Inky T O D - If You Had To Rebuild Your Ink Collection From Scratch, What Would Be Your Initial Selections?

[NeverTapOut]

My daily ink is MontBlanc Royal Blue. I would stick with that.

If I could continue to find it Sailor Jentle Ultra Marine.

[Enkida]

After I was done screaming? Taking into account semi-local availablilty from where I live:

 

Diamine Asa Blue

J. Herbin Perle Noir

Rohrer & Klingner Sepia

Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite

Noodlers Apache Sunset*

Kaweco Ruby Red

Diamine Graphite

Pelikan 4001 Violet

J. Herbin Bleu Pervenche

 

Im not sure what Id take for a green because I think MB is discontinuing Irish Green; Id probably look at Diamine or Pelikan Edelstein more closely there. Im also on the fence as to whether Id take Waterman Serenity Blue for my safe blue, or go for something like Diamine Blue Velvet or Monteverde Sapphire or whatnot instead.

 

*Actually this isnt readily available where I live, so maybe R&K Helianthius?

 

And Id still be crying in my cheerios about losing my 50mL bottle of Doyou because of the price hike.

Edited July 5, 2019 by Enkida

[Aquaria]

Great question! Here's my list, which will probably be on the boring/pedestrian side:

 

Standard Inks:

 

Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo

Pilot Namiki Blue

Sailor Sky High

Pilot Blue-Black

Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku

Califolio Botany Bay

Krishna Writer's Night

Aurora Black

Montblanc Toffee Brown

Kobe Bordeaux

Diamine Earl Grey

Pelikan Dark Green

Diamine Pumpkin

Colorverse Girls Just Wanna

Kyo-Iro Kaege Sakura

J Herbin Poussiere de Lune. Must be my favorite, since I'm going through a 100 ml bottle like mad.

Sheaffer Skrip Red

Kobe Renga

Lamy Turquoise

Califolio Inti

 

Wow Factor Inks:

 

Diamine Majestic Blue

J Herbin Amethyste de l'Oural, Emerald of Chivor, Stormy Grey

Organics Studio Agrinine

Organics Studio Nitrogen

Organics Studio Waldentoomanynames

 

Other Inks

 

Pelikan Duo Highlighter Green

Platinum Carbon Black

Platinum Classic Lavender Black

Rohrer and Klingner Scabiosa

 

[Arkanabar]

If all my inks were lost, so too would my wife's inks, as they all live in the same box, and I have no idea what she'd do.

I'd back down to the Six Essentials, a markup color or two, and Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku for billets-doux to my wife.

Black: In all likelihood Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black, but also possibly Noodler's Heart of Darkness and/or J. Herbin Perle Noire (depending on behavior).
Blue-Black: I suppose I'd go for Pilot Blue-Black.
Purple: Noodler's Purple
Blue: Noodler's Blue
Green: Diamine Sherwood
Brown: Diamine Chocolate

Markup: Odds on, Sheaffer Red and/or Turquoise.

[gregamckinney]

Like someone else said earlier in this thread, "having" to start over would in some ways be a relief.
But, even though some don't get used very often, I love having so many ink options.

If I started over with only generally available inks, I'd just get my most frequently/ currently heavily used inks in the key color areas.

Aurora Black
Noodler's Tienanmen
Sailor Kin Mokusei
Kobe 45
Diamine Mediterranean Blue
Bungbox 4B (not sure if you can still get this. If not, possibly Kobe 38.)

