The Deepest Blues are Black

[tankerjohn]

With apologies to the Foo Fighters (and if you don't know In Your Honor, check it out. Seriously, great underrated album), I present my roundup of the blue-black inks I've been experimenting with over the past several months. Of course, I don't pretend this sampling gets anywhere near beyond the tip of the blue-black iceberg. So in no particular order:

Platinum Blue Black - more of dark blue than a true blue-black, but its a nice blue. I'll include it just because Platinum calls it "blue black" and it really does exemplify the looseness of that designation. Anyway, this might be my favorite "everyday" ink. It looks great on almost any paper and exhibits ZERO feathering or showthrough on the crappiest of crap office paper. The downside side is that it is iron gall, if you're scared of iron gall. I have had no problems with pitting steel nibs or anything like that.

Diamine Regency Blue - farther down the the "dark blue" wing of the blue-black spectrum than Platinum. I might call it a "midnight" blue and is very close to black with thinner nibs. I like it alot. Like most Diamine inks, it seems to flow nicely and is not oversaturated.

Rohrer and Klinger Salix - another entry in the midnight blue category of blue-black. It starts a nice dark navy and darkens up over time, probably due to its iron gall content. The IG makes it another good "everyday" ink for crappy paper, etc, with the caveat that it's sort of a slower drier and rather smeary if you're in too much of a hurry. Like Platinum, the IG is mild enough that I've never had problems.

Parker Quink Blue Black - taking a left turn into the "dark teal" wing of the blue-blacks. This is gorgeous on the right paper, but looks like a dull cyan 1970's hospital tile on the wrong paper. Very wet and flowy. I'd use it more if it didn't feather and bleed like a stuffed pig on anything but the best paper.

Noodler's Massachusetts 54th - anther dark teal. And another ink that I loved the color, but not so much the performance. This one is so wet that it makes nibs look a size bigger. I wanted to like it, but just couldn't.

Pilor Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo (moonlight) - another dark teal (have you noticed a trend yet?) and is its sooo good. A little darker than than the others. Shades beautifully. I really like it and may be upgrading to full a bottle soon.

Diamine Twilight - yet another dark teal. Very similar to Tsuki-yo, but not quite as saturated. I like it. Maybe a full bottle of this too?

Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite - finally a break from the teal. No green here; this is a grayish, purplish, blue-black. It looks fantastic. A little more showthrough on cheap paper than I prefer, but it otherwise awesome. Plus, tanzanite is my birthstone, so maybe this one is a keeper (although I hear that Pelikan's plain ole Blue-Black looks similar and possibly works better on cheap paper since its IG. But I'd have to order it from Europe)

J. Herbin Bleu Nuit - another grayish blue-black. This one was so thin, I just didn't like it much. I know other people do. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, don't know. Not a keeper for me.

Diamine Prussian Blue - grayish blue-black. Its supposed to be a dry ink, but flows just fine for me. Of the Diamine inks I've tried, this one might be my least favorite. It looks sort of chalky, if that makes any sense. Uninspiring.

Ecclesiastical Stationary Supplies Registar's Ink is on my radar to check out since I've heard great things and I'm down with the Englishness of it. I know people swear by Pilot Blue-Black, but for no particular reason, I'm not drawn to it. Maybe I could be persuaded. I guess that's it. What are you guys' favorite blue-blacks? Anybody think Platinum Blue Black sucks and Diamine Prussian Blue is amazing.

 

[Shave_Rat]

That is a lot of blue black sampling, for sure. The only one I have and used is the Noodler's. I like it well enough, for the pens I have which are fine nibs and need that much of a wet ink. lol

 

[Falmike]

I like using Noodler's Massachusetts 54th in my Pilot Falcons with SEF nibs. Love the color on white paper, like my Rhodia notebook. Not liking it in my Moleskine Cahier with ivory paper. The gray is lost on the ivory and all I get is a so-so blue.

 

[Basil]

My favourite was the noodlers legal lapis. Sadly I ran out but can’t find anymore.

 

[tankerjohn]

Here’s a writing sample of a few of the inks mentioned. I know colors aren’t particularly accurate in online photos, but maybe it will at least show how they look relative to each other.

 

[nelamvr6]

Nice list. I found my personal grail blue/black in Bleu des Profondeurs by Jaques Herbin.

 

[beginish]

Tanzanite may be my all time favorite color. I have the Private Reserve version and it is very slow drying. For Blue-Black, Sailor nano is excellent and very well-behaved. I am also a very big fan of de Atramentis Benjamin Franklin.

 

[nemo]

Great list and a nice write-up, @tankerjohn some of my favorites!

I'd add the Montblanc blue-black, now called Midnight blue and is almost black. Good stuff! A few other Diamine inks I use occasionally are Prussian blue and Midnight blue but both are a little wet and tend to bleed a bit in my wetter writers.

Not a big fan of the blue-blacks that tend to teal or green such as modern Waterman, Sheaffer, and Parker. And Lamy's is simply too dry.

