Akkerman Shocking Blue: Ink Review

Another great ink, the colour is a royal blue, not unlike a lot of others out there on the market, it is nice free flowing highly saturated and comes in that beautiful bottle we all know and love. This ink does dry faster then the others I have tried, and is perfectly suitable for a workplace environment, even though it will be a bit expensive for most to use up that way.



the ink almost has a vintage feel to its look while being a bit more vibrant, an update to a classic... always a successful formula, and this makes great on that system. I was expecting something called Shocking blue, to be a vibrant light blue rather then the darker blue we have here, I was shocked to say the least.... guess thats where its name came from

Daylight pictures... this is what it really looks like

Are you seeing the red in there? My Shocking blue also shades, have you tried a wet and wide nib?

You know, this ink will change after being in your pen a couple days, too. Much darker than royal.

I just wrote smore with the Pelikan, flexed it out a bit, still have no shading, maybe its the paper. the ink looks a lot like my 1670 bleu ocean, bu no red to me. It is a nice blue and the ink does work great, maybe ill have to try it in a different pen

The red is elusive, usually seen as a reflection or sometimes around the edges. I think I see some on the upper pic, on the horizontal Q-tip swab.

I'm loading some tonight.

Very nice! One warning ... Mr. Rutte warned me that shocking blue (Mariska Veres) is a relatively intense color, and could stain pens more easily than some other Akkerman inks. I would only use it in modern pens that are made from a stainproof material (e.g. metal).

Nice review, James. Love the red sheen of this ink. On the right paper, it may be the sizing, it can produce a wonderful sheen that sparkles red. Really cool. And if you don't want to spend the money on the bottle, a few other blues that are nearly identical, including sheen, are Diamine Majestic Blues and Levenger Cobalt.

Ill have to do some playing with paper then

Since it's Akkerman, you know we need bottle pics.

what bottle.. the blue and brown just came in zip lock bags

Well, in all fairness, I did ask you to pick up the inks. Can't remember a hard stipulation that they come in a bottle, any bottle, let alone an Akkerman's. *doh*

Interesting. I would have expected something a lot brighter based on the "swabs" I saw at the Pen Show. Maybe those were not really swabs. Apparently this color sold out immediately there. It is one that has gotten a lot of "press."

The photos do look a lot like the Herbin 1670 bleu ocean.

The bottles do say they hold 60 ml, so not so much more expensive than many other inks, at least when one does not have to pay shipping from Europe to the US!

it's the shipping that hurts the cost i think. But it wasnt bad buying in person i should have grabbed another bottle for myself.

I updated OP with a couple of better shots