EFNIR: Sheaffer Skrip Turquoise

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Sheaffer Skrip Turquoise

This is review #310 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: (Sorry, the video doesn't seem to be focused as well as usual.)

I added a couple drops of distilled water to make up for evaporation. I don't believe it was enough to significantly alter the ink's properties for review. I took the ink out of turn so I can get my cartridges reviewed before they evaporate too much.

This is your standard turquoise that all the old manufacturers make.  If you want it with silver glitter added, get Diamine Blue Lightning. Don't worry that it's currently hard to find - just get any of the comparison inks...

The microscope slide was boring as could be. Cleaning was quick and easy.

Zoomed in photo (Very close to reality.)

Screenshot (Color is off a little. The zoom is closer.)

Scan of Completed Review (On one monitor, it's too blue; on the other, it's a little under-saturated. Go with the zoom.)

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (Both are a little brighter than reality.)

Line width (The "I" in "Ink:". Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. The line width for this ink is roughly 327µm. With 310 inks measured, the average line width is 297µm.)

Previous Review: Caran d'Ache Electric Orange.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

Want to influence the inky sequence? Take the "next ink" poll.

View a list of my inks, complete with review results in a google sheet.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh? Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[yazeh]

Thanks @LizEF for such touching review

The colour is as soothing as the storyline, which is inspired, poignant and experienced. Essri adds the right amount of pathos and lightness to these moments which go well with colour.  

To my eyes, the video is in focus, though more often than not I listen to the video  

Thanks for bringing grace to this Tuesday 🙏🙏🙏

[Sailor Kenshin]

It's turquoise all right.  A noisy, tippety-tappin' groanin' turquoise.

 

I have it.  I have a few of the comparison inks too.  I like turquoise.  It's a summer beach/pool color that makes me happy.

 

Holding my breath, crossing my fingers for Quin's father.  Aww, Ethhri, hoping to help.  

 

You manage to make Tuesdays magical and fun... I always look forward to the review and story.  @LizEF, many thanks, as always.

[LizEF]

42 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Thanks @LizEF for such touching review

You're very welcome!

 

43 minutes ago, yazeh said:

The colour is as soothing as the storyline, which is inspired, poignant and experienced. Essri adds the right amount of pathos and lightness to these moments which go well with colour.  

I kind of wish the color had something unique to offer, but since most Sheaffer inks are approaching unobtainium right now, it's all for the best that it's no different from the others.  Didn't think about the color matching the story, but yes, a nice match there.

 

44 minutes ago, yazeh said:

To my eyes, the video is in focus, though more often than not I listen to the video  

Glad to hear it.  It's not very far off, but it's not as good as usual - I forgot to refocus after removing the swatch cards.

 

45 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Thanks for bringing grace to this Tuesday 🙏🙏🙏

You're motht welcome!

[LizEF]

44 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

It's turquoise all right.  A noisy, tippety-tappin' groanin' turquoise.

 

44 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I have it.  I have a few of the comparison inks too.  I like turquoise.  It's a summer beach/pool color that makes me happy.

I do too, but it's the same color all over again.  I wish they'd each make their turquoise unique in some way.  It's taking forever to use up the remainder in my Sheaffer Icon, F (really wish I'd gotten a medium - their F is like a western EF) and the below average lubrication is annoying...

 

46 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Holding my breath, crossing my fingers for Quin's father.  Aww, Ethhri, hoping to help.  

  We're building up to two scenes - one soon (split between the next two reviews), one a while later (not even written yet, just planned).

 

46 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

You manage to make Tuesdays magical and fun... I always look forward to the review and story.

Thanks!

 

46 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

@LizEF, many thanks, as always.

You're most welcome!

[Paul-in-SF]

Turquoise is a vexing color for me, or at least a vexing name of a color. Because, of course, actual turquoise stone runs a gamut of colors from very green to very blue (like this one). Therefore I always think any ink worth calling turquoise should lean at least a little towards green, and not be (as this seems to me) just a pure light blue. Very few "turquoise" named inks that I have seen are any greener than this one, if any are at all. And so I am always dissatisfied. 

 

I know this is not a very popular view, but it is my view and I stick by it. 

[LizEF]

5 minutes ago, Paul-in-SF said:

Turquoise is a vexing color for me, or at least a vexing name of a color. Because, of course, actual turquoise stone runs a gamut of colors from very green to very blue (like this one). Therefore I always think any ink worth calling turquoise should lean at least a little towards green, and not be (as this seems to me) just a pure light blue. Very few "turquoise" named inks that I have seen are any greener than this one, if any are at all. And so I am always dissatisfied. 

