Ink Review: Bung Box Sapphire (or, The Best Blue Ink Ever!)

I can't believe that I've had this ink for over four months and still have not posted a review.  It's no secret that I love Sailor Inks, and the special line of inks that Sailor manufactured for the Japanese retailer Bung Box (in Hamamatsu) has developed a cult following.  At last week's D.C. Pen Show, Bung Box attended with a suitcase full of ink in tow, and apparently sold all of it. 

Frankly, BB Sapphire is the best blue ink I have used.  The color pops, it doesn't fade, and the ink has all the great properties of Sailor ink.  (When I refer to an ink having "great properties," or an ink that "behaves well," I typically mean that the ink dries quickly and doesn't feather or bleed on the cheap paper that I have to use at work.) 

View fullsize

Sailor Bung Box Sapphire in the tall bottle.  I currently have this ink in three pens:  a Delta Dolcevita Soiree with a fine nib, a Lamy 2000 with an EF nib, and an Esterbrook with a signature stub.  

I have three bottles of Bung Box ink:  4B ("Bung Box Blue Black"), Sapphire, and Norwegian Wood (emerald green), the latter of which I picked up last week.  All of my bottles are the special Bung Box tall version, as opposed to the shorter Sailor bottle with an internal inkwell.  I've heard that Sailor is discontinuing the special tall bottles--at the D.C. Show, several of the inks that Bung Box brought with them were packaged in the regular Sailor bottles.  There's nothing wrong with regular Sailor ink, but it can be difficult to fill a large piston-fill pen such as a Montblanc or a Pelikan using an ordinary Sailor ink bottle.  Cartridge/Converter pens pose less of a problem, because you can fill the converter directly without even dipping the nib. 

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Bung Box ink is expensive.  In the U.S., you can purchase from Vanness Pen Shop for $35.65 per bottle.  Currently, their stock is limited.  You can also try to track down contact information for the shop in Japan, and there are several eBay-based purchasing services who can obtain Bung Box Ink for you, but there will not be significant cost savings.  The price per-bottle will remain around $35 (possibly $30 if you buy multiple bottles and can save on shipping).        

View fullsize

Sailor Bung Box Sapphire writing sample on Rhodia Paper.  The ink looks darker with a very broad, wet nib.  I've also included a color comparison with several other "bright blue" inks.  The Sapphire color is unique and, personally, my favorite.   

D.C. Pen Show Insanity: The Saturday and Sunday Recap!

I took a couple days to draft my recap of Saturday and Sunday at the 2015 Washington D.C. Fountain Pen Supershow.  Exhausted after being on my feet for three days straight, all I wanted to do when I got home was sleep.  But once refreshed (or overly caffeinated, or both), I've had a chance to collect my thoughts and post some pics of what was easily my best pen show experience yet.

The D.C. Show is the largest show in the country, and normally attracts the biggest crowds.  I've heard that L.A. has gained popularity in recent years, especially on Sunday, so I'm not exactly sure how the two compare.  All I know is that on Saturday morning, after an early coffee and bagel run with Thomas Hall and Leigh Reyes, by 8:45am the line for general admission (i.e., those who did not buy the $45 weekend pass) wound back through the lobby several times.  The line cleared fairly quickly, and by 10:00am the show floor was packed. 

View fullsize

A shot from the floor of the 2015 Washington, D.C. Pen Show.  Those overhead lights made it nearly impossible to take decent pictures (at least on an iPhone).  

My main goal for Saturday was to take pictures, talk to people, and capture the spirit of the event for the blog.  The hotel left the mezzanine overlooking the main ballroom open, so I was able to get some overhead pictures of what was happening on the floor.  (Pardon the mediocre quality--the overhead lights were extremely bright throughout the weekend, so the conditions for photography were less than ideal.  Great for examining pens, bad for taking pictures.)

View fullsize

Another pic in the middle of things . . . .

View fullsize

Anderson Pens was busy all day.  This year I think they had four or five tables at the show.  

