Sailor Bung Box Blue Black is also called “4B” and boy, is it another one of those colors I just love. Its a rich indigo blue with a halo of red that gives it such a pop. I decided to test it in the teeny, tiniest pen I own, my Kaweco Liliput with an EF nib — maybe I’m just channeliing the vibe of the teeny tiny Bung Box shop in Tokyo Hamamatsu, Japan (Thanks to Mel for setting me straight!)?
The advantage of testing BB BB (Ah, there’s the four Bs!) in a small, fine nibbed pen is that the dark indigo blue-black is dark enough to show even in a fine nibbed pen and the red halo even adds some shading and character to small, fine writing. If you, too, write small or like fine nibs, this blue-black has enough character and shading to be interesting even in such a delicate line. Quite exciting.
I put the quarter in the photo above to show how small the writing is, just for scale. But also to show this ink is not waterproof which means it will easily clean out of your most delicate pens. Just don’t sign your mortgage papers with it.
And finally, it was hard to narrow down to just a few blue-black ink comparisons because I literally have a dozen to choose from! But I picked the ones that were the closest in hue. Diamine 1864 150th Blue Black and Sheaffer Blue Black both had the same sort of red halo but the actual shade of blue was different. Diamine 1864 is a bit more violet and Sheaffer is a little more on the green side. I included a couple more common blue black inks like Lamy and Kaweco and they both feel flat compared to the sheen and halo on the 4B. The MontBlanc Midnight Blue is much darker overall and the Caran d’Ache Magnetic Blue has a sheen too but is more denim-y.
So there you have it. Another in a long line of options in the hunt for the perfect blue-black. I think 4B is pretty darn close to perfect. But Sailor really does make delicious inks. Pricey, but delicious. So if you have a chance to pick up a bottle of this rarity, and you like blue-black inks, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Big thanks to Junee at Alt. Haven for sending me this sample of ink. I love the pen community!
Perfectly, timed review! I reserved my bottle from Vanness to pick-up in Atlanta.
Hope to see you in Atlanta!
I’m a little sad that the ink wasn’t tested in a BB nibbed pen, but a great review nevertheless! I am starting to think I need to pick up one of the Bungbox inks everyone is talking about.
A quick note, BungBox is located in the city of Hamamatsu in Shizuoka prefecture and is about two hours away from Tokyo by bullet train (there is an area in Tokyo called Hamamatsu-cho, but it’s a completely different place).
If you ever make the trip to Japan and do the Tokyo and Kyoto thing, Hamamatsu is along the way and BungBox is pretty close to the station. 🙂
Thanks for the correction, I will update the post with the correct location and adjust my fantasy plans for traveling to Japan to include a trip to Hamamatsu! I’ve always wanted to ride on a bullet train.