My search for blue-black

[sharmon202]

Just for reference I got my first fountain pen last November so I still have a lot to learn. I wanted a certain look of a blue-black ink for my work writing and I was looking for a dark, bold line in an EF nib. I mostly write with EF. I wanted an ink where I asked myself, what color is this ink anyway? I purchased several samples from Goulet and wrote in my pen and ink Rhodia Unlimited notebook using EF and a few F nibs. I had researched many websites, seen all these colors in many pictures/swabs and the same ink looked different picture to picture so I decided to see for myself. The standard of comparison for me was R & K Verdigris. I love the dark green-black boldness of this ink and wanted an equivalent in blue black. Below are what I tested, in order of what I liked best to least, determining my next couple of ink bottle purchases.

1. Private Reserve Ebony Blue - A very dark line, more black than green, it had a bit of a red sheen to it at times. I did not really see any blue in this until I accidentally smeared a part of it then I saw blue. I asked what color is this anyway?
2. Private Reserve Midnight Blues - A very dark line, very definite blue, very dark blue--I like!
3. De Atramentis Indigo Blue - Dark and blue for sure.
4. Diamine Blue-Black - Fairly dark lines maybe some green tones. Not as blue as Indigo but nice.
5. De Atramentis Black ed. Blue - Dark line but more green than blue. Some shading even in an F nib. Might be nice in a wider nob.
6. Private Reserve DC SuperShow Electric Blue - My first word was WOW! Very dark blue black, mostly black, with red sheen I could see easily. Very dark rich color, seemed to be kind of a thick feeling ink. Just was too much even for me.
7. Iroshizuko Tsuki-Yo- -Not a very dark line, blue-green-black, maybe leaning more toward black.
8. Iroshizuko Shin-Kai - Wrote with a darker line then dried to a lighter blue. Pretty but not what I am looking for by a long shot.
9. Diamine Twilight - Green-black, not a very dark line. Seemed like a bit of a watered down version of Verdigris.

It took me several weeks to try all these samples and I learned how to keep better notes as I went a long. This was my first time doing anything like this and I had not given any thought to sharing it until this morning as I was perusing this site. I hope it helps someone find the ink they like best as it did me. Purples are next!

[ac12]

Try Diamine Midnight.
I got both Diamine blue-black and midnight.
- Blue-black was like a dark gray. ugh Did NOT like it.
- Midnight on the other hand was like a DARK DARK blue. Perfect for what I wanted it for

[Jeph]

ac12 beat me to it. Diamine Midnight is my favorite as well in an EF. More blue than blue-black but as he said it is a dark blue.

[ac12]

he he
I tried mixing Pelikan blue + black, and I got dark grey.
It was 1ml of blue + 8 drops of black.
When I saw the grey, I was upset.
I might try more black to see what that would do, but I don't have much hope of salvaging the mix.

That was when I ordered the sample of Diamine midnight, to see if I could get a DARK blue instead of a grey.

[Cookies]

Hands-down my favorite blue black is Organcs Studio Manganate V. Perfect color, great flow, wonderful performance. Sailor Jentle blue black (not sei-boku, although that's nice too) is also a really beautiful color.

[sharmon202]

Diamine Midnight was on my preliminary list but the samples I saw showed it to have a purple cast. I cannot stand a blue purple color. Had a truck that color in the family once and hated the color. Anyone see any purple in this color?
Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[sharmon202]

thanks for your response please see reply to AC12 for your opinion also?

[sharmon202]

Quite the brave soul you are, I will not, nor can I afford to, lose ink if I screw up which I am sure I would.
Let me know how it comes out though and how it works in a pen.
thanks,

[sharmon202]

Thanks for the reference. I don't think I'd heard of these when I started this.

[ac12]

Looking at my sample, if there is any purple, it is hidden in the DARK blue.
But the color you see will depend on the pen and paper also.
I did not try to wet swab the ink line, which might show the component colors.
BTW, I do not like purple ink either.

[sharmon202]

Purple is OK in some situations. I just do not like a blue-purple. I learned that ink looks one way in the bottle, another way in swabs and pictures and may be way different with pen & paper. I also learned when I accidentally smeared some you might see another color. Different with different pen & paper combo. An amazing amount of possibilities eh? Let me know what you think when you try that. Thanks.

[reprieve]

To my eye, Diamine Midnight is a very dark navy blue. There is not any purple that I can detect. Other than Pilot Blue-black, Diamine Midnight is my favorite dark blue.

[Jeph]

Maybe this will help. This is a 50% of the original scan. On my monitor it looks the same as on the page.

[sharmon202]

Thanks so much for all this. After I read everyone's comments and saw this, Goulet got my order.

[Jeph]

I find that ink swabs on the internet do the best job that they can do, but do not (and can not) tell the entire story. There is so much variation with papers, nibs, feeds and even climate that with dilligent research it is still a crapshoot. After going through the same thing you are I ended up (for now) with this for my blue-black. In fact (again, for now) if I could only have one ink this would be the one. Thankfully we have people like Goulet so that we have no such limitations. And we have a community like this so that we can share what we learn to help other people.

Now to the bad news: I still have not found my dark purple, so I am interested to see what you end up with for that.

[The Good Captain]

Now to the bad news: I still have not found my dark purple, so I am interested to see what you end up with for that.

Have you looked at or considered Cult Pens/Diamine Deep Dark Purple? I don't have the ink myself, yet, but it's on my list and what I've seen is very nice. Imagine Diamine Eclipse, but with some colour!

[Jeph]

Now to the bad news: I still have not found my dark purple, so I am interested to see what you end up with for that.

Have you looked at or considered Cult Pens/Diamine Deep Dark Purple? I don't have the ink myself, yet, but it's on my list and what I've seen is very nice. Imagine Diamine Eclipse, but with some colour!

That looks like it might be the ticket, but at over $22 for one bottle shipped to Germany and no real discount on shipping for multiple bottles it is a little expensive. I will probably break down and order some anyway but I will grumble about it.

[migo984]

Now to the bad news: I still have not found my dark purple, so I am interested to see what you end up with for that.

Have you looked at or considered Cult Pens/Diamine Deep Dark Purple? I don't have the ink myself, yet, but it's on my list and what I've seen is very nice. Imagine Diamine Eclipse, but with some colour!

That looks like it might be the ticket, but at over $22 for one bottle shipped to Germany and no real discount on shipping for multiple bottles it is a little expensive. I will probably break down and order some anyway but I will grumble about it.

CultPens delivery charge to Europe is £7.50 ($12), not $22, and that is for any size order, so you could order more bottles and it wouldn't cost you any more in shipping.

[Jeph]

CultPens delivery charge to Europe is £7.50 ($12), not $22, and that is for any size order, so you could order more bottles and it wouldn't cost you any more in shipping.

You are right, although it is £6.25 flatrate ($10.41) which is even better.
The $22 was one bottle shipped £7.15 (4.92+2.23 VAT) + £6.25 = £13.40 = $22.33
Thanks, that is probably enough to drive me to find some other stuff and order some.
The converting from £ to $ was probably confusing me. Sorry to partially derail the thread.

[Cookies]

Now to the bad news: I still have not found my dark purple, so I am interested to see what you end up with for that.

Can you find Private Reserve inks in Germany? If so Ebony Purple is definitely worth a try. Diamine Damson and Grape are also really beautiful dark purples as well as De Atramentis Aubergine.