comments on waterman's inks?

[tycosiao]

I'm like thinking why there arent't any comments made on waterman's ink. so would like to hear both positive and negative comments. thanks!

[dwmatteson]

Welcome, tycosiao! I believe there are many comments about Waterman inks, but they're scattered throughout the site. There are a few reviews, though: blue-black, red, south seas blue, Florida blue, purple, and Havana brown. I didn't see any on black or green. (See the reviews index, pinned at the top of the Ink Reviews forum.)

 

Personally, I'm a big fan of Waterman inks. They generally have excellent flow characteristics and work well in very nearly every pen in which I've tried them.

 

Blue-Black and Florida Blue are two of my go-to inks. Some folks don't like the way Blue-Black dries (with sort of a teal color), but it doesn't bother me. Florida Blue is just a nice blue color that I tend to use as my "trial" ink when I get a new pen. I know it'll be well-behaved, so I can spend my energy getting to know the pen.

 

Havana Brown is one of my all-time favorite inks. It has a rich color that's great for correspondence (particularly on cream-colored stationery). I particularly like using it in my cocoa Parker "51" aero and my amber Pelikan M200 demonstrator.

 

I use Green and Purple extensively for grading. I teach statistics, and those colors generally stand out from my students' work, so they're good choices. I haven't found a red that I particularly like (I have a bottle of Waterman Red on the way), and these are fun colors.

 

I just tried the black a few weeks ago. I expected it to be washed-out and grey, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I usually go to Aurora Black or Noodler's Eternal Black as my standard black inks. After trying Waterman Black in a converter, I was hooked.

 

In addition to the bottle of Waterman Red I mentioned above, I also have a bottle of South Seas Blue coming my way. I think that rounds out the collection, but I'm not sure.

 

I sure love that Waterman ink!

 

Don

[FrankB]

I tended to avoid Waterman inks for a long while because of the smell, which gave me a headache and made me ill. No kidding. I complained about that smell on this board in the recent past and someone suggested that Waterman has changed their ink formula. I bought a bottle of Havana Brown and I have found to to be a nice flowing, deep, rich brown - with a neutral smell. I am going to get some more brown in a couple of weeks and I will try another color as well.

[sclt45]

I like Waterman ink a lot and they are my go-to inks. They flow very well.

Thanks

 

Kurt

[Ghost Plane]

I guess I don't talk about them a lot as they're my default inks. I mostly keep them in cartridge form for when I'm taking my Carenes on the road. Mostly purple, green and Florida blue + one bottle of black I was given years ago and use as back up for when I have to be staid and formal. They're idiot proof inks and dry pretty fast. Just not very exotic in color, which some of us lean to after years of "business" colors.

[Pengrump]

I had a weakness for the "stinky" Waterman's inks because I could add those to other inks and make sure nothing untoward grew in the other inks. I still use Waterman inks occasionally, but oddly enough, a number of my pens don't work well with them, especially not with the Blue Black, which has been highly recommended as a standard. I don't find the colors all that interesting. Lately I've been using Waterman inks in vintage pens only, figuring that I'd stick to the safe inks in my older pens: Waterman, pre-Slovenian Skrip, Quink, and Diamine. Oh, Pelikan too, especially for older Pelikans from the 1950s.

[Rob R]

I love wateman ink. I like south seas blue the best because of its color. I like the flow of the ink. I take all new pens and ink with SSB after getting the factory oils off the nib.

[scogre]

I've only got two Watermans inks right now, the blue-black and the Havana brown. Like many have said they are my go-to inks. They seem to work in any pen, and don't have any quirky problems. Like Don I keep the Havana in my Cocoa "51", and I have a Parker 21 filled with the blue-black. Neither of them cause me any problems!

 

Scott.

[greencobra]

I too use Waterman in most pens. My favorite is Florida Blue and the Black. I've found it flows in the most tempermental pens and I don't see those famous dry spots on the down strokes at the beginning of sentences.

[Wizergig]

I recently bought a waterman pen, and got 2 boxes of Black ink cartridges to go with them. Personally I like them at all. The ink writes almost transparent. But that may be just a bad luck of the draw. I want a darker more contrasting black. I also picked up a bottle of Noodlers Bulletproof black. and Private Reserve Black Velvet. Both of those inks work fantastic in the same pen, laying down a rich black line.

