Your Ink Collections And How They Came About

[Orpilorp]

The way my ink collection came about was as such: a few inexpensive fountain pens were purchased from an online supplier along with a few samples of ink in unusual (to my eye) colors such as Diamine meadow and ancient copper. Soon thereafter I joined a pen club where several people who were in-the-know told me to only use "safe" brands such as Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker. I loaded up on those brands, read reviews then loaded up on Diamine, Omas, J Herbin. And based upon reviews I have decided to steer away from N and PR. As far as colors I am happy with blues and brownish greens, well okay, also DC super violet. I have 33 bottles of ink, 17 sample vials, and 1 shoebox full of cartridges -- probably enough to last the rest of my life.

 

With so much ink and 70+ pens, all I now wish for is a stack of notebooks. Then I'll be set for the duration.

[Scriptorius]

 

With so much ink and 70+ pens, all I now wish for is a stack of notebooks. Then I'll be set for the duration.

 

I just ordered a stack of notebooks myself and got a great deal on them because of holiday discounts. I got 10 of the Rhodia A4 No. 19 DotPads (8.25 x 12.5) with the dot grid on them for $7.55/each (shipped.) 80 sheets/each. Jetpens is asking $14.50 apiece and is currently even out of stock. The amount of the holiday discount depends on the size of your order. Here's where I got mine:

 

http://www.vickerey.com/prh960-rhodia-a4-dotpad-orange.html

 

They're listed at $10 a pop, but with the $30 off I got on my order of $150+, the price worked out to the $7.55/each. Sweet deal. Fast turnaround. Great website.

 

 

Scriptorius

[Scriptorius]

By the way, if you're looking for the comparable hardcover Rhodia notebooks instead, Vickerey has them listed at $24. The three I ordered however ended up costing $19/each with the discount. 192 pages. Dot grid. Really well-made.

 

http://www.vickerey.com/prh920-rhodia-web-notebook-large.html

 

 

S

[The Good Captain]

I love blue-black inks so have a shed-load. My favourite ink of all time is Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black.

I also like greens; well, some of them. Purples and lilacs, to an extent. And browns. Not to appear a complete wazzock, I also have a few blacks as well.

Now to manufacturers, and in no particular order. Pelikan, Diamine, Sheaffer, Mont Blanc, Noodler's, Monteverde, Omas, Aurora, Akkerman, R&K, (one) J H Herbin, Pilot/Namiki, Waterman, Parker. Think that's about it.

Why I but what I buy? I see a bottle in a shop or on-line and just get it. I don't 'do' samples.

[Orpilorp]

Scriptoriums,

 

Thanks for the heads up. Payday was yesterday and my order has been placed.

 

Orp

[Scriptorius]

Scriptoriums,

 

Thanks for the heads up. Payday was yesterday and my order has been placed.

 

Orp

 

Awesome! I'm thrilled to hear it. I believe I grabbed the last ten black ones they had.

 

Happy Holidays,

 

 

S

[martinbir]

How did my ink collection come about?

 

Well, first off, I don’t think I have an ink collection. I do have a large (not quite 3 figures) number of inks accumulated over several years and many may see it as a collection, but there is a difference in motivation.

 

Collectors acquire new examples to fill gaps or complete sets. They see their collection as an entity.

 

My accumulation has arisen from thinking a specific ink may be good and acquiring that one for itself alone.

 

It all began when I started looking for a blue black as I remembered Quink Blue Black from my 1960s school days (of course that memory is probably false, but it is my memory). All I wanted was one ink to use happily ever after.

 

Of course, nothing was quite right and I must have been through about 30 blue black or similar in my search. Even the most careful on line scans can be very misleading and so, along the way, there were some wild mistakes. Some turned out to be nice inks and started expanding my range.

 

I also became aware of the vast colour range available and started trying odd colours here and there. For example, I fancied a dark, maroon type red. A slot now filled by Diamine Syrah, but there are another 6 or 8 which somehow don’t quite hit the spot.

 

So now, more than half are vaguely blue or blue black. A good few cover maroon/burgundy/purple with a smattering of greens and browns, two bright reds, an orange and a couple of blacks.

