Baystate Blue Vs. J. Herbin Éclat De Saphir

[PrestoTenebroso]

When I first got into fountain pens, I bought ink because I liked the color, or (often) because I liked the philosophy behind the company that made it, (Mr. Tardiff is an individualist after my own heart.) however, I never would have guessed before I found this forum that there could ever, EVER be a fountain pen ink that could be called, for lack of a better term, "controversial".

 

I suppose anything that arouses strong emotions might be worth getting into a tizzy for, and we pick colors because we like them, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, considering how strongly practically everyone feels about Baystate Blue. It's got to be the most vibrant, delightful color I own.

 

Well, I'm tired of people ragging on Baystate Blue, so I did this dilution to show that it can be tamed, if you're having trouble with it. As I said, I love the color, but it feathers anywhere from ever-so-slightly to badly on my Clairefontaine (90gsm), Fabriano (85gsm), and Staples Bagasse (the stuff is practically see-through, but handles fountain pen ink well), as well as my hand-picked Norcom notebook material. However, I want to show you that by diluting it, you can make it perform splendidly.

 

I got a sample of Éclat de Saphir a long while ago, and I've been using it in a Pilot Petit1, and from the moment I first saw it, I've been thinking "this looks just like a thinned out Baystate Blue", it doesn't have the vibrancy, but it does have excellent performance on cheap papers (most of what I use at work, sadly) so at last, I did a side by side comparison, and I'm quite happy.

 

The paper I did this on came from a 50¢ Norcom notebook I pulled from Walmart. Good lord. Short of a napkin, it doesn't get much thinner/cheaper than this.

 

Notes: This is not scientific, since I didn't perform these samples in the exact same pen, but the performance is highly comparable, I think.

 

The tiny cutoff is some noodling I did with a few different blues. The "Baystate Blue thinned" is the thinned result. The paper is 90gsm Clairefontaine.

[Sham69]

I love bay state blue, my dedicated pen for it is a visconti homo sapiens, whose mad?

[wallylynn]

I find full strength BSB too dark, thinning makes it bright, but not eye-searing, if that makes any sense to non-users.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Many thanks for the samples!

 

Even though I don't use NBsBl so often, it is a remarkably vibrant ink.

 

My experience is in concert with yours: Dilution will enhance the performance without degrading the vibrancy at its core, and overcome the tendency for feathering. However, I've only diluted NBsBl to about 40% concentration, not "thinned, almost to the point of nothingness" - that would be akin to Herbin Bleu Azur.

 

I always consider dilution to be one of the easiest and most useful means to tune inks to match a certain ink+pen combo, and in some cases dilution can overcome performance foibles. Every so often, one has the good fortune to come across a dilution that emulates another ink. In the case of diluted Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue, the similarity to the appearance of at least three other inks was mentioned.

 

Bye,

S1

[PrintersDevil]

Nice comments Presto.

If you want to have some more fun, try out Noodler's 54th Massachusetts.

Its a blue/gray bulletproof ink.

I think a very good match for BSB is Diamine Imperial Blue, which will behave differently as well.

Good luck.

[amberleadavis]

Alas, though I love the color and vibrancy of BSB, neither of these two inks held up in my fade tests. I want something that looks like BSB, has the resilience of Polar Black, and the flow of Blue Steel.

[amberleadavis]

Oh, and most importantly, thank you!

[Joe Penmanship]

I too love BSB!

 

I have dedicated my oh so maligned liquid friend to a blue (almost the same shade) Lamy Studio, and there it stays and there it performs just fine for my needs. This color of blue most closely approximates the brilliant blue Flair pens that I used to use to mark up reports with back in Stone Age times.

 

It is by far my favorite of all ink colors. Call me bad names. I don't mind.

 

Here's my naive question. Having never diluted ink before (and also not first following board etiquette and performing the appropriate search to answer this question), how do you all dilute? What ratio? Do you mix it up in the pen or outside the pen? Distilled water? Bourbon?

 

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm still learning this stuff.

[Sham69]

Alas, though I love the color and vibrancy of BSB, neither of these two inks held up in my fade tests. I want something that looks like BSB, has the resilience of Polar Black, and the flow of Blue Steel.

Now that would end my personal quest for the best ink! If only..

[ZaphodBB]

I love bay state blue, my dedicated pen for it is a visconti homo sapiens, whose mad?

 

Not mad at all - admiring the bravery!

 

It's a color that's always in rotation, but only in a Preppy or Safari...

[Sandy1]

...

 

Here's my naive question. Having never diluted ink before (and also not first following board etiquette and performing the appropriate search to answer this question), how do you all dilute? What ratio? Do you mix it up in the pen or outside the pen? Distilled water? Bourbon?

 

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm still learning this stuff.

 

Hi,

 

My bourbon-free approach to dilution is mentioned @ Post № 23 : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/218161-need-help-selecting-my-first-japanese-pens/?p=2315439

 

The ICS&T Forum is the repository for most of my dilution samples & nattering.

 

Bye,

S1

[amberleadavis]

Now that would end my personal quest for the best ink! If only..

 

 

If I ever find it, mix it, or make it, I will let you know!

[Sham69]

 

Not mad at all - admiring the bravery!

 

It's a color that's always in rotation, but only in a Preppy or Safari...

Yes I use to feel this way, but after using two bottles without a problem i thought, hmm the homo does not have an ink window. Only problem is it is a very wet pen and feathers on almost everything other then rhodia and clairefontaine. If it was a medium nib not even claire could tame it

[Mags]

I use a bit of water to stretch my ink lasting in a pickle. Thanks for the posts and insights on mixing and colour variants.

 

I am a devoted Baystate Blue user that buys it in the big lifetime supply bottle with the eye dropper. That being said I just avoid porous papers and use one of three dedicated pens (two TWSBI's and one Jinhao). I seem to have gravitated to Midori, Rhodia, and Tomoe River Papers.

 

Cheers,

 

Mags