Best Regards, greg

[JulieParadise]

Assumed all of my inks were lost and I could only afford to buy back one bottle per week my order might be:

 

J. Herbin Perle noire -- Montblanc Corn Poppy Red -- Sailor Sou-Boku -- Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz -- Diamine Salamander

Akkerman Ceruleum Blauw -- Akkerman Izrael's Zeeblauw -- Kyo No-Oto Hisoku -- Kyo-Iro Stone Road of Gion -- Diamine Blaze Orange

Diamine Pelham Blue -- Diamine Denim -- Diamine Earl Grey -- Diamine Amaranth -- Lamy Blue-Black

J. Herbin Bleu Calanque -- Robert Oster Fire & Ice -- Diamine Tulip -- Diamine Macassar -- Sailor Kiwa-Guro

[ShortRound131]

My 4 "Top Tier" Inks

Pilot Blue Black - Smooth flow, my top "workhorse' ink

Montblanc Permanent Blue - If I need more permanence

Waterman Serentiy Blue - Another workhorse, reliable ink

Aurora Black - My favorite black

Other Favorites:

Iroshizuku Asa Gao - My favorite color

Iroshizuku Kon Peki - My 2nd favorite color

Montblanc Corn Poppy Red - Haven't tried many reds, but this is my favorite so far.

Montblanc Royal Blue

Diamine Oxblood

Diamine Oxford Blue

Sailor Yama Dori

Edited July 7, 2019 by ShortRound131

[pgcauk]

Thank you Amberlea for starting this. I am not so computer-oriented once it's Summer, but I just found this and have enjoyed every post so far! I like reading about what people care about, rather than endless analysis!

 

I agree with (whoever) who said "you try 10,000 things to arrive at the six you want" (I paraphrase). I have been refining my top 6 recently, but they have been pretty stable for the last eight months or so. Here's a page I prepared when Viva first raised the horrifying/such-a-relief topic:

n.b. 3 and 5 are somewhat transposable as they can both be construed (with squinting) as orange, but I settled on this sequence as 5 seems closer to red, and I like the distinction of (muted) secondaries from (muted) primaries.

Edited July 10, 2019 by pgcauk

[ErrantSmudge]

For vintage-safe inks, I would go with (in order):

 

Aurora Blue

Aurora Black

Waterman (Audacious) Red

 

Followed by the other essentials (in order):

 

Noodler's Heart of Darkness

Monteverde Horizon Blue

Lamy Turquoise

Diamine Sherwood Green

Diamine Blue-Black

Private Reserve Tanzanite

Rohrer & Klingner Cassia

Diamine Oxblood

Monteverde Copper Noir

Edited July 10, 2019 by ErrantSmudge

[mamajones]

I find this topic disturbing. Not only do I need to have 40 different shades of green (and that's "true" greens: no sea-glass or teal), but I can think of only a half a dozen or so I would give up. (Doesn't everyone have over 200 bottles of ink?)

 

That said, if you MAKE me, I would say that the top are

 

Pelikan Blue-Black, Violet, Dark Green

Pilot Iroshizuku Tsutsuji, Yamabudo, Syo-ro

Kyo no oto Kokeiro, Hisoku

Bungubox Clown Teardrop Ruby, Ink of the Witch

Montblanc Encre du desert (Antonine de Saint-Exupery)

Rohrer & Klingner Alt-goldgrun

Kobe Nagasawa #57 Hime Hydrangea

PenBBS #111 Shanghai

 

I would also have Papier Plume's Lake Michigan Summer, a limited edition ink. I don't care how I'd get it, but I would.

 

That was very sad to think about....

Edited July 10, 2019 by mamajones

[amberleadavis]

 

1. Sailor Kobe #9 Suma Purple (brownish purple, autumn ink)
2. Kyo-Iro Soft Snow of Ohara (grayish purple, winter ink)
3. Waterman Purple (bright purple, spring ink)
4. Montblanc Lavender Purple (reddish purple, summer ink)
5. Pine soot ink stick (calligraphy)

 

 

 

I'm sensing a purple theme.

[amberleadavis]

I agree, more than 200 inks is necessary and 1000 inks is ideal until you have to put them away in an organized way.

[LyaT]

Teal: Robert Oster Clearwater Rain

Blue: Iro Ama-Iro, Kon-Peki

Orange: Iro Yu-Yaki

Pink: Iro Benzaiten, (love this pink, why did I not buy another bottle to stock up!)