So who was there on Saturday?  In terms of bloggers/podcasters: Brad Dowdy of the Pen Addict, Thomas Hall of Penucopia, Leigh Reyes, Mary Collis, Paul Joynes, Brian from Office Supply Geek, Matt Armstrong of The Pen Habit, Gerald from My Coffee Pot, Dan Smith of The Nibsmith, Elizabeth from No Pen Intended, Tim Wasem of The Writing Arsenal/Erasable Podcast, AND Johnny Gamber of Pencil Revolution/The Erasable Podcast (who, disappointingly, was not picketing the show).  Many pen makers were also present, including Jonathan Brooks of the Carolina Pen Company (showing off his "airbrush pens"--seriously, check these out--as well as many of his custom acrylics and alumilites), Shawn Newton, and Brian and Andrea Gray of Edison Pens.  Brian and Rachel Goulet were also circulating among the crowds, though I didn't get a chance to talk to them (and make a Goulet periscope appearance!) until later that night.  I'm sure I've left a ton of people out, but I met so many people this weekend . . . . 

View fullsize

Franklin-Christoph was set up against the back wall, and from what I could tell was flooded with customers.  They had two or three trays of prototype pens on display and for sale.  

So what did I buy on Saturday?  Well, still no pens.  My pen acquisitions for the weekend were a big zero.  But I did pick up a TWSBI ink bottle from the Andersons and a couple bottles of Sailor Kobe Ink from Vanness, which Sailor manufactures for the Kobe-Nagasawa department store in Kobe, Japan.  I believe there are approximately 50 colors in the Kobe line, so if you're a Sailor ink fanatic, Vanness Pen Shop stocks them periodically.  If Vanness is out of stock, there are several eBay sellers who also carry them, but again, these are specially manufactured by Sailor so availability can be spotty, especially if you are looking for specific colors.  I was tempted to pick up some KZW inks and some more Bung Box Inks (directly from Bung Box, no less), but realized that I was pressing my luck with airport security enough as it is and cut myself off.  Bung Box did have some stunning custom Pilot and Sailor pens, including a yellow Realo piston filler dubbed the "Soleil" that I'm still contemplating.  There's always mail order! 

View fullsize

My 2015 Washington, D.C. Pen Show Haul.  From left, a bag of Franklin-Christoph ink samples (plus a couple others from friends old and new); a bottle of Bung Box Norwegian Wood; two TWSBI nibs custom ground; a bottle of Akkerman Shocking Blue; two bottles of Kobe Ink (Nos. 4 and 37), a red TWSBI ink bottle, and the prize from this year's SWAG bag, a Monteverde limited edition ink, which looks like a blue-gray.  Reviews all will be forthcoming at some point.  (No picture of the Newton Shinobi that was delivered this weekend, I'm saving that one!)  

The best aspect of pen shows is the after-hours activity.  After dinner with the Erasable Crew and Joe Lebo (at a surprisingly decent Thai restaurant in the office park across the street from the hotel), we retired to the bar, where I actually lasted until 11:00pm or so.  I returned to the show the next day, but Sunday was very quiet.  Many vendors had packed up Saturday night and gone home, but I imagine those that remained did a brisk business during the afternoon.  I grabbed some Rhodia pads marked at 20% off (nobody wants to carry paper home), took some pictures, and headed to the airport.  I'm already making plans for next year.  

In case you missed my write-up of Thursday and Friday, please check it out!      

D.C. Pen Show: Thursday and Friday Recap

As anyone who chooses to read this blog should know, The D.C. Fountain Pen Supershow is the largest fountain pen-related gathering in the world.  The show spans four days (Thursday-Sunday) in August every year, and takes place at the Sheraton Premiere in Tysons Corner, Virginia.  I’ve attended for the past three years.  Usually, I arrive early Friday morning so I'm there for the first full day of trading.  This year, however, I got in on Thursday afternoon.  While some trading goes on in the atrium Thursday afternoon, it’s mainly vintage.  The Sheraton had about 15 tables set up, and the trading seemed brisk. 

Thursday night, a group of pen bloggers/collectors/enthusiasts assembled in the hotel bar, following dinner at the restaurant next door.  Brad Dowdy and Jeffrey Bruckwicki, Mary Collis, Thomas Hall, Leigh Reyes, Gerald Taylor, Paul Joynes, and many others had made it in to town by dinner, and it was fun catching up.  

Thursday and Friday are the “pre-show,” open only to exhibitors (who have tables) and “weekend traders” who have purchased the $45 show pass.  Saturday and Sunday are open to the public.  Lot’s of people ask:  why pay extra when you can attend on Saturday and Sunday for only $7 or so?  The answer:  you avoid the crowds.  Saturday at the D.C. Pen Show is very, very crowded.  We’re talking shoulder to shoulder crowds most years, with lines backing up out the hotel doors in the morning.  Sunday is better from a crowd perspective, but at that point a lot of the vendors have sold out of their choice pens and inks.  

