The Department of Mysteries: In Which Favorites Are Revisited

Long time no ink.  But a kind soul (this means you, Scooby!) at Fountain Pen Geeks has revived the Great Mystery Ink Extravaganza, and I was lucky enough to get on board.  MI 14 turned out to be blue.  This was fortunate.  Dr. Inkenstein likes blue.

Ur scribblz, I haz demz:

 

This was Rhodia paper, and the ink delivery system was a Dollar Demonstrator used for countless ink tests.  

This particular ink seemed to start hard after I had loaded and left it on its side for a couple of hours, but it wrote with a fairly suave and slinky manner.

I started to guess:  Sailor Jentle Blue also has red sheen, but MI 14 probably isn't this; I have JB in a JinFari at the moment, and the Jentle ink looks darker. This is a bright blue that looks denim-y in heavier application.

Is it a Robert Oster ink? I'm pretty unfamiliar with the line, apart from some pen pal letters.

Diamine Blue Velvet got on my fingers, too, every time I used it. Clearly, though I loved its properies and color, that ink hated me.

Mystery Ink 14 turned out to be.....Akkerman Shocking Blue. Which I already had.   So why couldn't I guess right?

Sailin' Da Blooz: In Which Dr. Inkenstein Searches For Truth

Turns out Dr. Inkenstein does not have very many True Blues. And of the following, some are far from true blue, and quite a few are sample vials: the Iroshizukus, and the Sailor Kobe #37 (thanks for this latter to bluesea!). Rotring Ultramarine, which Dr. I used to have, and re-purchased NOS from fleabay, is remembered as being a nice denim color. But it's actually POIPLE, as evidenced by the chroma. (sorta kinda....scannage tones down the normal dynamic color range). Rotring Ultramarine does fade down in poiple-osity a bit when fully dried. 

The Old Shoe MB was bought secondhand and is clearly a blue-black, but looks blue in the bottle. I swear it does. It's there for...contrast. Yeah, that's it. Contrast. Just like the Rotring.

Tsuyu-Kusa, while a lovely color with excellent properties, seems a little pale for everyday use. Asa-Gao... just didn't thrill me. 

My favorites? The classic Waterman Florida Blue, now a collector's item. And JH Eclat de Saphir. If I wanted a darker blue, Myosotis. I guess Skrip is up there, too, rating an Okay, At Least It's Inexpensive (this would be the conical-bottle Slovenia version).

These are not my finest chromas; I plead InCoSomNia.

Are my ink-bottle days behind me? Maybe. If Sailor made a true, clear blue with no green, turquoise or POIPLE undertones, I might be interested.


Da inx:



Da chromaz: