Which Royal Blue Ink To Get?

[AMlines]

Hi all,

 

I am starting out to get a new fountain pen after a long time. I would like to write in Royal Blue ink which I used and much loved when I was in school.

 

I will be writing on normal A4 sheets, and notepads with decent quality paper. So, not on paper meant specifically for FPs. I will be writing recto and verso on a notebook. So, the ink shouldn't feather, bleed, or ghost.

 

While ink permanency isn't a big issue, it shouldn't get washed out with direct exposure to light moisture and long-term exposure to humidity. I do plan to keep the notebooks for several years.

 

I like this one, but don't know how well it'll work for my purposes -

 

https://www.gouletpens.com/products/noodlers-baystate-blue-3oz-bottled-ink?variant=11884737626155

 

There was also the suggestion that this one will be better for my uses -

 

https://www.gouletpens.com/products/pilot-namiki-blue-60ml-bottled-ink?variant=11884755648555

 

I am thinking I'll get a few Blue ink samples and decide once I get to use them. Thanks for your recommendations!

[inkypinkies]

Baystate Blue isn't that great. A pain to clean and I find it poorly behaved. It'll probably feather like hell on notebook paper.

Some of the behavior can be mitigated by diluting, but there are better blues out there.

Unfortunately not of much other use here, as I don't use this shade of blue much. Tend to prefer blue-blacks or turquoise (like Waterman Inspired Blue or J Herbin Bleu Pervenche).

Edited August 12, 2019 by inkypinkies

[silverlifter]

I wouldn't describe Baystate Blue as a royal blue, it's more like neon blue. I'd also not put it in any pen I cared about.

 

Jetpens have a good comparison of the blues, of these, I use Aurora Blue and Serenity Blue: both are excellent inks.

 

 

This should probably be in Inky Thoughts

Edited August 12, 2019 by silverlifter

[vojtahlad]

I would recommend the Monteverde Documental Blue. The colour is a quite boring royal blue but it behaves well on various papers and it resists water once it dries. A great workhorse ink.

[inkstainedruth]

Baystate Blue is water resistant, but not *remotely* UV resistant. Plus it stains everything and its cousin, feathers badly unless partly diluted with distilled water, and does NOT play well with other inks (so I use it in a dedicated pen, a cheap transparent eyedropper where I can eyeball the dilution mix).

I'm not a great fan of Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue (or most royal blues, to be honest), but other people (particularly Ron Zorn, who is a major pen repair person) swear by it. I have no experience with Pilot Namiki Blue, so I can't say anything one way or the other about it.

I would look at several inks and use the Goulet Pens swab comparison tool, then read reviews both on their website and on here (there is a Pinned Index to the Ink Reviews forum). Note that swabs will not necessarily give you a true impression of what an ink looks like actually coming out of a nib and feed, so if you use the Goulet comparison tool, look ONLY at the writing and not at the swab itself -- and remember that your computer screen may not give a completely accurate look as to how the ink looks on a particular type of paper, or coming out of a nib width different from what you're using (or even a different pen of the same brand and nib width).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mr.Rene]

wrong post sorry

Edited August 12, 2019 by Mr.Rene

[MCN]

Hard to go wrong with Aurora Blue.

[dlddr]

I'm rather new to fountain pen world myself but I love Diamine Imperial Blue and Majestic Blue.

[AMlines]

Jetpens have a good comparison of the blues, of these, I use Aurora Blue and Serenity Blue: both are excellent inks.

Gosh, that's a really detailed comparison page. Both these look good. I have to admit I am daunted by so much choice and I'll just go with members' recommendations to begin with.

To digress a bit, Jetpens seems to also have good resources but I'm told their customer service is not up to the mark. Gouletpens, Anderson, and Vanness seem to be preferred. Would you suggest I buy from these last three, or is Jetpens also fine in your experience? I ask because I want to place my order in one go

This should probably be in Inky Thoughts

My apologies. I am new and made a mistake with the post. Perhaps the moderator can move this thread there.

[katerchen]

My go-to safe Royal Blue is that of Pelikan's 4001.

