Vintage Inks: Green and Parker Super Quink Inks

Here are the two vintage inks I found last month when I joined fellow FPN-P members on a pen/ink/paper hunt in Recto and Avenida, in Old Manila. I love to call them my Christmas inks because of their color combination: Red and Green.

Ink No. 1: Parker Super Quink Permanent Red with Solv-X

I got this bottle of red ink from Conanan's at Recto. The bottle contains 2fl oz of ink, and against bright light, the contents appear to be brown rather than red. I used the black Hero 221 to try this ink, a pen I got from Corona, a shop full of Hero, Youlian, and Youth pens, still in Recto. As I wrote, I noticed that the ink starts out pale and almost pinkish, while it is still wet. Once it dries, it becomes a bright, happy, beautiful red. It's not as bloody red as Camel Scarlet, my other red ink from India, but I like the red it becomes on white paper when it dries. I love this kind of red and I'll try it on my medium-nibbed pens later on.

Ink No. 2: Parker Super Quink Permanent Green with Solv-X

This ink I got from Merriam and Webster along Avenida. The bottle contains 2fl oz of ink, and while so much ink has been lost to evaporation, there is something very special with this ink: it's made in the Philippines. I used another Hero 221 from Corona to test it. As I wrote using the Hero, I noticed that this green ink starts ever paler than the red one. It looked washed-out or even watered-down when it's wet. Surprisingly, it turns an impressive green as soon as it dries. I'm not a fan of green inks, but I particularly like the way this green turns out on white paper. Not too dark, for me to even mistake it for green-black ink, and not too light, to make it appear watered-down. It's green as I want green to be.

Writing sample and short review of inks on Cattleya paper:

I'm not sure if it is the pen I used, but both inks showed feathering and bleed through. I'm surprised to see it as the Cattleya has proven to be almost feather- and bleed through-resistant in the past. Nevertheless, both Red and Green inks showed impressive and bright colors once they have dried on paper, and looking at them, no one would ever think they're vintage inks we scoured from dust-laden cabinets, inspected meticulously for molds and sediments, and sniffed carefully for acidity.

Old Manila Pen/Ink/Paper Hunt

Last Saturday, a small group of Fountain Pen Network - Philippines (that's FPN-P, yes) members trekked to Old Manila to pen/ink/paper-hunt. There were nine of us, yes, including the two girls with the Lucky Panda everyone calls Ivan (I have a photo with him.).

My haul: the brown notebooks are Golden Bridge brand, bought more for sentimental reasons than their use; the colorful ones are Staples brand Memo Notebooks; Hero 221 pens and a white Rotring Tikky II; vintage red and green Parker Super Quink inks; the pad underneath all these good stuff is a Cattleya yellow ruled pad, very, very friendly to fountain pens! *Wink.*

The day started for some five of us eating McDonald Quarter Pounder meals while waiting for the others to arrive. Our first stop: Recto.

The first shop we visited in Recto is Conanan's. It was my first visit to Conanan's, and I saw a bad/poor/dirty Parker 25. Poor pen. *Sigh.* I wished I could buy it, but I was saving my moola for the Birdies in Cosmos. Some of us got excited over Conanan's notepads with laid paper selling for less than PhP10 a pad. We all had a hoot seeing boxes of vintage Parker Super Quink inks in black, blue, blue-black and red. I got a bottle of red Super Quink, but not before ink-meisters Mona and John turned the bottle this way and that, held it against light to check for serious sediments or molds, and smelled the ink for signs of bad chemical reactions. They said the ink should not smell vinegary. *Wink. Wink.*

Vintage Parker Super Quink inks. The red is from Conanan's in Recto, the green is from Merriam and Webster in Avenida.

Our next Recto shop: Corona!!! Corona is unforgetable for me because it's the first shop I went to visit and bought a lot of pens without hurting my cashflow. :) A Hero pen at Corona costs between PhP60-70 a piece. A lot cheaper than a McDo Quarter Pounder meal! There were plenty of Youth and Hero pens available, some new since my first visit, and several Lamys, but I just got myself two Hero 221's. Saving it up for the Birdies...

