Blue-Black Recommendations

[Cob]

Hullo.

I am pretty happy with Diamine's blue-black ink which has pretty much the exact, correct traditional shade I expect and which one does not get from Quink blue-black (a sort of sea-green!).

However I should love the read the views of all you inky experts on the subject.

Thanks in advance.

Cob

[Jeph]

I prefer Diamine Midnight. But, it is not a blue-black at all but rather a dark blue.
I find Pelikan 4001 blue-black to be far too blue, to the point of even being a bluish grey in some pens.

[The Good Captain]

Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black is my favourite ink of all time - so versatile and forgiving. However, I've loads of other blue-black ones and find it hard to have another favourite. Diamine; Pilot Namiki; Akkerman; Montblanc; Noodler's - the list goes on. All great inks.

[Wile E Coyote]

Sailor Sei Boku or Gentle Blue-Black.

[Tony Rex]

My favourites BBs:

Montblanc Blue Black
Montblanc Midnight Blue (Iron gall version)
Sailor Sei Boku
Iroshizuku Shin-kai < champ
Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo
Edelstein Tanzanite
Parker BB

From Left to Right: http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/4949-What-are-your-favourite-blue-black-and-bright-colours?p=53774&viewfull=1#post53774.

[mustud52]

I have been playing with Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite today and am very impressed. Lovely flow, most pleasing variation with a Flexi nib.

[Laura N]

It's hard for me to think of a blue-black I don't like. I even like the ones with the green tint. :)

[TSherbs]

My favourites BBs:

Montblanc Blue Black
Montblanc Midnight Blue (Iron gall version)
Sailor Sei Boku
Iroshizuku Shin-kai < champ
Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo
Edelstein Tanzanite
Parker BB

From Left to Right: http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/4949-What-are-your-favourite-blue-black-and-bright-colours?p=53774&viewfull=1#post53774.

great list

I also enjoy Hero Blue-Black. It way over-performs its price. But it smells like a chemical factory. And so far, has not eaten through any of my steel nibs.

[SIG9]

Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo or for a less saturated version Shin-Kai.
Organic Studios Manganese was great but sadly discontinued.

[Alec_J]

I am far from anything related to expert, but Noodlers 54th Massachusetts is quite nice IMHO. The blue is definitely blue and not purple, and is a nice undertone to the black. It is much more black in finer nibs and bluer in wider nibs. Just my 2 cents. YMMV

[JerryVK]

I am enjoying Waterman Mysterious Blue again. With a wet medium nib it seems more blue, but it is well behaved and pleasant to use. On the other hand, the Monteverde blue-black that I purchased recently is quite washed out, even with a medium nib. I will have to try it later with my Lamy 1.1 italic nib and see how that works. Like others who have commented, I really like Diamine Midnight Blue for the beautiful, deep color. It is very well behaved.

[mustud52]

I originally tried Tanzanite after receiving it in a pen being returned to me from an Aussie nibmeister. I like it so much that I ordered a bottle and have been using it in a couple of pens.

I have to say that the more I use it the more I like it. I think I will keep it permanently in one of my regular writers. Apart from the colour I am particularly pleased with the way it flows. Is this a family trait of the Edelstein range?

[Cob]

I have decided that the best blue-black for me is ESSRI - a registrar's ink.

I do have Tanzanite, but I don't like it - as a casual glance it looks black. It is a very good ink however and I actually use it for testing pens that I have rebuilt.

Cob

[mustud52]

I have decided that the best blue-black for me is ESSRI - a registrar's ink.

I do have Tanzanite, but I don't like it - as a casual glance it looks black. It is a very good ink however and I actually use it for testing pens that I have rebuilt.

Cob

I might give that a try as well then - although, as I posted, I am very fond of Tanzanite. Interesting that both the nibmeister I used and yourself use Tanzanite for testing pens.

Two data points create a trend, hey?

Mind you, I know Managing Directors who require zero data points to create a trend...

[Cob]

I have decided that the best blue-black for me is ESSRI - a registrar's ink.

I do have Tanzanite, but I don't like it - as a casual glance it looks black. It is a very good ink however and I actually use it for testing pens that I have rebuilt.

Cob


I might give that a try as well then - although, as I posted, I am very fond of Tanzanite. Interesting that both the nibmeister I used and yourself use Tanzanite for testing pens.

Two data points create a trend, hey?

Mind you, I know Managing Directors who require zero data points to create a trend...

Like R&K's Scabiosa, ESSRI is an iron gall ink; some people say that this should not be used in some pens.

I don't believe them; or perhaps I should say I don't care - I have had no trouble.

Apart from the Tanzanite, I also use Diamine Eclipse and Pilot black for testing - but these are not scientific decisions - I just happen to have them here and I tend not to use them for writing anything - apart from test scibbling.

As for the MDs, in my experience anything is possible!

Cob