Waterman
Black, Florida Blue, Red, Purple, Green, Blue-Black, South Sea Blue, Brown, Rose
Waterman produces their own ink at their factory in Nantes, France. They use a basic base ink for all colours and then add tints.
Over the past years, in talking with various pen stores, Waterman Blue consistently comes out as one of the most recommended inks for all pens. In fact, when someone tells me they are having problems with a pen writing smoothly I typically suggest trying Waterman Florida Blue -- the response is usually "it is like a new pen".
I try a extensive number of inks and I consistently come back to Waterman Ink as one of the best inks around. It dries within a good time and is not prone to smudging.
Havana Brown - nice tone, no longer available in cartridges throughout North America, but the bottles are everywhere. A very rich dark brown. This is the benchmark for brown inks. When people compare browns, Waterman Havana Brown is usually the colour the is the reference points. Browns are either reddish or yellowish as compared to this one. I use this often when I go through my brown stages. When you go back years later and look at notes written this colour they look good. If you want to try a brown ink this is one I recommend.
Green - a great green - a bit of a blue tinge to it. Good flow. Works well in many different pens. I would consider this one of the greens with the most colour to it. An Ink of Choice
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Florida Blue has good colour density and flow. Works well in just about every pen. This is one of the most basic blue inks around. Judging from comments on Internet discussion boards, its very well accepted. When pushed so that I could only take one bottle of ink with me... dread that day... it would be this one, Florida Blue. The all round best blue ink - an Ink of Choice.
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Blue-Black is an interesting colour. I use this quite often when I am traveling and have to depend more on cartridges. The Florida Blue cartridges sometimes don't seem right to me and the Blue Back has more tone. I have gone back over old notes made years ago and the Blue Black still looks pretty good. I would call it one of those basic colours you should have on hand. An Ink of Choice.
- Black is pretty good, although there is a "gray" look to the ink. It has been referred to as the least-saturated of the inks and a grey-black with a hint of blue. It is a ink with great flow. As there is relatively a low level of pigmentation, it can given your writing a personality, as the line is darker where the nib has moved across the paper more slowly. (Thanks: R. Womer). Good water resistance.
- Purple flows well and has a nice rich look. I still prefer the Pelikan purple as a brighter, sharper colour but I use this ink on a regular basis. One of my most popular selections and the second best purple around. An Ink of Choice.
- South-Sea Blue is somewhat light. The Turquoise by Lamy has richer tones.
- Rose - I have only seen the Rose colour in France, and it is only available in cartridges, NOT in bottles. Patte Rosebank wrote and describes the ink as a nice cool rose-pink (in finer or "dry" nibs) to a wonderfully rich magenta (in broader or "wet" nibs). Thanks Patte.
- Red - Boy, here is a colour with a wide range of colour quality. Some bottles I have bought are a nice red. Others have a orange-red washed out look. When you get the right dye lot the colour is great but there sure is a lot of variances to my buying history with this colour.
While Herbin inks are known for their scents, Waterman inks for a number of years were known to have a scent of their own! That was because they included phenol in their formula as a means of stopping mould from growing in the ink. They have in the past few years replaced the phenol with another chemical that does the same trick, so it is only if you have one of the old bottles that you will be able to appreciate what used to be a very distinctive aroma.
