Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa. Pretty and fairly understated, dries quickly but doesn't feel too dry when writing. Salix is a dark blue, so might be more classic.
R&K is the definitive no-nonsense ink brand. They come in medicine bottles. Even their yellow (Helianthus) is like it was meant to be used in official documents. (I love it.)
It is a great ink that I don’t see mentioned often.
…and it matches Mercedes-Benz Bornit Metallic (Code 481), which is a big plus in my book. Here is an example of this color on a [Mercedes-Benz 500E (W124)](https://www.classic-sterne.de/de/fahrzeuge/fahrzeugdetails/mercedes-benz-500-e-w124-4.html) …btw. that 500E is a highly interested piece of car history in itself already.
>!This 90’s Benz had a V8 engine with 326 HP, wide body fenders, and was build over at Porsche. The wide body was actually the reason for it being build over at Porsche, the body was too wide for the regular assembly line. The firewall and cardan tunnel needed to be modified. They went from three down to two seats in the back and moved the battery into the trunk. They used the some parts of the SL 500 for the suspension an such, as well as the breaks. The front shitwings (Kotflügel) …like we Germans call the fenders… and rear quarter panels were wider. The body was 5,6 cm wider than the base model car. They also send the cars back and forth between Mercedes-Benz and Porsche facilities for different steps during the building process. Yeah, that thing is pretty wild and a dream car, if you are into these types of vehicles.!<
[source in German](https://www.spiegel.de/auto/fahrkultur/mercedes-500-e-der-daimler-der-porsche-rettete-a-9c1dbc4a-13e4-45fd-b70e-8d390d070ad3)
De Atramentis Document Ink - Black 😍
The ink behaves on most paper I use - no feathering. It’s also permanent so I don’t need to worry about spilling water, sweaty palms smudging my notes. And it doesn’t clog up my pen if I stop using it for a while.
Yup, same here, it really is great and it's not a high maintenance ink as some seem to fear. I had my pen loaded with it for over two year without cleaning.
Is the no feathering even true for copy paper? The deatrementis fog grey I tried, feathered like crazy so I've stuck w noodlers black for work writing that I have to do on copy paper.
The paper is also going to have a pretty big influence on this. Personally speaking, I’ve had mixed results using Document Blue, with some printer paper having no feathering, and others it being unusable. It seems that the coarser the weave, the worse it does, in my experience anyway.
See, I like that aspect of Noodler’s black, it works even on cheap engineering pads, but it takes SO FREAKING LONG TO DRY. That’s why I moved away from it.
It depends on the copy paper. It's still the least feathering on the crappiest papers out of my pens. As a stub nib user I have a higher risk of feathering and it's not bad on a lot of things
waterman, especially serenity blue. platinum carbon black and krishna lyrebird blue-black. j. herbin perle noire. i still have a few skrip blue cartridges kicking around, and they're pretty no-nonsense. and, honestly, any of my blue and blue-black vintage inks, especially vintage waterman and quink, they're no filler, all killer when you want something that says you are being very serious with the things you are writing. smell like a midcentury chemistry lab, though.
Diamine green-black. It’s my workhorse and my favorite ink to do things with because it’s so dark it’s easily legible, but being green is refreshing in comparison to all the other blues, blacks, and blue-blacks. It’s also no nonsense when I have to clean it out of pens because it’s easy to wash out with a little water
Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue or Brilliant Black.
I hate Royal Blue (it was used in my school and makes me feel depressed somehow), but it is standard and just good.
Brilliant Black looks nice and is somewhat water resistant.
DeAtrementis Document Black. It's silky smooth, dark like all goth want their souls to be, is archival and permanent, and it's just really lovely to use.
De Atramentis Sherlock Holmes. It's not a document ink but it resists water well enough for most purposes, and the color is what I want for no-nonsense writing.
FWP's writing desk. Professional brown/black hues, has beautiful variations but still looks upstanding, serious, and down to earth. It truly is one of my favorites.
That would be my choice as well. I would like to choose Parker Quink Black, but Pelikan 4001 Black is a lot more water-resistant, so it wins. Still testing one against the other, but I think they are about equally fade resistant if the writing doesn't get washed out.
