Looking For A Very Specific Dark Blue - Please Help!

[CoolBreeze]

I originally got into fountain pens after my frustration with rollerball refills drying out. However, I have still not been able to match the color of my favorite refill - the Monteverde Blue Refill for ST Dupont pens (I assume its the same color for all Monteverde Rollerball refills). It is a beautiful dark blue with a slight tinge of purple (I think). Most dark blues that I have seen seem to be more green (or almost look black) and most dark violets are too purple.

Some ones that I have tried that haven't worked:

Aurora Blue, DeAtramentis Doc Blue, DeAtramentis Doc Dark Blue, DeAtramentis Hyacinth, Diamine Blue Velvet, Diamine Regency Blue Diamine Sapphire, J. Herbin Eclat de Saphire, Noodler's Liberty's Elysium, Noodler's Kung Te Cheng, Noodlers La Couleur Royale, Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-gao, Private Reserve Tanzanite, Visconti Blue.

I am aware of the pen, paper, ink combo and have tried various combos with all of them.

Attached are 3 pictures. The first might look a little darker than the rest because the refill almost dried out so the ink was more concentrated. And the second is a fresh refill but the lighting makes it look ever so slightly brighter. The third is the same fresh refill just opened and most accurate.They are all very close and I like them all. Anyone have any ideas on anything that can match this?

Edited April 3, 2019 by CoolBreeze

[effandpee]

Cult Pens Deep Dark Blue (by Diamine)? Diamine Sargasso Sea?

[CoolBreeze]

here are pics 2 and 3. I maxed my limit!

Edited April 3, 2019 by CoolBreeze

[CoolBreeze]

Cult Pens Deep Dark Blue (by Diamine)? Diamine Sargasso Sea?

 

I forgot that I tried Sargasso Sea - I think it is more of a lighter true blue where you see the ink and the sheen make it looks almost black (unless you look at it from an angle and then you an see the red)

 

Cult pens deep dark blue - wow I never heard of this before - looks interesting! Thanks!

[Olya]

Diamine Oxford Blue

J Herbin Bleu des Profondeurs

Sailor (Jentle) Blue

 

These might work, though they might be a touch too dark (Bleu des Profondeurs & Oxford Blue) or not bright enough (Sailro Blue)...

[lapis]

Here it is ==> S.T. Dupont BLEU NUIT / DARK BLUE. Occasionally called their blue-black. It has the Reference Number 040111 and is only available in cartridges.

[DilettanteG]

Private Reserve Black Magic Blue

 

Edited to add: which theyve discontinued, but its close. Looks like they replaced it with Midnight Blues, if you cant get a New Old Stock bottle of PR black Magic Blue, you could try that. Its a rare highly saturated blue black with no hint of green and its the closest of the 385 inks I have on hand.

Edited April 3, 2019 by DilettanteG

[vojtahlad]

Diamine Oxford Blue

J Herbin Bleu des Profondeurs

 

Exactly these two inks came to my mind. I would not say they are too dark (especially if Cult Pens Deep Dark Blue seems to fit the taste).

[ErrantSmudge]

Monteverde Ocean Noir or Sapphire.

 

Ocean Noir is a dark blue with black undertones, almost a blue-black. Sapphire is a deep blue with a purple tinge to it that might be what you're looking for.

Edited April 3, 2019 by ErrantSmudge

[jmccarty3]

Since you're trying to match a Monteverde ink, why not look at Monteverde inks?

 

Here are four candidates: Ocean Noir, Horizon Blue, Peace Blue, and Sapphire.

[Olya]

 

Exactly these two inks came to my mind. I would not say they are too dark (especially if Cult Pens Deep Dark Blue seems to fit the taste).

Possibly not. I still think those two are the most perfect choices..

 

 

Since you're trying to match a Monteverde ink, why not look at Monteverde inks?

 

Here are four candidates: Ocean Noir, Horizon Blue, Peace Blue, and Sapphire.

Horizon Blue looks identical to Diamine Blue Velvet and I think Sapphire might be too purple.. Not familiar with Peace Blue, Ocean Noir might work as well..

[CoolBreeze]

Diamine Oxford Blue

J Herbin Bleu des Profondeurs

Sailor (Jentle) Blue

 

These might work, though they might be a touch too dark (Bleu des Profondeurs & Oxford Blue) or not bright enough (Sailro Blue)...

