Jump to content

Baystate Blue Vs. J. Herbin Éclat De Saphir


PrestoTenebroso

Recommended Posts

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. post-101589-0-87078500-1389774639_thumb.jpeg

 

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. post-101589-0-47682100-1389774646_thumb.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 13
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • amberleadavis

    3

  • Sham69

    3

  • Sandy1

    2

  • PrestoTenebroso

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

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

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, and most importantly, thank you!

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...

 

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

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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!

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

Rob Maguire (Plse call me "M or Mags" like my friends do...)I use a Tablet, Apple Pencil and a fountain pen. Targas, Sailor, MB, Visconti, Aurora, vintage Parkers, all wonderful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...