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Sydney Harbour Blue - Blackstone


visvamitra

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Some time ago Kevin from Justwrite Pen Company offered few australian made pens for reviews. Sadly I haven't qualified to review the pen but Kevin was generous enough to send me samples of Blackstone inks as a consolation prize :) As some of you know I enjoy testing new inks. So once they arrived from Australia I've filled my pens with them and started experimenting.



It seems Blackstone inks are a product of FPN - their origin can be traced back to 2013 when some of ink-testers (Amberlea minions) started discussng powdered inks. Soon after many of us had a chance to review / try the original SuSeMai powdered inks. The powders are gone but in the meantime they evolved into Blackstone ink concentrates and recently the line called Colours of Australia was created (based on those concentrates).



For instance the line consistes of five excellent inks.



http://imageshack.com/a/img908/3973/1AxQE2.jpg



  1. Barrier Reef Blue
  2. Black Stump Black
  3. Daintree Green
  4. Sydney Harbour Blue
  5. Uluru Red


The only thing they lack is water resistance which is none. For me it's not that important but I know there are people who expect their inks to be water resistant. If that's you you need to seek for your grail ink elsewhere. The colors however are stunning. Kevin - I hope we'll see some nice bron and dark purple soon :)



I'll review them in alphabetical order.



Sydney Harbour Blue is rather fine ink. I'm not crazy about the color but I can't say I dislike it.



fpn_1450214376__sydneyharbourblue_is.jpg




Drops of ink on kitchen towel




fpn_1450214483__sydneyharbourblue_rk.jpg



Color ID




fpn_1450214408__sydneyharbourblue_l_3.jp


fpn_1450214415__sydneyharbourblue_l_4.jp




Tomoe River, Kaweco Classic Sport, broad nib




fpn_1450214444__sydneyharbourblue_tomoe_



fpn_1450214452__sydneyharbourblue_tomoe_




fpn_1450214461__sydneyharbourblue_tomoe_



Leuchtturm1917, Kaweco Classic Sport, broad nib



fpn_1450214383__sydneyharbourblue_l_1.jp




fpn_1450214392__sydneyharbourblue_l_2.jp




fpn_1450214423__sydneyharbourblue_l_5.jp




Midori, Kaweco Skyline, EF nib




fpn_1450214432__sydneyharbourblue_ox.jpg



fpn_1450214438__sydneyharbourblue_ox2.jp




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Thanks again for the review. I find this one interesting, but can not tell whether or not I really like it.

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."


- Jack London



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Right at the moment, I think this is my favourite Blackstone ink - I *love* the dark blue-green colour, and the sheen it produces on low-absorbency paper. I *don't* know why the JustWrite website describes it as "Blue-Grey", though - it sure doesn't look that way to me!

 

Forgive me copying and pasting this from the Barrier Reef Blue thread, but it compares the two inks on Tomoe River - and a glimpse of the kind of sheen that's possible:

 

post-108160-0-50641300-1450322893.jpg

Edited by Jamerelbe
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When I tested the SHB concentrate the ink more blue black. I guess this is more dilute than my mix - which is a good thing - this version is gorgeous.

Life's too short to use crappy pens.  -carlos.q

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These two blues are so gorgeous that I am seriously tempted to pay the $25 shipping so they can be mine.

 

If you can be a little bit patient, both Anderson Pens and Vanness Pens will be stocking these inks in due course - according to someone on the Barrier Reef Blue thread... Or you could move to Australia, but that'd cost a bit more than $25...

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If you can be a little bit patient, both Anderson Pens and Vanness Pens will be stocking these inks in due course - according to someone on the Barrier Reef Blue thread... Or you could move to Australia, but that'd cost a bit more than $25...

 

I'm not sure I *can* be that patient, but maybe! At least that $25 turned out to be in AUS dollars. Two 60-ml pouches with shipping to the US ($18 USD) is $35, which is less than a pair of Kobe inks. Not too bad!

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I ended up buying the 30ml nalgene set of "Colours of Australia" when they first came out. Shipping costs almost doubled the price. Expensive to ship...yes, indeed. But I must say, I have no regrets. This ink is really that special. Luckily, Anderson's and Vanness' Pens will be carrying it soon.

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If you can be a little bit patient, both Anderson Pens and Vanness Pens will be stocking these inks in due course - according to someone on the Barrier Reef Blue thread... Or you could move to Australia, but that'd cost a bit more than $25...

 

 

This is good news.

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I really like this colour. Thanks for the review.

Nature is the one song of praise that never stops singing. - Richard Rohr

Poets don't draw. They unravel their handwriting and then tie it up again, but differently. - Jean Cocteau

Ο Θεός μ 'αγαπάς

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This color is very nice. Not sure it's worth buying, since I already have a bottle of Yama Dori, but still a nice ink.

Fountain pens forever and forever a hundred years fountain pens, all day long forever, forever a hundred times, over and over Fountain Pen Network Adventures dot com!

 

- Joe

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Vanness and Anderson Pens will definitely be carrying the Blackstone Inks. I've also written Goulet Pens suggesting they carry it but so far no response from Brian after 2 communications and a member of his team responded who determines what products they'll stock and had never heard of it and didn't appear too inclined (at least at this time) to begin stocking it. She commented that "they'll look into it". Time will tell.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

If you can be a little bit patient, both Anderson Pens and Vanness Pens will be stocking these inks in due course - according to someone on the Barrier Reef Blue thread... Or you could move to Australia, but that'd cost a bit more than $25...

We have ordered the Blackstone- just waiting on its arrival into the US!

vanness1938@sbcglobal.net

http://i984.photobucket.com/albums/ae327/VintagePen/vanness.jpg
Selling fountain pens, ink, paper & related items since 1938

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We have ordered the Blackstone- just waiting on its arrival into the US!

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

Did I mention that Blackstone Sydney Harbour blue sheens two colors - gold and pink? It sheens pink without much effort, but when it pools, a brilliant gold appears.
I just noticed this on an ink sploosh (On cheap Daiso paper, too) and was shocked. I later looked back at writing I did with Sydney harbour blue and I was noticing both pink and gold all over. I don't know wether this is an isolated incident/miracle and I should be treasuring and worshipping my bottle now, but this is truly amazing.
I don't have good photos of the bicolour sheen now, but I'll try to post some soon.

Edited by bioluminescentsquid
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