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List of Inks by Popularity

OCArt

By OCArt
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OCArt Donor Pen

OCArt

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Here are the top 25 inks listed by popularity from the Fountain Pen Companion website. That site continues to list many more inks down to those submitted by only one user. The number in parenthesis is the number of users with that ink in their collection. On the Fountain Pen Companion website you can click on an ink's name to see swatches of the color and user reviews.  Nice!

 

  1. Diamine Oxblood (882)
  2. J. Herbin 1670 Emerald of Chivor (873)
  3. Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo (831)
  4. Diamine Ancient Copper (815)
  5. Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki (810)
  6. Diamine Earl Grey (638)
  7. Noodler's Apache Sunset (631)
  8. Robert Oster Fire and Ice (579)
  9. Diamine Aurora Borealis (549)
  10. Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrün (534)
  11. Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-kai (534)
  12. Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo (518)
  13. Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-Gao (511)
  14. Organics Studio Nitrogen Royal Blue (510)
  15. Waterman Serenity Blue (497)
  16. Diamine Red Dragon (490)
  17. Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku (485)
  18. Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses (469)
  19. Sailor Shikiori Yama-Dori (465)
  20. Pilot Iroshizuku Murasaki-Shikibu (463)
  21. Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-ro (440)
  22. Diamine Autumn Oak (428)
  23. Diamine Sherwood Green (427)
  24. Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-Gaki (421)
  25. Sailor Manyo Haha (421)

...............................................................

We Are Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams

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LizEF Museum Piece

LizEF

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Thanks for this.  I was only vaguely aware of the tool, but didn't know it had grown so much!  Whoever runs it must pull reviews because all the inks I have in above list also have the reviews linked from the corresponding page - very cool that they're actively collecting reviews.  This and InkSwatch.com make for fabulous resources!

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Licue Rare

Licue

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Pretty nice tool 🙂 I think I stumbled across it before, but then lost the link. So thanks for reminding me - could be pretty useful for finding reviews. 

 

As for the list: It's interesting, but I can't help but feel that it is majorly distorted. Realistically there should be way more of the inexpensive standard blues and blacks up there. 

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A Smug Dill Museum Piece

A Smug Dill

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6 minutes ago, Licue said:

As for the list: It's interesting, but I can't help but feel that it is majorly distorted.

 

I don't think the list and the user numbers are meant represent or reflect anything other than the user base of that tool. Fountain pen users globally are not proportionally represented; and I daresay fountain pen hobbyists globally are not proportionally represented. Or even FPN members as a subset of the latter, for that matter.

 

Furthermore, having the ink does not mean liking, endorsing or recommending it. If >400 users have an ink they don't particularly like, perhaps because it just comes supplied as standard in cartridges for a common or popular brand of fountain pen, does the inks still qualify as being ‘popular’?

 

So, if the list is not intended to reflect, and cannot be construed as reflecting, some much larger superset of fountain pen ink users, then I don't think one could say the list is distorted for the much more limited subset from which data was sourced. It's not meant to be any sort of meaningful or carefully considered sampling of a broader population.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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HE46 New

HE46

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A nice list, but I second Smug Dills opinion: It says absolutely nothing about the real popularity of an ink, neither in terms of quality nor quantity. For example, Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue - the standard ink in Germany, available in every supermarket - is listed on place 130. Millions of schoolkids use the cartridges every day. Also Lamy Royal Blue (place 34) and Online Royal Blue (listed on place 3498) are used in large quantities by German school kids. 

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inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

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I'm not sure what it says about me, but I only like five inks on the list: Iroshizuku Yama-budo, Kon-peki, and Murasaki-Shikibu; Diamine Earl Grey; and Noodler's BSiAR.... 

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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InkyColors Rare

InkyColors

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It’s a great site and useful tool. My favorite part is “currently inked” where you keep track of which inks are in which pens. I also like the list of “my inks” and think that it’s nice that you can add notes (public or private) about the inks.

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amberleadavis Pen Dust

amberleadavis

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@OCArt thank you!  Of the top 25, only 1 ink, Diamine Aurora Borealis , remains untried by me, and more than one I have gifted away.

 

Like @inkstainedruth I have a wide variety of inks, but I tend to be very particular about what I like.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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ParramattaPaul Antique

ParramattaPaul

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Well, that list confirms my belief that I habitually choose the path less taken.   That, or that I have bad tastes in ink.  Not one of the inks I use is on the list.

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amberleadavis Pen Dust

amberleadavis

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19 minutes ago, ParramattaPaul said:

Well, that list confirms my belief that I habitually choose the path less taken.   That, or that I have bad tastes in ink.  Not one of the inks I use is on the list.

 

Just because I've tried them, doesn't mean I love them.  My favorites didn't even make the list.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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lapis Museum Piece

lapis

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Posted
On 4/26/2022 at 7:52 AM, Licue said:

 

As for the list: It's interesting, but I can't help but feel that it is majorly distorted.

Ditto. Distorted IMO in that it is only sensible/useful when done for "one" color. 

