Pilot/namiki (Not Iroshizuku) Inks

[jhylkema]

Hey all,

 

I just ordered a bottle of Namiki blue ink from Amazon. I've read a lot of good reviews of this ink and, since it's almost Noodler's cheap, I figured I'd give it a go.

 

Is this the same ink as the Pilot blue ink that you get 355mL (no, that's not a typo) for about $22? And rumour has it that some of the Iroshizuku inks are simply re-bottled Pilot inks at about 6x the price.

 

Personally, I like that the bottle is simply labelled "ink". You know, in case you were wondering.

 

 

[Olya]

I don't know whether Pilot rebottles their basic blue, blue black & black inks into Iroshizuku bottles (haven't heard this before, interesting...), but all Pilot inks labelled as "Pilot" or "Namiki" sold in Japan, North America & Europe are one and the same inks. The squat "Namiki" bottles in North America & Europe, the taller "Pilot" bottles in Japan, the "soda style" bottles and the cartridges (labelled "Pilot Ink" in Japan in solid colours in paper boxes & the ones labelled "Pilot Namiki" in the red/ white boxes in Europe & North America) are all the same inks.

[jmccarty3]

The Pilot and Namiki inks are the same, but the Iroshizuku inks are different formulations. For example, there is no equivalent Iroshizuku to Pilot/Namiki Blue, and Iroshizuku Shin-kai is quite different from Pilot Blue-Black. So if you buy Iroshizuku, you're not just paying for the fancy bottle.

[Torrilin]

Keep in mind that a number of our ink reviewers take the time to do chromatography as part of their reviews. Usually water dip or water drop method, but I've seen at least one review with 50% isopropyl alcohol as the vehicle. And no matter what method, it’s easy to do chromatography for yourself. Most everyone can get their hands on absorbent or filter paper.

 

So while there’s definitely rebadged ink out there, so far there’s no evidence that Pilot bothers with it.

 

If Pilot is reusing ink formulas, I’d suspect Varsity inks and the bottled Pilot inks. I haven’t seen chromatography trying to prove it, but black Varsity ink and regular Pilot black seem to have very similar feathering and bleeding behavior. And similar saturation. Sadly, there’s a bunch of Varsity colors you can’t get in bottles. Woe to the color lovers. I’d bet they could get Iroshizuku prices for things like Varsity turquoise and violet and pink, and all 3 seem promising for italic nibs... and I don’t think any Iroshizuku inks match.

[rudyhou]

yeah, the regular pilot/namiki inks have a completely different color shade than those i find with irosizuku inks.

[sirgilbert357]

The Pilot and Namiki inks are the same, but the Iroshizuku inks are different formulations. For example, there is no equivalent Iroshizuku to Pilot/Namiki Blue, and Iroshizuku Shin-kai is quite different from Pilot Blue-Black. So if you buy Iroshizuku, you're not just paying for the fancy bottle.

 

 

Agreed. I've tested some Iroshizuku inks side by side with Pilot blue and blue/black, and they are definitely different. Color differences are there, sometimes subtle, but there are behavior differences too with flow, dry time and feathering.