Thank you! Both the sailor and diamine didn't even register in my mind because I thought they were both more true blues from the web images that I saw awhile ago. I didn't even know the J. Herbin even existed. Since there are a couple of people mentioning this, I'll put it on the list!

[CoolBreeze]

Here it is ==> S.T. Dupont BLEU NUIT / DARK BLUE. Occasionally called their blue-black. It has the Reference Number 040111 and is only available in cartridges.

I also didn't even know that this existed. It seems like a rare ink. There aren't that many images on the web that even show it. Thanks!

[CoolBreeze]

Private Reserve Black Magic Blue

 

Edited to add: which theyve discontinued, but its close. Looks like they replaced it with Midnight Blues, if you cant get a New Old Stock bottle of PR black Magic Blue, you could try that. Its a rare highly saturated blue black with no hint of green and its the closest of the 385 inks I have on hand.

 

This was the top one on my next purchase list. Some images online make it look like a dark PR Tanzanite (too purple) but others make it look like an actual dark blue with purple tones to it and NO green! I had no idea they stopped making it. I might have to pick on up quick to check it out. Out of 385 inks -that is a lot of experience! Thanks again.

[DilettanteG]

This was the top one on my next purchase list. Some images online make it look like a dark PR Tanzanite (too purple) but others make it look like an actual dark blue with purple tones to it and NO green! I had no idea they stopped making it. I might have to pick on up quick to check it out. Out of 385 inks -that is a lot of experience! Thanks again.

My pleasure, PR Black Magic Blue is a very true dark blue, but it often scans of it have a purple tinge that is not there in real life. If you want more of a burple PR Tanzanite is another good choice. Just FYI, the dry times on some of the PR highly saturated inks can be fairly long. Id have to check my notes to see if these are some of them.

 

Edited to add: PR Black Magic Blue does smear easily. Also, my bottle is pretty old, Im not sure if the ink varies much from batch to batch.

Edited April 3, 2019 by DilettanteG

[CoolBreeze]

Monteverde Ocean Noir or Sapphire.

 

Ocean Noir is a dark blue with black undertones, almost a blue-black. Sapphire is a deep blue with a purple tinge to it that might be what you're looking for.

 

 

Since you're trying to match a Monteverde ink, why not look at Monteverde inks?

 

Here are four candidates: Ocean Noir, Horizon Blue, Peace Blue, and Sapphire.

 

I actually forgot I have and tried two of these. Both of these in my Loom (which I would say is average flow) look black or almost black. I just put Monteverde Sapphire in a Pilot Metropolitan which I think is slightly stingier - it looked like a rich (just slightly on the purply side) darker blue - basically a darker Bay State Blue. I haven't tried Ocean Noir yet in the metropolitan yet. I might have too. Diamine Regency blue also looks black to me.

 

I didn't even know peace blue existed. Just quickly looking at monteverde's website, the color looks bright but some other swabs in google look much darker. Confidence blue looks dark on their website -- could be interesting too. Thanks!

[CoolBreeze]

My pleasure, PR Black Magic Blue is a very true dark blue, but it often scans of it have a purple tinge that us not there in real life. If you want more of a burple PR Tanzanite is another good choice. Just FYI, the dry times on some of the PR highly saturated inks can be fairly long. Id have to check my notes to see if these are some of them.

I would describe the ink in the pictures I posted as a dark blue that leans to the purple side instead of the green side - it's a definite blue . I think PR Tanzanite is definitely a blurple which I have - it's a nice color but it's a definite purple when you put see it next to any blues (or when you swab it with a q-tip). I think Monteverde Charoite falls into the same blurple category but it's really purple. I disassembled the monteverde refill to see if I could swab it and there is no question - it's a blue.

[DrDebG]

+1 Monteverde Sapphire - Very rich and velvety with purple undertones with some shading in stub/oblique nibs. Very well behaved with nice lubrication.

[Carrau]

+1 for Diamine Oxford Blue-others to consider might be Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite, Diamine Eclipse or Midnight, Regency Blue, Sailor Kobe #51 Kano-Cho Midnight.

[carlos.q]

here are pics 2 and 3. I maxed my limit!

I suppose you mean you have arrived at your limit for attachments, which is very small. Use the upload tab at the top of your screen and you will have limitless space for pictures, provided each one is 2mb or smaller.