Alternatives to Iroshizuku Asa Gao

[samasry]

49 minutes ago, sansenri said:

You could probably try my mix and add some liquitex to it according to your experience.

In general I like Royal blue's behaviour as it is, I know it's a slightly dry ink, but as I like generous flow pens and nibs I usually do not need to enhance flow.

 

I have made quite a number of other tests, (also with Sapphire inks) but since Royal blue is already purplish the idea was to push it back towards blue, and Sargasso seems to work well in that.

 

Another mix that has given me satisfaction is again with a Diamine ink, Bilberry.

The proportions are 10:1. The resulting blue is somewhat similar to Private Reserve Black magic blue (a dark purplish blue).

Again here the small 30 ml diamine bottle can be useful to reduce costs.

 

Have mixing fun!

 

Thank you @sansenri. There are enough ideas here to utilize all my  Pelikan Royal Blue ink.  I appreciate  your time and advice today.

[mercurius]

16 hours ago, sansenri said:

no, actually due to the small quantity of Sargasso, although being a rather saturated ink, the characteristics of the ink remain very similar to Royal blue in the behaviour. Not only, this gives the ink a stronger tone and avoids the typical fading which Royal blue shows particularly on some papers. It is a very safe mix, I've been using it for long. Also rather cheap, as you can buy the small 30 ml Diamine Sargasso bottle and use up the stock of Royal Blue...

I wonder what you'd get from mixing Pelikan Royal Blue with Mr Pen's Radiant Blue (a suggestion from an earlier poster in this thread, Walter C). I suspect it might make it too bright.

[sansenri]

I do not own Radiant blue so have no idea what to expect.

Always be careful when mixing to look out for inter-reactions, very different pH inks for example may cause precipitation inside the ink.

[welch]

On 7/12/2021 at 4:19 PM, mercurius said:

I am looking for recommendations for a blue ink. Normally I use Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue, but I happen to have a small vial of Iroshizuku Asa Gao and love its particular shade of blue.

 

However, it's an expensive option and I would like to know if there are cheaper options that give the same shade of blue. Other factors I am looking for are: smooth flow, good drying time, minimal show through, doesn't stain the pen.

 

Thanks! 

 

I have loved Asa Gao ever since it was introduced. I've never found a cheaper alternative, so I have "consoled" myself by considering that it takes a lot of writing to write through a bottle of Asa Gao. Asa Gao was one of the first "luxury inks"; some companies have released even more expensive inks. So there's that.

 

In the US, Asa Gao sells for about $30, and the price is pretty well set by Pilot USA and Pilot HQ in Japan. I've no idea what Asa Gao sells for in Britain, but each Pilot distributor seems to set a price, and Pilot Japan backs them.

 

Note: I just checked The Writing Desk, which lists Asa Gao at 29.40 GBP, which sounds reasonable until I remember that the decimalized pound always fools me. So 29.40 GBP would be about $40.50...

 

I've always thought that Diamine Sapphire Blue was close to Asa Gao.

[SpecTP]

we have comparison threads in our Inks Review topic

 

[sansenri]

3 hours ago, welch said:

 

I have loved Asa Gao ever since it was introduced. I've never found a cheaper alternative, so I have "consoled" myself by considering that it takes a lot of writing to write through a bottle of Asa Gao. Asa Gao was one of the first "luxury inks"; some companies have released even more expensive inks. So there's that.

 

In the US, Asa Gao sells for about $30, and the price is pretty well set by Pilot USA and Pilot HQ in Japan. I've no idea what Asa Gao sells for in Britain, but each Pilot distributor seems to set a price, and Pilot Japan backs them.

 

Note: I just checked The Writing Desk, which lists Asa Gao at 29.40 GBP, which sounds reasonable until I remember that the decimalized pound always fools me. So 29.40 GBP would be about $40.50...

 

I've always thought that Diamine Sapphire Blue was close to Asa Gao.

 

Actualy not,

Diamine Sapphire (together with Edelstein Sapphire, JH Eclat de Saphir, Diamine Cornflower) is much more purplish than Asa Gao, which is not exactly a neutral blue, but certainly more blue that the a/m sapphires.

 

Blue Velvet is much more similar to Asa Gao in the tone of blue, however it contains a small amount of turquoise which shows in the shading and makes it look different.

 

Iroshizuku inks are not cheap here, Asa Gao costs approx 30 euro from amazon shipped with prime.

