sometime about my 4th favorite song of all times....

There have been times where, for one reason or another I've skipped the "try a sample first" -- the KWZI inks I have come to mind, and the Akkerman inks. And of course J Herbin Stormy Grey (but in that case I got to see a written exemplar). Generally, in those cases, it's because But for the most part I want to try a sample of an ink first. There are a couple of reasons. One is obviously financial -- samples are a lot cheaper. But additionally, I'm not sure I'm going to like an ink -- because of the color or behavior. Sometimes I'm surprised -- I absolutely loved the original formula of J Herbin Rouge Hematite (and I normally I would have said that I despise that shade of orangey red); but sometimes I'm relieved that I haven't sprung for a full bottle (even with a relatively inexpensive ink) -- the color of Noodler's Wheelman's Sepia is unusual and amazing, but I just could not get the ink to flow. At all....

Another reason to sample first is if I'm looking for a specific quality in a color: a couple of years ago, for instance, I tried a number of burgundy and red-violet inks, trying to match a card I had gotten from someone that was probably written with a gel pen -- I wanted to see if I could find an ink that gave me a similar color and *also* a similar sheen color. Not so lucky on the sheen part, but I did end up with several inks worthy of full bottles for the stash for other reasons: Noodler's Purple Heart, R&K Scabiosa, and PR Ebony Purple.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[amberleadavis]

You didn't get sheen from PR Ebony Purple?

[Guest Gracie]

My favourite Sepia is Yard-O-Led, and I've never had any problems with it, even when it got old. I bought mine at Vancouver Pen Shop, but I don't know if it is available anywhere now but in the UK. If anyone knows the answer to that, I'd love to hear it!

[Barkingpig]

My favourite Sepia is Yard-O-Led, and I've never had any problems with it, even when it got old. I bought mine at Vancouver Pen Shop, but I don't know if it is available anywhere now but in the UK. If anyone knows the answer to that, I'd love to hear it!

The Yard o Led inks are rebranded Diamine ink. I suspect the Sepia might be Diamine's Sepia because the Claret is merely Diamine's Claret.