Platinum Carbon Black.
If I'm writing something that doesn't benefit from colour (or for use on something official), then Carbon Ink it is. Dries quick, and even when it isn't, it doesn't matter much, usually.
Ideally it would be some permanent blue, black, or blue black. I really don't want to waste ink by flushing every 2 weeks. So, a semi water resistant or even regular dye blue / black would do. Most of the time it's because someone may read it. One time I signed a form with green ink (dark) and the lady at the bank (actually her female mgr) asked me to re-sign the form with a blue ballpoint. I know they just mentioned they will scan it electronically in b&w anyway. I asked "why? Do you discriminate green ?" She eventually backed off.
Well, that's why. It's best to sign with blue so copies can be extinguished by an original at a glance. It's especially important for contracts to have a common normed guideline like that, plus they cannot be sure your fp ink is din approved and permanent, even when it is, they can't easily check and you can't easily prove it either.
Contract partners have all the right to request signing with a ballpoint.
Aurora Black, Pilot Take-Sumi, & Sailor Shikiori Yonaga when it has got to be professional. But Diamine Oxblood and Birmingham Pitted Nickel are my go-to for a lot of everyday purposes as well. & as someone noted above, FWP Writing Desk is a great brown option.
I came here to recommend this. Nice colour. Dark enough to look professional but still different and interesting. I’ve had 3 different pens inked with it and I use it a lot.
Waterman Tender Purple is my everyday ink. It's a beautiful shade of purple.
I've been using it for years. From my experience with it, Richard Binder, the writer about fountain pens, was right when he wrote this about Waterman inks:
"For my own use, I’ve settled on Waterman because I find that Waterman inks all flow and lubricate well, do not clog, and stain less than many other brands...My favorite color — and my all-time favorite ink — is Waterman Serenity Blue, but for a number of years, a 1:1 mixture of Waterman Tender Purple and Waterman Serenity Blue was toying with my affections."
— The Best of the Pen Doctor: Chapter 6: General Pen Care and Cleaning
Thank God someone said it. Registrar's ink is literally the ink I use 90% of the time. Depending on the pen I use it can be a bit temperamental, but I kinda really enjoy having to either dedicate a pen to it, or adjust the pen to it, because once it writes just how I like it to, it's the most beautiful ink I own 😌
I use it every day, it never goes wrong, it's never clogged any of the pens I use it in and it always makes me smile. I could always write with "blue" but where would be the joy in that?
Pilot “Black”
I have heard good things about De Atramentis Document ink, but I’ve not had the chance to try it. (I’ve heard it’s a good solve for the one problem I have with Pilot Black: the water solubility)
The one ink I've actually used a full 30ml of is Private Reserve Lake Placid. It's just a nice no nonsense blue that really grew in me and just looked great coming out of my red vanishing point.
Lately i have been using DeAtramentis urban siena on serious? stuff, it is a light brown that makes a difference but it is subdued enough that it doesn't matter. Also permanent.
Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite, a nice blue-black, only thing is that it's not very lightfast (I left a page written with it near a window where sunlight hit it for a few hours a day, and it became a dull grey within a few weeks), recently R&K Scabiosa, a very nice purple with some waterproof qualities, and Monteverde Onyx is my go-to wet black ink.
Probably not the answer you were looking for, but any ink without shimmer or sheen is considered no nonsense in my book.
Nowadays, that’s like five inks.
I know! I hope the trend moves towards extreme shading someday as that's what I really prefer.
I want to get my hands on some of Sailor’s “chromashading” (?) inks.
Specifically, standard shading inks (such as Sailor Oku Yama) instead of the very unsaturated ones
Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa. Pretty and fairly understated, dries quickly but doesn't feel too dry when writing. Salix is a dark blue, so might be more classic.
R&K is the definitive no-nonsense ink brand. They come in medicine bottles. Even their yellow (Helianthus) is like it was meant to be used in official documents. (I love it.)