I've yet to try the Tanzanite @beginish likes as I'm still using up a few bottles of the harder-to-get Pelikan 4001 blue-black. [edit:maybe Bob isn't referring to Edelstein tanzanite -- I need to try some]

 

[Piker]

Tanzanite is wonderful! Akkerman's Stormachtig Blauw is worth of a mention here too. Blue-blacks are my favorites.

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

My favourite was the noodlers legal lapis. Sadly I ran out but can’t find anymore.

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[r0ckrat]

bleed like a stuffed pig

I think you meant to say "stuck pig" - as a stuffed pig isn't likely to bleed... I went back through my sample list to see if I had anything to add, as I had a couple of nice dark R.O. samples... but they were dark grey (Black Velvet) and purple-black (Dragon's Night), so nothing much to add, other than that Mass 54th would never have made me think "blue-black"...

 

[Slivovitz]

I want a blue black ink to be visibly bluish, if I wanted black, I'd get black. I like Pilot Blue Black because, after drying, you can still see it as a dark blue, and it's nicely water resistant, even though not advertised as such.

I have some Montblanc Midnight Blue which, as they say, I would like to like. I've had it for quite a few years now, and in fact it's an old version that is an iron gall ink; what they currently sell under the same name is not. I'd like to like it because of the very cool bottle and the fact that one expects a Montblanc product to be high quality. Unfortunately, although it looks dark blue when wet, it dries to something indistinguishable from black except perhaps in a very strong light, and even then you can't quite tell. I just gave it another try after a long hiatus, putting it in one of my Pilot Custom Heritage 92s, and confirmed my previous opinion.

 

[Jason Harry]

Great write up! I'm a blue-black fan myself and use to regularly. I have my Pineider LGB inked with P.E. Tanzanite as I type and keep a Vanishing Point inked with Diamine Registrar's Ink. I also share your views on 54th Mass. I love the color just don't like the way the ink performed.

 

[Doc4]

Ecclesiastical Stationary Supplies Registar's Ink is on my radar to check out since I've heard great things and I'm down with the Englishness of it.

One of my favourites and certainly worth a try.

I have a few of the others on your list ... many in unopened bottles awaiting their "turn" in the rotation ... but nothing to add in terms of "missing inks" other than maybe the Noodler's "Bad Blue Heron" and "Bad Belted Kingfisher" (I have a hard time telling them apart) if you like your blue-black on the blue side of things.

 

[KW Driver]

I'm still perfectly content with my ESS Registrar's and have no reason to look elsewhere.

 

[beginish]

Great list and a nice write-up, @tankerjohn some of my favorites!

I'd add the Montblanc blue-black, now called Midnight blue and is almost black. Good stuff! A few other Diamine inks I use occasionally are Prussian blue and Midnight blue but both are a little wet and tend to bleed a bit in my wetter writers.

Not a big fan of the blue-blacks that tend to teal or green such as modern Waterman, Sheaffer, and Parker. And Lamy's is simply too dry.

I've yet to try the Tanzanite @beginish likes as I'm still using up a few bottles of the harder-to-get Pelikan 4001 blue-black. [edit:maybe Bob isn't referring to Edelstein tanzanite -- I need to try some]

PR Tanzanite for me, but the color tends toward blue-purple.

 

[tankerjohn]

I think you meant to say "stuck pig" - as a stuffed pig isn't likely to bleed... I went back through my sample list to see if I had anything to add, as I had a couple of nice dark R.O. samples... but they were dark grey (Black Velvet) and purple-black (Dragon's Night), so nothing much to add, other than that Mass 54th would never have made me think "blue-black"...

Yes, you're right. I should have said stuck pig.

 

[tankerjohn]

I want a blue black ink to be visibly bluish, if I wanted black, I'd get black. I like Pilot Blue Black because, after drying, you can still see it as a dark blue, and it's nicely water resistant, even though not advertised as such.

I have some Montblanc Midnight Blue which, as they say, I would like to like. I've had it for quite a few years now, and in fact it's an old version that is an iron gall ink; what they currently sell under the same name is not. I'd like to like it because of the very cool bottle and the fact that one expects a Montblanc product to be high quality. Unfortunately, although it looks dark blue when wet, it dries to something indistinguishable from black except perhaps in a very strong light, and even then you can't quite tell. I just gave it another try after a long hiatus, putting it in one of my Pilot Custom Heritage 92s, and confirmed my previous opinion.

I recall reading that the original meaning of "blue black" ink referred to iron gall inks which went on the page blue and then dried to black, which makes sense considering iron is black. Since your vintage MB is iron gall, it certainly makes sense that it does that. Modern iron gall inks don't always dry black (Salix gets darker, but not black), but a few of the "oldies by goodies" still do like ESSRI and (I believe) Diamine Registers.

 

[tankerjohn]

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad to see there are a bunch more blue-black fans out there.

 

[kcore]

Thank you for your reviews of all of these inks. I am a big fan of blue blacks and I find that I am actually leaning towards those darker teal colors.