My Friday: 

After grabbing a quick breakfast with Mary Collis in the morning, anybody who needed nib work done joined a mad rush to put their names on the list of their favorite nibmeister or pen repairer.  Most of the major players perform nib work and/or restoration work at this show, including Mike Masuyama, Richard Binder (who now does shows only), Ron Zorn, and Deb Kinney.  I was able to get on Mike, Deb, and Ron’s list, and I purchased a spare nib for my Aurora Ipsilon Quadra from Richard Binder, which he tuned as part of the deal.  So with spots in line secured, I scoured the show for pens that caught my eye. 

As I’ve talked about recently, I’m not in “acquisition mode.”  There are a lot of nice pens in D.C., and many caught my eye, but this year I focused more on improving the pens I already have an getting nib work done.  I did, however, pick up my Newton Shinobi!  No pictures or teaser reviews yet—I want to use this pen and post a full write-up once I’ve spent some time with it.  It’s everything I thought it would be and more. 

View fullsize

A colorful array of Edison Menlos on Friday at the D.C. Pen Show.  I'm interested to see how many of these are still left after Saturday! 

Some more Friday observations and purchases: 

Vanness brought a huge amount of ink, as always, and they were set up down the aisle from Bung Box, who is attending the D.C. Pen Show for the first time.  Bung Box brought a suitcase full of their ink and limited edition Sailor, Pilot and Platinum pens, which were going fast.  

View fullsize

Franklin-Christoph is introducing a wide range of new ink colors.  I have samples of several of them and will be reviewing them in the coming weeks.  

I picked up some ink samples from Franklin-Christoph’s new line, a bottle of Akkerman Shocking Blue that I had ordered, some Bung Box Norwegian Wood, and a couple of spare TWSBI nibs that I had ground to an architect’s nib (by Mike Masuyama) and a .6mm cursive italic (by Deb Kinney).  Finally, just before the proverbial bell rang and the show closed for the day, I got a Parker 51 vacumatic from a random eBay lot completely restored by Ron Zorn.  The pen works perfectly and my vintage Parker collection continues to grow.  Some other pictures: 

View fullsize

Some Franklin-Christoph prototypes.  Some of these may become new editions?  Some may be one-offs? 

Friday night:  The Pen Addict Meetup

Brad Dowdy of the Pen Addict podcast and Nock Co. sponsored an after-hours gathering in one of the hotel ballrooms following the D.C. Pen Show Friday happy hour.  From what I could tell, the turnout was excellent, including a periscoped appearance by Brian and Rachel Goulet!  (I made a brief cameo on periscope, but I have no recollection of what was said given my state of exhaustion after about 12 hrs straight on my feet).  Stay tuned for more Saturday fun! 

View fullsize

Dot-grid napkins for the Pen Addict meetup?  How did the Sheraton know?  

Blue Inks for the Office

While not the most exciting topic, I get a lot of questions about the inks I use at work.  I generally take the position that any ink is “work appropriate” as long as you have the confidence to pull it off (hello, Yama-Budo), but understandably, some work environments—and the paper they stock in the supply cabinet—are more tolerant of our craziness than others.  

If I know that I will not have access to a stock of decent paper, and I’m in a situation where I don’t want to rock the boat color-wise, my go-to ink option is either Sailor Kiwa-Guro nano-black (a pigmented writing ink), or one of the various bottles of basic royal blue inks that I have lying around.  Some might consider the Kiwa-Guro too pricey for a bottle of black ink, but if feathering and bleeding on cheap paper really bothers you, this is by far the best option.  Noodler’s X-feather also probably won’t bleed or feather on cheapo paper, but from what I’ve heard, it takes forever to dry so I don’t consider this a viable option for work if you need to take multiple pages of notes in a short time-frame (i.e., you're flipping pages of your notebook or legal pad before they dry).  Noodler’s inks and pigmented inks like Kiwa-Guro also require more maintenance, and you should pay attention to how often you flush out your pens or else you may get a clog.

I have four options for basic blue inks, which is ridiculous, but hey, this is my “job".  They are, in no particular order of preference: 

Waterman Serenity Blue (formerly “Florida Blue”).  This ink is more or less the gold standard for “safe” blue inks, and has an almost cult-like following among vintage pen collectors because apparently no one has ever seen this ink stain a pen.  The first bottled fountain pen ink that I ever purchased, Waterman blue holds a special place in my stockpile and I use it regularly.  It works well on most papers, even in a wet stub nib. 