The last shop we visited while in Recto is the Merriam and Webster store. Lots of Parker 45s and some Sheaffers, but I really wasn't into buying these pens so I tried the paper department and came up with, voila! a pad of Cattleya yellow ruled legal paper! And like the other Cattleya pad I got previously, this one is very friendly to fountain pen use. I also spotted a bunch of Rotring Tikkys and I got myself a white one.

Next stop: Avenida. John was telling us about cheapie Sailor fountain pens at Avenida's Merriam and Webster branch, so we dropped by, only to find out that someone bought all the pens last week. Hmmm... We were all thinking, who could that be? So we feasted on their vintage inks and I got a bottle of the permanent green Parker Super Quink ink with Solv-X. Surprisingly, the bottle I got is Made in the Philippines. Cool.

While the others went on to look at the other bottles of inks, I went to check out their notebooks and I was so surprised (and happy all the same) to see stacks of the brown Golden Gate notebooks. Remember the 55 notebooks blogpost? I wish I had a Golden Gate there. These notebooks date to my elementary days and I bought three of them last Saturday, more for sentimental reasons than their usefulness. Sentimental because I once used a University Theme notebook as a reviewer of sorts when I was about to take my scholarship exams for my high school qualifications. And it helped. Together with a blue and red Haba-haba ballpoints. I got a four-year high school scholarship complete with book and uniform allowances. God, how I miss those days...

Golden Gate notebooks date back even to my parents' school days. Rarely sold in big bookstores nowadays, it's a delight to see them again.

These are PhP9.75 a piece notebooks and I'm glad to have found them and let them keep my fountain pens company.

Lastly, the pens. The two capped pens are the Hero 221's from Corona with different barrel colors: green and black. Both are excellent writers, never mind that the green one leaks. The white pen beside the two is a Rotring Tikky that accepts 0.7mm nibs only - time to use the Pilot ENO color leads!

And the Pilot Birdies? No we didn't get any of them. Cosmos Bazaar was already closed for the day when we got there. Argh! Then again, while we were in Binondo, Hazel treated us to a dinner of noodles, pig's ears, dimsum, and the winner ube siopao. It rocks! It's true that time flies by (fast) when you're having fun. Soon after the unforgettable dinner (and some pictures taken), we were let off at the UN Avenue LRT station to catch a ride to Buendia and then home to Laguna. What a day it was for all of us. Fun! (That of course spells pens, inks, paper, food, friends.) *Wink.*

I Got Green Pens Too!

I was rummaging through my pen wraps last night looking for a Hero when I realized something: several green pens are peeking out of their slots. Whoa. With six fountain pens and two gel pens, I seem to be getting them faster than those white pens I'm trying hard to build on to a collection. But I'm not complaining. Who knows I may just move on to green pens later when I get my fill of those whities. And these green pens remind me of the green Conway Stewart Dinkie pair I saw at Leigh Reyes' blog yesterday. My pens, are of course worlds different from Leigh's and from those in her collection. *Wink.*

Green pens abound.

From left: Chelpark Moti (Fine, inked with Parker Quink Blue-Black); Inoxcrom Agatha Ruiz de la Prada (Extra Fine, uninked); Hero 332 (Fine to Medium, inked with Private Reserve Copper Burst); Youth 208 (Fine, just cleaned, I also got this in teal); MonAmi Gel Love Pets; Schneider 0.5 XTRA 892; M&G Joy Box (Fine, inked with Waterman South Sea Blue); and Schneider Zippi (Fine, inked with Schneider Black).

Rediscovering Old Inks

After my first pen meet last December, I (surprisingly) started to have a dislike for black and blue-black inks as new ink colors began to interest me. At that time too, I had the luck of owning several bottles of new non-black/non-blue-black inks (Private Reserve Copper Burst and Avocado, and Waterman South Sea Blue and Florida Blue). And so the move to colored inks became a wonderful experience. And because of my exposure to fellow fountain pen collectors, I began to crave for more non-black inks to add into my stash. Who wouldn't be in awe when one sees colorful strokes of sepia-like brown, avocado green, turquiose-like blue, and almost royal blue inks on one's Moleskine's pages? For days, I rotated several pens inked with different colors on my Moleskine, who must have had a heart attack with all those hues after having been used to the monotony of black. But not for long.

Last month, during an international workshop sponsored by my organization, a friend from India brought me four pens: a Camlin Trinity, a Chelpark Moti, and two fancy Montex pens. I postponed inking the pens for a week as I was also very busy at that time. When the time came to ink it though, I took my chances and went back to my previous loves: Parker Quink washable black and permanent blue-black.

I used black on the Camlin Trinity and she was an instant hit with me. "We hit it off right away," is what I'll say if I am to describe my initial impression of the Camlin. I was so smitten by that pen that I temporarily ditched my two Schneider Base pens. She's got a Fine to Medium nib, but she is such a wet writer. She's got some scratch when I write with it though, but I want to think that such flaw adds to her character.

Here's the Camlin Trinity fountain pen with a Fine to Medium nib. Its maroon barrel is made of plastic, and brushed metal for its cap.

Note the unique clip of this pen.

This is the closest I can get to its nib.

And here is a writing sample of this beautiful pen.

For the Chelpark Moti I used the permanent blue-black ink. It wasn't a hit at first, but after some strokes and doodles on paper, she showed me what she's got. Like the Camlin, she's got a Fine to Medium nib, but she's wetter. And so she's smoother as a writer. Which is just wonderful. And while the Camlin fills through a converter, this one gets hers through a piston filling mechanism. Her nib and feed can also be removed so it's easier to clean. And she's got a window to show the ink inside. Cool.

Here's the Chelpark Moti fountain pen with a Fine to Medium nib. Its green barrel is made of plastic, and its brushed metal cap has some signs of brassing.

The cap and nib of the Moti. Her nib is more elaborate than the Camlin's. Note her ink window.

And here is a writing sample of my Chelpark Moti.

Now that I'm into Parker inks, I got myself a box of cartridges of Parker Quink Ruby. It's like burnt red, or red-purple, and I imagine seeing red wine droplets on my Moleskine pages when I write using this ink. I used it on my white Parker Vector as a tiny surprise for anyone who wants to try my white pen. This ink is beautiful, and the photo below cannot do its beauty justice.

Pens + Notebooks = Things New and Wonderful

I have new pens... *Grin.* And I got new notebooks... *Grin.*

I wrote about my upcoming pens in my 23 February post. I was so excited about the four pens that I wrote about them even before I got hold of them. The vintage pens came within the week, thanks to Sir Butch Dalisay's prompt mailing and to LBC's efficiency. Just in time before my Dusit Thani workshop the week after, where I learned that I won't have the Lamys, yet, which is sad. They're out of stock, and have been like that for the last three or four months, according to my friends from Malaysia who scoured the shops in KL for me. But they assured me they will send the pens as soon as they are available.

Then again, as the old saying goes, lose some, win some. Huh? *Grin.* No Lamys from KL, but I got new pens from India! Yipee-yey!!! The same afternoon I learned the sad news about the Lamys, I was at the lobby of Dusit Thani when my Indian friend B handed me a brown bag with four pens straight from New Delhi. Huwow!!! I got four new pens!!! They have separate boxes, complete with their own converters and two short ink cartridges. My gifts are two Montex fountain pens (pink and green), a green Chelpark Moti, and a red/maroon Camlin Trinity. The Montex pens have plastic nib protectors and their nibs are very unique. (The pink one went to someone else, of course.) The Chelpark and Camlin both have brushed silver caps and plastic barrels, but all pens write well, very smooth, and very wet! But that is how exactly I like my pens to be. I love broad, wet pens!

New pens. From left: Parker Vector (F) from NBS Glorietta; Vintage pens: Superior 330 (F), Lamy Ratio 47 (XF); Pens from India: Camlin Trinity (F), Chelpark Moti (F); Pens from Corona: Youth 208 (both F, the teal and green ones), Hero 332 (F-M), Hero 442 (F), Youlian (F); and Pens from Cardinal: Hero 330 (XF), and Wing Sung (F).

The same week, on a stroll at Glorietta after a full day's workshop session, I passed by NBS and saw a white Parker Vector. I had to get that pen! And get it I did, together with a box of Parker Quink Ruby cartridges. I rushed back to my hotel room and wrote a whole page letter with my new white pen inked with Ruby. Amazing! But oh, I forgot that I was supposed to get dinner at Superbowl on that stroll, too, but because it was getting late already, I went to Wendy's instead (which is just across the hotel) and got myself a chili con carne and bacon mushroom melt. Whoa.

