Quink Blue & Waterman Florida Blue: the same ink ?

[ThangMMM]

I realize that Parker Quink Blue is very similar to Waterman Florida Blue: the colors, the flows (with the same pen), and also the smells. Are Parker Quink Blue and Waterman Florida Blue the same ink but stored in different of bottles ? Hoh, maybe, both Parker and Waterman are division of Sanford Corp and both of their inks are made in France.

 

PS: should i clean my pen before change to use Quink Blue (i'm using WM florida blue) ?

[superfly]

When I first saw the Quink Blue and Florida Blue, I thought the same thing. But after some closer examination, I found that the Florida blue is "richer" in color, and this is more apparent when observed under sunlight...

 

as for the rinsing the pen between these two, it might be not necessary, but I do it anyways...

 

 

 

[aladdin_sane]

I hope it isn't. I can't abide Qunk blue but love Florida blue. I think Florida is a much stronger blue.

[hatherton_wood]

They look the same to me. Anybody tried a recent analysis of the pigments? I would not surprise me if all but the washable blue quink is now the same as the Waterman inks. Just does not make sense to have separate formulations for each colour all coming from France.

[James]

Paper chromatography tests that I have performed on Parker Quink and Waterman inks, indicate that Waterman Florida Blue and Quink Washable Blue are different inks. However, Waterman Blue-Black and Waterman Black inks appear to be the same as Quink Blue-Black and Quink Black inks respectively.

 

Quink Washable Blue is the only Quink blue ink that I can buy, so regular Quink Blue may be the same as Waterman Florida Blue.

 

Jim

 

(Edited to clarify findings with Washable Quink Blue ink)

Edited February 22, 2007 by James

[hatherton_wood]

I am sure that the Quink washable blue ink is distinct. But blue Quink and Florida blue? Just cannot see a difference in the recent bottles.

[Dima]

On the paper Quink and Waterman Florida Blue seem different to me.

 

How can I distinguish Parker's washable and permanent Quink? On my Quink bottle nothing is said about it.

[scribbler77]

They look the same to me. Anybody tried a recent analysis of the pigments? I would not surprise me if all but the washable blue quink is now the same as the Waterman inks. Just does not make sense to have separate formulations for each colour all coming from France.

 

I don't know whether the inks come from the same manufacturer or not. There may be more than one in France, after all. Herbin may not make all the inks made in France.

 

Also, the same manufacturer can produce different formulas for different pen companies (even those owned by the same owner).

 

Acutally, I don't know why it is such a secret who makes what ink--but the pen companies apparently want to leave the impression that their inks are unique, whether they are or not.

 

 

[Jerome Tarshis]

It may be that Parker inks are different in different countries. Or that the labeling is different. I live in the United States, and the Quink I find in shops is described as "blue." Not as permanent blue or washable blue. Just the one word. So these discussions have an air of unreality for me.

 

Of course, it may also be that the product line is different even in different cities of the same country. I live in San Francisco. Perhaps in other parts of the United States it is possible to buy inks labeled "Quink [permanent] blue" and "Quink washable blue." All of us seem to live in somewhat different circumstances.

 

Speaking from my evidently impoverished situation, I can say that the ink I buy as Quink blue is noticeably less rich in color than Waterman Florida Blue. WFB is, in French, labeled as what would be in English "washable blue," not as "Florida blue." Waterman blue-black is labeled in French blue-black (=bleu-noir), although I suspect that the Waterman color Georges Zaslavsky describes as "bleu nuit," the ink of his school years, is the same color. I hope European FPN users will forgive me for becoming so easily confused.

[dcwaites]

On the paper Quink and Waterman Florida Blue seem different to me.

 

How can I distinguish Parker's washable and permanent Quink? On my Quink bottle nothing is said about it.

Parker Quink stock in Australia seems to come from their (new?) factory in Shanghai. There are no words on the bottles to say what colour is in the bottles, but the labels are different shades. It is easy to identify Washable (Royal) Blue and Permanent Black, but I have to put my Permanent Blue next to my Blue-Black to tell which is which.

 

It does say on the box what colour is inside, so it may be worthwhile making an identifying label when you first get the bottle.

