When you live in Kansas City, Royal Blue has a very distinct connotation. Very baseball. But lucky for Kaweco, their Royal Blue ink is really spot-on for the local interpretation for the color. Kaweco Royal Blue, in writing, reminds me of a lot of those vintage “washable blue” inks like the old Sheaffer Skrip ink. If you like blue inks or something that looks like your grandfather might have penned letters to your grandma while stationed overseas, this is a good candidate.
There’s some shading and its overall a well-behaved ink. Kaweco Royal Blue is everything you’d want or expect from a classic “true blue” ink. I’m not always inclined to gravitate towards blue-blue inks, this one is not a bad option. Its classic, old-world blue.
When compared to a few other true blues, its easy to see the violet undertones in the Kaweco Royal Blue ($17.50) — giving it the “royal treatment”, so to speak. Its brighter than the Parker Quink Blue Black ($8.75) I have and darker than the Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu-Kusa ($28). Price wise, Kaweco Royal Blue falls between these two inks as well — not a budget ink but not premium-priced either.
DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Kaweco for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Loving this color! It totally reminds me of those hot summer days at the beach. Thanks for the awesome review.
Nice tie-in to the Royals. I got an Ocean Blue Lamy Al-Star as my “souvenir” from their playoff run. It’s a bit darker, but oh well.
Oh and special thanks to Ana for quickly shipping my order. I appreciate the Fountain Pen Day bookmarks. A penpal used the FPD sticker on a letter. I was so jealous about not having any. Now I have 2 bookmarks thanks to Ana.
Even though this is just a “reliablue,” there’s something about it that I still like. Maybe it *is* the hint o’ violet.
I have a few premium inks but I keep returning to this Kaweko ink. And I think this review just pointed out why. It’s timeless.