You Can Only Keep One Per Brand -  

In this video I talk about which bottled inks I'd keep if I could only keep one ink from each brand. I cover 23 brands plus 2 categories: black ink and "special". This is all for fun and at the same time nearly impossible but interesting to contemplate and explore!
#oneinkperbrand
I'd love to see pen friends' lists of favorites by brand and also your videos on the subject - so I'm inviting/tagging you to do this!
It was so much fun and so enlightening to do this with my fountain pens last week that I decided to go for it with my inks too. I excluded samples except in 2 cases where I had relatively large samples and lots of experience with other inks in the brand - leaving me with a clear favorite.
Remember you can go to the website to compare inks - Matt is always adding more tiles contributed by the pen community - many, many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the ever growing inks on the site (now over 2,500 inks!):
inkswatch.com/
Here is a list of the inks covered in the video:
1. Pilot Iroshizuku = Tsutsuji (Azalea)
2. Diamine = Oxford Blue
3. Robert Oster = Tranquility
4. J Herbin = Amethyste de l'Oural 1758 (silver shimmer)
5. KWZ = Monarch
6. Monteverde = Purple Reign
7. Colorverse = Supernatural (NOTE: extremely close between this one and Gravity Wave)
8. Lamy = Dark Lilac 2016 original
9. Ferris Wheel Press = Algonquin Maple
10. Cross = Violet
11. TWSBI = Royal Purple
12. Sailor = 50 States Texas (NOTE: much angst between this one and Jentle Grenade and even Manyo Akebi)
13. Pelikan Edelstein = Star Ruby
14. Rohrer & Klingner = Solferino
15. DeAtramentis = Alexander Hamilton
16. Waterman = Serenity Blue
17. Birmingham = Allegheny River Twilight (NOTE: old formula - it's dusty purple).
18. Bungubox = L'Amant
19. Montblanc = The Beatles Psychedelic Purple
20. Kaweco = Ruby Red
21. Graf Von Faber Castell = Stone Grey
22. Vinta = Makopa
23. SPECIAL = SBRE Brown (NOTE: bottled in Akkerman bottle ink formulated by Diamine)
24. BLACK INK = Cross Black (NOTE: if pushed into a corner and I need to choose between Cross Violet and Cross Black I'd choose Cross Black.)
25. Noodler's = Navajo Turquoise (NOTE: now renamed as Turquoise of the Mesas)
Some of the inks that were close contenders that I showed tiles for and talked about at the end:
Diamine Pansy (close dupe for Lamy Dark Lilac 2016 - in a nib - not as dramatic sheen)
Monteverde California Teal (another really beautiful tempting teal)
Parker Green (had I remembered if this was vintage or not I might have chosen it for Parker inks ... in retrospect I should have anyway even if it's now unavailable ?)
J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor 1670 with gold shimmer - beautiful ink but can't quite knock out the purple beauty of Amethyste de l'Oural in my book
Diamine Aqua Lagoon - I write with Oxford Blue more but I love this Diamine ink it has fantastic shading
Sailor Manyo Akebi - gorgeous Sailor ink hard not to choose it
Sailor Jentle Grenade - another drop dead beautiful Sailor ink difficult to choose between my 3 favorites
Pilot Iroshizuku Momiji - one of my new favorite reds but with only being able to choose one per brand the pink Tsutsuji (Azalea) wins hands down
Noodler's Rome Burning - I love this ink even though it's a stainer ... it is so perfect for ink art
Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses - if I had had a turquoise as top ink in another brand this very well might have been the front runner in Noodler's for me.
Thank you very much for watching!!! I dearly hope that others will tackle this fun and mind boggling project! I didn't include brands where I only have dabbled with samples and have had less time with them but some of the brands I'd love to explore more (samples already on hand here in my pen room) are: Wearingeul, Conklin, Dominant Industries, Van Dieman's, Vinta, Monarch, and the list goes on - I'm aware there has been an explosion of new inks since my departure from full ink reviewing.
My Instagram: / snowball7470
My pen email: chris@inkswatch.com
SPECIAL NOTE: Thank you for bearing with me as I have felt the creative pull to put out a lot of videos just recently. One cause seems to be far improved lifting of depression and anxiety possibly attributed to Mom being better and also my improved diet. I would LIKE to get more consistent and actually distribute my work more evenly ... but I am going with the flow at the moment!!!!!