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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dftr Rare

dftr

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THe list is probably accurate for fountain pen enthusiasts.  They don't really have any blacks which would be one of the most common color used in work/school but again in that situation you're likely just happy to be using a FP rather than a BP so you don't want to stand out w/ flashy ink...

 

The one ink on the list I question is #25 Manyo Haha.  I often see it out of stock and I had assumed this is from people using it for water painting.  I have no idea how people can literally write with it.  The ink's dry and faint so I have trouble seeing the lines...  After it dries it looks great but oh how rough it is...

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dragondazd Vintage

dragondazd

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11 minutes ago, dftr said:

THe list is probably accurate for fountain pen enthusiasts.  They don't really have any blacks which would be one of the most common color used in work/school but again in that situation you're likely just happy to be using a FP rather than a BP so you don't want to stand out w/ flashy ink...

 

The one ink on the list I question is #25 Manyo Haha.  I often see it out of stock and I had assumed this is from people using it for water painting.  I have no idea how people can literally write with it.  The ink's dry and faint so I have trouble seeing the lines...  After it dries it looks great but oh how rough it is...

From my web browsing it looks like a lot of people love it (including me) and they probably bought their ONE BOTTLE that will never run out for the observations you stated. 

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dftr Rare

dftr

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27 minutes ago, dragondazd said:

From my web browsing it looks like a lot of people love it (including me) and they probably bought their ONE BOTTLE that will never run out for the observations you stated. 

I was hoping there was some secret mix w/ water or white lightning or a paper which makes it useable.  

Only thing I can think of is using pencil lines first and then going over it... though I have no idea how it'll react to an eraser after it's dried.  

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Licue Rare

Licue

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Posted
1 hour ago, dftr said:

THe list is probably accurate for fountain pen enthusiasts.  They don't really have any blacks which would be one of the most common color used in work/school but again in that situation you're likely just happy to be using a FP rather than a BP so you don't want to stand out w/ flashy ink...

Well, obviously the data for the list comes from FP/ink enthusiasts - "normal" people are not using ink databases, let alone contribute to one.

But I would expect that most of the enthusiasts with lots of special and colorful inks still have a least one blue or black standard ink, if not for writing then at least for comparing/testing/vintage pens.

What I suspect that might be the reason for the standard inks' low numbers, is, that many contributors maybe do not have entered their complete ink collection into the database - they might have started with listing their more unusual inks and then kinda lost interest when it came to the boring standard ones. But even with that theory I find it somewhat odd that of all things Oxblood got 1st place 🤷🏼‍♀️

Could it be that maybe Diamine released Oxblood around the time that site started? That it was the hot new ink at that time? 🤔

 

(btw, this is just some brainstorming/baseless speculation from me 😉)

 

 

1 hour ago, dftr said:

The one ink on the list I question is #25 Manyo Haha.  I often see it out of stock and I had assumed this is from people using it for water painting.  I have no idea how people can literally write with it.  The ink's dry and faint so I have trouble seeing the lines...  After it dries it looks great but oh how rough it is...

I would have expected Sailor Manyo Haha a bit further down the list too, but I'm not that surprised. It's a multishader, a fascinating ink. I can totally understand why people would want a bottle (I want one too! 😍), even if it's not the most practical ink for everyday writing.

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Karmachanic Donor Pen

Karmachanic

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Posted
1 hour ago, dftr said:

I have no idea how people can literally write with it.  The ink's dry and faint so I have trouble seeing the lines...  After it dries it looks great but oh how rough it is...

 

Pelikan M1000 'll fix that.  :rolleyes:

Add lightness and simplicate.

 

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dftr Rare

dftr

Posted
Posted

So looking at JetPens, the top 10 bottled inks (excluding sample bottles) ranked by popularity

1) Platinum Carbon Black

2) Pilot Take-Sumi

3) JHerbin Emeraude du Chivor

4) Kon-Peki

5) Noodler's Eel Black 

6) J Herbin Shogun

7) De Atramentis Document Black

8) Sailor Manyo Ha Ha

9) Pilot Murasaki

10) Sailor Manyo Nekoyanagi

 

This to me would be more realistic list for FP enthusiasts.  I suspect the Shogun ink is popular current and not necessarily a long one.  And they're missing brands like Montblanc, Organic Studios, or KWZ.  

Again still surprised that bloody Ha Ha is there :)  It is my semi-translucent white whale...

 

BTW, Goulet Pens top 10

1) Ferris Wheel Press Roaring Patina Black (Limited Edition)

2) Organic Studio Nitrogen

3) Pelikan Edelstein Moonstone (Sale)

4) Noodler's Baystate Blue

5) Kon-Peki

6) Diamine Writer's Blood

7) Pelikan Star Ruby (Sale)

8) OS Henry David

9) J Herbin Emerald of Chivor

10) Noodler's Liberty Elysium

...

13) Sailor Mother #$#@ Ha-Ha

 

Goulet pens has some big sales that are pushing Edelstein inks.  I'm guessing Kon-Peki and Emerald of Chivor must both be awesome inks!  I have Kon-Peki and may consider Emerald for those rare times I want to mess w/ Glitter...

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