[Reisho]

Waterman Purple ranks among my favourite inks, especially with medium and larger nibs.

Love the colour, joyous without being vulgar, and its behaviour is irreproachable.

 

Reisho

[14lines]

It's the "good ol' shoes" of ink. I use the Blue-Black, but when I clear the bottle, I might try a different one because of the teal drying. Goes down dark but doesn't stay dark, y'know? My wife loves the Havana Brown. Also, it's ubiquitous, so when your choices are Staples/Office Depot and Grand and Toy, Waterman becomes a good get.

[BobR]

I love them too. The red is very bright, rather than deep or dark. It's more like a "fire-engine" red than a "blood" red. I recently purchased a bottle of the blue from a local store. It was clearly an older bottle as it was marked with a old price. The phenol smell nearly knocked my socks off! But the new bottles don't have it at all if you're concerned. I kind of like it.

The blue-black's look depends on the pen you are using. I haven't been able to figure out the pattern, but in some pens it dries to a teal, and in others, it's a beautiful dark blue. I suspect that wet, fine writers produce the blue.

 

I will have to try the brown in my cocoa "51" too. And I thought it was a rare color!

[Mary P]

Watermans Havana Brown is the only ink my spouse ever uses. I use it some of the time, too, although I prefer other browns. I use quite a bit of Florida Blue. I am not fond of Watermans red. I use the purple in a number of ink blends but do not use it often alone. The ink quality is great. I just find the shades other ink makers offer more interesting.

[Margana]

I'm going through a Waterman phase and have BBk, FB and SSB in half my current pen rotation. To put that in perspective I have over eighty bottles of inks and samples combined. Of the six inks currently in my pens three of them are Waterman. The colors are pleasing but the flow is outstanding and that keeps me coming back time after time.

[kissing]

Waterman ink is probably one of the safest, reliable and good-flow inks available. They're also locally available, almost as easy to find as Parker Quink - which means I don't have to go online to find them

 

I use Waterman red mixed with black as a beautiful red-black colour with shading/highlights, and use Waterman green mixed with Noodler's Zhivago (makes the green more apparent, better green highlights, improved flow)

 

They are an ink that will not disappoint!

[KG4KAH]

Good Day All,

 

I am a big fan of Noodler's inks, but I have, and use Waterman Black regularly. Waterman inks are safe. I heard one dealer describe them as "so safe you could drink it." Well, I won't try that, but they are safe in pretty much any pen. They are consistent, not only from one bottle of a color to the next, but across the color spectrum as well. Noodler's-well you never know what you are going to get. I like the suprise factor, but sometimes you have to go with a known quantity. They are relatively inexpensive, and widely available. And the bottle design is one of the few remaining that make some semblence of sense. Also, in my water tests against Noodler's polar black, Waterman Black was just as waterproof as Noolder's against a good soaking. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to try freezing Waterman.

 

Regards,

 

Wade

[cowdad]

Florida Blue is the maybe the most horrible blue out there.

[AndyHayes]

I am using Havana in a Pelikan 205 demonstrator at the moment and although there is no staining in the main part of the pen that holds the ink, the ink looks like it has dried just below where the nib screws in. I tried a quick clean out with a cotton bud, but it wont shift it so I will have to soak it overnight once I have used the rest of this fill.

 

Otherwise it is a nice flowing ink. Having never tried Waterman ink before I was pleasantly surprised. I agree too that the ink bottle is well designed.

[Anne-Sophie]

What's not to like?

 

The bottles are beautiful and are designed so that you can get the very last of the ink.

 

The ink is available everywhere.

 

The price is reasonable and the color spectrum decent making it a perfect ink for a dip pen/fountain pen calligraphy fest in a family setting with school children.

 

They work really well with medium and bold nibs.

 

Waterman is also the perfect choice for students or people who have to take a lot of notes, especially Florida Blue, since it is erasable.

 

Because they are "worry free" inks, they are perfect for mixes, a great way to expand the ink collection with great fun and minimum cost

 

 

Forgot to say, I have all of them but brown and blue-black (too somber for me).

Edited June 29, 2007 by Anne-Sophie