What Happened To Private Reserve Ink At Goulet Pens?

[white_lotus]

Nathan Tardif is the company.

[suharsh]

I just unwrapped two cheap Baoer pens and opened a brand new Black Magic Blue and the ink is not even close to the samples I have seen online ... which are oriented towards violet ... mine is more blue. So I opened my Tanzanite bottle and similar experience! Possibly quality issues .... I was about to order half a dozen PR inks that i short listed last night ... I think I am going to skip ordering any more PR inks!

 

Will be trying the ink in other pens but I doubt the results will be drastically different.

[Ghost Plane]

I'm sorry to hear this. Makes me more appreciative of the older bottles I still have.

[gryphon1911]

I have 2 PR inks I love...Tanzanite and Spearmint. Guess I'll be on the lookout for replacements for them once I run out. ☹️

[rollerboy]

I had opportunity to discuss this with Brian Goulet at the pen show.

 

The man behind Private Reserve passed away recently, and he failed to properly document his knowledge before passing. His family has tried their best to keep the business running, but has had persistent quality issues, causing customer complaints. Goulet Pens has decided that it is no longer worth their resources to continue to carry the brand and dropped it.

 

If we can learn a life lesson from this, it is: if others depend on your specific knowledge, write it down somewhere. You never know what tomorrow holds.

 

I'm not a one brand of ink guy, but my list of favourite inks is dominated by Private Reserve. A few years ago when the news of his death was circulating I wondered how the company would fare moving forward. I figured they'd likely take a hit on the business front with the energy of a founder missing. I also figured that they would struggle with new product introduction with his technical knowledge gone. It didn't occur to me they'd have problems maintaining production of existing inks though.

[glorfindel]

Can my problem with Blue Suede be explained by the inconsistency discussed in this thread?

 

I've gotten a sample of this ink and liked it enough to buy a bottle. However, when a bottle arrived, the ink felt and looked different - it was basically just green, without the nice blue undertones it had in a sample vial.

Is it me or is it really an inconsistent production?

[stefanv]

It is ironic that a person running an ink company wouldn't write things down.

[aeba]

Edit: I am NOT saying anything about Private reserve, just a general thought.

 

It is ironic that a person running an ink company wouldn't write things down.

Well, people tend to think that they will die some day in the (far) future, but that day is not tomorrow and it sure as <bloop> will not be today. Because of that, there's no hurry with documenting, right? Right. Then massive heart attack / intracranial hemorrhaging happens and it is already too late for documenting.

 

Then there are those people who doesn't bother with documenting things, because they themselves already know "that" stuff (way too popular habit in information technology).

[dvalliere]

It is ironic that a person running an ink company wouldn't write things down.

 

I took this as a very simple, passing comment along the lines of--you'd think that someone who loves fountain pens would love to write and would therefore keep copious notes on everything--nothing more than a brief, amusing observation.

[Monbla]

Pendemonium has all of their inks at good prices. Here's a link to them :

 

http://www.pendemonium.com/PrivateReserve.html

[lapis]

It is ironic that a person running an ink company wouldn't write things down.

To be sarcastic (no, I'm not sorry) I must say that such a person probably couldn't even write, with or without a FP.

Heck, recipes for Coca Cola and Charteuse -- to name only two other liquid goodies -- have been kept written down for decades and/or centuries, even if these have not been published or made open to public view. But those companies are still thriving today!

 

Mike

[sharonspens]

Avalon Pens in Zionsville, Indiana, was also co-owned by the founder of Private Reserve. They have the collection: http://www.avalonpens.com/collections/private-reserve-ink-and-cartridges

 

No affiliation, yada yada. Just a customer from up the highway!

[habanerosauce]

I asked them about it and they weren't selling well enough compared to other brands. Quite disappointed as in only have one bottle of Avocado and it's been a daily user for me.

 

Oh dear, I also love Avocado or rather Avacado as it is labelled on my bottle.

It's a really lovely green and writes so smoothly.

I shall treasure my one bottle and hope I can find something as good

[Danny Kaffee]

I'm sad to see this. I just tried to order some DC Supershow blue from Goulet and I saw they no longer carried it. Now I know why. PR was an underrated ink company. Good quality at a good price.

[sciumbasci]

So let me get this straight: what will the people behind PR company do? Try their best to formulate new inks? Just sell the remaining stocks and close down?

 

PR is the only thing that go as close as possible to Noodler's available in Italy

[JordanN]

So let me get this straight: what will the people behind PR company do? Try their best to formulate new inks? Just sell the remaining stocks and close down?

 

PR is the only thing that go as close as possible to Noodler's available in Italy

Well, they're still selling ink, just not through Goulet.

[tonybelding]

I'm going to stick my neck out here and say what needs to be said. . .

 

I wouldn't be surprised if PR got dropped because of too many customer complaints. I've had more problems with PR ink than all other brands put together.

 

If you want ink that clogs or smudges, or never dries, or that routinely requires dilution to flow properly, or comes with mold already growing in it, or that turns rubber sacs to goo. . . Then Private Reserve just might be for you. As for myself, it's the only brand, out of the many I've used, that I've promised never to use again.

[oldpensgal]

No, we're still alive and kicking at Private Reserve Ink -- now over 270 very supportive dealer world-wide, for whom we are very grateful.

 

Susan

[Freddy]

No, we're still alive and kicking at Private Reserve Ink -- now over 270 very supportive dealer world-wide, for whom we are very grateful.

 

Susan

 

'Tis always good to hear from original source. {thumbsupthingie}

 

I may have some of those pre-internet mailings you use to send.

{freakinhappysmileyfacetimethingie}

 

Fred

 

....A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking....

~ Steven Wright

[inkstainedruth]

A couple of years ago, on the way to the Ohio Pen Show, I stopped in a pen store in the northern part of Columbus. The owner told me that the ONLY ink brand he stocked was Private Reserve.

I wonder what that guy is doing for ink now....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth