Has Waterman stopped making bottled inks‽

[InkyProf]

US distributor I emailed responded that they're unaware of any impending changes to bottled ink availability but will look into the situation with the website further.

[justsomerandombloke]

I have only one bottle of Absolute Brown left -- any ideas on the replacement?

[Estycollector]

The Waterman Serenity Blue arrived from Amazon. Something tells me Waterman is not forsaking us. 

[Mercian]

Well, I have had a reply from Waterman's CS people, and it is very good news for those of us who want to buy inks in bottles.

 

The reply that I received says:

 

Quote

Thank you for contacting us and for your interest and feedback about Waterman ink and our website.
 
It seems that there is an issue on the website that is preventing the ink in bottle from showing up, but they are still available for purchase, as before.
 
To confirm, the inks are available in the following formats:
Ink Cartridges short (international size)
Black
Serenity Blue
Mysterious Blue

Ink Cartridges long
Black
Serenity Blue

Ink Bottles
Intense Black
Serenity Blue
Mysterious Blue
Blue Obsession
Audacious Red
Inspired Blue
Harmonious Green
Tender Purple
Absolute Brown

I will report your feedback about the website to a relevant department so that we can fix it.

 

I note that the list includes 'Absolute Brown', which was the first ink to vanish from the website, and which I had therefore thought had been discontinued.

 

Then again, I also note that the list of which inks are available in the two sizes of Waterman cartridge is the opposite of what is shown on the website. I hope that the CS agent has merely accidentally transposed those.

 

Anyway, at least it seems that they are going to have someone look at fixing their website!

 

Slàinte,
M.

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

44 minutes ago, Mercian said:

Well, I have had a reply from Waterman's CS people, and it is very good news for those of us who want to buy inks in bottles.

 

The reply that I received says:

 

 

I note that the list includes 'Absolute Brown', which was the first ink to vanish from the website, and which I had therefore thought had been discontinued.

 

Then again, I also note that the list of which inks are available in the two sizes of Waterman cartridge is the opposite of what is shown on the website. I hope that the CS agent has merely accidentally transposed those.

 

Anyway, at least it seems that they are going to have someone look at fixing their website!

 

Slàinte,
M.

Thank you for the update

[Mercian]

Update to my previous post:

 

I have only just noticed that the CS rep included an ink called 'Blue Obsession' in the list of bottled ink products.

I cannot find any retailer that is currently selling that ink - which seems to have been a re-labelled version of 'Inspired Blue' that, several years ago, was briefly produced in conjunction with a few pens in a colour called 'Blue Obsession' (cf Lamy 'Pacific Blue').

Which rather undermines my confidence in the accuracy of the rest of the answers.

 

It would seem that nobody at the company can give a definitive answer to the question of what inks Waterman currently make!
Or that the CS rep only looked at the front page of the (shonky) Waterman website, rather than doing any actual investigation

[LizEF]

8 minutes ago, Mercian said:

It would seem that nobody at the company can give a definitive answer to the question of what inks Waterman currently make!
Or that the CS rep only looked at the front page of the (shonky) Waterman website, rather than doing any actual investigation

This.  If the distributor replies "further", they'll (probably) have a better answer.

[InkyProf]

I’ve not heard anything more from the distributor, but I will note that “Absolute Brown” was not among the inks they listed as being in stock (indeed, there was no entry for it in their online database at all), and I couldn’t find any available at retail earlier this year, so I suspect that one might indeed have been discontinued.

 

I’m starting to get a very Severance-like picture of Newell-Rubbermaid. Somewhere down an infinitely long, white, windowless hallway, some diligent ink makers are cranking out batches of blue ink in different hues, shifting from color to color as the lighting in their workshop changes, and depending on whether message on the giant screen on the wall says “Serenity” or “Inspired” or “Mysterious.” Where does the ink go once it leaves their part of the factory? Is it sold? Warehoused? They have no idea, and no one from the front office (or customer service) ever comes to talk to them, or even acknowledges to the outside world that ink is being produced at all. Nor do they have any idea why there are all those goats in the room down the hall. Maybe the ink is for dyeing the goats! Tune in next week to find out!

[inkstainedruth]

I'm now hoarding my one bottle of Absolute Brown simply because no retailer has had it in stock for months.  

@Mercian Thank you for your efforts.  Wondering now why they have the ink (re)listed on their website, but no retailer seems to have it in stock....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mercian]

4 hours ago, InkyProf said:

Nor do they have any idea why there are all those goats in the room down the hall.

 

As any fule kno, the goats are there for the men who are based in the third office from the northern end of the corridor to stare-at, in the hope of making them...

