I bought a bottle of Parker Penman Sapphire (PPS) back in the days when
it was still in regular production. That bottle is long gone now, but
I remember loving the stuff. I thought it was beautiful, it was
striking. It seems now that it's been discontinued for a while, PPS
has become something of a notorious ink -- both feared and coveted by
fountain pen fanatics.

I decided to do a little research to answer a few questions, for my own
enlightenment. . . Did PPS have any special magical quality that other
inks lack? What's the closest substitute available today, and how
close is it?

I don't think it's possible to fairly analyze PPS without first looking
at the difference in times between then and now. When I bought my
bottle the main inks I was already familiar with were the ubiquitous
Sheaffer Skrip and Parker Quink. They were old-fashioned inks with
drab, faded, watery-looking colors. Private Reserve hadn't come into
existence yet, and neither had Noodler's. As far as I'm aware, Parker
was first to introduce a premium ink line, which was separate from
their regular inks. That explains a lot of its impact at the time. It
foretold the rise of premium inks and the highly saturated, vivid
colors that would soon come into fashion. Penman ink also came in a
lovely bottle, which I still think is among the most convenient and
attractive that I've seen.

Penman ink had a dark side, as it developed a reputation for staining
and clogging pens. It was a problem ink, and that is most likely why
it was withdrawn from the market.

I've ran a Google search to find out what inks have been suggested as a
close match for Sapphire. Several have been mentioned, but Noodler's
Blue and Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue (and its virtually identical
twin, Private Reserve American Blue) raised the most flags.
Anecdotally, DC Supershow Blue was said to be deliberately formulated
as a color match for PPS.

One person mentioned Levenger Cobalt Blue, which left me scratching my
head in puzzlement. I tried Levenger's ink back when it first was
introduced, and I thought their blue at the time was ugly and nothing
like PPS. Maybe it has been reformulated since then?

One person mentioned Noodler's Luxury Blue as being the waterproof ink
that most resembles PPS. I took that as a weak recommendation, as
there are very few waterproof blue inks to choose from. I was curious
to try it anyhow, as a waterproof blue sounded like a good idea.

In order to perform my own comparison, I took an old PPS cartridge,
drained it using a syringe, and injected the ink into a couple of pens:
a Sheaffer Balance II with a broad stub nib, and a Pelikan R200
demonstrator with a fine nib. I then made a large number of writing
samples on a couple of dissimilar, but high-quality, papers: Brazilian
"whiter-than-white" notebook paper, and Texas Bond. My plan is to
approach the subject methodically: to collect several blue inks, load
them into the same pens, and write samples on the same paper,
side-by-side with the PPS samples.

Sapphire truly is an attractive ink, by the way, even by today's standards.

I'm just getting started, and I still don't have the PR inks that I
most want to compare, but I've already made some observations. . .

Noodler's Blue American Eel, which I already had a bottle of, is very
close in color to PPS. When scribbling my signature with Blue Eel, my
first impression was, "It's the same thing!" I'm not sure whether it's
worth trying to get a bottle of the regular, non-lubricating blue for
an additional comparison. After closer examination, what I can say is
that Blue Eel is just ever-so-slightly lighter, or less saturated, than
PPS, but the difference is barely detectable with a wet-writing pen
like the Balance II. The drier-writing Pelikan made the difference
noticeable -- at least when the samples were side by side.

A careful comparison of the different samples on various papers led me
to conclude that there is some kind of precipitate or residue (dare I
say "pigment?") that accumulates on the paper surface as Penman ink
dries. It makes Penman slightly more opaque than other inks, and it
creates a greater variation in density. By that I mean, PPS can go
from pure "blue jean" blue to deep midnight blue within the span of a
single letter. Other inks (including Blue Eel) exhibit density
variation, but it is somewhat exaggerated in the Penman inks. This
gives the writing a richer and more vibrant appearance. My sample of
Parker Penman Ruby -- a truly unnattractive red-brown color that
reminds me of dried blood -- exhibited the same residue effect.

I have to speculate that this residue, whatever it may be, is also the
cause of the many staining and clogging problems that plagued users of
Penman inks. (I never experienced those problems myself. My personal
nightmare ink was Private Reserve Candy Apple Red.)

I think that answers my first question about PPS. Does it have some
unique and "magical" quality? Yeah, but it's subtle and surely not
worth the hassles that it has caused. I'm certain most people would
glance at the PPS and Blue Eel samples and see no readily apparent
difference. You have to look close. (Incidentally, I found the
"American Eel" lubricating ink lives up to its advertising as being
noticeably smoother-writing.)

I also got some Noodler's Luxury Blue, but it was a disappointment.
It's a somewhat faded color that more resembles the old Sheaffer Skrip.
It also feathers badly, even feathering and mottling slightly on my
Texas Bond paper. If you want a true blue permanent and waterproof
ink, it might be the best available, but that's not saying much. (I'd
suggest Noodler's Legal Lapis as a more practical waterproof and
tamper-resistant "blue" ink, even though it's blue-black rather than
true blue. I find that diluting it with water helps it look more blue
than black.)

PR American Blue is at the top of my list to get my hands on next.

Would anyone care to offer some other suggestions?

--
Tony Belding, Hamilton Texas