Question for old-timers: what is "Waterman Blue"?

[InkyProf]

I use Waterman ink regularly, but only in bottles, so I'm familiar with Serenity Blue, Mysterious Blue, and Inspired Blue, which I gather were called Florida Blue, Blue-Black, and South Seas Blue at some point in the recent past. This week, though, I got a Waterman pen from the 1980s that came with a box containing 7 out of an original 8 cartridges of Waterman "Blue Ink." If I were to guess, I'd expect this to be closest to Florida/Serenity. Was Florida Blue a rebranding of "Waterman Blue," or is this a different color?

 

(Also, on the naming front, could we please stop with the branding that shows all the imagination of inspirational posters sold in SkyMall catalogues and start naming blue inks after classic jazz albums? I know the intellectual property rights would be impossible, but I'd collect inks called "Kind of Blue" and "Another Shade of Blue" and "Impressions of a Patch of Blue." -- sincerely, InkyProf's sleep-deprived brain.)

[inkstainedruth]

Actually, while I don't know if the laws are the same for album titles, I know that book titles are NOT necessarily copyrighted (and have also come across stuff on IMDB when I'm looking up a particular movie and discovering something that isn't just a remake of something else).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[InkyProf]

Of course you're right, good point! I imagine there would be issues if they put Miles Davis's name or photo on the bottle without permission of the estate, but that depends on subtleties of trademark and copyright law that are beyond my pay grade. Let the jazz-themed ink marketing commence, I say!

 

But what about Waterman? 😉

[inkstainedruth]

Can't help you with that, sorry.  I think all my Waterman inks are modern bottles with the "current" ink names on them. Really sad that they have discontinued Absolute Brown.  I only have half a bottle of that left and was just refilling the Emerald Pearl Vac I got repaired at OPS the end of October, which I then filled with that ink after the repairs were done at the Indy Pen Dance table.  

Just hoping Waterman never discontinues their blue-black ink, (currently called "Mysterious Blue").  That's my go-to ink for the Red Shadow Wave Vac I had repaired at DCSS the last year it was at the old site after winning the pen in one of the auctions that year -- could NOT believe I wasn't outbid!   It was the tester ink I used after having the pen checked out, and I ran that pen for three years without any sort of maintenance other than refilling it as needed....  Well behaved, and also looks SOOOOO good coming out of that pen.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[InkyProf]

I like Mysterious Blue a lot, too; I have it in a vintage Waterman now (with a plain black barrel, not as dreamy a combo as your Shadow Wave, but still nice!).

[inkstainedruth]

 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Runnin_Ute]

I suspect the "Waterman Blue" is likely Florida/Serenity Blue.

 

I have bottles of both Serenity Blue and Mysterious Blue. I have only used the ones with the current names, but recall when they announced the name change. Currently Mysterious Blue is in my Eversharp Skyline. 

[Beechwood]

We live in glorious times when colours are named and you have to use intuition to work out the shade.

 

Colours named by ink companies were just black, blue, blue-black and red (by the amount used in my school books the red ink market was cornered by my teachers). Now we have Ultra black, South Sea Blue, Twilight blue and Monaco Red. Colours described by the Marketing Department instead  of the colourists and chemists.

[Estycollector]

Once I tried Waterman Serenity Blue, I found the blue I prefer. 

[InkyProf]

Thanks, everybody, for the replies! I'll try one of these cartridges at some point, if it's not completely dried up, and see if it brings me serenity. 😉 Interesting tidbit: from what I can see online, Waterman already appears to have been selling inks called "Patrician Purple" and "Tropic Green" and "Carnation Red" in the 1940s and 1950s, and I'll bet those came from the advertising department too, not the chemists. The consumer economy's endless flow of meaningless distinctions might be gross, but it's not new...

[Penguincollector]

  Add a tiny bit of distilled water to the cartridge after breaking the seal. It will usually reconstitute just fine. It’s the same as Serenity/Florida/Washable blue. 

