Private Reserve: Plus Ça Change, Plus Ça Change...for The Worse!

[eric.zamir]

I've been a Private Reserveoholic since around 2003, like 15 years... (OMG), and have always found their colors to be incredibly vibrant, their inks generous in flow, their prices human.
Once, I had a SITB event in a bottle of Avacado. I wrote to the late owner/founder and he sent me a couple of bottles - to Israel, no less. He was really nice.
Since then, DCEB, Tanzanite, Black Magic Blue, Blue Suede, Naples Blue, Purple Mojo, and Plum, have been backbones of my fountain pen writing, and I write exclusively with fountain pens.

Regarding Plum... so the bottle finished. That was an amazing ink. It went on in a pink way, and dried to a darker, mysterious magenta color, which was actually not obtrusive or little-girly.
I purchased a new bottle at the local store in Tel-Aviv - Dana Pens, a very reputable place. Came home, opened, filled, and wrote. Oy Vey. Plum was now Bazooka Bubble Gum Pink.

 

This is the original one. Below, the new one:

 

 

Same exact Clairefontaine notebook, same broad-nibbed Montblanc 146.

 

Here's the thing: I wrote to Darla, the new owner of Private Reserve, including scans. Over a two-month period, she managed to alienate me completely, to the point that I will NEVER, EVER purchase a Private Reserve product again. She took her time replying to my mails (busy, sick, blah blah blah), and proceeded to accuse me of a) being mistaken, buying a product that was mis-labeled (by the previous owner), c) buying an outdated i.e., made-by-the-previous-owner-and-therefore-not-my-problem bottle of ink. At first she suggested I select one of their other colors as listed on her site. She then clarified, that I should go into Dana Pens and pay another $22 for a different color.
I offered to send her money for postage, and pay her a reasonable price for a few bottles of new ink directly from the factory, so that there would be no issue.

She then "offered" to sell me her ink for List Price - way above what any retailer would charge (Norman Haase, The Writing Desk, etc.).

 

I'm kind of sad to be without Plum, and hope to find a substitute (no, not Yama-budo). In the meantime, bye-bye Private Reserve. Maybe the next owners will include customer service in their palette.

Edited April 6, 2019 by eric.zamir

[Intensity]

The first ink looks beautiful—subtle shading and a rich dark color. The second looks a lot like my sample of Organics Studio Queen Rose. Still nice but totally different. I wonder if you add a tiny amount of black ink to a sample vial of the new Plum, you can get something close to the original plum. Not sure which black wouldn’t chemically react, but you can start with what you have and see how it goes.

[eric.zamir]

The first ink looks beautiful—subtle shading and a rich dark color. The second looks a lot like my sample of Organics Studio Queen Rose. Still nice but totally different. I wonder if you add a tiny amount of black ink to a sample vial of the new Plum, you can get something close to the original plum. Not sure which black wouldn’t chemically react, but you can start with what you have and see how it goes.

I managed to convince the store to take back the bottle. Do you have any suggestions for a similar color (to the original)? I may give R&K Solferino a try.

[Intensity]

Purple is not a color I usually select for ink, so unfortunately no suggestions. Solferino is probably more vibrant than you want.

[Intensity]

P.S.: these sample photographs might be helpful in your search:

https://www.jetpens.com/Purple-Inks/ct/4643

 

De Artamentis Alexander Hamilton seems close.

[Fuzzy_Bear]

Look at Sailor Oku-Yama. Or Bungbox Tears of a Clown.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I've been a Private Reserveoholic since around 2003, like 15 years... (OMG), and have always found their colors to be incredibly vibrant, their inks generous in flow, their prices human.

Once, I had a SITB event in a bottle of Avacado. I wrote to the late owner/founder and he sent me a couple of bottles - to Israel, no less. He was really nice.

Since then, DCEB, Tanzanite, Black Magic Blue, Blue Suede, Naples Blue, Purple Mojo, and Plum, have been backbones of my fountain pen writing, and I write exclusively with fountain pens.

 

Regarding Plum... so the bottle finished. That was an amazing ink. It went on in a pink way, and dried to a darker, mysterious magenta color, which was actually not obtrusive or little-girly.

