EFNIR: Aurora Blue Black

[LizEF]

33 minutes ago, Glenn-SC said:

Please explain the difference between a “dark blue” and a “blue-black”?

Dark blue is just a blue that's dark.  Blue-Black should be a muted color, where you can see the black (or grey) muting the blue. This webpage does a good job of showing and explaining saturation vs brightness (without wasting words).  Dark blue is a blue with low brightness.  Blue-Black is a blue with low saturation.

 

Of course, true blue-blacks are always iron galls (Diamine Registrar's, ESSRI, etc.), but we've taken to using the category for non-IG inks as well.  Robert Oster Thunderstorm (Mountain of Ink review) seems genuinely blue-black to me.

[LizEF]

2 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Colour distinction

• Dark blue: A deep, saturated blue with no black content .

• Blue-black: A blend of blue and black.

  (And thanks for the IG history! )

[TSherbs]

7 minutes ago, LizEF said:

 

Of course, true blue-blacks are always iron galls...

 

Maybe, traditionally.

 

But *always,* now? 

[LizEF]

31 minutes ago, TSherbs said:

Maybe, traditionally.

 

But *always,* now? 

I just meant by the original meaning of the term - IGs are the only ones that start blue and turn black.

[SashK]

Excellent review, no surprises there

 

Interestingly, I do see this as perhaps the one true blue-black in my collection. It is perfect in color. My eyes do see the black content, but now you have me thinking twice about it!  

 

I absolutely adore this blue black, I usually keep it in a Lamy 2000 B, which is actually more like a BB fatty stub in practice. Lots of shading with a broad nib, split at the center of each letter. Quite lovely. 

 

I do enjoy to read your reviews as your experience will on most occasions differ from mine as I haven't used an EF in many years. The wonder of this pen and ink and paper world is not only in the variety of our colors and tools, but the people too! Endless combinations there.

 

Can't wait to read the next review @LizEF

[LizEF]

15 minutes ago, SashK said:

Excellent review, no surprises there

Thanks!

 

16 minutes ago, SashK said:

Interestingly, I do see this as perhaps the one true blue-black in my collection. It is perfect in color. My eyes do see the black content, but now you have me thinking twice about it!  

 

I absolutely adore this blue black, I usually keep it in a Lamy 2000 B, which is actually more like a BB fatty stub in practice. Lots of shading with a broad nib, split at the center of each letter. Quite lovely. 

Eyes are funny things.  Perhaps only ink enthusiasts and artists understand that what I see as blue, another may see as blurple, and another as flat-out purple; etc.  So it should not be surprising that to you, this seems to be a blue-black (which, after all, is not a standardized unit of measure, and thus subject to our own personal interpretations).

 

Regardless of how one perceives the color, it's a really good choice when the quality of the paper one uses isn't always the best.  In fact, of those I've tested, it might be the best blue-black for poor paper (certainly among dye-based inks).

 

19 minutes ago, SashK said:

I do enjoy to read your reviews as your experience will on most occasions differ from mine as I haven't used an EF in many years. The wonder of this pen and ink and paper world is not only in the variety of our colors and tools, but the people too! Endless combinations there.

 

Can't wait to read the next review @LizEF

Thank you!  And I entirely agree - the variety is wonderful, and the people are the best part!

 

 

[SashK]

@LizEF I completely agree with you! A lot of the joy comes from the sharing of experience, whether there is an overlap there or not. 

On 8/17/2025 at 3:40 PM, LizEF said:

 

 

Eyes are funny things.  Perhaps only ink enthusiasts and artists understand that what I see as blue, another may see as blurple, and another as flat-out purple; etc.  

 

 

 

I think this is very true, the range of personal experience is astonishing, and very much welcomed. We're not surprised by it, and it is probably a big reason why you don't get the flame wars found in other groups. Thank heaven for that!

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, SashK said:

@LizEF I completely agree with you! A lot of the joy comes from the sharing of experience, whether there is an overlap there or not. 

 

I think this is very true, the range of personal experience is astonishing, and very much welcomed. We're not surprised by it, and it is probably a big reason why you don't get the flame wars found in other groups. Thank heaven for that!

