Jessica asks:
I’m usually a blue-black ink girl, but ever since purchasing a Uni-ball Signo DX in the new color Prussian Blue, I am in love with this bright navy blue color. I’d like to buy some fountain pen ink samples in this color and I’m wondering if you know any inks that are the exact shade of this gel pen. Diamine Prussian Blue bears the same name, but is by no means a color match – too grey. Do you have any suggestions for fountain pen ink color dupes to Uni-ball Signo’s Prussian Blue color? I have no preferences as to price or brand.
Thanks to some help from Elaine over at JetPens, I pulled together a few of my best ink matches for the Uni Signo Prussian Blue gel ink which I reviewed a couple months ago. It’s not exactly a blue black color and it certainly doesn’t match any Prussian Blue inks that I could find.
I did find a few inks that were fairly close matches. Some colors were close hue matches but had a bit more shading or sheen and certainly the width of the nib will influence how close a match it will be to the Uni Signo Prussian Blue.
So in order of how close a match I think the colors are, here are my recommendations:
- Pen BBS #41
- Bookbinders Snake Ink Blue Racer
- Colorverse #12 Crystal Planet (a little bit lighter with a reddish sheen)
- Noodlers Ottoman Azure (darker but no sheen)
- Sailor Jentle Souten (close color match, red sheen)
- Robert Oster Blue Sea (sheen, slightly blacker)
- Noodler’s Bad Blue Heron (darker)
Rosemary writes:
I had to clean several fountain pen converters for a set of Jinhao Fountains pens.
After cleaning them, I saw that water had gotten behind the rubber gasket of the convert and WILL NOT COME OUT! I tried a cotton bud, but it wouldn’t fit. I tried shaking the converter as hard as I could hoping to sling the water out to no avail. I tried sitting them up on their open ends on paper toweling hoping to coax the water out for several days and nothing.
Nothing worked!
These converters have no heart! They were immune to a woman’s tears, pleading and her getting down on her knees and begging!
Should I just give up and buy another dozen converters? Or do you have some magical fix up your sleeves?
Thank you for reading and not snickering too hard at my inability to clean converters.
Since the water is above the gasket, it won’t actually infiltrate your ink and dilute it if you refill your converter as is, it won’t effect the new color. Only the aesthetic of your converter. So, unless you have a demonstrator pen and you can see the converter when the pen is in action you can take the “out of sight, out of mind” tactic I employ if I get water above the gasket. However, if this really bothers you, I have a solution.
Thanks to the folks over at Vanness Pens, I found out that you can disassemble the whole converter if you really want to get serious about having a clean and dry converter.
The metal cap can be twisted off which will allow access to the back section of the converter.
Voila! Now all the parts and pieces can be cleaned and dried and then reassembled. No more water behind the gasket. Your converter will now be perfectly clean and free of unsightly condensation.
The last question came in from an undisclosed location. I was asked to find an ink color that was similar to rose gold. Now, there are many tones of rose gold — some more gold, some more pink so this presented an unusual challenge. So, here’s my best guess:
I chose DeAtramentis Pearlescent Whisky Brown Bronze ($14 for 35ml) and Whisky Brown Copper ($14 for 35ml) as the closest matches to Rose Gold.
Do you have a better suggestion?
I’m going to suggest Diamine Oxford Blue if you’re after the character of the writing. It swabs dark, but it writes much lighter than it looks. And it definitely has the sort of bright cyan shading the gel ink does in a fine nib. Also, a lot of these inks show up in threads on fpn about Parker Penman Sapphire. I don’t think this gel ink looks much like the writing samples I’ve seen for the actual ink, but the cyan shading is a common feature in suggested duplicates.
Also definitely think about your nib when you’re trying to duplicate the look of a different kind of pen. Fountain pen nibs can vary a lot, even if you’re talking about the same nib size and manufacturer. So two nominally identical nibs can write very differently with the same ink.
Those are not bad, but I think the rose gold needs to be a little rosier. Lately I’ve been mixing colors. I would try mixing in a little Robert Oster Pinky with the De Atramentis Pearlescent Whisky Brown Bronze. I think that might bring about a rose-gold color that’s a little rosier. I think the key is to keep all the colors light. I like the Whisky Brown Bronze, it’s a great place to start. If I had some, I’d try that mix myself, because I love rose gold. I’ve actually been trying to mix up a rose gold color, and I think I’ll get me a sample of the Whisky Brown Bronze and then give it a try. If I can keep track of where this site is, I’ll post my results.
My go-to rose gold match is J. Herbin is Rouille D’ancre. It’s a perfect match for my champagne Pilot Decimo or rose gold LAMY LX.
Can you share what type of pen is in the last picture? It looks like a good planner pen!
The pen in the last photo is the Caran d’Ache 849 ballpoint in Rose Gold.
That’s the Caran d’Ache 849 in Rose Gold