The point is not so much the cost if what you want is Asa Gao, but the availability of cheaper alternatives with the same colour tone.

 

I just happened to come up with something simillar (but still not close enough) mixing Royal blue and Sargasso sea.

As I mentioned (perhaps in the other thread) about this mix, I am by no means saying this mix behaves like Asa Gao. It does not. It behaves like Pelikan Royal blue.

Asa Gao still has a brighter look ( mixing ink causes desaturation, so it is likely impossible to obtain the same saturation as Asa Gao by attempting to mix different inks), and is very slightly more purplish-blue than the mix (which makes me consider whether a touch of Diamine Sapphire in the mix might bring it closer to Asa Gao...).

 

The question has nonetheless been asked before.

The old Omas blue was similar to Asa Gao. Some state that Aurora blue is similar but in my opinion it is not that close, I find it still slightly more purplish, or Visconti, which is slightly closer but still slightly more purplish.

It has also been suggested that Waterman Serenity is similar, but I've finished my bottle and cannot check just now...

 

here is the outcome of a search by another FPNer

to cut a long story short, his finding is

Diamine Blue Velvet and Private Reserve Lake Placid are closer, but still not enough and he ended up buying a bottle of Asa Gao...

[lapis]

Crassest site I've seen in ages (meant only 1000% positively). Let's say I didn't have any grey (har, har,)... well, today I see exactly 59 offers there.... 😊

[aurore]

Since mixtures mentioned...

 

[aurore]

On 6/7/2018 at 8:22 AM, aurore said:

Diamine "True Blue" (my mixture: 2 parts of Diamine Sapphire + 1 part of Diamine Asa Blue).

(first 2 photos are a comparison with Iro Asa Gao).

 

 

[sansenri]

thank you aurore, this looks good!
unfortunately photos temd to lose part of the nuances

 

I've made some attempts with Diamine Asa, but the turquoise hue that is just slightly perceptible in your last photo confirms my impression that that part is not present in Asa Gao

 

very nice mix nonetheess! (and worth trying since I have both ingredients... )

[TSherbs]

On 7/19/2021 at 11:32 PM, aurore said:

 

That's looks like a good match!

[sansenri]

this is my mix of Pelikan Royal blue and Diamine Sargasso Sea 4:1.

I wasn't trying to mimic Asa Gao, the colour tone close match came by chance, although my mix is slightly darker.

My scope was mostly use up Pelikan Royal blue (of which I have stock...) and make it look slightly more interesting, the result is also cheap (only one part Sargasso and 4 parts Royal blue).

To match Asa Gao closer (only in the colour, of course), Sargasso should be slightly reduced, possibly a touch of Diamine Sapphire might help too.

Anyway, fun (btw, the mix is fully tested at length, this is not my first batch, and absolutely safe).

 

[amberleadavis]

32 minutes ago, sansenri said:

this is my mix of Pelikan Royal blue and Diamine Sargasso Sea 4:1.

I wasn't trying to mimic Asa Gao, the colour tone close match came by chance, although my mix is slightly darker.

My scope was mostly use up Pelikan Royal blue (of which I have stock...) and make it look slightly more interesting, the result is also cheap (only one part Sargasso and 4 parts Royal blue).

To match Asa Gao closer (only in the colour, of course), Sargasso should be slightly reduced, possibly a touch of Diamine Sapphire might help too.

Anyway, fun (btw, the mix is fully tested at length, this is not my first batch, and absolutely safe).

 

 

Don't forget to add this to ink recipes.

[sansenri]

thank you, will do!

 

(done!)

[aurore]

On 7/27/2021 at 6:30 PM, sansenri said:

thank you aurore, this looks good!
unfortunately photos temd to lose part of the nuances

 

I've made some attempts with Diamine Asa, but the turquoise hue that is just slightly perceptible in your last photo confirms my impression that that part is not present in Asa Gao

 

very nice mix nonetheess! (and worth trying since I have both ingredients... )

 

Well, yes. But actually no. 
First of all we are matching the colour not the particular dyes/components, aren't we? And this is almost the exact match (even performance is similar - it is a nice wet ink). Secondly, Iro Asa Gao is a actually a mixture of turquoise (though rather on a blue side than on green, turquoise nevertheless) and purple (in fact it is rather magenta) dyes. The turqiouse dye is dominant in Asa Gao chromatography.