 

The big surprise is Diamine Eau de Nil. First bought early on when someone suggested it was blue black, it was a horrible disaster. A year or so later I gave it another go and loved it. 80ml bottles don’t last a year and I am on the third one.

 

So, there you are, the history of my ink accumulation.

[Pensei]

This thread is interesting. Discussions of "collections," when people mention their hundreds of colors, usually make me think I don't have too many inks, but the conservative approach of several posters here makes me realize I do. I don't have anything I would call a collection, but yes I have too much and I recently decided to stop buying ink or at least cut way back. It was fun for a while, and I got caught up in the "If you say I can't get this Sailor LE, then by golly I'm going to get it" thing, which was sort of fun, but too expensive to keep up. I had a revelation when I bought a bottle of Namiki Blue for $12 and realized it was as good as any ink that I had paid five times that much for. Likewise with the fantastic colors in the relatively inexpensive Robert Oster inks, and many others. (Footnote: I'm keeping my SPP and my Yamano Grass; those were worth it.) My current plan is that whenever a pen runs out of ink, I'll try one of the many samples I have not gotten to, and see if any of them prove irresistible. I guess if I wanted to use the word "collection," I would say I have a pretty good bunch of blues, purples, and blue-blacks. The quest for the perfect blue was fun.

[senzen]

The excuse has been to compartmentalize ideas, I started with the classics from J Herbin: Lie de thé, Vert Empire, Rouge Hematite, until I discovered the Iroshizukus; all purchases have been without physically seeing the inks, it's a small miracle that it's worked out given the limitations of computer displays; the one ink I didn't like was violette pensée. At the same time it has been a journey of discovering which inks look better and flow well from which pens.

 

 

 

[Scriptorius]

The excuse has been to compartmentalize ideas, I started with the classics from J Herbin: Lie de thé, Vert Empire, Rouge Hematite, until I discovered the Iroshizukus; all purchases have been without physically seeing the inks, it's a small miracle that it's worked out given the limitations of computer displays; the one ink I didn't like was violette pensée. At the same time it has been a journey of discovering which inks look better and flow well from which pens.

 

 

 

 

 

I love this image. It's so much easier to visualize what someone has when you can actually see it laid out like this. Great selection of colors. You do cover the rainbow except for the challenging yellow shades (which I'm guessing are missing in most people's collections.)

 

 

S

[antichresis]

I started with: well, if I could only have one ink, what would I get?

 

After that it was: I'm a student so I might as well get another ink (or two) for mark-up. Then it branched out to, if I could only get one ink in x colour, what would it be? Then I, too, redeveloped a liking to blue-black inks (I started with a bottle of Lamy Blue-Black, then the only non-teal blue-black available) so I now have a lot of bottles in that "colour". At first, I'd think that I was looking for *the* blue-black but I've grown to appreciate the variance.

 

Now it's just a matter of snagging good ink deals. Hmm, an unwanted bottle is being sold for cheap..and I'd probably use it (a handful of times a year). Okay, I'll get it!

[inkstainedruth]

This is a well-timed post for me, since I just spent half the afternoon reorganizing the ink samples (I'm up to 5 vial trays... ). And that doesn't count the "bottles only" stash (I don't have a collection so much as an accumulation...).

It started when I was looking to replace a pen that I'd left someplace and didn't get back for a month. At that point it was Quink Permanent Blue cartridges. When I started looking for a replacement pen I stumbled onto the Goulet Pens site and here. And so a lot of it was "OOOH, SHINY". Purple. You can get purple ink? Awesome! And then I started looking at the review images.

Then at some point it became "Hey, I'd like to see if I can get a match for X...." First it was some unknown vintage blue-black. Then about a year later it was "Is there a purple/red violet out there that has the same red sheen as the ink on this card someone sent me..." (which was probably a gel pen). More recently it's been "a turquoise that is a close match to vintage Skrip Peacock..." followed by "OH NO! That bottle of vintage Sheaffer Brown (sepia) is leaking and I'm almost out!"

