waterman black

[Gran]

I quite enjoy the softness of the color and the flow is delightful.

[RitaCarbon]

Georges,

 

I like that it's not totally black and produces gray scale variations (the blackest black would be simply boring). I use Waterman black in cartrtiges with some of my pens and I like it. But in my 149, I use MB black. It writes nice, but I'd love to have more flow without readjusting the nib. Do you think that Waterman black will do the job? Is it really better for MB pens than MB black?

 

Rita

Edited December 14, 2009 by RitaCarbon

[Robert Alan]

Thank you for the review. I find that J. Herbin "Perle Noire" has similar characteristics, and it is also much better in my 149 and 146 than MB black.

Regards & Happy Holidays--Robert Alan

[georges zaslavsky]

Georges,

 

I like that it's not totally black and produces gray scale variations (the blackest black would be simply boring). I use Waterman black in cartrtiges with some of my pens and I like it. But in my 149, I use MB black. It writes nice, but I'd love to have more flow without readjusting the nib. Do you think that Waterman black will do the job? Is it really better for MB pens than MB black?

 

Rita

The waterman black worked perfectly in my 146 with its extra fine semi flex nib as did in my 149 with a full flex fine nib, so yes I think waterman black is better than MB Black. I also used waterman encre violette in my other 149 with its full flex extra fine nib. Waterman inks have a very good ink flow in MB,Omas,Stipula and any other pens, that is why I vastly recommend them. I also recommend them for vintage pens

 

regards

 

georges

Edited December 27, 2009 by georges zaslavsky

[georges zaslavsky]

Thank you for the review. I find that J. Herbin "Perle Noire" has similar characteristics, and it is also much better in my 149 and 146 than MB black.

Regards & Happy Holidays--Robert Alan

You are welcome.

regards and happy holidays to you too

 

georges

[Ed Ronax]

Thanks for sharing.

[beluga]

Waterman Black *is* exceptionally well-behaved everywhere I've used it. It's absolutely my favorite grey ink!

 

(yes, backhanded jab, but I really mean it about it being well-behaved. It's a terrific ink, just not at all dark)

 

 

Waterman black is the first ink I try when one of my pens shows signs of insufficient flow.

At work, I am required to use black(-ish) inks and this ink is the most well behaved black ink that I can think off.

Waterman inks are also readily available in most countries - sometimes even in airport duty free shops.

 

Conventional wisdom has that is it is really more of a grey ink, but It becomes also a very pretty light blue ink when water runs over the page.

The black/grey tones wash off and only the blue hues remain.

 

 

 

 

 

B.

[bluemagister]

I use the Waterman black cartridges in my Phileas when I need a free-flowing, smooth, trouble-free ink for throwaway notes or brainstorming. It's flawless for its intended purpose. I just wish it had some water resistance.

[gelshocker]

I just bought a bottle after reading this thread and I love it. I was looking for a black with grey tones to compliment my Pelikan Black, which is just too black and boring (might as well use a rollerball).

 

The differing black and grey tones works well, similar to differing widths when one applies varying pressure on the nib. It give the characters a sense of depth. The joy of using a fountain pen over a ball point. My 2 cents. Cheers,

[wheezur]

I used Waterman black for a number of years, then tried Aurora black, Pelikan black and, recently, some Noodler's black. The Noodler's black was because I need, on occasion, something more permanent. Recently, it is mostly Aurora and Noodler's (though I still have a bit of Pelikan left and use it in one pen).

 

All perform very well so, based on performance, I could be happy with any of these - and probably many other fine inks that I have not tried. (Either I'm lucky with my pens, or else I'm not very discriminating when it comes to ink?) I ventured away from Waterman black (though I still use Waterman blue/black and Waterman red) because I had read reviews about other inks being much blacker than Waterman and these reviews convinced me that if one was going to use black, one should have a really black black. After this review and some of the comments regarding shading (that you don't get too much of with the blackest inks) I think I'll try another bottle of Waterman black when I get a chance. Maybe blackness is not the defining quality of a great black ink?

[Lloyd]

Conventional wisdom has that is it is really more of a grey ink, but It becomes also a very pretty light blue ink when water runs over the page.

The black/grey tones wash off and only the blue hues remain.

I see it as a very nice blue-black ink (not a black ink) that offers great water-resistance of the blue component.

[RedTape]

Conventional wisdom has that is it is really more of a grey ink, but It becomes also a very pretty light blue ink when water runs over the page.

The black/grey tones wash off and only the blue hues remain.

I see it as a very nice blue-black ink (not a black ink) that offers great water-resistance of the blue component.

 

Is it possible for you to do a water test and post the results?

[inkpenguin]

The Waterman Black ink from the bottle and my Waterman black ink cartridges are different. I'm getting a very wet, dark (thicker) ink from the cartridges than if I were to fill the converter of one of my wetter pens.

 

Someone mentioned to me when I brought this up that it could be because of some water evaporation as those cartridges are a number of years old.

[Ondina]

 

blackness is not the defining quality of a great black ink.

 

I could not agree more, very well expressed. Great quality, a pleasure to use, and a classy, personal and daring black that performs in every paper, and is gentle with the pens.

Nice review, George, thank you.

[Torculus Resupinus]

I used to like Waterman Black, but it doesn't last. I got married 22 years ago in a Quaker meeting, where everyone present signs a Quaker certificate of marriage (not the same thing as the legal certificate). We used my Montblanc Noblesse filled with Waterman Black, which seemed a fitting companion to the India ink used with a dip pen by the calligrapher who copied the particular text on the printed form (A2 size). We've kept the certificate framed in our bedroom, and long ago the signatures faded to a pale grey; at least they haven't faded further for the last 10 years or so, so I'm not worried they'll vanish altogether. But in hindsight I wish I'd chosen a more lightfast ink like Diamine Registrar's. I now recommend that or Noodler's Black to couples getting married according to the usage of Friends, if they want to display their certificate and not keep it in the dark.

[corniche]

Hello Georges,

 

Yes, I've long extolled the virtues of Waterman inks here; Quink and Waterman make great inks and are among my top favorites- free flowing, very good lubrication and nice shading on most colors. However, I must confess, I use Aurora Black myself.

 

All the best,

 

Sean

[JimB]

I use the Waterman black cartridges in my Phileas when I need a free-flowing, smooth, trouble-free ink for throwaway notes or brainstorming. It's flawless for its intended purpose. I just wish it had some water resistance.

Water resistance - that's what I'm talking about. I really need it. If Waterman lacks it, it's unusable to me.

[saketb]

I like inks from Waterman. Have to try the Black...

[GHigley]

I just put a mini cartridge of Waterman's "Intense Black" into a Slim Targa. It's certainly a very well behaved grey ink, but is about as "intense" as Pablum. No need to brace yourself for this ride. I wonder what qualifies for pale at Waterman's? I'll use up the cartridges eventually, but once the first one is empty I'll clean it out and put in a considerably more exciting ink. Just about anything else I have qualifies.

Edited July 16, 2014 by GHigley

[ac12]

I use Waterman black also.

I use it as my wet black ink to match up to dry pens, to get them to flow ink.

I use Cross/Pelikan black for my wet pens, to slow down the ink flow.

 

I have not had a situation where my Waterman black looked gray. Mine all look BLACK.

However, I have found that with my dry pens, inks will look lighter/washed out.

So if I write with the Waterman black in a dry pen, I would expect it to look like a shade of gray.

 

I have not tried Aurora black, but that is on my list of inks to try, then I have an alternative for really dry pens.