Parker Penman Sapphire Pif

[amberleadavis]

Just checking? All have been notified and if we didn't get notified by now it means that we didn't get chosen?

 

Everyone who asked above should have already gotten the email. If you didn't get the PM, send me a quick note.

 

1. Kulnet
2. Lord epic
3. OCArt
4. Fox Point
5. Erasamus
6. SirGilbert357
7. White_Lotus
8. WhichWatch
9. MHGuda
10. Caribbean_Skye
11. WheatFlower
12. Ink_Syringe
13. LondonBooks
14. Vintage Razor
15. I.M.
16. Dragon2Java

[whichwatch]

Parker Penman Sapphire - the Whichwatch Folio

 

 

First, I want to thank Northstar and Amber for their generosity and efforts in providing and distributing PPS samples to us and for making this possible.

 

If I am posting this in the wrong place, I hope someone will let me know where it should go, and I will repost.

 

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

 

I set out to compare PPS to 4 inks reported to be similar to PPS:

 

1. Inkmyn Sapphire 1:2 (1 part Noodlers Le Colour Royale (purple version) to 2 parts Noodlers Navajo Turquoise)

2. Private Reserve American Blue

3. Sailor Bung Box Sapphire

4. Noodlers Liberty's Elysium

 

I wrote samples with 3 different nibs, using each on 4 different papers:

 

Nibs

 

1. Nakaya BB ground to Architect Point

2. Platinum B

3. Lamy EF

 

Papers

 

1. Tomroe River White

2. Rhodia Dot Pad

3. Franklin Christoph pad

4. Staples 20 lb Copy Paper

 

This resulted in 12 pages of scans, each written with 1 nib on 1 paper using all of the inks on one page. Scans are presented at the end of my text.

 

scans 1 - 4 Nakaya BB ground to Architect Point

scans 5 - 8 Platinum B

scans 9 - 12 Lamy EF

 

 

In each case the full left side of the page is written with PPS, the right side with 4 different inks, each identified in the writing.

 

My scanner is not perfect, and may not even be good. It is a straight-out-of-the-box HP copier/scanner and I don't know anything about color correction, etc. My conclusions are based on viewing the actual written samples in various lighting situations around my house as well as outdoors in natural light.

 

I will send my written pages to Amber in the hope she will put them in the hands of someone who is more sure of his/her scanner than I am of mine.

 

So for better or worse, my conclusions:

 

1. How close a given ink matches PPS varied a great deal with the particular nib and paper I used (duh!). MY choice for which ink matched closest was not consistent from nib to nib and paper to paper.

 

2. In ALL cases, Liberty's Elysium appeared to not match that well. It always appeared brighter (like containing a hint of Bay State Blue) and often lighter. Since many others have reported this ink to be a very close match, I wonder if my result reflects lot to lot color variations which are often reported on Noodlers inks.

 

3. Given the inconsistent variations I saw from nib to nib and paper to paper even on the PPS, I feel there is no possibility of identifying one ink that in all cases truly represents "the closest replacement for PPS" without adding "when writing with xxx on yyy"

 

4. For my money, Inkmyn Sapphire 1:2 and Sailor Bung Box Sapphire were generally the closest match, often (but not always) appearing virtually identical. Private Reserve American Blue was OK, and Liberty's Elysium not so much.

 

5. Given the variations and the fact that this is ink, not blood for a transfusion, personally there is no way I would pay $100 +/- for a bottle of PPS when $12 for Inkmyn Sapphire or even $40 for Sailor Bung Box Sapphire (US prices) provides an ink tht is a perfectly acceptable substitute.

 

Needless to say, your mileage may vary. My scans follow. I believe FPN software reduces the size, but if you click on the scan it will enlarge.

 

Thanks once again to Northstar and Amber!

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BDDD9219A-7B5B-46D9-A02C-BE67B389BDE2%7D/origpict/1.jpeg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B1A24534B-7543-4D80-B9BD-249B4CF993A0%7D/origpict/2.jpeg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B654CD279-B23E-4904-B4C4-9EDDF5680656%7D/origpict/3.jpeg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BBDAFED1F-6003-4D34-8AF8-B8B5AD76315B%7D/origpict/4.jpeg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B2AB69E5E-9B24-4424-958D-6016B2A2275F%7D/origpict/5.jpeg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BD1176F13-DE43-45BB-88CA-1B11D2C298C1%7D/origpict/6.jpeg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B79487938-97D1-41D4-BAD3-FB76DD7452D9%7D/origpict/7.jpeg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B37DC02E5-7981-4AE9-8BF0-415A6C453899%7D/origpict/8.jpeg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BB6944018-F2FA-4E64-96E0-B782A1954F46%7D/origpict/9.jpeg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7BCB24F2D9-3E31-4460-99AF-1FE7DF919F9D%7D/origpict/10.jpeg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B97536A78-7656-4CAF-8DDA-0946261719E8%7D/origpict/11.jpeg

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B6547CC8A-3355-49BF-B1B0-E0205735A8E0%7D/origpict/12.jpeg

Edited December 4, 2015 by whichwatch

[mhguda]

Thank you for a fantastic, thorough comparison. Amazing how much influence both paper and pen have on how we perceive the ink!

Anyway, I am happy that the two I have, Inkmyn Sapphire and American Blue, seem, overall, the ones that are closest to the original Penman.

Based on this, I will not buy a bottle of Liberty's Elisium, even though it does look like a very nice ink - I have altogether too many great blues, it must stop somewhere!

Especially since these two are, of course, not the ONLY candidates for replacing PPS that I have in my stable...

[amberleadavis]

Whichwatch, you did a GREAT JOB!!!

 

I copied your post over to the correct thread:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/293633-the-super-duper-co-razy-parker-penman-sapphire-blue-comparisons-psp/page-23?do=findComment&comment=3512378

 

 

As others get their reviews ready, please post your CRVs in the SuperDuperCoRazyPPSComparisons listed above.

[northstar]

Thank you WhichWatch for the great comparison.

 

Best regards.