Brown: MB Toffee Brown

Grey: MB Swan Illusion (technically not grey)

[LyaT]

I started off with inks with a lot of sheen, like November Rain, Fire and Ice. Now I like shading inks without sheen, they look clean on the page.

[mamajones]

Participating in this thread made me so anxious about my favorite inks that I'm thinking of ordering spare bottles of some of them.

 

Of course, I already have multiple bottles of a few of the limited editions. And of course I have 219 different colors in full bottles (some with multiple bottles), along with 100-some samples. So I doubt I will run out of ink in my lifetime.

 

BUT.....what if I run out of...

 

As I said, disturbing topic.

[aurore]

Sailor Do-you
Sailor Yonaga
Diamine Oxford Blue

[Arkanabar]

I agree, more than 200 inks is necessary and 1000 inks is ideal until you have to put them away in an organized way.

See, that concern -- keeping them organized -- is what makes me limit future purchases to the Seven Essentials.

 

I have to edit my next most recent post.

[DonM]

I've been thinking about this for several days now, and it's not so easy. If I have to choose, my first purchase would be:

 

Some modern clone of Parker Penman Sapphire (Diamine Blue Velvet, Monteverde Horizon Blue [testing now])

Pilot/Namiki Standard Blue

Platinum Carbon Black

Parker Quink Washable Blue (for testing)

 

Beyond that I'm all over the map!

[NeverTapOut]

My daily ink is MontBlanc Royal Blue. I would stick with that.

If I could continue to find it Sailor Jentle Ultra Marine.

 

I had to change my ink selection...So if I had to start all over again with one ink...The new MontBlanc UltraMarine will be my new daily ink. It is pantone number 72 similar to Franklin Christoph Blue 72 and Sailor Jentle UltraMarine. When that runs out back to MontBlanc Royal Blue.

Edited July 13, 2019 by JesusNeverTappedOut

[by_a_Lady]

Very interesting question! I think I wouldn't regard just it as a loss but also as an opportunity.

I've made quite a few purchases that I don't necessarily regret but probably wouldn't have made if I had tried samples first. I've also learned that there's a discrepancy between the colours that I love and those that I tend to use most, so I'd probably buy a set number of bottles of the latter and have fun with the former via samples. However, these would most certainly wind up in my shopping basket first:

1. KWZ Maroon (Diamine Oxblood used to sit in this place of honour, but KWZ as a brand has just much better writing properties, so I'm afraid it's been permanently replaced.)
2. De Atramentis Aubergine (The colour is gorgeous, but the ink tends to misbehave on less-than-ideal paper, so I'll be looking for its KWZ equivalent as soon as the bottle starts running low.)
3. Sailor Jentle/Shikiori Rikyu-Cha (Expensive even before the price hike, so I don't use it for everyday writing, but the colour is unique and irreplaceable IMO.)
4. Diamine Majestic Blue (Nice true blue and gorgeous red sheen to set it apart; my bottle also flows nice and wet and doesn't tend to dry-smear, so I'm not looking to replace it... yet.)
5. J. Herbin Poussière de Lune (I've fallen in love with this colour family and also this particular representative, but am already eyeing KWZ Brown Pink for a wetter version... )
6. Sailor Jentle/Shikiori Tokiwa-Matsu (Quite expensive for what it is, but weirdly I haven't yet found anything that comes close to this non-blue green with red sheen; Diamine Classic Green is a good colour match but writes drier than this. I don't tend to use it often because of the price, which is a shame, as it could easily become my daily writer.)
7. Diamine Autumn Oak (An all-year-round colour for me; I'm so happy with it that I've purchased the 100ml bottle.)
8. Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrün (This ink just makes me happy! But it does tend to write dry - not chalky or scratchy, just not as wet as I like it -, so I'll be looking into KWZ Green Gold next.)

So most of these are quite dark, but not black, which is another lesson I would apply if I were to restart my collection: I don't use black often enough to warrant 133ml of Noodler's Heart of Darkness gathering dust in my cupboard; a big sample of Sailor Nano Kiwa-Guro would probably last me years.

 

 

Dominique