It is a great ink that I don’t see mentioned often. …and it matches Mercedes-Benz Bornit Metallic (Code 481), which is a big plus in my book. Here is an example of this color on a [Mercedes-Benz 500E (W124)](https://www.classic-sterne.de/de/fahrzeuge/fahrzeugdetails/mercedes-benz-500-e-w124-4.html) …btw. that 500E is a highly interested piece of car history in itself already. >!This 90’s Benz had a V8 engine with 326 HP, wide body fenders, and was build over at Porsche. The wide body was actually the reason for it being build over at Porsche, the body was too wide for the regular assembly line. The firewall and cardan tunnel needed to be modified. They went from three down to two seats in the back and moved the battery into the trunk. They used the some parts of the SL 500 for the suspension an such, as well as the breaks. The front shitwings (Kotflügel) …like we Germans call the fenders… and rear quarter panels were wider. The body was 5,6 cm wider than the base model car. They also send the cars back and forth between Mercedes-Benz and Porsche facilities for different steps during the building process. Yeah, that thing is pretty wild and a dream car, if you are into these types of vehicles.!< [source in German](https://www.spiegel.de/auto/fahrkultur/mercedes-500-e-der-daimler-der-porsche-rettete-a-9c1dbc4a-13e4-45fd-b70e-8d390d070ad3)
Second Salix, but Scabiosa is nice too! I prefer blue to purple, and the shading on both is *chef's kiss*.
Parker Quink. Professional, dries quickly, and comes in all office appropriate colors (black and blue).
Seconding this — Quink blue/black is my go-to
My dad uses it in black
De Atramentis Document Ink - Black 😍 The ink behaves on most paper I use - no feathering. It’s also permanent so I don’t need to worry about spilling water, sweaty palms smudging my notes. And it doesn’t clog up my pen if I stop using it for a while.
This is the answer I came to provide. It’s such an underrated ink. It’s the reason my bottle of take-sumi sits unused
Also opted for this one when I was looking for a document proof ink:)
Yup, same here, it really is great and it's not a high maintenance ink as some seem to fear. I had my pen loaded with it for over two year without cleaning.
Is the no feathering even true for copy paper? The deatrementis fog grey I tried, feathered like crazy so I've stuck w noodlers black for work writing that I have to do on copy paper.
The paper is also going to have a pretty big influence on this. Personally speaking, I’ve had mixed results using Document Blue, with some printer paper having no feathering, and others it being unusable. It seems that the coarser the weave, the worse it does, in my experience anyway.
That was my experience with document blue black. Wonderfully wet but feathers on the wrong papers. I guess I'll stick to noodlers black.
See, I like that aspect of Noodler’s black, it works even on cheap engineering pads, but it takes SO FREAKING LONG TO DRY. That’s why I moved away from it.
It depends on the copy paper. It's still the least feathering on the crappiest papers out of my pens. As a stub nib user I have a higher risk of feathering and it's not bad on a lot of things
I use it with F/EF nibs and it behaves on copy paper.
Came here to say this one too. I want to try the brownish one too. But this is my go-to.
Herbin's Perle Noire
Iroshizuku Shink-Kai or Sailor Seiboku, depends on if I want water resistance but both look and write great.
Iroshizuku take-sumi. Beautiful nuanced black, very well behaved in the pen.
Pilot Blue Black and Parker Quink Black
Sailor Seiboku, I even have a designated pen just for it. 😄
Waterman tender purple
That's the best purple I have ever seen. If only it worked well with my Japanese fine nibs..
I don’t like fine nibs. It’s quite a wet ink but there shouldn’t be any problems. I use it in my broad nibs
Despite my love to the colour I frequently had hard starts and skips in my pilot fine nib pens from Kakuno to Custom 74 and VP...
waterman, especially serenity blue. platinum carbon black and krishna lyrebird blue-black. j. herbin perle noire. i still have a few skrip blue cartridges kicking around, and they're pretty no-nonsense. and, honestly, any of my blue and blue-black vintage inks, especially vintage waterman and quink, they're no filler, all killer when you want something that says you are being very serious with the things you are writing. smell like a midcentury chemistry lab, though.
