on salePilot Namiki Blue - Ink Sample

I Journal daily and want them to be available down the road. The problem with permanent inks is they are hard to clean and sometimes the color isn't vibrant. Although this isn't advertised as permeant, it's surprisingly water resistant and well up to my needs. At half the price of some of the blue pigments available this is a great ink!

I was looking for a lovely blue to fill my Conklin All-American Lapis Blue fountain pen. I tested a number of different blue inks for color, feathering, bleed through, and ghosting. The Pilot Namiki Blue won hands down in all categories. I am very pleased with this ink and its affordability.

One reviewer described this as a denim and that's accurate. I put it in my Edison cobalt and I love the combination. It's something to use at work without getting as bright on the page as Baystate Blue. If you want something a shade less bright, this is nice. It's like pools of gentle blue on the page. It's a calming color.No real shading that I can see, though -- just what you see is what you get. It leaves a strong, flat line of blue.

I liked this ink but didn't it love it. It is smooth to write with and I like the colour even though I thought it was a trifle washed out. To me it is reminiscent of Lamy blue. The only reason I am not adding it to my stable of inks is because it doesn't dry in a crisp line. The best way I can describe it is fuzzy. I wouldn't call it feathering, though perhaps it is. This ink just doesn't look as good a day or two later. If I were to add it to my stable of inks, I would use it for everyday writing. It would be one of my go-to inks.

I found your video on the vanishing point Pilot/Namiki pen very informative and helpful. I had a nice warm feeling about doing business with you. I do have a follow up question: I suppose some inks rare better than others and probably correspondingly more expensive. What are the characteristics of better inks compared to lesser quality inks?