 

However, last time I was in a Pen Shop, I did see that their new stock had different labels. I didn't look at them, so I don't know what changes have been made.

 

 

 

[Jinnayah]

It may be that Parker inks are different in different countries. Or that the labeling is different. I live in the United States, and the Quink I find in shops is described as "blue." Not as permanent blue or washable blue. Just the one word.

 

Pendamonium told me "Parker has made only one version of Quink, Washable for over a decade now." From these discussions, I'm wondering if it's the case that Parker has only made one version of Quink for the US market, since others seem to be able to get permanent blue that is not N.O.S.

[Dima]

It does say on the box what colour is inside, so it may be worthwhile making an identifying label when you first get the bottle.

I have only one bottle of Parker blue ink. On the bottle nothing is written. On the box it says "Blue ink" and "Parker Pen Products, England, BN9 OAU". The same code "BN9 OAU" is written on the box of black ink. On older bottle is written "TW7 5NP".

 

[christob]

Dima,

those codes are British Post Codes. In a typically British way, they were a brilliant idea that was unworkable in the real world, at least until computers started sorting post. The first three characters identify a postal area, the last three a group of addresses. This gives unique codes for typically as few as 15 adresses. Mail addressed to mr. Parker, BN7 0AU, UK will reach its destination.

 

However, the system is very vulnerable to sorting errors. Say the initial "EX" may mean Exeter, but a letter is put in with the post to "EH", Edinburgh, the resulting delay is much greater than with a numeric post code where areas numerically next to each other are also geographically adjacent.

 

 

BNx xxx means somewhere near Brighton. The code here is for an industrial estate in Newhaven. Which is no surprise as Newhaven is the British home for Parker.

 

I could not find an active address for TW7 5NP, but 5NO is in Isleworth near Hounslow west of London. My guess is that TW may stand for Twickenham.

Edited January 18, 2008 by christob

[Dima]

Thank you for the explanation! I didn't know what these codes mean.

 

Today I went to Office Depot and saw there Parker inks. I think they had blue ink boxes with a slightly different shades of blue. I'll try to get there once more and see if there is any difference. Maybe I'll take the box from my ink there.

 

Today Waterman's Florida Blue ink surprised me during an exam at the University. I felt that my Hemisphere wasn't writing good. The feeling was like writing with pen running out of ink. This was impossible because the day before I filled the pen. When I opened it, I saw that ink in the converter wasn't flowing freely and remained at the top of converter when I turned the pen upside-down. I didn't expect such surprise from Waterman inks, especially in Waterman pen. The ink may be four or five years old, but looks Ok without strange smells, changes in color etc. I used it some years ago and it became one of my favorite inks. The pen hadn't any problems before. I used it with Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman and Pelikan inks without any problems. The day before I changed the ink, blue Parker Quink was there and ink flow was excellent. I washed and dried it before filling it with new one.

 

At least I learned not to do such experiments before exams.

[snakeankle]

 

 

it may be that it is the waterman that changed not the quink.

it seems to me that when i started using waterman florida blue in the 1980s

that the color was somewhat similar to PR tanzanite -- not exactly like it, of

course, it was still clearly blue. it did seem to me at that time that

i admired FB because it had a distinct violet-blue appearance more than it had a

blue-blue appearance, if that makes sense. i noticed i would say about five or six

years ago, the color of FB changed and it became more blue and less violet.

and i stopped buying it then. these days i pretty much use

 

PR MIDNIGHT BLUE

PR TANZANITE

NOODLERS ZHIVAGO

NOODLERS BLACK

NOODLERS TIANAMEN

SAILOR GRAY

HERBIN GRIS NUAGE

 

sailor gray is an amazing color (smiles but not at all blue)

 

i also have a soft spot in my heart for PELIKAN BLUEBLACK

 

PR TANZANITE in a broad point montblanc 146 or a broad point lamy 2000 makes for an amazing signature statement.

the broad point montblanc 146 and the broad point lamy 2000 are, in my experience somewhat flexy and stubby and really show up any shading that's available in the ink.

 

one of the disappointments to me in noodler's black is that there doesn't seem to be that much shading opportunity, although i realize that i'm probly in the minority wanting that.

 

ok i will shuttup now

smiles

-snakeankle