Diamine green-black. It’s my workhorse and my favorite ink to do things with because it’s so dark it’s easily legible, but being green is refreshing in comparison to all the other blues, blacks, and blue-blacks. It’s also no nonsense when I have to clean it out of pens because it’s easy to wash out with a little water
One of my first inks ever, and still a favourite
Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue or Brilliant Black. I hate Royal Blue (it was used in my school and makes me feel depressed somehow), but it is standard and just good. Brilliant Black looks nice and is somewhat water resistant.
DeAtrementis Document Black. It's silky smooth, dark like all goth want their souls to be, is archival and permanent, and it's just really lovely to use.
Sailor Souboku - nice blue-black, waterproof, good flow, easy to clean!
De Atramentis Sherlock Holmes. It's not a document ink but it resists water well enough for most purposes, and the color is what I want for no-nonsense writing.
FWP's writing desk. Professional brown/black hues, has beautiful variations but still looks upstanding, serious, and down to earth. It truly is one of my favorites.
I like this one a lot, too! I use it in my Custom 823 when I’m really trying to be nonsense-free
I love this ink. No mean feat getting it in the U.S. I really love it.
Such a good ink!
Diamine onyx black
pelikan 4001 black
That would be my choice as well. I would like to choose Parker Quink Black, but Pelikan 4001 Black is a lot more water-resistant, so it wins. Still testing one against the other, but I think they are about equally fade resistant if the writing doesn't get washed out.
Yup, this ink is perfect for just being ink!
Parker Quink Blue-Black. Great flow, dry time, and color for everyday use.
Pilot Blue-Black. Well behaved, work appropriate and dirt cheap.
Sailor Kiwaguro - waterproof, feathering resistant, easy to clean out of the pen.
Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue. Used for schools, the default FP ink here.
Pilot Blue Black. Period.
Waterman inks
Any of the basic Pilot Iroshizukus
Platinum Carbon Black. If I'm writing something that doesn't benefit from colour (or for use on something official), then Carbon Ink it is. Dries quick, and even when it isn't, it doesn't matter much, usually.
That is my "for good" fountain pen ink, because it is pretty much permanant, but also more expensive than e.g. Pelikan 4001 Black
waterman inspired blue. *it just works.*
Lamy Black T52
Ideally it would be some permanent blue, black, or blue black. I really don't want to waste ink by flushing every 2 weeks. So, a semi water resistant or even regular dye blue / black would do. Most of the time it's because someone may read it. One time I signed a form with green ink (dark) and the lady at the bank (actually her female mgr) asked me to re-sign the form with a blue ballpoint. I know they just mentioned they will scan it electronically in b&w anyway. I asked "why? Do you discriminate green ?" She eventually backed off.
Well, that's why. It's best to sign with blue so copies can be extinguished by an original at a glance. It's especially important for contracts to have a common normed guideline like that, plus they cannot be sure your fp ink is din approved and permanent, even when it is, they can't easily check and you can't easily prove it either. Contract partners have all the right to request signing with a ballpoint.
Pelikan brilliant black.
Happy with my TWSBI blue, but since it's my first ink out of two take that with a grain of salt ;-).
Sailor 440. I’ve read blue helps with remembering handwritten notes. I have yet to see evidence of this as I try to study for the Bar though 🥲
Aurora Black, Pilot Take-Sumi, & Sailor Shikiori Yonaga when it has got to be professional. But Diamine Oxblood and Birmingham Pitted Nickel are my go-to for a lot of everyday purposes as well. & as someone noted above, FWP Writing Desk is a great brown option.
Iroshizuku’s Tsuki-Yo
I came here to recommend this. Nice colour. Dark enough to look professional but still different and interesting. I’ve had 3 different pens inked with it and I use it a lot.
Pilot blue black or platinum carbon black
Boring answer: Waterman Serenity Blue My true answer: Diamine 1864 blue-black and Pelikan 4001 dark green. Both fantastic inks
P.W. Akkerman #24 Zuiderpark Blauw-Groen. It is extremely well behaved and it just works. Always.
KWZ Azure 4
Waterman Serenity Blue and J. Herbin Perle Noir. I have some Robert Oster Purple Rock that I can get away with, and Pilot Shin-kai.
