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Akkerman Blue Ink

Charles Skinner

By Charles Skinner
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Charles Skinner Vintage

Charles Skinner

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I have a bottle of Akkerman Blue ink and like it very much. I seem to remember reading, somewhere, that the ink now is actually made by another maker. Is this true? If so, which one? C. S.

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lapis Museum Piece

lapis

Posted
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Hi! Now please don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing with you at all, not even griping about anything... but where did you read that? Somewhere here? Sure wouldn't mind knowing that myself. Was that also connected with a new formulation, a change in observable traits like some Noodler's??

 

Mike

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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bobje Collectors Item

bobje

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The widely held belief is that Akkerman ink is manufactured by Diamine. Some Akkerman inks resemble Diamine inks almost identically. Others look similar, but are different.

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lapis Museum Piece

lapis

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That's right, Bob, but I've not yet heard that the manufacturer (likely Diamine or whoever else) has recently been changed!

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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The Good Captain Donor Pen

The Good Captain

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Akkerman inks are just the way they are - fantastic. If Diamine manufacture them; well that's news to Akkerman. Or so I'm told.

Actually, I don't care. Each to their own, as my Mum used to say.

But anyone who chooses to compare Diamine Majestic Blue with Akkerman Shocking Blue will notice a similarity but not a likeness. In that particular case, Akkerman has a real edge.

It doesn't smear!

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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lapis Museum Piece

lapis

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Captain, you did it again! I was already thinking about mentioning as a good example your Shocking and that that Akkerman may be (well, maybe) an remediation in that it relinquished our smearing. Same thing about my #10 in that it renounced our dryness.

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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The Good Captain Donor Pen

The Good Captain

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Captain, you did it again! I was already thinking about mentioning as a good example your Shocking and that that Akkerman may be (well, maybe) an remediation in that it relinquished our smearing. Same thing about my #10 in that it renounced our dryness.

Just every now and again, I actually seem to make sense. Wonders will never cease...

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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Mew Vintage

Mew

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I have Akkerman shocking blue but haven't used it yet. But I have heard that causes staining, is that true?

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The Good Captain Donor Pen

The Good Captain

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I have Akkerman shocking blue but haven't used it yet. But I have heard that causes staining, is that true?

I'm using it permanently in an Aurora 88 large, and haven't any issues whatsoever. However, I don't plan to use any other ink in that pen, so any potential staining wouldn't matter anyway.

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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amberleadavis Pen Dust

amberleadavis

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Charles, Visvamytra did some comparisons, reviews, some blots and some actual sophisticated testing. The Akkerman inks and the Diamine inks appear to only differ by the addition of an additive or two.

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Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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HalloweenHJB Antique

HalloweenHJB

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I have Akkerman shocking blue but haven't used it yet. But I have heard that causes staining, is that true?

 

 

I have the ink, and the color is so rich, so deep, so intense, that seems to stain. But I must confess that I have never used it in a demonstrator pen, so I cannot say if it actually stains the plastic/celluloid. I may have to experiment with a TWSBI to see how it does...

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inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

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The only actual statement I can make is that I will equivocally deny that Akkerman #10 is the same ink as Diamine Registrars Blue-Black. All they have in common is that they're IG inks.... Diamine may be in fact making Akkerman inks, but I haven't even seen any sort of comparison saying that Diamine X is the same as Akkerman Y) -- only speculation.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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lapis Museum Piece

lapis

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Ruth, you're right on that. Some members (non-members not excluded) may have looked at that ink on their screen and found it to look amazingly similar to what their ink looks like on their paper... etc.

I wrote that both of those inks look astonishingly the same when written with one and the same pen on one and the same paper. Even chromatograms look "identical". But that still doesn't mean that the two ink are the same. All they have to do for Akkerman is add more surfactant and/or a different one or more, in comparison with the Diamine original. And you can't see that difference on paper. But you can feel it when writing....

 

Mike

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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HalloweenHJB Antique

HalloweenHJB

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Ruth and Mike:

I agree with you. For quite a while I have been thinking that the often repeated idea that Akkerman actually puts Diamine ink into their bottles, or that the ink they use is manufactured in England by Diamine must be only an urban legend. I have a pen pal who lives in Den Haag, and I may ask him —if he's interested— to do some undercover investigative work ... ;)

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lapis Museum Piece

lapis

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Ruth and Mike:

I agree with you. For quite a while I have been thinking that the often repeated idea that Akkerman actually puts Diamine ink into their bottles, or that the ink they use is manufactured in England by Diamine must be only an urban legend. I have a pen pal who lives in Den Haag, and I may ask him —if he's interested— to do some undercover investigative work ... ;)

Oh, yes. Please do so. I remember reading here -- but I forget where -- that Akkerman or Diamine was in fact asked if they (D) in fact did make ink for A, whereby the answer was an explict "No". Of course, that, too, may also be a lie.

 

Mike

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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The Good Captain Donor Pen

The Good Captain

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Oh, yes. Please do so. I remember reading here -- but I forget where -- that Akkerman or Diamine was in fact asked if they (D) in fact did make ink for A, whereby the answer was an explict "No". Of course, that, too, may also be a lie.

 

Mike

I posted it somewhere, as I'd asked them when I was in their wonderful 'emporium' in Den Haag, in 2014. They said 'no' and frankly I don't really mind, one way or another. I'll just reiterate that where there might be some similarities, I personally don't think that the inks are one and the same.

And just love Akkerman Blue. AND their Shocking Blue has the wonderful characteristics of Diamine Majestic Blue, like the shading and red sheen, but without the almost impossible drying times and perpetual smearing/smudging.

HUZZAH!

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

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And just love Akkerman Blue. AND their Shocking Blue has the wonderful characteristics of Diamine Majestic Blue, like the shading and red sheen, but without the almost impossible drying times and perpetual smearing/smudging.

HUZZAH!

 

That's really good to know -- I just ordered samples of a few Akkerman inks, including Shocking Blue (completely independently of this thread). Haven't tried Majestic Blue, but I have had clogging problems Sargasso Sea.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: Meant to also order a sample of Trevés Turquoise, to see how it compares to Diamine Turquoise and Havusu Turquoise, but I forgot. Oh well, there were other things left off that order, for various reasons, so that will give me an excuse to make another order in the near future (shhh -- don't tell the husband: he already thinks I have too much ink... :lol:).

Edited by inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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