In between there were a lot of purples, a lot of blues and blue blacks, some pinks and greys. A few greens, a few browns, the search for the perfect red.... And then every now and then it would be an ink used by whoever repaired a specific vintage pen. That's how I ran across Waterman Mysterious Blue and Skrip Blue. Plus occasionally finding vintage inks in antique stores or on eBay....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Barkingpig]

This is a well-timed post for me, since I just spent half the afternoon reorganizing the ink samples (I'm up to 5 vial trays... ). And that doesn't count the "bottles only" stash (I don't have a collection so much as an accumulation...).

It started when I was looking to replace a pen that I'd left someplace and didn't get back for a month. At that point it was Quink Permanent Blue cartridges. When I started looking for a replacement pen I stumbled onto the Goulet Pens site and here. And so a lot of it was "OOOH, SHINY". Purple. You can get purple ink? Awesome! And then I started looking at the review images.

Then at some point it became "Hey, I'd like to see if I can get a match for X...." First it was some unknown vintage blue-black. Then about a year later it was "Is there a purple/red violet out there that has the same red sheen as the ink on this card someone sent me..." (which was probably a gel pen). More recently it's been "a turquoise that is a close match to vintage Skrip Peacock..." followed by "OH NO! That bottle of vintage Sheaffer Brown (sepia) is leaking and I'm almost out!"

In between there were a lot of purples, a lot of blues and blue blacks, some pinks and greys. A few greens, a few browns, the search for the perfect red.... And then every now and then it would be an ink used by whoever repaired a specific vintage pen. That's how I ran across Waterman Mysterious Blue and Skrip Blue. Plus occasionally finding vintage inks in antique stores or on eBay....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I will always remember your introduction to Lamy Blue, when your Dark Lilac Safari arrived with it's included cartridge.

 

We all "find" inks in different ways; I recently tried to match a red to some florentine stationery, friends brought me back from a trip to Italy. It is gorgeous cream paper, rag torn edges, with a HEAVILY engraved prominent Florentine Fleur de Lys; I used Diamine's Tulip on it to "thank them," BUT it wasn't as "close as I WANTED," so the new Sailor Irori needed to arrive & I have found myself using it happily for Holiday notes. Sadly the ink will surely outlast the stationery, & I am not really drawn to red, but I have enjoyed "making the acquaintance" of these two!

[PAKMAN]

I definitely didn't want a ink collection but seems I have one...

 

INK COLLECTION:

Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue

Akkerman #10 IG blauw/zwart (Iron Gall Blue/Black)

CARAN d’ACHE Caribbean Sea

Conway Stewart St. Blazey Red

De Atramentis Vanilletinte Vanilla Scented Brown

Delta MOMO black

Diamine Ancient Copper

Diamine Aqua Blue 30 ml

Diamine Bilberry Blue

Diamine Blue Lightning Shimmering

Diamine Blue Velvet

Diamine Brandy Dazzle Shimmering

Diamine Chocolate Brown

Diamine Dark Brown

Diamine Gray

Diamine Majestic Blue

Diamine Marine Blue Green

Diamine Mediterranean Blue (2 Bottles and 30ml bottle)

Diamine Presidential Blue

Diamine Sapphire Blue

Diamine Soft Mint Green

Diamine Twilight

Diamine Wild Strawberry 30 ml

Iroshizuku (Pilot) fuyu-syogun gray Old Man Winter

Iroshizuku (Pilot) kon-peki blue

Iroshizuku (Pilot) tsukushi Horsetail brown

J. Herbin Blue Ocean

J. Herbin Stormy Grey

Lamy LE Orange

Levenger Cobalt Blue (2 Bottles)

Levenger Skies of Blue

Levenger Fireball

Levenger Always Greener

Levenger Smokey

Levenger Blue Bahama

Mont Blanc Love Letter Rose Scent Red

Mont Blanc Seasons Greetings Holiday Scent Brown (2 Bottles)

Mont Blanc Seasons Greetings Vanilla Scent Red

Mont Blanc Seasons Greetings White Forrest Pine Scent Green

Noodlers Bankers Tan

Noodlers Bay State Blue

Noodlers Black Swan in Australian Roses

Noodlers FPN Dumas Tulipe Noire (3 Bottles)

