Quink: France Vs. India

[ajitk]

Parker Quink is manufactured in India by Luxor. It costs about $1/30ml.

 

Parker Quink is also manufactured in France. The cost is about $10/60ml.

 

Other than cost and country of manufacture, is there any difference between these two?

 

Thanks.

[Obsidian57]

..

 

Yeah...a matter of greed perhaps.

 

And where in India could I mail-order Quink from at that price you mentioned....?

 

Obs56

 

******************

[inkstainedruth]

Does it say anywhere on the label which country it was manufactured in? Because if the stuff from India is as cheap as you say, maybe we can talk Parker into re-issuing Permanent Blue in bottles (and distributing it in the US)? And does anyone know if there is a difference in quality?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[welch]

A friend brought me a bottle of Luxor-made Quink from India. It has the fabled "Solv-X", the magical ingredient that cleans your pen as you write. That was the biggest difference I noticed.

 

Solv-X was removed from the European and North American versions of Quink. I'm not sure why. Solv-X Quink has a strong smell, one that I still associate with fountain-pen ink in general. Maybe it was thought to be a hazard to people making Quink?

 

(What was Solv-X, really? I believe Sean P. Colfer answered that question in a thread here about two or three years ago.)

[hari317]

Just a piece of information.

 

The ink sold under the brand name Quink by LWIPL (Luxor Writing Instruments Private Limited) in India is actually manufactured for them by a company called Tech Ink.

 

http://www.worldofluxor.com/tech-ink.asp

 

http://www.worldofluxor.com/manufacturing-techink.asp

 

Hari

[Seele]

I read that Parker Quinks sold in China are also made by a local firm there, but I have no idea what formulation they use. The Quinks I get here in Australia are from France.

[raging.dragon]

A friend brought me a bottle of Luxor-made Quink from India. It has the fabled "Solv-X", the magical ingredient that cleans your pen as you write. That was the biggest difference I noticed.

 

Solv-X was removed from the European and North American versions of Quink. I'm not sure why. Solv-X Quink has a strong smell, one that I still associate with fountain-pen ink in general. Maybe it was thought to be a hazard to people making Quink?

 

(What was Solv-X, really? I believe Sean P. Colfer answered that question in a thread here about two or three years ago.)

 

The smell is probably phenol which is used as preservative, and has been banned or restricted in some countries. At least some of those countries allow phenol in medications, so I'm not sure if phenol is considered dangerous or if medical bureaucracies have just imposed so much regulation on this "medicinal" ingredient that ink makers can't profitably sell inks containing phenol.

[raging.dragon]

I would guess that the French, India and Chinese made Quinks are completely different formulations. It's possible that the Indian and Chinese inks are based on old formulas no longer available in Europe or North America.

[sitaram82]

I agree that there may be a difference in formulation due to strict regulations in europe.However i feel the main factor for the price differential is the cost of production, and not the formulation.

Quink @ $1 is more expensive than other brands manufactured in India.Bril, Chelpark, Camlin and Sulekha cost around 25 cents, and these some of these perform better than Quink.

[autopsy]

Phenol is indeed rather toxic. However, in a dilute solution, although its odor is still noticeable, it is probably not very toxic. If you get that ink on your pants or shirt, it's still advisable to wash it instead of letting the phenol on your skin. It could cause a rash after a prolonged exposure. But probably not. It really depends on the phenol concentration in the ink - something I know nothing about.

 

It is not carcinogenic however. Just keep it away from the kids.

Edited September 3, 2012 by autopsy

[deeroo]

Phenol is indeed rather toxic. However, in a dilute solution, although its odor is still noticeable, it is probably not very toxic. If you get that ink on your pants or shirt, it's still advisable to wash it instead of letting the phenol on your skin. It could cause a rash after a prolonged exposure. But probably not. It really depends on the phenol concentration in the ink - something I know nothing about.

 

It is not carcinogenic however. Just keep it away from the kids.

 

Just wanted to add that I grew up using the Indian Quink and got heaps of it on my fingers... never once had a rash

I've even had the stuff on my tongue.

[welch]

Phenol is indeed rather toxic. However, in a dilute solution, although its odor is still noticeable, it is probably not very toxic. If you get that ink on your pants or shirt, it's still advisable to wash it instead of letting the phenol on your skin. It could cause a rash after a prolonged exposure. But probably not. It really depends on the phenol concentration in the ink - something I know nothing about.

 

It is not carcinogenic however. Just keep it away from the kids.

 

Just wanted to add that I grew up using the Indian Quink and got heaps of it on my fingers... never once had a rash

I've even had the stuff on my tongue.

 

It was probably an occupational health issue for people working in ink factories. We are exposed to tiny amounts of ink...they work with oceans of the stuff.

[Matt]

I have actually seen, and bought Parker Penman ink in China, though only in black. It has the same kind of bottle with the reservoir, but it is oval shaped instead of round.

 

I'll be there again in October; I'll check and see what they have these days.