 

I know this is not a very popular view, but it is my view and I stick by it. 

Whatever we call it, this one isn't unique.

[Dillo]

1 hour ago, Paul-in-SF said:

Very few "turquoise" named inks that I have seen are any greener than this one, if any are at all. And so I am always dissatisfied. 

 

I know this is not a very popular view, but it is my view and I stick by it. 

 

Diamine Havasu Turquoise has some additional green, but it is still very predominately blue. Have you tried Diamine Steel Blue or Soft Mint by any chance?

 

This does seem to remind me of Sheaffer Peacock Blue. I also used Sheaffer's Slovenian-made Turquoise Skrip. Most of these turquoises are pretty similar because they use the exact same dye. Currently I use either OMAS Turquoise (whatever I have left of it anyway) and Lamy Turquoise, but I have both Diamine Turquoise and Diamine Havasu Turquoise as well. OMAS Turquoise, Lamy Turquoise, and Diamine Turquoise are fairly indistinguishable.

[Mercian]

3 minutes ago, Dillo said:

This does seem to remind me of Sheaffer Peacock Blue

 

Go on, taunt me with your happy memories of the Unobtainium! 😉

 

I never had any of it, but every time that I have seen anything written with it I find myself coveting it!

[Dillo]

Just now, Mercian said:

 

Go on, taunt me with your happy memories of the Unobtainium! 😉

 

I never had any of it, but every time that I have seen anything written with it I find myself coveting it!

Peacock Blue is pretty much indistinguishable with Diamine Turquoise. It seemed to me to be a single dye ink which I believe Diamine Turquoise is as well. It just had a fancy name. I've used it side by side with OMAS Turquoise, and they were pretty much identical. From OMAS Turquoise I went to Diamine Turquoise as my replacement. Lamy Turquoise is pretty indistinguishable from either as well. I've tested it extensively using the same kinds of pens and nibs when I had Peacock Blue. You aren't really missing anything if you have the others I tested it against. They are even very similar in flow and saturation

[Mercian]

5 hours ago, LizEF said:

It's taking forever to use up the remainder in my Sheaffer Icon, F (really wish I'd gotten a medium - their F is like a western EF) and the below average lubrication is annoying...

 

That's an interesting observation.

I have precisely one Sheaffer pen - a Triumph 444 from the 1980s. It was sold to me as having an 'F' nib on it.
The nib grade isn't marked anywhere on the pen, and I find its width to be rather like a 1980s-onwards Parker 'M'.

 

Then again, if you have found this ink to be 'dry', do you think that the lack of flow may be making the Icon's nib seem narrower?
Or have you always found it to write 'narrow'?

[Mercian]

3 minutes ago, Dillo said:

Peacock Blue is pretty much indistinguishable with Diamine Turquoise...

 

Lamy Turquoise is pretty indistinguishable from either as well. I've tested it extensively using the same kinds of pens and nibs when I had Peacock Blue. You aren't really missing anything if you have the others I tested it against. They are even very similar in flow and saturation

 

That's great for me to read - I have Lamy Turquoise (& Pelikan 4001 Turquoise too) - so you have reduced my FOMO, for which I thank you

 

I have had letters from a friend in Diamine Turquoise, and I loved that ink. Luckily, I am in the UK, where it is inexpensive.
But I shall work my way through my Lamy & Pelikan Turquoises first!

[Dillo]

2 minutes ago, Mercian said:

 

That's great for me to read - I have Lamy Turquoise (& Pelikan 4001 Turquoise too) - so you have reduced my FOMO, for which I thank you

 

I have had letters from a friend in Diamine Turquoise, and I loved that ink. Luckily, I am in the UK, where it is inexpensive.
But I shall work my way through my Lamy & Pelikan Turquoises first!

Pelikan Turquoise was one of my favorite inks when I was young. It was the first non-black ink I bought with my own money because back when all I could get at the store was Quink Black which was some sort of dark grey that wasn't grey enough and not black enough. I do use a fair amount of Diamine inks. I test all of my inks in my tester pens first to see if they stain or clog or do anything funny, but I've had a lot of great results from Diamine. I don't use shimmer inks, except in glass dip pens.

[LizEF]

18 minutes ago, Mercian said:

Or have you always found it to write 'narrow'?