Rohrer & Klingner Koenigsblau:  I would call Koenigsblau a slightly brighter version of Waterman blue.  It’s equally well-behaved on most papers, but probably a touch more likely to feather and bleed.  Rohrer & Klingner inks work well in most of the pens in which I’ve used them, and are generally regarded as safe.  I’m also liking Leipziger Schwartz (a greenish-black).  

View fullsize

Writing sample of Koenigsblau and Waterman Serenity/Florida Blue.  Note that each of these inks appears fairly washed-out when dry, at least on less absorbent paper like Clairefontaine or these Nock Co. dot-dash cards.  

Iroshizuku Asa-Gao:  Perhaps the ink I’ve recently enjoyed the most.  The Asa-Gao dries with a dark sapphire-like tinge to it, not quite as nice as Bung-box Sapphire but close.  I have only a 15ml “mini-Iroshizuku” bottle and will be picking up a full bottle as soon as that one runs out.  Compare how bright the Asa-Gao remains when it dries, as opposed to the much more washed out Waterman and R&K.  

View fullsize

Probably the most accurate comparison.  The Asa-Gao is the brightest, the Koenigsblau second, and the Waterman third.  The Koenigsblau shows better in this picture because I used a pen with a wetter nib. 

Other blue inks that I’ll throw out there as good everyday options include:  Aurora Blue (slightly more purple-violet); Sailor Nioi-Sumire (same); Bung-box Sapphire; and Sailor Souten (a sky blue).  Your mileage may vary in terms of what's "acceptable" in your place of work (or you may just not care), but using one of these blues probably won't cause others to look twice (unless it's to ask where you bought the bottle).  

Ink Review: Montblanc Meisterstuck Blue Hour and Giveaway Courtesy of PenBoutique!

First of all, many thanks to Pen Boutique for sending me this bottle of Montblanc “Blue Hour” to review. I’ve been buying from Pen Boutique for a long time, and they are certainly one of my first “go to” sources for the Montblanc Limited/Special Edition inks. (I have them to thank for my healthy stock of Alfred Hitchcock Red.) 

View fullsize

Montblanc describes the ink as a "Twilight Blue." It exhibits some nice shading in a stub nib.  Here, I used my Lamy 2000 with the .9mm Minuskin Stub Nib.  

On to the ink itself: Don’t get me wrong, this is an excellent ink, but after using it for a few days I’ve concluded that it’s not for me. Blue Hour, like all Montblanc inks, dries quickly and doesn’t bleed or feather on the vast majority of papers. It shades nicely, and as you can see from my writing sample, has some limited water (err, gin) resistance. 

Color-wise, I’d place this ink in the blue-black family. There’s definitely a hint of teal when the ink dries. Many have compared it to Sailor Jentle Yama-Dori, but I would place it closer to classic Waterman Blue Black (or, as it’s now known, “Mysterious Blue”). Blue Hour doesn’t have the reddish sheen of Yama-Dori, and leans more gray.  A more detailed color comparison is included at the bottom of this post.  

View fullsize

So why didn’t this one take? Probably because the color is too similar to the Waterman, which is NOT a negative comparison because it's one of my favorite inks of all time. As a limited edition, Blue Hour lands at a higher price point ($17 for 30ml at Pen Boutique) than the Waterman, and since I already have a "healthy" stockpile of that ink, then there isn’t a reason to stock up, especially if one is looking for a reason to limit the amount of ink you are hoarding. On the other hand, if you are a Montblanc L.E. completionist, or exclusively use Montblanc Inks, you will not be disappointed because Montblanc doesn’t have another ink like this on the market at the moment.

So, to thank my readers, and to stick with my goal of being "intentional" about what inks I stockpile, I'm giving this bottle away!  The usual giveaway rules apply (leave a comment on this post or sign up for my e-mail alerts; if you're already on my e-mail list you're automatically entered).  Unfortunately, I have to limit this to U.S./Canada only, since I'll have to eat postage on a bottle of liquid.  If you simply can't wait to pick up this ink, head over to Pen Boutique now and order it while supplies last.  And if you're the lucky winner and will be attending the D.C. Pen Show next month, I will be happy to personally deliver the ink to you there!  

View fullsize

A full page writing sample and color comparison with my "waterproofing test" at bottom right.  Paper is French-ruled Clairefontaine.