Blackstone Sydney Harbour Blue

[lgsoltek]

It's a pretty dark tealish blue. I've seen it sheen heavily somewhere else, but with me, it only sheens slightly. It tends to feather, and I think it's because it seeps into paper that it doesn't sheen much.

 

Splash

Sample

(Pilot Parallel 6.0 mm, Pilot Elabo/Falcon Soft Fine, white copy paper)

(in sunlight, I think)

Compare

(You can see how it feathers. KWZI Azure #4 is even wetter but it doesn't feather at all.)

(Diamine Indigo is rather dry so I primed the nib to have a darker colour.)

[migo984]

Thank you for showcasing this ink. I really like the colour. But for sheen it doesn't get close to its sister ink, Barrier Reef Blue. That one shines like an a 1970's disco ball, as one of my pen pals commented when I used it in a letter to him :-)

[visvamitra]

Not really my color.

[effika]

Blackened teals are my jam; thanks for reviewing!

[Jamerelbe]

I find this ink very interesting to use: in a drier pen, it's more of a bluey-green (which I'm not as drawn to); but in a wetter pen (e.g. my TWSBI Eco with F nib) it's a beautiful, rich, deep-dark blue with a dark-green overtone. That's when it reminds me most of the waters on Sydney Harbour (though it contains fewer rubbish bags and other floaties ...). Definitely a favourite.

[ethernautrix]

Looks like a staunch, good-looking blue -- works hard without seeming to, if that makes sense. I prefer inks that don't shade, since I seldom write with a flourish. The KWZI Azure #4 looks good, too.

[lgsoltek]

This ink feathers on all of my papers except Tomoe River, which finally coaxed the sheen out of it. But it's so wet that it turns my fine nib into a medium.

 

Edited November 5, 2016 by Lgsoltek

[dcwaites]

I think I have said before, this ink is truly the colour of Sydney Harbour on a cold, grey, wintery day when going on the ferry from Circular Quay (Sydney) to Manly.

 

One of the things I truly love about the Blackstone inks is that their colours truly reflect the places they are named after.

[TheDutchGuy]

I think I have said before, this ink is truly the colour of Sydney Harbour on a cold, grey, wintery day when going on the ferry from Circular Quay (Sydney) to Manly.

 

One of the things I truly love about the Blackstone inks is that their colours truly reflect the places they are named after.

It's been a while since I last visited Sydney, but I've been on the Manly ferry (and other ferries across Sydney Harbour) many times and I concur. This ink really reflects the water colour. It's a wonderful ink, lots of shading, very intense. A full page of densely scribbled text might be a bit overwhelming (I've slowly drifted more towards understated inks), but if you use dotpad grid paper and leave an empty space between each line, the result is stunning. It's very wet, though. A bit too wet, in fact (never thought I'd say that). I put it into one of my two Sailor pens instead of the usual Sailor ink that I use, and Sailor inks are wet. This Blackstone ink is much more wet and requires really good paper. Edited May 11, 2018 by TheDutchGuy

[dcwaites]

The Blackstone inks are a bit wettish, and the Robert Oster inks are a bit dryish.

Choose appropriately according to your pen.

[NT-Ned]

Wow, the colour of the Blackstone Sydney Harbour looks a lot different to how mine does!

 

Disclaimer, sorry for my atrocious writing - Sydney Harbour blue underneath the brass Blackstone Maxim "Heavy Metal"

[lgsoltek]

Wow, the colour of the Blackstone Sydney Harbour looks a lot different to how mine does!

 

Disclaimer, sorry for my atrocious writing - Sydney Harbour blue underneath the brass Blackstone Maxim "Heavy Metal"

 

Could be a mix-up with Barrier Reef Blue...

[Jamerelbe]

Wow, the colour of the Blackstone Sydney Harbour looks a lot different to how mine does!

 

Disclaimer, sorry for my atrocious writing - Sydney Harbour blue underneath the brass Blackstone Maxim "Heavy Metal"

 

Could be due to minor variations in colour between batches - more likely though it has to do with the wetness of the pen you're using. In a drier pen SHB is more of a green-leaning blue; in a wetter pen it appears to be a 'purer' dark blue - and may produce a reddish sheen as well. Still one of my favourite inks - but with 4-5 other blues in the Blackstone range, it's been out of rotation for me for the past few months. Time to ink up my Lamy 2000 with it, perhaps!

[Jamerelbe]

Actually, I take that back (I thought you were referring to the ink in the top pen). The middle ink *does* look a lot more like Barrier Reef Blue - I've never seen Sydney Harbour Blue produce that kind of shade...

[mhguda]

I have - when it's more diluted with water it gets to look like that. When some of the water evaporates mine looks darker again. But when I have to dip a pen to get it started - usually after it's sat a while unused but filled, since I use mostly ED's with this ink - yes, it does look a little like NT-Ted's example.

[NT-Ned]

As long as the two LE 140ml glass bottles I just bought from them looks the same colour as this one I'll be happy. Otherwise it looks like I'm changing to Barrier Reef blue lol.

 

Thanks everyone

 

Ned

 

 

Late Edit:

I'm feeling a little sheepish right about now, it IS Barrier Reef blue!

 

A wee memory loss, I WAS using the Sydney Harbour blue but I couldn't stop the plastic bottle leaking once it was opened so I threw it and ordered Barrier Reef in the new 140ml glass bottles they now have as an LE.

 

Thanks once again for the general knowledge test lol.

 

Ned