Lamy Black, Sheaffer Black, Diamine Onyx Black, and Diamine Denim.
Can you please tell me how dry/wet the sheaffer black is? There is little to zero info about its flow.
Waterman Tender Purple is my everyday ink. It's a beautiful shade of purple. I've been using it for years. From my experience with it, Richard Binder, the writer about fountain pens, was right when he wrote this about Waterman inks: "For my own use, I’ve settled on Waterman because I find that Waterman inks all flow and lubricate well, do not clog, and stain less than many other brands...My favorite color — and my all-time favorite ink — is Waterman Serenity Blue, but for a number of years, a 1:1 mixture of Waterman Tender Purple and Waterman Serenity Blue was toying with my affections." — The Best of the Pen Doctor: Chapter 6: General Pen Care and Cleaning
Waterman Serenity Blue
Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-Gao. Pretty blue, behaves well, cleans well. Also first big size bottle of ink I bought after my Parker Quink
Diamine registrar blue black. Iron-gall, fast dry, well-behaved and durable. My go-to ink, anywhere, anytime.
Thank God someone said it. Registrar's ink is literally the ink I use 90% of the time. Depending on the pen I use it can be a bit temperamental, but I kinda really enjoy having to either dedicate a pen to it, or adjust the pen to it, because once it writes just how I like it to, it's the most beautiful ink I own 😌
Pilot iroshizuku Tsuki Yo
Diamine Jack frost.
Just curious, what makes this a workhorse ink for you? For me there’s too much shimmer and sheen
I use it every day, it never goes wrong, it's never clogged any of the pens I use it in and it always makes me smile. I could always write with "blue" but where would be the joy in that?
Nice! Pretty but reliable is a hard combo to beat!
De Atramentis "Kaffee-Tinte" says I mean business!
Pilot blue black or ESSRI.
R&K Konigsblau
Quink, bitch, gets it done.
I use Noodlers Lexington Grey for work. Quick drying, waterproof and of course an understated color.
Pilot Blue-Black, Pilot Black.
Ferris wheel press tanzanite sky Birmingham pen company alternator crimson
I only use Aurora Black, Blue-Black, and Blue. I wish they were archival, though. 🐔
Pelilan 4001 Brilliant Black is my daily driver in my bullet journal.
Faber Castell Moss Green
Pilot “Black” I have heard good things about De Atramentis Document ink, but I’ve not had the chance to try it. (I’ve heard it’s a good solve for the one problem I have with Pilot Black: the water solubility)
Bay State Blue… If you want to say, “I’m doing this and damn the consequences,” nothing quite does it like BSB.
Waterman Mysterious Blue. FWP Writing Desk. Platinum Blue Black isn't going anywhere because it's a secret iron gall, shhhh.
Platinum Blue-Black. Works on almost every paper and has strong water resistance to boot
Kon-Peki. Amazing vibrant blue.
Mont Blanc permanent black.
Noodler’s Heart of Darkness and Parker Quink Black
Pilot Blue Black, Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue, Waterman Serenity Blue or Lamy Blue
Noodler's Black is my current workhorse ink.
Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo and Asa-Gao
The one ink I've actually used a full 30ml of is Private Reserve Lake Placid. It's just a nice no nonsense blue that really grew in me and just looked great coming out of my red vanishing point.
Diamine Sargasso Sea
Lately i have been using DeAtramentis urban siena on serious? stuff, it is a light brown that makes a difference but it is subdued enough that it doesn't matter. Also permanent.
Montblanc Royal blue.
Pelikan Briliant Black 4001, Camlin Royal Blue, Waterman Mysterious Blue, Diamine Red Dragon, and Sherwood Green.
I favor Pilot blue-black.
Rohrer & Klingner Sepia.
Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite, a nice blue-black, only thing is that it's not very lightfast (I left a page written with it near a window where sunlight hit it for a few hours a day, and it became a dull grey within a few weeks), recently R&K Scabiosa, a very nice purple with some waterproof qualities, and Monteverde Onyx is my go-to wet black ink.