Fahrney’s Midnight Blues Ever Write Fountain Pen Ink
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Back in June I visited Washington DC and did a tour of the local stationery stores to see what cool office supplies I could dig up, and one of the places I stopped was Fahrney’s Pens. While I was there ogling over all of the great pens and notebooks, I also picked up a bottle of their Midnight Blues Ever Write Fountain Pen Ink.
I’m not sure how many different blue black inks I have reviewed, but I would have to say that it is one of my favorite colors to write with for just about any purpose, so I was looking forward to the opportunity to try out this “midnight blue” which I assumed would be the same as blue black. For all intents and purposes it matches up pretty well with the other blue black inks I’ve used before, but it definitely skews more towards the blue end of the spectrum than black, which is totally fine with me.
I was a little leery of buying ink from a company that I didn’t really associate with ink because I’ve read plenty of horror stories about inks destroying the inside of pens due to chemical reactions between the ink and the innards of the pen, but I was pretty comfortable knowing how long Fahrney’s had been in business so I didn’t let that stop me from buying the ink.
The ink comes in a 1.5 oz (or .5 mL) bottle, and as you can see from the Fahrney’s website, you can pick up a bottle for about $9.50, but if you are buying 12 or more you can also get a nice discount. The bottle itself is kind of a no-frills glass cylinder, but I don’t really expect anything from a fountain pen ink bottle other than it not breaking or leaking on me.
I’ve been using this ink on a daily basis for a few weeks now, mostly in my Levenger daily planner and I have really enjoyed it. The ink has many of the qualities that you would expect, it dries quickly, writes smooth, doesn’t feather, and doesn’t result in any nib creep…at least not in my Pelikan M215 with a fine nib.
Now that you can see the writing sample, you may notice that its much more blue than it is black, but it still has a nice darker tone to it. If you compare it to something like Noodler’s Blue Black you can really see the difference. I’ve updated the blue black ink comparison log so you can check that out here to see how they look next to each other. I’m not sure which of the two I like better, because they both handle really well, and I love both colors. I can see myself switching between the Noodler’s and Fahrney’s on a regular basis, they are close enough that they fit the blue black spectrum that I like, but they are also different enough that one can act as a change of pace for the other…or maybe I just really like blue black type inks way too much? Anyway, this is a great option if you are looking for a nice blue black ink that leans a little more blue. Also if you are ever in DC you should definitely check out the Farney’s store, if for nothing else to see the giant fountain pen sign on the outside of the store.
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I was under the impression that Fahrney’s ink was basically Private Reserve with a Fahrney’s label on top. It seems that way since they name their colors exactly the same as PR. Does anyone know off-hand if this is true? Should we do a test and I’ll break out a bottle of PR Midnight Blues to compare?
@Tom – Sorry Im slow on responding this week, thanks for the insight though, and I’m looking forward to your comparison.
“For all intensive purposes…”
GAH! NO! The proper phrase is “For all intents and purposes…”
@BrodyV – Fixed…and thank you. Im an idiot, I can own up to that.
Love your reviews but can’ t help but chime in with the copy editing:
Remedial Metric System 101:
1.5 fluid oz equals approximately 45ml
(44.36 if you want to be painfully precise.)
Cheers,
S
OK, my math is correct even if my contractions are not
@Sean – Corrections are always welcome, I could probably give someone a full time job cleaning up my mistakes though.
The true measurement/text should read how the Fahrney’s site has it, which is: “Each bottle holds 50ml of ink (approx. 1.5 oz.)”
That “approx” can mean anything.