Noodlers FPN Galileo Manuscript Brown (2 Bottles)

Noodlers FPN Voltaire Candide Vermilion

Noodlers Eternal Black

Noodlers Blue Steel

Noodlers Burgundy Red

Noodlers Legal Lapis Blue (2 Bottles)

Noodlers Tanned Armadillo

Noodlers Texas Pecan

Noodlers Tiananmen Red

Noodlers Turquoise Blue

Noodlers USS Texas Battleship Gray

Parker Penman Mocha Brown

Parker Penman Sapphire Blue (2 Bottles)

Parker Quink Blue-Black (2 bottles)

Parker Quink Black

Private Reserve 2004 DC Supershow Blue

Private Reserve Black Magic Blue

Private Reserve Plum

Sheaffer Skrip Black (2 Bottles)

Sheaffer Skrip Purple

Visconti Bordeaux

Wahl-Eversharp Wahlberry Blue

Waterman South Sea Blue

Waterman Florida Blue

Waterman Havana Brown

Waterman Purple

 

79 Bottles of Ink

69 Different Colors

[inkstainedruth]

I definitely didn't want a ink collection but seems I have one...

 

INK COLLECTION:

 

Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue

Akkerman #10 IG blauw/zwart (Iron Gall Blue/Black)

CARAN d’ACHE Caribbean Sea

Conway Stewart St. Blazey Red

De Atramentis Vanilletinte Vanilla Scented Brown

Delta MOMO black

Diamine Ancient Copper

Diamine Aqua Blue 30 ml

Diamine Bilberry Blue

Diamine Blue Lightning Shimmering

Diamine Blue Velvet

Diamine Brandy Dazzle Shimmering

Diamine Chocolate Brown

Diamine Dark Brown

Diamine Gray

Diamine Majestic Blue

Diamine Marine Blue Green

Diamine Mediterranean Blue (2 Bottles and 30ml bottle)

Diamine Presidential Blue

Diamine Sapphire Blue

Diamine Soft Mint Green

Diamine Twilight

Diamine Wild Strawberry 30 ml

Iroshizuku (Pilot) fuyu-syogun gray Old Man Winter

Iroshizuku (Pilot) kon-peki blue

Iroshizuku (Pilot) tsukushi Horsetail brown

J. Herbin Blue Ocean

J. Herbin Stormy Grey

Lamy LE Orange

Levenger Cobalt Blue (2 Bottles)

Levenger Skies of Blue

Levenger Fireball

Levenger Always Greener

Levenger Smokey

Levenger Blue Bahama

Mont Blanc Love Letter Rose Scent Red

Mont Blanc Seasons Greetings Holiday Scent Brown (2 Bottles)

Mont Blanc Seasons Greetings Vanilla Scent Red

Mont Blanc Seasons Greetings White Forrest Pine Scent Green

Noodlers Bankers Tan

Noodlers Bay State Blue

Noodlers Black Swan in Australian Roses

Noodlers FPN Dumas Tulipe Noire (3 Bottles)

Noodlers FPN Galileo Manuscript Brown (2 Bottles)

Noodlers FPN Voltaire Candide Vermilion

Noodlers Eternal Black

Noodlers Blue Steel

Noodlers Burgundy Red

Noodlers Legal Lapis Blue (2 Bottles)

Noodlers Tanned Armadillo

Noodlers Texas Pecan

Noodlers Tiananmen Red

Noodlers Turquoise Blue

Noodlers USS Texas Battleship Gray

Parker Penman Mocha Brown

Parker Penman Sapphire Blue (2 Bottles)

Parker Quink Blue-Black (2 bottles)

Parker Quink Black

Private Reserve 2004 DC Supershow Blue

Private Reserve Black Magic Blue

Private Reserve Plum

Sheaffer Skrip Black (2 Bottles)

Sheaffer Skrip Purple

Visconti Bordeaux

Wahl-Eversharp Wahlberry Blue

Waterman South Sea Blue

Waterman Florida Blue

Waterman Havana Brown

Waterman Purple

 

79 Bottles of Ink

69 Different Colors

 

So, you have what Sam Capote or Amber Lea Davis would call "a good start...."

