Parker and Waterman inks.

[Gord K.]

My forum searching skills suck so if I am asking questions that have already been answered, I apologize.

 

The addresses on the bottom of the boxes of my Parker Quink Blue-Black and Waterman Mysterious Blue show they are both products of Newell Europe based in Switzerland. They are produced in Boulogne-Billancourt, France although the actual street addresses are different. So, my questions are:

 

1. Are both of these inks the same formula?

 

2. It is my understanding, from a few different sources, that Waterman inks are kind of the goto for troubleshooting fountain pen writing issues. Is this still the case? And if so, does that imply that the Parker inks could also be used in the same capacity?

 

I can usually buy Parker Quink locally, Waterman I have to order online so if the answers to both questions are "Yes", then I will continue to purchase the Parker ink. 

 

Thank you for your thoughts.

 

Gord

[Olya]

To me, the answer to both questions is "yes".

 

You'd have to check maps regarding the differing addresses, it might be the same building spread over two streets or one address being an office and the other the factory.

 

Anyway, some say they can find differences in the inks, but I cannot. Water resistance tests perform the same, chroma tests show the same and even changes in the ink are the same (eg both blue blacks used to fade to a green/teal colour, but both formulas have been changed and there is no longer a colour shift in either blue black).

 

I can never be convinced they are different inks and money-wise it wouldn't be very cost effective to produce different ink lines. We all know how companies love to penny-pinch.

 

Even if there are differences, they would be so minor that it's not really worth it to jump through hoops to get one ink when the other is locally available in shops.

[inkstainedruth]

@Gord K.Not having ever tried the modern Quink Blue-Black, I wouldn't be able to say one way or the other. 

I do like Waterman Mysterious Blue, which is well behaved in some of my vintage pens (particularly the Red Shadow Wave Vacumatic).  Although "Mysterious" is a good description of the color -- a few years ago I had people in my local pen club absolutely convinced it was GREEN ink on some paper (!) and I was going, "Nope -- I know what's in this pen!"

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[arcfide]

I strongly suspect that they are at the very least almost the same ink. I do think I have seen different performance between Waterman Black and Parker Black inks, even though they show up at least nearly identical in terms of their chemical composition. I have a small suspicion that maybe the saturation levels of Waterman inks are a little higher, or they are made just a little wetter than the Parker inks, since Waterman Black seems to flow a little better than Parker Black. But other than flow and saturation, and small differences there if there are any, they are likely the same basic ink. 

 

As for pen testing, traditionally, a simple blue ink is preferred for many pen tests because it is easy and inexpensive to source a "washable" blue ink. They also wash out very readily from pens without any staining, and so they are very good for testing. Most such traditional inks are not overly wet, and so they won't hide issues with the nib that a wet ink might obscure. For some users, Waterman and Parker inks were the most readily available in their area, and so they make for a good option, but any of the classics are good options. Any of the washable/traditional blues from any of the major pen makers as well as Diamine and Herbin are likely to be very good choices. However, it's worth noting that normally it is the traditional blue ink that is considered the "testing" ink, and not necessarily the rest of the lines. Waterman's Blue Black is probably just as good, but other company blue blacks might not be as suitable due to their unique characteristics, and the same goes for many black inks by various makers. Red-based inks are often avoided for testing because they can stain more easily. 

 

If you are doing a ton of ink testing, Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue comes in a large size and would work just as well as Waterman or Parker Blue. 

[Gord K.]

Thank you for your replies. Just to be clear, I am looking for a good reliable blue-black ink for everyday use - I'm not doing a lot of pen testing as such. I can usually get Parker Quink at the local Staples store. I did buy a bottle of Sheaffer blue-black but the store where I bought that isn't sure when, or even if, they will be getting it again. Lamy blue-black, also available locally, is too grey for my liking.

 

Inks that I got via the internet;

Pelikan 4001 did not work well in the pens I tried it in, and it's been so long, I don't really even remember which pens those were.

The Sailor ink I got is okay.

I liked the Waterman Mysterious Blue!

 

The bottom line is, if Waterman and Parker are essentially the same ink, I will continue to buy and use the Parker ink because it's affordable and available locally. My pen of choice is the capillary fill Parker 61 with an extra fine nib (I have more than one) and I really like the Sailor Compass with its MF nib.

 

Cheers, 

Gord