Classic Brown Inks

[TinyTim]

When I was a kid, I used Sheaffer Brown Ink cartridges in my Sheaffer school pen. I consider this to be a classic brown. There are many, many brown inks available today. Many I have tried and liked. What brown ink(s) do you consider a classic brown?

Bonus Question: What is your favorite brown ink(s)?

 

[rockviper]

PW Akkerman's Bekakt Haags (#23) .... As a bonus, the bottles are soooo cool.

 

[Vespasian]

I'd like to try authentic sepia ink, from cuttlefish, I think. But is it safe for FPs? Can you even buy it?

 

[nemo]

I've got several, even some very vintage Sheaffer brown in a bottle.


I use Pelikan 4001 brilliant brown -- a great ink -- but it seems a bit light for the classic brown. Some Diamine I had was a nice color but feathered too much for my liking.

But when I bought a new Pelikan M200 brown marbled pen for Christmas 2017 I had Seitz-Kreuznach throw in some of their chestnut brown ink. Pretty happy with that shade and performance.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Diamine Chocolate Brown

 

[Slivovitz]

Not really sure what you have in mind that would make an ink "classic", other than having been around for a while, or being indistinguishable from something that has been around for a while.

But my favorite brown ink for color is Sailor Jentle Doyou. And De Atramentis Brown Document ink isn't far behind.

 

[Rudy Vey]

Diamine Chocolate is my favorite one. Montblanc Toffee is a lighter shade, and i also like the Akkerman that was mentioned earlier.

 

[Ted A]

Probably not a classic, but my favorite brown is Noodlers Kiowa Pecan

 

[BigFoot]

I've got several, even some very vintage Sheaffer brown in a bottle.


I use Pelikan 4001 brilliant brown -- a great ink -- but it seems a bit light for the classic brown. Some Diamine I had was a nice color but feathered too much for my liking.

But when I bought a new Pelikan M200 brown marbled pen for Christmas 2017 I had Seitz-Kreuznach throw in some of their chestnut brown ink. Pretty happy with that shade and performance.
View attachment 1186675

Off topic but I really like that Gold Marbled LE Pelican has out on the M200. (No Scott, bad, you don't need it.)

Thanks Doug!!

 

[Doc4]

I keep a pen inked up with Noodlers Polar Brown in my truck. Dunno if it's "classic" or not, but it writes well in the cold!

 

[Cracker]

For me MONTBLANC "Toffee Brown" is the best brown ink on the market. I also liked their "Racing Green".

 

[Marco63]

I have used in the past Waterman’s Havana Ink. Very nice to look at and read.
I’ve got some remnants that look a bit thicker, could I add some water to it? Tap or Evian or distilled?

 

[TinyTim]

Probably not a classic, but my favorite brown is Noodlers Kiowa Pecan

Agreed, Kiowa Pecan is not a classic brown, but one of my favorite brown's too.

 

[TinyTim]

I have used in the past Waterman’s Havana Ink. Very nice to look at and read.
I’ve got some remnants that look a bit thicker, could I add some water to it? Tap or Evian or distilled?

Yes, Waterman's Havana Brown (now Absolute Brown) is one of the classic browns, and one I've used off and on for many years.

 

[Marco63]

I've inked the 5th pen with Havana and I think it is too old to use as the colour on paper is black, what a pity having to throw away what is left in the bottle :-(

 

[Ted A]

Don’t be too quick to throw it out.

Does it smell bad or have strange things floating in the bottle? If not it’s probably still good.

The darkness could be caused be a couple of things. If your pen is quite wet it could be that the concentration of ink on the page is causing it to look black and a pen that’s drier might be more brown. The ink might have evaporated a bit in the bottle. Mix a bit of the ink in a separate container with water, preferably distilled water, and see if that revives the ink.

 

[Marco63]

Hi Ted, I'm ashamed of myself. The ink didn't smell bad, no smell at all, it didn't have anything floating on top either. I added three pipettes of water, shook the bottle and inked a pen. Looked at the ink bottle under strong light and the ink on the sides was black. Wrote a few lines on my new Rodia A4 notebook, shone a flashlight from the back of the page and well it really IS black!! Now why did I put black ink in a brown ink bottle ages ago I have no idea. What an idiot :-(

 

[Ted A]

That’s almost as good as getting a new ink in the mail. time to experiment and see what you have

 

[Claudel Xerxes]

Pelikan Edelstein Smokey Quartz is nice. Diamine Macassar is a pretty straight forward classic brown.