Which ink is in the blue Pilot V-Pen?

[SlowMovingTarget]

Before my foray into non-disposable (proper) fountain pens and bottled ink, I happily used Pilot V-Pens for roughly three years. I liked the color of the blue ink, it being on the darker side.

When I went to get my first bottle of ink, that's what I was looking for. The closest I could find in the on-line pictures was Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-Gao... which is definitely not it. The ink in the V-Pen is darker, even a touch purplish. It is also not Pilot Blue. Both Asa-Gao and Pilot Blue are what I'd call regular blue ink (though, to be sure, Asa-Gao is in a different category). Inks I've not had the opportunity to try yet that may be candidates: Pilot Blue-Black, Namiki Blue?

Googling just lands me on pages selling the pen, or the occasional review.

Does anyone know which ink the pen comes filled with?

[Chrissy]

I've previously read somewhere that Pilot Namiki Blue ink in bottles is a different ink to Pilot Namiki Blue ink that comes in cartridges.
It's possible that it could just be more like a Pilot Namiki Blue ink cartridge or a Pilot Namiki Blue-Black ink cartridge, but it may not be exactly the same.
It is unlikely to be a Pilot Iroshizuku ink.

[grainweevil]

Googling just lands me on pages selling the pen, or the occasional review.

You need to refine your search to FP fora, such as this search of The Other Place. (Which I hope works for other people.) This one comes up a lot.

Does anyone know which ink the pen comes filled with?

It's apparently an ink just for the V-Pen/Varsity, but Visconti Blue comes up fairly regularly as a close match.

[Chrissy]

Someone also mentiions that Waterman Serenity Blue is a close match in case you want a more stable bottle.

[grainweevil]

Yes, I saw that and was surprised - not nearly purple-y enough, I would have thought. And you'd have to have it in a pretty wet writer. But, hey, whatever floats inks ones boat.

[Chrissy]

Yes, I saw that and was surprised - not nearly purple-y enough, I would have thought. And you'd have to have it in a pretty wet writer. But, hey, whatever floats inks ones boat.

I agree that Visconti Blue is a really nice ink. It's such a shame about the meh bottle, and the price they want for it.
If Waterman Serenity Blue was almost the same/as good I would definitely go for that bottle and that price.

[SlowMovingTarget]

You need to refine your search to FP fora, such as this search of The Other Place. (Which I hope works for other people.) This one comes up a lot.

Does anyone know which ink the pen comes filled with?

It's apparently an ink just for the V-Pen/Varsity, but Visconti Blue comes up fairly regularly as a close match.

Heh, I should have thought of that. Thank you very much. That is, at once, disappointing and encouraging. I now have some new inks to try.

One of the posts from The Other Place:

The pilot varsity blue is a royal blue, which means it has some purple to it.

I went to the SF pen show, where I wrote with a Pilot Varsity, plus many other inks. The close matches are:

Aurora Blue - very close
De Atramentis Royal Blue - very close
J Herbin Blue Myosotis - it's darker
J Herbin Eclat De Saphir -it's lighter
Diamine Sapphire Blue - very close
L' Artisan Pastellier Bleu Azur - very close
" " Blue Ultramarine - very close
Sailor Nioi Sumire - close, but slightly more purple
Sailor Ultramarine - close, but slightly more purple
Pelikan Edelstein sapphire - a little lighter and maybe more purple
Iroshizuku Aji Sai - lighter, and more purple
Iroshizuku Asa Gao - slightly more blue
Pelikan 4001 Royal blue - since this is a dry ink, it tends to be lighter in color

This evaluation was done on Clairefontaine paper under 97 CRI 3000K LED lighting. It might look different under sunlight or fluorescent lighting

[Chrissy]

I have some blue swab samples just in case they are of any interest for comparison purposes:

Blue Swabs2.jpg