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I need a dark (blurple) blue ink...


IanP2303

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I've been ink mixing and used Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue as well as other inks, because of 4001 Royal Blue's undesirable "colour changing" qualities. The ink I mixed turned from a rich blue to a grey-ish ink. This is what I need:

 

Dark Blue (similar to 4001 Royal Blue when wet)

Preferably no sheen, no shimmer

Affordable

Commonly found 

 

Thanks!

 

Cheers,

Ian 

EF nibs!!!

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If you are looking for blurple, consider Robert Oster dragon's night which I have been mixing with other RO inks.. Sheen is minimal.

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25 minutes ago, dragondazd said:

If you are looking for blurple, consider Robert Oster dragon's night which I have been mixing with other RO inks.. Sheen is minimal.

Love the ink, but a bit too dark, thanks anyways

 

Cheers,

Ian

EF nibs!!!

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Noodler's X-Feather Blue fits the description. It does sheen a bit, but only in very wet writers. I use it in my Kaweco and it writes like a normal blurple that shades quite dark, also permanent and well behaved on cheap paper.

It can stain some plastics a little bit, it was a bit hard to remove from the section of my kaweco but I was able to. No staining on the converter.

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To my eye, Waterman Serenity Blue can kick out purple in a wet enough pen. It fulfills all your criteria, although it can sometimes kick up some sheen(yes, really) with the right nib/paper combination. If you want you can also make Richard Binder's original "Blurple" by mixing Waterman blue and purple equally.

 

I started to put down my current favorite Blurple of Lamy Crystal Azurite, but it is definitely a sheening ink.

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WSB actually does sheen like crazy on some paper, if laid down thick enough. 

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5 hours ago, FLZapped said:

Perhaps Private Reserve "Black Magic Blue"

A fabulous suggestion, but I am considering DC Supershow Blue, love the colour. Albeit Black Magic Blue is what I am looking for. I'm not sure Black Magic Blue is available in Hong Kong?

EF nibs!!!

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1 hour ago, MHBru said:

how about iroshizuku asa gao

Still considering, I saw this a long time ago and love the colour and properties,  but it is rather expensive. Are there cheaper alternatives?

EF nibs!!!

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4 hours ago, dragondazd said:

Nice blue, but I wouldn't call it dark...although I only use EF nibs so there's that too!

I wanted to add Lamy Crystal Azurite, but it's on the sheening side, although with a fine nib that doesn't show much :D 

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11 hours ago, IanP2303 said:

A fabulous suggestion, but I am considering DC Supershow Blue, love the colour. Albeit Black Magic Blue is what I am looking for. I'm not sure Black Magic Blue is available in Hong Kong?

 

If you like Supershow Blue, there are a whole lot of inks in that general color category. I sometimes call it "Cobalt Blue", and it's a favorite of mine(and many others). The "grandaddy" ink in this color category is Parker Penman Sapphire, and a lot of other inks have attempted to replicate it.

 

If you're eying Supershow Blue, take a look at what IMO is the very similar PR American Blue.

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5 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Nice blue, but I wouldn't call it dark...although I only use EF nibs so there's that too!

I wanted to add Lamy Crystal Azurite, but it's on the sheening side, although with a fine nib that doesn't show much :D 

Shrug. I don't consider asa gao dark myself.

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13 hours ago, bunnspecial said:

 

If you like Supershow Blue, there are a whole lot of inks in that general color category. I sometimes call it "Cobalt Blue", and it's a favorite of mine(and many others). The "grandaddy" ink in this color category is Parker Penman Sapphire, and a lot of other inks have attempted to replicate it.

 

If you're eying Supershow Blue, take a look at what IMO is the very similar PR American Blue.

Cheers! I actually want Parker Penman sapphire, but they discontinued it. A pity indeed. "Cobalt blue" or "Sapphire blue" is exactly what I am looking for. 

 

Cheers,

Ian

EF nibs!!!

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I am a fan of Monteverde Sapphire.  Lives up to its labeling.

 

There's also Levenger Cobalt Blue, which also lives up to its labeling but is a VERY saturated ink with some smearing issues even after it dries.

 

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39 minutes ago, IanP2303 said:

Cheers! I actually want Parker Penman sapphire, but they discontinued it. A pity indeed. "Cobalt blue" or "Sapphire blue" is exactly what I am looking for. 

 

Cheers,

Ian

Well, Penman Sapphire is available and actually reasonably plentiful on the secondary market(it's a lot easier to find than Penman Emerald and Ruby in my experience!) but it's out there.

 

There are a lot of PPS dopelgangers. For the past year, I've been trying to talk up Scribe Indigo, which is made by the guy who developed the Penman inks for Parker. Bungubox First Love Sapphire is not to my eye a great hue match(I think it's a bit more blue) but gets the saturation correct. Asa Gao is one of my go-to easy to find ones. PR Supershow Blue and American Blue are very similar to each other, and reasonable fascimiles.

 

I'll also mention one I used more recently that's not a perfect match, but has the same feel and a lot of saturation-Visconti Blue. It is a nice dark and saturated blue color.

 

Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue is to my eye a bit darker, but has the reddish sheen and general feel of PPS. Supposedly Diamine Majestic Blue is more or less the same ink, but I've not tried them side by side.

 

As I'm mentioning these inks, I'll add that I'm only discussing inks I personally own and have used, and I do have more than enough Penman to compare them directly.

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Two more PPS doppelgängers: Diamine Blue Velvet and Monteverde Horizon Blue.  

 

But I've personally never thought of PPS and its clones as part of the family of sapphire/cobalt inks; instead I consider them "true blues", difference being that the sapphire/cobalt inks have a slight purple tinge to them.

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