Old fashioned inky smell

[Scriptorium]

If there's one thing that seems to characterize modern inks... it's a complete lack of smell. Growing up in England in the 1960s I remember with fondness the smell of Parker Quink with solv-x. It's hard to describe the smell...rather chemically... but it is very nostalgic for me....reminds me of my schoolboy days.

 

I have one bottle left that I bought in the early nineties that still has the smell. Noodlers ink has a very mild scent that is reminiscent of it. I ran across an Italian ink one time that has it.

 

Anyone know what this is and if there are any inks out there that still have this smelly ingredient!

 

Thanks!

 

Jim

 

BTW, I'm new to this forum...what a great resource.

[greencobra]

Hi Jim and welcome.

 

No, I wouldn't know what an old fashioned ink smell was but somewhere recently we discussed ink smells of current inks. And it's nothing I want to remember as pleasant. I don't know why but humidity seems to affect how heavy the odor from the bottle will get.

[Pengrump]

Modern inks definitely smell. They just don't smell like older inks. I associate a sweetish, almost cloying smell with Private Reserve inks. Of course, I used to get a buzz from older Waterman inks--until the phenol went bye-bye! :ltcapd:

[johnboz]

I too love that vintage ink smell. I collect vintage ink and just love the smell when I open a bottle that hasn't been opened in years. The new inks, while I have nothing against them, just don't have quite as much character. I haven't found any that smell (good or bad)!

[Iridium]

I have one bottle left that I bought in the early nineties that still has the smell. Noodlers ink has a very mild scent that is reminiscent of it.

 

Noodler's ink has a "paint-like" smell to my nose, although it's mild and not unpleasant in normal use.

 

Of course, I used to get a buzz from older Waterman inks--until the phenol went bye-bye! :ltcapd:

 

Have you ever taken a good whiff of ballpoint pen ink? BiC's ink, at least, smells a bit like phenol to me, although I have no idea what's really in it.

[BobR]

Sometimes you can still run across them. About a year ago, I purchased a bottle of Waterman Florida Blue from a local gift/luggage/pen shop. The bottle was cheaper than the current price, so I suspected it was "aged". Yep, there it was, a strong phenol smell, the first time I had experienced it. I can smell it when I write with a pen filled with this ink and a residual smell remains a while after the ink is gone from the pen. I love it!

[encephalartos]

Sometimes you can still run across them. About a year ago, I purchased a bottle of Waterman Florida Blue from a local gift/luggage/pen shop. The bottle was cheaper than the current price, so I suspected it was "aged". Yep, there it was, a strong phenol smell, the first time I had experienced it. I can smell it when I write with a pen filled with this ink and a residual smell remains a while after the ink is gone from the pen. I love it!

 

I've got a bottle of Waterman Green that's been around a few years. (It's a myth that ink always goes bad after a year, so I go by if it looks OK.)

My opinion is that it has a chemical stench, but whatever floats your boat... My guess is that this one must be the nostalgic phenol smell you

all are reving about. Not that the smell stopped me from puttng some into my green Pelikan 320.

[rmccarty4]

Try Pilot/Namiki. At least, their Blue-Black definitely has that "inky" smell you're looking for.

Agree that Noodler's inks smell like latex paint.

[age]

Only one of my ink/pen combinations has a smell.

 

A Parker NS Duofold recently resaced with Diamine Dark brown - it has a distinctive smell. The same ink in another pen doesn't smell at all.

 

So maybe its a old fashioned pen smell in this case.

 

[Huffward]

When I was in the sixth form around 1965/7 (American equivalent - final high-school grade?) I worked Saturdays and holidays in a bookshop that also had a cabinet of Sheaffers, Parkers, Watermans, and Conways Stewarts. I hovered round it and, I think, my love of good pens started there. We had a large, squat bottle of ink, with a hinged top, for dipping. I remember the wonderful aroma that rose from it as you opened it. I've just sniffed a few bottles (makes a change from the usual glue and solvents). A smell is often there, but it seems neither so strong nor so warm and 'special'.

 

I remember also the wonderful smell that accompanied taking an LP from its sleeve the first time, or opening a new book. These smells enhanced the experiences. A CD smells of nothing and the only current books that remind me of the previous experience are new Folio Society editions.

 

We seem to be sanitising all the little pleasures out of life.

Edited November 10, 2007 by Huffward

[Hélène]

The American equivalent would be senior year/12th grade and the French would be terminale.