 

...well, you already know why, don't you?

 

Anyway, that exercise is only intended to hone and enhance the eldritch Powers of the men who are employed in that office, in order to help them to develop enough prowess to communicate telepathically with the Marketing, Sales, and Customer Services personnel - all of whom are located in different buildings, and/or in different countries.
N-R employs the Psy-Ops specialists in order to minimise expensive telephony charges - and to ensure that lateral communications across Divisions are limited to only those personnel who need to know who else does what, and how to contact them.

 

At a Global-Corporate level, this also enables the zaibatsu's best-remunerated accountants to route the billing for these internal Corporate transactions through the right countries in order to obtain significant tax breaks.

[InkyProf]

When I stare at goats, they just stare back at me, and I always blink first. This must be why I became an analog humanities professor instead of a global-corporate Man of Prowess.

[Misfit]

I got to feed goats at a drive through animal park. The Billy goat gets in the way a lot, so you have to throw the food strategically so the other goats can get some to eat. This was at the entry where they are in a caged area. 
 

In the drive through part, you can feed the animals (you buy the food there). The Zebras are wild, and can’t be domesticated, yet they will come up to the vehicle to get food. &nbsp
 

I know this is real world goats versus our ink making Severance goats in that awful building with the usual out of touch decision makers. But I had to share because I like goats. 
 

I did buy a bottle of Waterman Harmonious Green to close out my free month of Prime. I wish they had not dropped Absolute Brown. I have a bottle of Havana Brown, but it won’t last forever. I so liked the ink names before that awful change to what sounds like aromatherapy names. They were more evocative like South Sea Blue, Florida Blue. 
 

Edit: I looked at the Mountain of Ink blog, and Kelly suggests Diamine Music series Bach is closest to (Absolute) Havana Brown. 
 

 

Edited May 15, 2025 by Misfit

[Misfit]

Today I put Waterman Florida Blue ink in my Monteverde Mountains of the World K2 fountain pen with 1.1mm stub nib. I also have Waterman South Sea Blue ink that I was lucky to get around the time the name change happened. I looked at Endless Pens, and they only have red. Jet Pens has more in stock, but the prices are over $13. I guess that’s the way it goes. 

[AmandaW]

I am allergic to goats (and sheep). Their fibre makes me itch if I wear it. And the dust of fibre gets up my nose and triggers asthma and flu-like symptoms which lasts for days from merely standing near someone else wearing it.

 

Most entertaining is their milk. A mere crumb of good Greek feta is enough to cause anaphylaxis.

 

Should I avoid Waterman ink? Do they put them in the bottle? Essence of goat?

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, AmandaW said:

I am allergic to goats (and sheep). Their fibre makes me itch if I wear it. And the dust of fibre gets up my nose…

 

I take it that includes merino wool, then? I'm really sorry to hear that. How do you make it through a winter? You can hardly prevent or avoid everyone wearing wool, when you're out and about.

[AmandaW]

8 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I take that includes merino wool, then? I'm really sorry to hear that. How do you make it through a winter? You can hardly prevent or avoid everyone wearing wool, when you're out and about.

Yes wool is a problem. I wear (and knit) cotton and various kinds of synthetics. Modern man-made fabrics can be very warm. (And with hashimotos I certainly feel the cold.)

 

Two of my three children have it too. As did my mum. None in the house. And keep my distance when out and about if I get that nose itch - anyone with seasonal allergies will know what I mean.

[Misfit]

Yes indeed to synthetic fabrics being warm. I’d never get a down coat. So it’s thinsulate for me. And it isn’t bulky. 

[SashK]

Gosh! Now I've got to go get some of those inks! 

 

I have not had a new bottle in forever but clearly this cannot stand. 

 

 

p.s. I also avoid carts at all costs. 

[justsomerandombloke]

11 hours ago, Misfit said:

Edit: I looked at the Mountain of Ink blog, and Kelly suggests Diamine Music series Bach is closest to (Absolute) Havana Brown. 

 

THANK YOU

 

10 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I take it that includes merino wool, then? I'm really sorry to hear that. How do you make it through a winter? You can hardly prevent or avoid everyone wearing wool, when you're out and about.

Western Australia has winters? With people wearing wool? Certainly there are things in the world that I couldn't imagine

[AmandaW]

27 minutes ago, justsomerandombloke said:

Western Australia has winters?

Sort of. We're close enough to the wheatbelt to get ice over the duck pond in the mornings (and have a flock of silly quackers that peck at it to get in for a swim...)

 

Is Mysterious Blue the same as one of the Quinks?