What are some Grail Inks?

[The_Beginner]

We’ve all heard of grail pens—the ones people cherish above all others. But it raises the question: what makes a "grail ink"? In my searches, I've mostly seen people mention Penman Sapphire as a grail ink, so naturally, I had to investigate. After some digging (and rejecting those sky-high eBay prices), I found a vendor offering it for $50. It’s on the way, and I can’t wait to test it out. But in the meantime, I’d love to hear about your grail inks! What inks hold that special place in your heart?

[kestrel]

Grail ink is an ink with a great color and stellar behavior that has achieved unobtainium status.  It is no longer produced or the manufacturer has gone belly up or it is too expensive for mere mortals like me to justify the price.

My grail inks include:

Blackstone (out of business) Uluru Red, Sydney Harbor Blue, and Daintree Green.

Birmingham Damselfly and Frick Stained Glass.  The latter is gone forever.  Maybe if I nag enough (or bribe the owner with my homemade cookies) there will be another production run of Damselfly.

Noodler's Violet Vote.  Nathan made one batch and then ran out of a critical dye component.  It's my wife's favorite ink and we are down to ten fills.

Levenger Fireball was a lovely ink but it has been out of production for more than a decade.  I have horded enough that I don't feel the need to ration it.

Lots of people miss Penman Sapphire.  Check out some of the attempts to create a replacement using existing inks here:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/search/?q=penman sapphire&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=126

 

If the link doesn't work copy and paste into your browser.

[flashvictor]

Montblanc Racing Green is my grail ink.  Perfectly behaved and fantastic green/black color.  It has been out of production for at least 10 years.

 

Visconti Blue - original formulation - discontinued 2021 - This was my favorite blue ink, bright, well behaved and worked well in all pens.

Edited November 5, 2024 by flashvictor
Clarification

[The_Beginner]

1 hour ago, kestrel said:

Grail ink is an ink with a great color and stellar behavior that has achieved unobtainium status.  It is no longer produced or the manufacturer has gone belly up or it is too expensive for mere mortals like me to justify the price.

My grail inks include:

Blackstone (out of business) Uluru Red, Sydney Harbor Blue, and Daintree Green.

Birmingham Damselfly and Frick Stained Glass.  The latter is gone forever.  Maybe if I nag enough (or bribe the owner with my homemade cookies) there will be another production run of Damselfly.

Noodler's Violet Vote.  Nathan made one batch and then ran out of a critical dye component.  It's my wife's favorite ink and we are down to ten fills.

Levenger Fireball was a lovely ink but it has been out of production for more than a decade.  I have horded enough that I don't feel the need to ration it.

Lots of people miss Penman Sapphire.  Check out some of the attempts to create a replacement using existing inks here:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/search/?q=penman sapphire&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=126

 

If the link doesn't work copy and paste into your browser.

 

24 minutes ago, flashvictor said:

Montblanc Racing Green is my grail ink.  Perfectly behaved and fantastic green/black color.  It has been out of production for at least 10 years.

 

Visconti Blue - original formulation - discontinued 2021 - This was my favorite blue ink, bright, well behaved and worked well in all pens.

Ngl the both of you had me googling some colors and i must say thank you for your knowledge and those inks are truly amazing

[davisgt]

Waterman Havana Brown.  No longer being produced. Dark chocolate in an ink. Mmm.

[tde44x]

9 hours ago, flashvictor said:

Montblanc Racing Green is my grail ink.  Perfectly behaved and fantastic green/black color.  It has been out of production for at least 10 years.

 

Visconti Blue - original formulation - discontinued 2021 - This was my favorite blue ink, bright, well behaved and worked well in all pens.

Several decades ago - before I retired - the MB Racing Green was relatively cheap I had gone through a couple of bottles. But then my FP use tapered off and I never bought more. In hindsight, I wish I had bought a few bottles and held on to them to use now. While I would love a bottle or two, I can't bring myself to pay what people are asking now for an old bottle of ink.

[PAKMAN]

Parker Penman Sapphire was my grail ink and at one time I managed to purchase a half dozen bottles from a fellow in Greece. I have since sold most of them off and have one bottle left. I haven't used it in forever in a pen. 

[mulrich]

Penman Sapphire is the obvious first one that comes to mind. 

Pen and Message Cigar is probably another worthy ink for consideration. It was sold from a small shop in Japan and I'm not sure it's around anymore. 

[Penguincollector]

  The ink that I’ve heard so much about, but have never seen in person is Sheaffer Persian Rose. My personal favorite discontinued ink is their Peacock Blue. Luckily I have some carts and a full bottle. Another ink that I would like to try is Pilot 100th Anniversary Ebisu. There’s so much ink out there now.

[Runnin_Ute]

Levenger Pomegranate is/was a grail ink for me. I may have a couple of fills left. It's a beautiful dark red with sheen that is the color of a Pomegranate.  It was discontinued a decade or more ago. I happened to get lucky and fell into a second  bottle that was a partial. I used to look periodically, but haven't in some time.

 

The closest color I have seen elsewhere is Diamine Writers Blood, and it isn't spot on. Plus it's a lot wetter than Pomegranate was.

 

Levenger inks are pretty underrated in my opinion. Currently I have bottles of Amethyst, Forest Green, Cobalt Blue, and Blue Bahama. 

[inkstainedruth]

Hmmm.  I think I'd have to go more modern/recent than what a lot of people have said so far -- I'm just kicking myself that I did NOT get a second bottle of the MB Jimi Hendrix homage ink when I had the chance (even at full retail price) because it's GORGEOUS!  And of course now it costs an arm and a leg and another arm....  