I purchased a new bottle at the local store in Tel-Aviv - Dana Pens, a very reputable place. Came home, opened, filled, and wrote. Oy Vey. Plum was now Bazooka Bubble Gum Pink.

 

This is the original one. Below, the new one:

 

 

Same exact Clairefontaine notebook, same broad-nibbed Montblanc 146.

 

Here's the thing: I wrote to Darla, the new owner of Private Reserve, including scans. Over a two-month period, she managed to alienate me completely, to the point that I will NEVER, EVER purchase a Private Reserve product again. She took her time replying to my mails (busy, sick, blah blah blah), and proceeded to accuse me of a) being mistaken, buying a product that was mis-labeled (by the previous owner), c) buying an outdated i.e., made-by-the-previous-owner-and-therefore-not-my-problem bottle of ink. At first she suggested I select one of their other colors as listed on her site. She then clarified, that I should go into Dana Pens and pay another $22 for a different color.

I offered to send her money for postage, and pay her a reasonable price for a few bottles of new ink directly from the factory, so that there would be no issue.

She then "offered" to sell me her ink for List Price - way above what any retailer would charge (Norman Haase, The Writing Desk, etc.).

 

I'm kind of sad to be without Plum, and hope to find a substitute (no, not Yama-budo). In the meantime, bye-bye Private Reserve. Maybe the next owners will include customer service in their palette.

The customer is always wrong? Sounds like they got it backward....

[lgsoltek]

I managed to convince the store to take back the bottle. Do you have any suggestions for a similar color (to the original)? I may give R&K Solferino a try.

Solferino is definitely more vibrant than even your second bottle. Check out KWZI Berry maybe?

[Lloyd]

Iron gall Gummiberry?

[ErrantSmudge]

I have a "vintage" bottle of PR Plum from the early 2000s, and Noodler's Purple is pretty close to it in color. But be warned that Noodler's has its own color consistency issues from batch to batch.

[ENewton]

If you don't like the second color, then I don't think you'll like Solferino. It is an exceedingly bright ink.

 

Consider Montblanc Lavender Purple, which can look quite like your first sample, depending on the pen.

 

An ink that goes down bright pink and turns to a rich, elegant purple is KWZI IG Violet #3. It's a saturated ink that takes longer to flush than many others, but I assume the same is true of many Private Reserve inks.

[TSherbs]

Platinum Lavender Black?

[eric.zamir]

I have a "vintage" bottle of PR Plum from the early 2000s, and Noodler's Purple is pretty close to it in color. But be warned that Noodler's has its own color consistency issues from batch to batch.

Hi - Do you meant Purple Heart? Purple seems too blue...

[Patrick L]

Well I am not really surprised by the change Eric. The man who created the Private Reserve ink died some years ago and with together with him the secret ink formulas ...

[amberleadavis]

Hi - Do you meant Purple Heart? Purple seems too blue...

 

I love Noodler's Purple, but it is a real purple. I don't consider it a plum.

 

You would like Purple Heart, but it's a different ink.

[amberleadavis]

The first ink looks beautiful—subtle shading and a rich dark color. The second looks a lot like my sample of Organics Studio Queen Rose. Still nice but totally different. I wonder if you add a tiny amount of black ink to a sample vial of the new Plum, you can get something close to the original plum. Not sure which black wouldn’t chemically react, but you can start with what you have and see how it goes.

 

I really like Queen Rose, but I agree, he wouldn't like it.

[amberleadavis]

If you don't like the second color, then I don't think you'll like Solferino. It is an exceedingly bright ink.

 

Consider Montblanc Lavender Purple, which can look quite like your first sample, depending on the pen.

 

An ink that goes down bright pink and turns to a rich, elegant purple is KWZI IG Violet #3. It's a saturated ink that takes longer to flush than many others, but I assume the same is true of many Private Reserve inks.

 

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Colors/Purple/2014-Ink_591-MB_Lavendar.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Iron gall Gummiberry?

 

http://www.sheismylawyer.com/2016-Ink/02-February/slides/2016-02-26_31.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Check out the signature line for purples. Also, the 366 inks per day will give you a bunch of inks to look at - all at once.

[amberleadavis]

Solferino is definitely more vibrant than even your second bottle. Check out KWZI Berry maybe?

 

I agree, not Solferino (which I do adore).

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Colors/Purple/2013-Ink_820.jpg