I discovered a sample vial this morning that didn't get catalogued. That's in addition to two the I have misplaced in the house (I know I have them -- I've had both those inks in current rotation). And I somehow did NOT get home with the free Califolio sample from the Vanness table at last year's OPS -- I put it someplace in the car for "safekeeping" but it's not there now.... OTOH, I thought I'd lost a credit card in the other car a couple of weeks ago after getting the gas tank refilled and after confessing this to my husband, he searched that vehicle a little more carefully. So I suppose that vial could still *BE* in the car, although the lord only knows what shape the ink will be in after a year of excessive heat and humidity followed by a week of single digit wind chills....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Orpilorp]

Parkman,

 

79 bottles? Very nice. I'm a bit jealous although I wouldn't know how to select the next one to use.

 

But do you have to distribute them throughout the bookcase so the shelving doesn't bow? 🙂

[Noihvo]

 

[Pickwick]

 

So, you have what Sam Capote or Amber Lea Davis would call "a good start...."

I discovered a sample vial this morning that didn't get catalogued. That's in addition to two the I have misplaced in the house (I know I have them -- I've had both those inks in current rotation). And I somehow did NOT get home with the free Califolio sample from the Vanness table at last year's OPS -- I put it someplace in the car for "safekeeping" but it's not there now.... OTOH, I thought I'd lost a credit card in the other car a couple of weeks ago after getting the gas tank refilled and after confessing this to my husband, he searched that vehicle a little more carefully. So I suppose that vial could still *BE* in the car, although the lord only knows what shape the ink will be in after a year of excessive heat and humidity followed by a week of single digit wind chills....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

My dear friends, you leave me staggering, nay reeling! I'm looking at my one bottle of R&K Salix and it now looks so forlorn. I'm wondering whether I should resign my membership, you are making me fell totally inadequate! By the way, I take it you are all actually using these illustrious inks? Ruth, I assume your husband found your credit card?

[Arkanabar]

The oldest inks in my collection today were given to me by another member of this community -- the bottles of Noodler's Red-Black, Sheaffer Skrip Turquoise (Slovenian), "Waterman Florida Blue," and Waterman Violette.

The Red-Black is a really workmanlike color; it's easy to read, there's a waterproof component, and it's lightfast. I've added enough well water to remedy its smudging habit. It has been the dominant ink in my Pelikan M200 since it arrived. But it's a burgundy, and I don't really enjoy the color. The Turquoise is a great markup color, but not really appropriate for writing. The so-called "Waterman Florida Blue" is a lot darker and more lightfast than would be expected of a washable blue. I don't like that kind of purplish royal blue, for whatever reason -- perhaps because it resembles so many ballpoint blues. I find the really true-blue color of Noodler's Blue much more appealing. And the Waterman Violette isn't anywhere near lightfast enough to please me, much as I like the color, which is a really pretty purple.

Around 2006, I asked my mother if she had my Dad's Parker "51" and if I could have it. She eventually did find it and give it to me, along with a bottle of Parker Super Quink with Solv-X in Permanent Black.

I decided that I had to have the Blackest Black Evar!, and in pursuit of that, I bought a bottle of Borealis Black. It is really really black, and has some water resistance, but it also feathers quite a bit. It's not an ink I'm going to buy again. The next black I buy will be either Noodler's Heart of Darkness, J. Herbin Perle Noire, or possibly Pilot Black.

While I was doing clinicals for Health Information Technology, a bottle of black ink cropped up in the medical records department where I'd been assigned. It was a gold-colored, cone-shaped plastic bottle of MontBlanc-Simplo Black with SuperCleaner SC21. It was a really tepid grey. I use it in my Dad's Parker "51". He never had any problem using the Quink in it, probably because of the Solv-X (widely regarded as being, either in part or in whole, phenol), and I suspect that SuperCleaner SC21 is likewise mostly phenol. It doesn't run as pale as it used to, but it's still relatively pale.