Always.  I don't know if it's the Icon or modern Sheaffer, but the nib is too fine - I wanted something closer to a Cross or Waterman F.  This is more like an EF to me (my Kaweco Sport F is also pushing toward western EF, just not as much).  I've decided that the next time I ink it, it's getting Herbin Bleu des Profondeurs, which is wet and exceptionally well lubricated.

[Dillo]

On a side note, I've been following these EFNIR on Youtube for years now because I find them interesting. Some of these inks show up differently in the finer nibs, and it's very good to be able to see how they perform. I have a lot of very fine nibbed pens, and it's very helpful.

 

As I've gotten older (I'm not that old) I've started going to broader nibbed pens. I remember when I was in university over a decade ago, I got one of my papers back with the note (pen too fine, too difficult to read), and from then on, I used broader nibs for certain things to make them easier to see. It was a Platinum Super Extra Fine filled with Aurora Blue back when (see, I still remember).

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Dillo said:

On a side note, I've been following these EFNIR on Youtube for years now because I find them interesting.

Thank you!

 

1 hour ago, Dillo said:

Some of these inks show up differently in the finer nibs...

Exactly!

 

1 hour ago, Dillo said:

...and it's very helpful.

I'm very happy to hear it!

 

1 hour ago, Dillo said:

As I've gotten older (I'm not that old) I've started going to broader nibbed pens. I remember when I was in university over a decade ago, I got one of my papers back with the note (pen too fine, too difficult to read), and from then on, I used broader nibs for certain things to make them easier to see. It was a Platinum Super Extra Fine filled with Aurora Blue back when (see, I still remember).

  Even before I started doing these, I lost my interest in Japanese EF nibs, but I really wanted to do this series because of how different inks can look and how absent the nib tends to be from other reviews.  I don't have problems yet seeing the lines from this nib, but I suppose it's only a matter of time...

[inkstainedruth]

3 hours ago, Dillo said:

This does seem to remind me of Sheaffer Peacock Blue. 

I was kinda thinking the same thing.  I found a 2/3 full pint bottle of Skrip Peacock in an antiques mall a few years ago, but then found one of the small jar bottles (the ones with the ink shelf) of Skrip Peacock Blue which was NOT the same color at all (and feathered a lot in the No Nonsense with an IF nib as well until I refilled that pen with distilled water).  Whereas the stuff from the big bottle behaves REALLY well in the Snorkel with the semi-flex stub nib.

I'm now wondering how modern Skrip Turquoise compares to both of those....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Paul-in-SF]

3 hours ago, Dillo said:

 

Diamine Havasu Turquoise has some additional green, but it is still very predominately blue. Have you tried Diamine Steel Blue or Soft Mint by any chance?

 

This does seem to remind me of Sheaffer Peacock Blue. I also used Sheaffer's Slovenian-made Turquoise Skrip. Most of these turquoises are pretty similar because they use the exact same dye. Currently I use either OMAS Turquoise (whatever I have left of it anyway) and Lamy Turquoise, but I have both Diamine Turquoise and Diamine Havasu Turquoise as well. OMAS Turquoise, Lamy Turquoise, and Diamine Turquoise are fairly indistinguishable.

 

I had a sample of Diamine Havasu Turquoise that I swatched several years ago; it does seem to me to be slightly more green-leaning than the Scrip Turquoise (allowing for the different media, paper vs. on-screen). Steel Blue even more so, maybe too much so. I also have a swatch of Noodler's Turquoise from the same period (5 or so years ago) that is also perhaps too green. Of the swatches I have, my favorites as Turquoises are very similar to each other (to my eye): Diamine Marine and Encre Classique Turquoise. They seem to have the color balance right, and to have the brightness one wants from a turquoise. 

 

I also went to Kiwi Inks' custom ink color wheel and played around with that for a while, and the closest I could get to what I think of as Turquoise is code #6bffee. I'm pretty sure there's a website where you can put in a code like that and see what inks come closest to it, but I can't remember the URL or name. 

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Paul-in-SF said:

#6bffee. I'm pretty sure there's a website where you can put in a code like that and see what inks come closest to it, but I can't remember the URL or name. 

https://inkswatch.com/choice.html?hexColorChoice=6bffee

 

[InesF]

Thank you, @LizEF, for your ink review-story-macro photo-quote-motivation!  I will stand with my friends, the Pelikan 4001 and the Waterman Turquoise! 

 

Indeed, it is another turquoise ink from the good-old-time. The good aspect is, everybody can find a turquoise ink independent from manufacturer preferences! 👍 I think, that's another form of equality, isn't it? 🤫

 

I'm looking forward to your next review and to how this magical-medical story will go on!