Two weeks after, we went to Sta. Cruz, Manila to visit Escolta. On our way there, we missed the stop to Escolta and ended up in Recto. Raffy, a fellow fountain pen collector, helped us via text messaging to go around the area and scour those bookstores selling Youth, Hero, Pilot, Lamy, and Wing Sung pens. Lucky we missed the Escolta stop. Our first store was Corona, where I got five pens: Hero 332 and 442, two Youth 208s (green and teal), and a Youlian pen. They also have a couple of Lamys but I did not buy any when I saw the ugly ink stains on their nibs. Napangitan ako bigla. I also got myself a Waltex 3x folding magnifier for closeups of my pens' nibs and also for my stamps. A few steps further and we were at Cardinal (which sadly closed a week after we were there), where I got a brushed metal Wing Sung and a Hero 330, which is exactly a modern version of the vintage Superior 330 from Sir Butch. They also have Pilot Birdies, and several Parkers. Our last bookstore/pen store was Merriam across FEU, but I didn't get any of their Sheaffers because they were too pricey for me.

Earlier on, I got lucky to have two Paperchase journals from Booksale. Booksale people said these notebooks are limited, so I'm really lucky to have gotten hold of two. For fountain pen users like I am, it is important that the notebooks and paper we use are friendly to our pens and their inks. Luckily, the Paperchase notebooks are super fountain pen friendly! I wrote on it with my pens, beginning with the finest to the broadest, including my calligraphy pens, and there was no feathering at all! There were minor signs of bleed though, but that's expected with medium and broad nibs like the ones from my Rotring 600 (B) and Schneider Base (M). The paper is white, smooth, and ruled wider than that of my Moleskine's, but that's okay, too. I'd need that if I am to use my medium- and broad-nibbed pens.

My Paperchase notebooks: looks elegant with their black leather cover. Like Moleskines, they also have lovely bookmarkers.

The inside pages of the notebook: white, large-ruled, fountain pen-friendly!

And just last weekend, another strike of luck came by while I was browsing shops at SM, where I found this Eagle notebook at Office Warehouse, the same place where I get my Schneider pens. Again, it's fountain pen friendly, but the best thing about it is its wire binding. And it's got an elastic band too. This notebook comes in A5 and a bigger version which is best for sketching despite its ruled pages.

Eagle notebook: 80 pages of ruled, white, smooth, fountain pen-friendly paper!

I tried writing on it and here's a sample page with scribbles of my fountain pens.

January's New Pens and Ink

New Year spells new beginnings, new hopes, new wishes. I say New Year brought me new pens. *Wink.* Some people welcome New Year with fireworks, 12 fruits, or money in their pockets. I welcomed 2009 with three new pens! While my brothers were busy setting up fireworks, I was busy inking my Schneiders with my new Waterman South Sea Blue and polishing the Hero616 that Sir Butch D. gave me during last December's pen meet.

The Waterman ink is a delight. After using Inoxcrom's blue and Quink's blue-black, this turquoise from Waterman is a new experience to write with that the moment I inked my black Schneider Base, I wrote endlessly on my Moleskine and completed three pages in a flash! (Photos to follow later, including pages of my Molie where I wrote with my PR Copperburst.) But what's also exciting is my Shchneider Base fountain pen. This German pen, inexpensive and so elegant in its design is a joy to write with. Its medium nib writes smoothly sometimes I forget I'm writing with a fountain pen! Here are some photos of the New Year's stash:

Delight, joy, ecstasy. That spells ink, fountain pens and notebooks for me. The bottled ink is Waterman South Sea Blue, and the pens are: Hero616, Schneider Base Medium in white and black barrels.

Ink and pens on the notebook my friend Sonny sent me all the way from Singapore as Christmas gift.

Ink and pen pageantry. My ink stash: Quink black and blue-black, Waterman South Sea Blue, and Private Reserve Avocado and Copperburst. Coming early next week: Noodler's Concord Bream!