And still have yet to find an ink that is close enough in color to the MB Tolstoy ink (someone suggested KWZI Walks Over Vistula, but that isn't close enough.

But the REAL grail ink, for me?  That hast to be the IG blue-black ink made my FPN member Pharmacist (hey, has anyone heard from him in a few years?): Urkundentinte.  It was just a wonderful ink (he was, I think one of the first people to be doing IG inks in colors besides blue-black), and much as I've loved a lot of the KWZI inks (particularly their IG line) their IG blue black #54 just is NOT the same. 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[The_Beginner]

41 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Hmmm.  I think I'd have to go more modern/recent than what a lot of people have said so far -- I'm just kicking myself that I did NOT get a second bottle of the MB Jimi Hendrix homage ink when I had the chance (even at full retail price) because it's GORGEOUS!  And of course now it costs an arm and a leg and another arm....  

 

 

After you mentioned this in another post i found one that is a lil closer of a match https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-monboddos-hat 

[inkstainedruth]

I've been curious about Monboddo's Hat, but haven't had a chance to try the sample I have of it (and have wondered -- given just how many different purple inks Diamine makes -- if I could find something that is a close match to the Jimi Hendrix ink.  But the link you posted shows it with having a bit of a reddish sheen or undertone to it.  Which the MB homage does not have, IME -- it's just PURPLE....  And I was running it in the sterling Ciséle Parker 75, which has a B nib....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[The_Beginner]

13 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

I've been curious about Monboddo's Hat, but haven't had a chance to try the sample I have of it (and have wondered -- given just how many different purple inks Diamine makes -- if I could find something that is a close match to the Jimi Hendrix ink.  But the link you posted shows it with having a bit of a reddish sheen or undertone to it.  Which the MB homage does not have, IME -- it's just PURPLE....  And I was running it in the sterling Ciséle Parker 75, which has a B nib....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

slight greenish sheen if u want a sample i dont mind sending ya 3ml of a bottle i have later mid nov if you want

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks but at the moment I ALREADY have way too many inks I haven't tried yet.... 🤦‍♀️

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[The_Beginner]

19 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Thanks but at the moment I ALREADY have way too many inks I haven't tried yet.... 🤦‍♀️

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

🫡 I feel the same thats mainly why i was offering the sample need to cut into my supply

[Chris1]

I would say Penman Sapphire, but I do have a few bottles still. Joy.

 

However, I see from Flashvictor that my other lovely blue - Visconti Blue - was changed in 2021 in some way. My remaining bottle is certainly older and so must be the original formula but does anyone know whether I'll be disappointed with the new version?

 

Ah, MB Racing Green - horrible stuff, hated the colour, or lack thereof - sold mine to a happy member on here.

 

I guess it means I am not searching for unobtanium for now, unless it is Aurora Black. Am I right in thinking that hasn't changed from years ago when many felt it was the blackest black (though the price is somewhat higher)?

 

 

[flashvictor]

On 11/5/2024 at 7:20 AM, tde44x said:

Several decades ago - before I retired - the MB Racing Green was relatively cheap I had gone through a couple of bottles. But then my FP use tapered off and I never bought more. In hindsight, I wish I had bought a few bottles and held on to them to use now. While I would love a bottle or two, I can't bring myself to pay what people are asking now for an old bottle of ink.

I also wish I had bought more MB Racing Green.  I’m down to around 10 ml and not paying up for a new old stock bottle on secondary market.

[SamCapote]

On 11/5/2024 at 9:44 AM, PAKMAN said:

Parker Penman Sapphire was my grail ink and at one time I managed to purchase a half dozen bottles from a fellow in Greece. I have since sold most of them off and have one bottle left. I haven't used it in forever in a pen. 

 

 

I finally got around to using the Scriber PPS look alike.  The rich color is similar....not quite as rich looking of a blue....but a deal breaker for me is the tremendous bleed through.  I wrote a check for my water bill, and lots of spots on the next check that I had to shred and not use.  Even on Tomoe River and the old Staples "Sustainable Earth" tablets have way too much bleed through....not leaking on the next page, but pretty close.

 

Bottom line, I'm back to my large stash of PPS.

[lamarax]

• Pelikan 4001 Blue Black (for blue black)
• Sailor Manyo Kakitsubata (ditto)
• Waterman Serenity Blue (for royal blurple)
• De Atramentis Aubergine (for purple)
• Sailor ink studio #752 (for deep purple)
• Akkerman Delfts Blauw Diamine China Blue (for washable, cerulean blue)
• S.T. Dupont Black (was: Aurora Black)
• J. Herbin Cacao du Brésil (for sepia)
• J. Herbin Lie de Thé (for warm brown/tobacco)
• Taccia Hokusai Sabimidori (for ???)
• J. Herbin Moulin Rouge (for... rouge)
• Sailor Shikiori Yodaki (for alarm red)
• Diamine Oxblood (for blood)
• Taccia Utamaro Ume murasaki (for maroon)
• Sailor Manyo Uri (for golden-brown)
• R. Oster Gold Antiqua (for bronze)
• KWZ Honey (for... honey, it gets sticky)
• J. Herbin Rouille d'ancre (for porky pink)
• I don't like green to write
• Graf von Faber-Castell Stone Grey (for depressive grey)

...oof, that's more Grails than the Apostles. Oh well, I could go on, but it's bedtime 🙂