Your Five Must Have Inks

[markofp]

J. Herbin Perle Noire

Diamine 1864

Diamine Merlot

 

And that's pretty much it.

[gyasko]

Waterman/Parker/Pelikan/MB/Skrip washable blue is the only ink you must have.  You need one old reliable to test and diagnose.  You can even write with it.  Anything else you can pick according to taste.  

[ENewton]

• Sailor Kobe Suma Purple
• TAG Kyoto Kyo-Iro Soft Snow of Ohara 
• J Herbin Poussiere de Lune 
• J Herbin Cacao du Bresil
• Waterman Purple

  

[InesF]

Nice motivation to force a final decision, I would not had done otherwise. So, the 5 indispensable inks are:

 

5: Rohrer & Klingner - Magenta

4: Pelikan Edelstein - Topaz

3: Diamine - Sargasso Sea

2: a self-made Teal (mix of Waterman Blue & Waterman Green)

1: deAtramentis - Aubergine

[Arkanabar]

I have Seven Essential Inks.  That's in my signature.

 

Black:  Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black.  Well, once I run out of Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin, and either use up or give away my Noodler's Heart of Darkness.

Blue-Black:  Pilot Blue-Black.  I have a 30mL bottle that will probably last me for years.  When you want an ink that Just Works, how can you beat this stuff?

Purple:  Noodler's Purple.  I love the color, it's quite fade resistant.

Blue:  Noodler's Blue.  I love the color, and it's very fade resistant. 

Green:  Diamine Sherwood.  I love the color, and it has some fade resistance.

Brown:  Diamine Chocolate.  I love the color, and it's fade resistant.  And I'm going to get a bottle (I only have a sample) once I use up or give away my Nooderl's Brown, which is also very attractive, and fade resistant.

Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku.  This was the first ink my wife ever bought for me, and it's a fantastic match for my aqua Pelikan M205 Aqua, the first pen she ever bought for me.  This combination is always ready for any time I wish to pen for her a billet-doux.

[sansenri]

Waterman Serenity

Pelikan Royal blue

Diamine Blue Velvet

Private Reserve Electric DC Blue

Aurora Blue

 

there are several more inks I cannot do without but those are the ones I use most

[A Smug Dill]

12 hours ago, Arkanabar said:

I have Seven Essential Inks.  That's in my signature.

 

So which two would you forgo, knowing that means your capability/flexibility is reduced because of it, but try to minimise the impact all the same through gritted teeth?

[PithyProlix]

On 6/8/2021 at 2:23 AM, vannesspen said:

I love the olive from them as well- its just a different color from most olives and it dries well- cleans well... shades well - its all the things...

 

And it seems to look good - at least to me - in any pen/nib/paper combination and any shade. I'd probably say it was my favorite ink if I didn't see myself as someone who is supposed to be indifferent to green. But if I actually were indifferent I would be blasé about Sydney Darling Harbour, Salamander, Streetcar Green, Bayou Nightfall, Urahairo, Vert Atlantide, Vert Empire, and ... 😘 😉

[RJS]

1, Pilot Blue Black

2, Platinum Blue Black

3, Waterman Serenity Blue

4, Diamine Cult Pens Deep Dark Red

5, Diamine Asa Blue (my current favourite)

 

Honourable mentions to Montblanc Irish Green, Diamine Woodland Green and Monteverde Horizon Blue. I always have a green ink in my roster for annotating documents, and those two have worked well for me, especially in finer drier nibs.

[Aelfattrum]

at least at the moment:

 

1. J. Herbin Perle Noire

2. Akkerman no. 10 IJzer-galnoten blauw/zwart

3. Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa

4. J. Herbin Lie de Thé

5. Diamine Ancient Copper

 

 

Perle Noire is just such a nice ink. It's well-behaved, looks good on a variety of papers, and has a long history behind it. It's claimed to be made from all natural dyes and to be pH-neutral (I believe it's been measured at slightly alkaline at around 8.0). It holds up really, really well to water despite not being a 'permanent' ink. And there's something very enjoyable about writing with it.

 

Akkerman no. 10 IJzer-galnoten blauw/zwart (Iron gall blue/black) comes in the lovely "mana potion"-shaped, two chamber (with marble inner stopper) typical Akkerman bottle. It's a bit expensive in the new 60ml format, but not outrageous. It has nice shading and writes well, including on poor quality paper. Probably Diamine's Registrar's and KWZI original blue-black would be close but not exact substitutes.

 

Scabiosa, another iron gall, also writes well on poor paper. It's a bit dry, but has really nice shading and is one of the class of "dusky purples". (So it's similar to J. Herbin's Poussière de Lune, but because of the iron gall content, tend to shift to a slightly darker colour.)

 

Lie de Thé....I remain on the search for The One Brown Ink, but I think probably one needs several brown inks, in part because there are so many different types of brown. But Lie de Thé is a very nice brown, and one I keep returning to even after trying other browns. It's got some yellow/green underlying hues, but is a still a warm brown, without being too reddish. (a top 10 list would include a number of other browns.)