I didn't have anything remotely green, so after reading a bunch of reviews, looking at swabs and writing samples, and consulting Amberlea Davis' ink fade spreadsheet, I chose Diamine Sherwood. I love love love this ink. Others inks I have that aren't noted as being as lightfast in that spreadsheet have held on better than it, but it's really nice. I am entirely pleased to have it, but I might get a Noodler's green next time.

The next ink I acquired was a gift from my wife, Noodler's Blue. I had hoped to get it for some time, and I've been entirely pleased with it. I had received a writing sample in Blue Eel with a PIF, and I was enchanted by it. The colors appear nigh unto indistinguishable to me.

At the same time, she picked up for herself Noodler's VMail Midway Blue (to match her Truk Lagoon Nib Creaper), Noodler's Widow Maker (to match her Vulcan's Coral Nib Creaper), and Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin (to match her Ivory Darkness Nib Creaper). And none of them are inks I would have bought. I thought that Midway Blue was just a bit too bright for writing, that Widow Maker was a bit too dark for markup, and when the BBM dried up in the Ivory Darkness Nib Creaper, I wasn't able to get it out. At some point, I'm going to have to dig out the ultrasonic cleaner to clean it up. I no longer trust the BBM in any pen, unless I can pull out the feed to scrub it with a toothbrush. I also don't put am done putting it into converters, only eyedroppers and emptied cartridges.

Later, she ordered a bottle of Ku-Jaku off of Amazon. It's rather featherocious on my salvage letter paper, and I had no desire for the color. At that time, I wanted Yama-Guri. Oh well. I can probably find a use for it, such as the aforementioned mixing of a blue-black ink. I doubt it will take very much black to do so, at all.

The next time we went to Origami Ink, she bought a bottle of Rattler Red Eel (brighter and better suited for markup than Widow Maker), a bottle of J. Herbin Stormy Grey (keep those particulates AWAY from my pens!), and a bottle of Emerald of Chivor (ditto! -- on the strength of my older sister's enthusiasm for it).

 

As for my planned ink wardrobe, that's explored in Oh, the Places You'll Go under the Six Essentials. I've changed my mind about half of them. I now tend to think I'd prefer Tsukushi to Yama-Guri for the Essential Brown (once I test it for lightfastness -- I won't be anxious to acquire a brown until that bottle of Noodler's Red-Black is gone, so there's plenty of time), and I want to try a sample of Noodler's original Purple (and test for lightfastness) for the Essential Purple. I'll probably mix Ku-Jaku and/or Midway Blue with Borealis Black to make a workable blue-black before I fret about buying the Essential Blue-Black. And as I suggested above, I might just choose Pilot Black for the Essential Black.

So, yeah, I have inks I wouldn't buy again. I have yet to regret a sample purchase, because they help prevent bottle purchases.

Edited December 18, 2016 by Arkanabar

[inkstainedruth]

 

My dear friends, you leave me staggering, nay reeling! I'm looking at my one bottle of R&K Salix and it now looks so forlorn. I'm wondering whether I should resign my membership, you are making me fell totally inadequate! By the way, I take it you are all actually using these illustrious inks? Ruth, I assume your husband found your credit card?

 

Fortunately, he did. And -- even more fortunately -- it's not the one that's in my name only (which is the one I use for stuff like pen and ink purchases.... ).

The (temporarily) missing card is the one used for gasoline purchases and other travel expenses, because we get a discount (the card is through AAA).

As for using the inks? Of course! Although some of the bottled ones in my stash have been left by the wayside of late (and of course I have a lot more samples than bottles -- some of which I've used up, some of which I have no desire to buy more of, and some I'm keeping around for convenience for refilling from the bottle when I travel).

Mind you, in a number of cases they're duplicate bottles -- even, at times, of some vintage inks. I expect to remedy that with the 52 ink weekly challenge set up by lgsoltek and Amber. I went through the weekly themes yesterday, going "Hmmm -- which color for week X?" (in some cases it was easy to pick but in others I'd have to think about it a bit more.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth