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Private Reserve Ink - Status?


ErrantSmudge

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I went to check the website for Private Reserve Ink (www.privatereserveink.com) and it seems to have disappeared. I get a blank page and a 403 error.

 

Does anyone know what the situation is with PR these days?

 

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I could have sworn I'd looked at their website within the past week.

 

I'm sorry that the owner passed, and hope that they don't discontinue operations.

 

Of the boutique inks, I've always gravitated more toward PR than I have Noodler's. Part of that was that I had two reliable local sources for them, which also meant that I could see them in person before committing to a bottle(the Goulet samples are nice, but a table with every color PR cataloged, a couple of dip pens, and a pad of paper beat ordering samples any day), and partially because a few colors hit "just right" for me. I finally found the perfect blue-for me-from them in American Blue, and they had some great greens(Sherwood Green is in my regular rotation). I never liked any of their reds, but that's a color I'm picky about.

 

I've recently bought some more Noodlers and have been warming up to the ones I have, but PR has always felt nice, comfortable, and safe product for me-almost like Waterman or Pelikan inks with a lot more color and variety. IIRC, they were made outside Indianapolis, which was a big plus for me considering that they were a semi-local product for me(even if across the state line).

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Is that true? The latest owner only bought the business in 2018

http://blog.ipenstore.com/2019/01/private-reserve-ink-under-new-ownership.html

 

I had to contact PR about one of my inks at the end of August, and the website and phone number were already down/not active. A vendor told me the owner was still active on Facebook when I was wondering why she is not responding to customer service inquiries via e-mail or trying the non-working number. But since I don't use Facebook, I can't confirm.

Edited by Intensity

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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so sad to hear this... PR Lake Placid blue was my very first fountain pen ink... wish i still had the empty bottle now

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Oh :( Very sad indeed then.

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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That's very sad. The family tried very hard to keep the show on the road after the death of their father (?) a few years back. There was word on this forum that he rarely committed recipes to paper so they struggled at times in reproducing the inks once the stock declined. I had the sense they were on the up though because they had managed to strike supply deals with quite a number of European vendors.

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Does anyone know what's been going on with PR in general? I assume the owner was not doing literally everything, including ink mixing, or was she? The website and the contact phone number have been down/disconnected for a while now, since at least August, before the passing of the latest owner.

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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Hi all,

 

This really is a shame; I remember when the inks were new on the market and sold through their jewelry store in Indiana. I think the first color I tried was Blue Suede Shoes; then I discovered American Blue; and then happened upon Electric DC Blue... and then there was... (sigh).

 

 

- Sean :(

https://www.catholicscomehome.org/

 

"Every one therefore that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in Heaven." - MT. 10:32

"Any society that will give up liberty to gain security deserves neither and will lose both." - Ben Franklin

Thank you Our Lady of Prompt Succor & St. Jude.

 

 

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@Intensity, go three posts above yours. @OCArt has posted something that will answer your question.

 

Respectfully, OCArt's post is not what I asked about, if you look at my post carefully.

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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Does anyone know what's been going on with PR in general? I assume the owner was not doing literally everything, including ink mixing, or was she? The website and the contact phone number have been down/disconnected for a while now, since at least August, before the passing of the latest owner.

 

It's quite conceivable, given the outsourcing of the ink production, that PR was literally a one person shop.

Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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Boy, they really can't get a break, can they?

Some of the first inks I ever bought besides cartridges of Quink Permanent Blue were PR American Blue and Purple Mojo.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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It's quite conceivable, given the outsourcing of the ink production, that PR was literally a one person shop.

Hi Silverlifter, et al,

 

I'm not so sure production was outsourced; if it were, the production facility would have had the formulas on file and there would not have been all the "recipe crises" they had when Terry died several years ago... or their more recent formula issues about a year ago.

 

You can be a "One Man Show" ink manufacturer. Noodlers is; Nathan often complains how the extensive regs in Massachusetts prevent him from hiring help and my short-lived ink company was a one man show, too, (albeit for slightly different reasons).

 

 

- Sean :)

https://www.catholicscomehome.org/

 

"Every one therefore that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in Heaven." - MT. 10:32

"Any society that will give up liberty to gain security deserves neither and will lose both." - Ben Franklin

Thank you Our Lady of Prompt Succor & St. Jude.

 

 

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I was always under the impression it was a small, single person operation and that the son and daughter had taken it over after their father's death, so still a small affair.

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You can be a "One Man Show" ink manufacturer. Noodlers is; Nathan often complains how the extensive regs in Massachusetts prevent him from hiring help and my short-lived ink company was a one man show, too, (albeit for slightly different reasons).

 

The concept of 'business continuity' is complicated - wife and I have been watching the HBO series 'Succession' that deals with that subject in the context of a large corporation. But it's even more complicated, and the options are far fewer, when the business is small.

 

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The origonal owner died a few years ago. Their family, who inherited the business, sold it off to an employee who took it over and chose to do things diferently. She worked with a chemist and soarced the ink from vendors, different ones for bottled ink and cartridges. Her area of focus was on getting better quality control and on marketing. She was a Photographer by Profession.

 

It is unclear to me how sudden her death was and I don't know if she made plans for the business, nor who might inherit from her as I don't know anything about her family situation.

 

My suggestion is if you are interested in perhaps buying the brand and its intelectual property you look for her obituary and see if it identifies any possible heirs.

Edited by Parker51
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