Caran D'ache Blue Sky

July 16, 2010

Caran d'Ache Blue Sky is one of the "Colours of the Earth" inks. Thirty ml of ink is packaged in a very heavy glass bottle, which when not in active use refilling a pen would serve quite adequate duty as a paperweight or a door stop -- and quite attractively at that.

While traveling last month to Washington, DC, I picked up a bottle of Blue Sky at Pen and Prose in Reagan National Airport. The tab: $20 and change. At this price per ml, CdA is encroaching on Pilot Iro territory. How does this ink stack up?

Very well, actually, at least against the one Pilot Iro ink I have, Tsuki-Yo. Obviously, the colors are not similar (Tsuki-Yo is bluish-black with a pronounced green tinge; Blue Sky is dark blue with a tinge of purple). Blue Sky is pleasure to write with, especially in my vintage Aurora 88 with a flexible fine nib. No feathering or bleedthrough. Outstanding flow. I have been writing with it almost daily for the past month and the pen starts instantly, even after sitting upright in a pen stand overnight. The pen can sit uncapped for several minutes and still write instantly.

Is this ink worth the price? One of my favorite inks is Aurora Blue. Put CdA Blue Sky side-by-side with Aurora Blue and it is nearly impossible to tell them apart. Perhaps the CdA is not quite as saturated as Aurora Blue. And the characteristics of Aurora Blue -- flow, bleedthrough, feathering -- are essentially indistinguishable from CdA Blue Sky. Perhaps, just perhaps, the CdA starts up in a cold pen a bit more promptly than Aurora Blue. If you already own Aurora Blue, I will offer that you can safely pass CdA Blue Sky by, unless you really want a Aurora Blue-like ink that shades.