 

Diamine Ancient Copper is a pretty popular ink, I think it's Diamine's best-selling ink? In case any, one can see why. It has really interesting, dramatic shading and tends to be (though it can have a variety of appearances depending on the pen/nib etc.) a really pleasing colour. It manages to look like copper (with uneven tarnishing) without glitter or particular sheen.

 

[maclink]

In no particular order:

 

1. Montblanc Permanent Black - my favourite permanent black.  It washes out slightly in a soak test, but compensates in great flow and not sticking to plastic parts so it actually washes out of pens quite easily.

2. Iroshizuku Yama Guri - always loved this ink.  A lovely shade of brown... like a deep pastel shade.

3. Sailor Soubuku - A water resistant deep blue, more towards blue-black, that works well with all the pens I've tried it with.

4. Montblanc Royal Blue - My go to blue ink.

5. Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite

 

Honourable mentions are Iroshizuku Shin Kai and Montblanc Toffee Brown.  Actually, I use these 7 inks the most but had to choose 5 though I wish I never have to. 

 

[twin63]

As of today:

 

Monteverde Horizon Blue 

Pilot Blue Black 

Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi 

J. Herbin Perle Noire 

J. Herbin Bleu des Profondeurs 

 

[samasry]

On 6/12/2021 at 1:18 PM, Aelfattrum said:

Diamine Ancient Copper is a pretty popular ink, I think it's Diamine's best-selling ink? In case any, one can see why. It has really interesting, dramatic shading and tends to be (though it can have a variety of appearances depending on the pen/nib etc.) a really pleasing colour. It manages to look like copper (with uneven tarnishing) without glitter or particular sheen.

 

 

Very good point.

 

Diamine Ancient Copper was not  an ink  that I got too excited about.

However, in my rotation, it has its own  fountain pen dedicated to it.  That pen must be inked at all times and it gets used daily.  No other ink in my collection has that special status.  The  many blue inks compete and go up and down in favor; same for  purple and few other colors.   Only Diamine Ancient Copper is obviously the master  of his domain.

 

 

 

 

[MHBru]

hmm...  

Iroshizuku Kon Peki, Asa Gao

Herbin Bleu de Minut

Kyo Iro Soft Snow of Ohara

Diamine Silver Fox

 

at least for the moment.... but pretty solid

[ENewton]

On 6/13/2021 at 6:31 PM, MHBru said:

hmm...  

Iroshizuku Kon Peki, Asa Gao

Herbin Bleu de Minut

Kyo Iro Soft Snow of Ohara

Diamine Silver Fox

 

at least for the moment.... but pretty solid

 

Soft Snow of Ohara was my favorite ink for years until edged out by Suma Purple.  If I didn't have such a large proportion of vintage pens, I think I could live with just those two inks.  In fact, I have used Soft Snow in a vintage pen without any apparent adverse effects.

[Bristol24]

My very first ink in a bottle was Parker Quink Permanent Black.  I used it exclusively with the extremely cheap Hero 329 and then the less cheap ( but still cheap) Hero 616.  The next two inks I purchased (not knowing any better) where Hero 232 Blue Black and Hero Carbon Black.  I bought them on Amazon because they were...well...cheap.  My wife then bought me a Levenger True Writer and I discovered that Hero 232 looked wonderful from that pen on just about any paper one could find.  I then got into vintage pens so I avoided Hero 232 in all my pens except the Levenger.  That lasted for about a year until I got bold and put Hero 232 in an early BHR Esty dollar pen.  Since then, I have been decidedly devoted to Hero 232 and have pursued finding and buying it whenever I can.  It is now quite rare (I have 5 1/2 bottles).

 

Today, Hero 232 is my nearly always favorite as is vintage Parker Quink Permanent Blue Black with Solv-X.  I also am a big fan of Sailor Jentle Blue (I love the red shimmer on certain papers), J. Herbin Perle Noire, Parker Quink Permanent Black, and R&K Scabiosa.  That's actually 6 and I have others but H 232 is truly my favorite because it behaves so well and has a classic iron gall/fountain pen look.

[MoriartyR]

I don’t think I have five inks that are irreplaceable. I definitely wouldn’t want to be without Aurora Green, Leonardo Sepia, or GvFC Midnight Blue. I like GvFC Carbon Black very much too and probably wouldn’t be quite happy if I had to change to a different black. That’s only four and I think there are acceptable replacements available for any of my other inks.

 

[Muncle]

I had to look at my colllection, and think about what I would pare it down to.

 

Favourites:

Noodler's Zhivago

Visconti Blue

 

Permanent:

Noodler's KTC

 

It's a toss-up between Diamine Ancient Copper or MB Toffee Brown. Ancient Copper keeps better colour, but I love Toffee Brown more when it works.

 

GI Green if I decided to go with green, or PR Plum if I decided to go with purple.

[N1003U]

• Pelikan 4001 Black
• Rohrer & Klingner Dokumentus 400 (permanent dark blue)
• Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-guri
• Diamine Ancient Copper
• Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite

 

 

[iap]

Noodler's Tiananmen Red

Noodler's Apache Sunset (only for use with wider nibs)

Noodler's Bad Blue Heron 

Lamy Blue

Pilot Blue-Black (although I often mix Noodler's blue and black inks to get a darker B-B)