Ink Sell by dates?

[Potter]

Happy Fountain Pen Day to every fountain pen user... an inky demise to all ball points....

Anyway I'm just intriged by a recent bottle of Mont Blanc Toffee Brown that came from The Pen Shop in Cambridge UK. It was sealed with a sticker that had the date Sept 2017 on it, will my ink start changing colour after this, will the toffee in it start to oxidize? But seriously will ink change colour over time, I thought it was fixed, is it in particular shades that it would be noticeable, any knowledgeable inkiologists who can advise please..... Chris

[earthdawn]

[Laura N]

Ink can change color over time. I've seen some Parker and Skrip ink from the 1940s that has faded. I've also seen some ink from the 1980s that still looks great. People still use vintage ink (decades old) with no ill effects.

I have a little stash of Montblanc limited and discontinued inks that I expect to use years past the sell-by date. I kind of ignore that.

[kaisnowbird]

Well, we've heard plenty of fellow geeks' enthusiasm about Parker Penman inks that were discontinued 13 years ago. They are still used, albeit sparingly by most owners, every day. There's hardly any complaint of fading or colour change.

I myself use a bottle of Parker Quink Blue-Black from 1998-1999, which got misplaced for a decade. I'd say it's more concentrated now and the colour is even lovelier.