 

And you can get a 1 liter bottle, shipped from amazon.de for under 40 bucks. That'll last forever.

[MHBru]

Visconti blue... waterman serenity blue or any of the three iroshizuku blues -- kon peki, ama iro or asa gao. (my personal favs)

[GJMekenkamp]

My personal favorite is Visconti Blue. Well-behaved on all sorts of paper.

Aurora also behaves well, but seems to be a little bit drier than Visconti ink. And the color is a little bit on the pale side of blue (compared to Visconti).

 

Both are excellent choices, it just comes down to personal preference.

[sandy101]

Montblanc Royal Blue is the most lively royal blue I've come across.

[DonM]

Another vote for Pelikan Royal Blue. It has that slight purple undertone that many consider necessary to call it Royal Blue. Pilot/Namiki Standard Blue is a great blue, but there are no purple undertones. It's a more pure blue. I regularly use both.

[AMlines]

Thanks all!

[Bo Bo Olson]

What do you want the ink to do?

 

If you want two toned shading, you will need 90g/24 pound paper in any ink....outside of 80&90 g Rhodia.

 

Pelikan 4001 and Lamy are dry inks that shade. Waterman blue....don't remember the 'new' name is a wet one so is not much in shading..

There are Japanese wet inks too.

 

I replaced my Waterman ink with one that is a bit more saturated....something Noodlers often are. A saturated in is boring monotone ....because it's is saturated, or supersaturated it can't shade.

Not just Noodlers, which is cheap ink in the States, now available in Europe for E14.00 or so.

For the same price I replaced that Waterman Blue with De Atramentis Royal Blue.

It tenges towards royal purple.

What you need to do is to go to Inky Thoughts and look up blue ink, then once you have a list, go to Ink Reviews, and look for our Ink Guru.....Sandy1's reviews.

She will show you that nib width and a different good paper will make an ink look completely different.

For every 3 inks you buy, you should buy some good to better paper............good paper costs two mechanically delivered cans of Coke more than common printer paper. Better paper costs two cups of Starbuck's coffee more than the crud you stick in your computer..................what ever you do don't buy or use pure Ink Jet paper for writing....it is the feather king.

 

Over the last decade Sandy1 has used some 8 papers, any of them would be your start of your paper collection.

Eventually you will want the basics, hammered, and marbled paper. If you have an M nib, the classically rough laid and linen effect paper are eventual musts.

 

Writing is 1/3 nib width/flex, 1/3 paper and 1/3 ink, and in that order.

 

Amberleedavis, or in one of the other ink section has some color 'charts' that you will find interesting.

 

Yes, one does need 5-6 different blues just like any other color.....(outside of black.....I still got half a bottle of 4001 from a decade ago. Being retired I don't do office.)

 

Noodler's Ottoman Azure, is an ink on my wish list. It shades or would not be on my list.

The Word on any of the Baystate inks, is to have a designated pen just for that ink, in it stains and is hard to clean.

Visconti makes a real nice bright blue.....again on my wish list..............and I'm not heavy into blue.

[TSherbs]

Another vote for Pelikan Royal Blue.

And another.

[SoulSamurai]

And you can get a 1 liter bottle, shipped from amazon.de for under 40 bucks. That'll last forever.

Another vote for Pelikan Royal Blue. It has that slight purple undertone that many consider necessary to call it Royal Blue. Pilot/Namiki Standard Blue is a great blue, but there are no purple undertones. It's a more pure blue. I regularly use both.

In my experience Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue fades and starts to look a bit washed out quite quickly. It will still be readable, but faded. Is your experience different?

[AMlines]

In my experience Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue fades and starts to look a bit washed out quite quickly. It will still be readable, but faded. Is your experience different?

 

Looking at the recommendations here, I was considering the Pelikan. But, I don't want the ink to fade out on me as I need to keep my notes intact over the long-term.

Can you recommend an ink that doesn't fade over the years or get washed out with minor exposure to moisture, but is a rich blue shade?

[Sailor Kenshin]

Pilot blue?