[InkyProf]

35 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

Add a tiny bit of distilled water to the cartridge after breaking the seal.

 

Thanks (and for the color confirmation too)! I finally picked up a gallon jug of distilled water for flushing a Parker 61, so I won't need even need to make a special trip. 🙂 

[antares1966]

7 hours ago, Beechwood said:

We live in glorious times when colours are named and you have to use intuition to work out the shade.

 

Colours named by ink companies were just black, blue, blue-black and red (by the amount used in my school books the red ink market was cornered by my teachers). Now we have Ultra black, South Sea Blue, Twilight blue and Monaco Red. Colours described by the Marketing Department instead  of the colourists and chemists.

I'm waiting for the day when a company just names an ink after its color hex code.  😄  Introducing Sailor C54B8C!

[Penguincollector]

8 hours ago, InkyProf said:

 

Thanks (and for the color confirmation too)! I finally picked up a gallon jug of distilled water for flushing a Parker 61, so I won't need even need to make a special trip. 🙂 

Nice!

[Ceramicist]

On 12/27/2025 at 1:37 PM, antares1966 said:

I'm waiting for the day when a company just names an ink after its color hex code.  😄  Introducing Sailor C54B8C!

 

On 12/27/2025 at 6:23 AM, Beechwood said:

We live in glorious times when colours are named and you have to use intuition to work out the shade.

 

Colours named by ink companies were just black, blue, blue-black and red (by the amount used in my school books the red ink market was cornered by my teachers). Now we have Ultra black, South Sea Blue, Twilight blue and Monaco Red. Colours described by the Marketing Department instead  of the colourists and chemists.

 

What about inks using the names from Werner's Nomenclature? Each color is attributed to an animal, vegetable and/or mineral. Some examples:

 

Lavender Purple= Porcelain Jasper

Bluish Green=Egg of Thrush

Wine Yellow=White Currants

Lake Red=Spinel

Clove Brown=Head and Neck of Male Kestrel

 

[langere]

52 minutes ago, Ceramicist said:

 

 

What about inks using the names from Werner's Nomenclature? Each color is attributed to an animal, vegetable and/or mineral. Some examples:

 

Lavender Purple= Porcelain Jasper

Bluish Green=Egg of Thrush

Wine Yellow=White Currants

Lake Red=Spinel

Clove Brown=Head and Neck of Male Kestrel

 

Love it!

 

Erick

[kestrel]

3 hours ago, Ceramicist said:

 

 

What about inks using the names from Werner's Nomenclature? Each color is attributed to an animal, vegetable and/or mineral. Some examples:

 

Lavender Purple= Porcelain Jasper

Bluish Green=Egg of Thrush

Wine Yellow=White Currants

Lake Red=Spinel

Clove Brown=Head and Neck of Male Kestrel

 

If Clove Brown really existed I would be stocking up.  With extra insurance bottles.

I'm still looking for Male Kestrel Wing Blue.

[Ceramicist]

12 hours ago, langere said:

Love it!

 

Erick

 

10 hours ago, kestrel said:

If Clove Brown really existed I would be stocking up.  With extra insurance bottles.

I'm still looking for Male Kestrel Wing Blue.

I wish I had the wherewithal to create these inks. I mix glazes at the studio and watercolors, too, so I know I would be able to get the exact color or very close to it. 

[boilermaker1975]

I never tried any Waterman inks. This thread has inspired me to add a bottle of serenity blue to my next order.

 

Edit: Not like it takes much inspiration to get me to buy another ink or pen!

[inkstainedruth]

Of course now, catching up with this thread, I just started earworming Lauren Bacall singing "Am I Blue?" in the old movie To Have and Have Not (which is the film that started the whole "Bogart and Bacall" thing to begin with).  

Now trying to decide which movie I like better -- that one or Casablanca.... Certainly the on-screen chemistry between them is WAAAY better than it was between Bogie and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca...

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth