I like old ink (and pens)
This is not a secret
Why? Because when vintage ink was made, it had to WORK. Period.
It wasn't boutique or eccentric.
Fountain pens were PENS, not bling (ok, some were bling, but they still had to function as pens, without fail!)
So badly behaving ink was an impediment to writing!
People were FAR less likely to tolerate misbehaviour, be it bleeding, feathering, clogging of pens, etc.
Think of it this way:
What do you do when you are FORCED by circumstance to use a ballpoint, and then that ballpoint doesn't work within the first 5 seconds or so?
That's right, you throw it in the freaking garbage, swear about how bad ballpoints are, and grab another one. (and maybe even another one after that...)
Back in the day, ink was likely the same way. If you loaded your pen with ink, and more than once that ink let you down?...
There's a pretty good chance you threw it out and bought a different ink!
As such, Vintage ink was made when it HAD to work.
And that brings us to today's ink
Waterman's Patrician Purple (note the 's in the name)
My bottle is NOS I purchased on eBay in Jun/Jul 2020 and was manufactured in Montreal.
Bottle, box and Aqua/Pastel Blue Sentinel Snorkel used for testing
Colour Swatch
Rhodia Webnotebook (paper is slightly off white in real life)
Chromatography done twice to verify results
Text is transcribed below for searchability and due to terrible handwriting
21 Jul 20
Waterman's Patrician
Purple 2oz bottle from
eBay Jun/Jul 2020. Bottle
is NOS from the 1950's (i think)
This ink is pale/
washed out. I'm not
sure how much of
that is due to age.
The flow is average/dry
and the ink is well
behaved as expected from
Waterman's. After it
dries this ink seems
to grow on you with
its understated nature.
[Dry Times]
Would buy again?
Maybe/NA
Waterman's
Patrician Purple
Eco 1.1 MM
Aqua Sentinel
Shading: Low/Medium
Saturation: Low
Feathering: Nil
Spread: Nil
Bleed: Nil
Cleaning: P.I.T.A
[water tests]
Notes: Yes, it's that
water resistant! It's also
a PITA to clean. Only
a couple of hrs in the
Eco and it had started to
stain/leave a residue.
Clairefontaine paper (very white paper)
Waterman Waterman's
Tender Purple Patrician Purple
Sheaffer Sheaffer
Aqua/Pastel Blue Aqua/Pastel Blue
Snorkel Sentinel Snorkel Sentinel
The quick brown The quick brown
fox jumps over fox jumps over
the lazy dog the lazy dog
1234567890 1234567890
Twsbi Eco 1.1 mm
The quick brown
fox jumps over
the lazy dog
1234567890
The chromatography should have been a clue as to how much of a PITA this ink was going to be to clean out.
(think Noodler's Rome Burning)
Purple inks of course have a reputation for staining, and this one certainly lives up to that reputation.
That said, I guess that was much less of a concern when the overwhelming majority of pens were NOT demonstrators.
If you can't see the inside of the pen... how would you even know it was getting stained!?
So that's it.
That's Waterman's Patrician Purple
It's hard to find, can be expensive, the colour is washed out and will somehow still stain your pen!
But hey, at least it's well behaved on paper! :P
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