Favourite bottled fountain pen inks

This document is old and only partially contains current information. I've bought lots of ink since I wrote it, so it's time for an update. You can find, sort of, updates at my blog.

I haven't tried out all possible or even available inks, as "good enough" is good enough for me. But I haven't stopped looking for improvements.

Blue-black usually isn't just a very dark blue, as traditionally it used to be archival ink, with the black part the permanent, often iron gall which is invisible at the time of writing but darkens the paper later, mixed with blue so you could see what you wrote, but which faded over time. The blue-blacks I've tried often don't write as smoothly as other colours of the same brands.

• Black
  • Pelikan Brilliant Black - Slightly warm, but all black, slightly flat. Good water resistance and light fastness.
  • Parker Quink Black - Deep black, so I prefer to use it with F and smaller nibs. Glossier than Pelikan.
  • Waterman Black - Similar to Parker's black.
• Blue-black
  • Mont Blanc Blue-black - A very deep and dark navy blue. Very good water resistance.
  • Pelikan Blue-black - Slightly darker (I like the colour better) than Mont Blanc, also very good water resistance, but smudges a little bit when wetted.
• Blue
  • Waterman Florida Blue - A dark, but clear, blue, not like blue-blacks. Hardly water resistant at all, but doesn't smudge easily.
  • Parker Quink Blue - Also a good colour, slightly on the purplish side.
  • Mont Blanc Blue - Also a blue I like.
• Violet
  • Pelikan Violet - Very good violet, clearer in colour than what I manage to mix myself.
  • Noodler's Shah's Rose - On the reddish side, very nice to write with.
• Turquoise
  • Swisher Nantucket Blue - Good legible colour, very nice to write with.
• Brown
  • Pelikan Brilliant Brown - Sort of "orangeish" brown.
  • Waterman Havana - Best "brown" brown I've found.
• Green
  • Pelikan Brilliant Green - I don't use green much, but this is the one I like best.