Most Compatible Ink Brand

I have done very well with Diamine inks.

I would say that most "old timers", and inks that mimic those, are a good choice.

I have a mix of vintage and modern pens. The Diamine inks work well in all of these pens. YMMV...

I have settled on J. Herbin inks as being the best and smoothest for my pens; in fact, I have decided to stick with one Herbin ink, Violette Pensee, the violet ink millions of French schoolchildren used to learn to write with.

Diamine is, generally, a wonderful ink. Easy to use, easy to clean and a great color palette. Of course, in any extensive line there may be a clunker here and there. Pelikan inks do not offer the breadth of palette but are solid, dependable inks.

There are a great many choices in bottled inks. Part of the fun is trying new inks, IMHO. Keep in mind that ink performance will greatly depend on the pen, the paper and your expectations. Good luck finding your most compatible inks.

I find Pilot inks completely reliable, both the expensive Iroshizuku ones, and the less expensive "regular", whether sold under the Pilot or Namiki brands. I use them almost exclusively in my older vintage pens. Well, I have only tried three colors of the Iroshizuku and three of the regular, but I would try their other varieties without any worries.

I'm more interested in ink properties than in finding precisely the right shade of something.

Waterman is my preference for safe, works well with everything ink.

I'm having very little trouble with Namiki blue. I've also had good luck with some less saturated private reserve colors.
Pelikan inks are wonderful. Great shades and really good flow. I trust it in my vintage Pelikans

Noodler's inks can be wonderful ... or troublesome.

It all depends on which ink you get. There are plenty of them which draw compliments, plenty which draw criticisms, plenty which draw both.

But one ink that is generally well regarded is Noodler's Black. A very nice ink, and if you are at all interested in waterproof ink, forgery-proof ink, anything like that, this is your baby.

After having Baystate Blue ruin a pen I've decided to avoid Noodler's inks. I'll probably just end up buying an assortment like Diamine, Aurora, J. Herbin and Pelikan.

jdub7758 said:

After having Baystate Blue ruin a pen I've decided to avoid Noodler's inks. I'll probably just end up buying an assortment like Diamine, Aurora, J. Herbin and Pelikan.

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BSB is one of those "special" Noodler's inks that is ... um ... special. Don't judge the whole brand by it.

I enjoy using Diamine inks, I also use J Herbin inks, DeAtramentis inks and Organic Studios ink

I read a very positive review of Kaweco inks, I'm thinking of getting a bottle.