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Hi Sheaffer's lovers, I recently noted a marked difference in style (and apparent quality) between two Lady Sheaffer's that I own, the number VI Paisley Periwinkle model. Attached are some photos in which I tried to give the best sense of the differences. One pen is slightly duller, and the pattern seems to be composed of "wave" forms with pointed crests and round troughs; the other pen seems to be brighter, but of less accurate milling perhaps, with more symmetric "sine wave" forms composing the pattern. The nibs also seem to have some *very* subtle differences; the nib on the left belongs to the pen of ostensibly lower quality, and the one on the right to the pen of higher quality. The nib on the right has an extra set of lines on either side of the registered trademark symbol, and the entire hallmark is shifted upward, with the slit a bit shorter than the one of the left. Would anyone care to indulge my obsessive attention to detail? My overall impression is that the slightly duller pen is of higher quality. I wonder if this represented an improvement, or a decline in manufacture over the run of this model? (sorry I haven't cleaned up the nibs yet; that gunk really is all just ink) Cheers! Matt

I LOVE Noodler's Baystate Blue. In my humble opinion, it is the best color of blue for fountain pens. My only complaints about it are: It is not fully bulletproof.It might not be eternal meaning it might not archival nor fade resistant.It bleeds through most of my papers I use including my checks.Rectifying the above are very important to me. I would not be ashamed to try a different brand of ink, but I do really like Noodler's products so I guess I am a Noodler's fanboy I am thinking about ordering a bottle of Noodler's Bad Blue Heron which appears to have what Baystate Blue is missing above other than it is not quite the same color. Noodler's Upper Ganges also might be an alternative, but it does not appear to be as bright as Bad Blue Heron. Noodler's Luxury Blue looks just like Upper Ganges to me, but will glow under UV light which I find kind of cool, but it is not important to me. Noodler's Periwinkle does what Luxury Blue does and kind of looks brighter, but the stock image on the Noodler's Ink website makes it hard to tell. Noodler's Polar Blue looks like Bad Blue Heron with the added possible benefits of being freeze-resistant and lubing piston-fill pens. So my question is what comes close to Baystate Blue that is bulletproof. eternal, and doesn't bleed through most papers? I did a search and found this thread about this subject, but it lists alternatives which are not really pertinent to my question above and things have changed in 6 years: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/185947-baystate-blue-alternative/ THANKS!

Ok. I'm probably unreasonably excited about this ink. Growing up, Periwinkle was my absolute favorite color from the Crayola box. I had hoped to find a good periwinkle color of ink when I got into fountain pens. But most of them don't look quite there. And Noodler's Eternal Periwinkle, I've heard doesn't really behave itself well. This ink was an accident as a result of a dye supplier change for one of the dyes in Pendemonium exclusive Violet Vote. Resulting in an almost perfect Crayola periwinkle blue. Sadly, according to Pendemonium, Nathan isn't going to make any more of this and it's just gone when gone, as he's working on getting his color reformulated back for regular Violet Vote. This ink flows smoothly on the paper. It's not what I'd call a wet ink. Rather a more thick feeling smooth ink. Not really a shading ink either. At least, not in the fine nib I was using. It may have some in a stub. Completely unmoved by the water. In fact, if the paper weren't a little wrinkly where it got wet, I couldn't be able to tell. Dries fast. Under 10 sec on Rhodia. No feathering or bleeding on the Rhodia pad at least. Nathan, tell me again why this isn't going to be a regular issue? Please? I took pictures of the ink review under my Ott Light last night to try and get as close colors as I could. I'll add a scan later. In the comparisons box I only had Iroshizuku Ajisai on hand of the other erstwhile periwinkles. I do plan on adding the Herbin Bleu Pervenche to my ink stable pretty soon, but a quick image search will show that while it's a nice enough color, it's different. And the reference

I'd heard this one was Iroshizuku's periwinkle blue. It looks close. I like a good periwinkle color. It's just fun to say. This seems a little drier than some of the Iroshizuku inks I've tried. Just a bit. Still flows good and doesn't feather, bleed, or insult your mom. As standard for Iroshizuku. Did better with the water test than I was expecting. It's close in color to Namiki Blue. (which I realize now I forgot to add to the comparisons on the sheet)