Best brown, dark green, and royal blue inks

Hey folks!

I have an ink question.

I'm going to get a plain ol' bottle of Noodler's Black for my staple black. I've already got a bottle of Quink Blue-Black, which I'm on the fence about.

I'm looking for a brown, a dark green, and a royal blue/verging on purple. As far as the brown, I'm thinking PR Chocolat; any major issues I should be aware of with that? Is it at all waterproof?

I've not really gotten far into thinking on the dark green and the blue, and am quite open to suggestions. Just stuff that's well-behaved, and reasonably durable (I'd prefer to still be able to read it if I spill something, but that's negotiable... I can just be careful with spills).

Thanks!

I'm also on the fence about Quink blue-black; it is just strange, mine dries almost teal and I never use it. Same with Waterman's. Yuck.

I like Pelikan for brown, it's a little reddish but really flows nice and shades well with a good nib.

For royal blue I'm sold on Lamy, Rohrer and Klingner, Waterman's Florida Blue and again Pelikan in that order. All lean a little to the purple side. Most well-behaved royal blues are washable (school kids use 'em in Europe) so you'll need to stop spilling stuff. Those four are my favorites and easily wash out of pens I'm testing.

Even though green is my favorite color I don't fancy writing with green ink except on March 17th so no guidance there.

I like green ink. My go-to is Noodler's Forest Green.

For blue, I was testing a vintage bottle of Waterman's South Sea Blue yesterday. I'm assuming it can still be bought. It's got a nice touch of turquoise.

I have no idea of its durability--I am not a fan of bullet proof inks, because I am too clumsy--but PR Sherwood Green is one of my favorite shades of dark green.

Probably one of the two Iroshizuku browns. Or maybe one of the Noodler's browns, such as the Galileo Manuscript, Whaleman Sepia (both bullet proof, if I recall), or one of the other "specialized" browns.

<royal blue/verging on purple>

Noodler's Te Chang is an amazing color that might grab your interest. To me it is very much a blue purple that I have not seen the like of elsewhere. I think it is bullet proof. Lots of blues out there. Getting a true purple tinge in there might the the harder part.

You know, there is nothing stopping you mixing inks to tweak the colour if you are not 100% on one you bought. I do it all the time, and it's actually quite fun.

I have two browns, Noodler's Walnut and Waterman's Havana. The Walnut is my go to ink and the one I use in my best Pelikan pen! The Waterman's has a little too much red in it for my liking. Luckily I have an almost full bottle of the Noodler's as it's getting very hard to get in Britain at the moment. Few sellers and all out of stock.

My next brown may be from the Diamine company, an old British company. I have a couple of their inks and quite like them.

Never tried any of those fancy expensive inks. Haven't got the money!

For a brown, I highly recommend either irosizuku yama-guri or the Noodler's Walnut. Both are great browns that are formal enough to use for business purposes and perform very well.

For a royal blue verging on purple, I would suggest you check out the Edelstein Sapphire. I got a bottle of this in trade from Channing (aka The Knize), and I've been quite pleased with it. It is a nice bright royal blue but has a definite purple shading to it.

I am not much help on the green front, but may be able to make a suggestion when my new bottle shows up this week...

If you want a sample of some of these, drop me a PM, I may be able to pull a bit off for you.

Parker Saphire Blue is best blue (I stocked up as it is now no longer sold). Noodler's ink next in my opinion.

The J. Herbin Café Des Îles is a great brown. Flows and shades nicely.

BRuhling said:

For a brown, I highly recommend either irosizuku yama-guri or the Noodler's Walnut. Both are great browns that are formal enough to use for business purposes and perform very well.

For a royal blue verging on purple, I would suggest you check out the Edelstein Sapphire. I got a bottle of this in trade from Channing (aka The Knize), and I've been quite pleased with it. It is a nice bright royal blue but has a definite purple shading to it.

I am not much help on the green front, but may be able to make a suggestion when my new bottle shows up this week...

If you want a sample of some of these, drop me a PM, I may be able to pull a bit off for you.

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You are really right about the Edelstein "Sapphire," Bill! I do not know why I did not think of that one. A very vibrant blue! I think Herbin makes a "sapphire" that is a similar hue that folks seem to like.

The Noodler's No. African Vilolet sample posted on the FTOP thread looks like a good blue-purple ink, too, although I guess I would not consider that blue to be a "Royal Blue." I mentioned Noodler "Te Chang." On reflection, I do not know whether I would consider the blue in that to be "royal blue" or not. The overall color seems very "royal" though, if that makes sense!

As far as a brown....the Herbin cafe as well as PR Chocolat are my favorites.

Private reserve inks are usually not water resistant at all (they do have a new line of invincible blue and black though I have not tried), same goes with waterman inks, they run and smear at the mere sight of water.

Noodlers walnut is a great ink, but its a very very dark black, if I use a medium nib it looks black to me.

The Pilot Iroshizuku Inks are all really great, though spendy, they are well behaved, have some water resistance, and have many colors

The Knize said:

You are really right about the Edelstein "Sapphire," Bill! I do not know why I did not think of that one. A very vibrant blue! I think Herbin makes a "sapphire" that is a similar hue that folks seem to like.

The Noodler's No. African Vilolet sample posted on the FTOP thread looks like a good blue-purple ink, too, although I guess I would not consider that blue to be a "Royal Blue." I mentioned Noodler "Te Chang." On reflection, I do not know whether I would consider the blue in that to be "royal blue" or not. The overall color seems very "royal" though, if that makes sense!

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Any idea if the Kung Te Cheng comes in anything but the 4.5 oz eyedropper bottle? Seems like a whole lot of ink, and a very inconvenient bottle for filling up normal piston/vac/lever pens...

For browns, it's hard to beat Noodler's Polar Brown. HIGH saturation, so some might want to dilute it a little; no bleed through, though. Great shading character.

justinp said:

Any idea if the Kung Te Cheng comes in anything but the 4.5 oz eyedropper bottle? Seems like a whole lot of ink, and a very inconvenient bottle for filling up normal piston/vac/lever pens...

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I have never seen it in a different sized bottle. 4.5 oz is a lot of ink, for sure. Noodler's seems to do that with certain of its inks.

The best royal blue (with a hint of purple) is Aurora. The best true blue is Namiki (Pilot).

Thanks,
Mike

mikey said:

The best royal blue (with a hint of purple) is Aurora. The best true blue is Namiki (Pilot).

Thanks,
Mike

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I'm not a real fan of blue but I have to agree Aurora is excellent. Great flow & lubrication too.

Private Reserve Chocolate is a great brown color ink. It behaves well in my pens and writes well too.