  Fountain pen people are the best people!

[InesF]

Ohhh!, we have left iron-age ...   

 

Thank you, @LizEF, for reviewing this quite interesting Aurora ink, for the cliffhanger in the story and for practically confirming one of the ink wetness (or ink delivery) theories! 

 

A connection to Waterman Brown (from another thread I re-read today): The Aurora Blue-Black has a 25% higher viscosity than your Waterman Brown sample with G.A. added, which is the ink with the highest surface tension of all I tested so far. Both inks have almost the same surface tension. The Aurora Blue-Black is maybe more like a Blue-Grey (can be seen from broad and dry writing nibs), but the extremely high viscosity makes the lines darker and suppresses spreading on absorbent paper.

[LizEF]

7 hours ago, InesF said:

Ohhh!, we have left iron-age ...   

 

7 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @LizEF, for reviewing this quite interesting Aurora ink, for the cliffhanger in the story and for practically confirming one of the ink wetness (or ink delivery) theories! 

 

A connection to Waterman Brown (from another thread I re-read today): The Aurora Blue-Black has a 25% higher viscosity than your Waterman Brown sample with G.A. added, which is the ink with the highest surface tension of all I tested so far. Both inks have almost the same surface tension. The Aurora Blue-Black is maybe more like a Blue-Grey (can be seen from broad and dry writing nibs), but the extremely high viscosity makes the lines darker and suppresses spreading on absorbent paper.

You're most welcome!  And thank you for the explanation, but I'm a little confused:

 

7 hours ago, InesF said:

The Aurora Blue-Black has a 25% higher viscosity than your Waterman Brown sample with G.A. added, which is the ink with the highest surface tension of all I tested so far.

The rules of English suggest that Waterman Absolute Brown is the one you're referring to as having the highest surface tension - do you mean without the G.A.?  Because in your google sheet, it's definitely not the highest, and Aurora Blue-Black has a higher surface tension.  (Both these inks are in the high 60s, but Platinum Citrus Black is the highest at 76.7.)

 

I see the very high viscosity of Aurora BB, and appreciate your explanation of the impact this has on the ink's performance!  (So much to learn, so little time... )

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

 

 

The rules of English suggest that Waterman Absolute Brown is the one you're referring to as having the highest surface tension - do you mean without the G.A.?  Because in your google sheet, it's definitely not the highest, and Aurora Blue-Black has a higher surface tension.  (Both these inks are in the high 60s, but Platinum Citrus Black is the highest at 76.7.)

Well, I forgot the rules of English, but I understood that Aurora has a higher (highest ) surface tension than Waterman. 

[LizEF]

8 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Well, I forgot the rules of English, but I understood that Aurora has a higher (highest ) surface tension than Waterman. 

In English, pronouns refer back to the most-recently-mentioned noun (thus, Waterman).  Either way, neither of these has the highest surface tension, hence my confusion.

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, LizEF said:

In English, pronouns refer back to the most-recently-mentioned noun (thus, Waterman).  Either way, neither of these has the highest surface tension, hence my confusion.

Thank you, cowgirl 🙏🤠

 

[LizEF]

26 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Thank you, cowgirl 🙏🤠

 

Gladly!

[InesF]

20 hours ago, LizEF said:

The rules of English suggest that Waterman Absolute Brown is the one you're referring to as having the highest surface tension

OMG, no, no, no. I meant viscosity! Aurora Blue-Black has the highest viscosity of all inks tested so far! Sorry, half of my brain is still in Fangorn ... 🙄  

[InesF]

19 hours ago, yazeh said:

Well, I forgot the rules of English

+1 👍

(see above; spending so much time in Fangorn was not without consequences ...   )

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, InesF said:

OMG, no, no, no. I meant viscosity! Aurora Blue-Black has the highest viscosity of all inks tested so far! Sorry, half of my brain is still in Fangorn ... 🙄  

Thank you!  I was hoping that was what you meant.    Back with you now.  Thanks for the explanation.  And welcome back, second half of Ines's brain!