Ink Review - Waterman Florida Blue

Waterman Florida Blue is not only a most unique variation of the shade "blue", it is also one of the inks I trust most, as far as stability goes. Waterman has been making inks for a long time now, and though their color selection is nowhere near the top, they have some very shining qualities that should be noted. Read on for the review!



I'll say this about Waterman Florida Blue - It's a bit of a stretch for the word blue. Looking at swabs of it online, I was lured into a deep blue color, much like this. What I saw when I tried the ink for the first time, I must admit, was rather disappointing. Still, that doesn't mean it's a bad ink. It's just not what I expected.

This didn't matter much to me anyway though, since I purchased this ink for use in my pen-shop. It's here for all of the pens that need to be tested for their writing qualities (which would be pretty much all of them).

Being that I intended to use this ink whilst testing other peoples pens, it had to meet certain criteria that I had set. I can happily say that Waterman Florida Blue does meet my requirements in this aspect. This ink is very safe - meaning it is very non-prone to clogging, and other such related problems.

So, now for the basic review. Here's the text version, as my handwriting is not the best.


Ink review:Waterman Florida Blue


Color: Umm... I thought it was blue, but sometimes I'd swear it's purple. It's really a pale cross between the two. It goes on purple, but as it dries it changes.


Pen and nib: Pilot Vanishing Point, F nib (I know what you're thinking - "How could Tyler be using a F nib?". Well, I actually really love the F nib on my VP. It goes with the idea of the VP - fast and convenient. The F nib just does it for me. :D )


Dry time: 10 seconds - nice! This is a small nib though.


Smear when dry: Nope!


Lubrication: Not much - it's rather "watery" feeling, if that makes sense.


Bleed through: Surprisingly - Yes. I am rather disappointed about this.


Feathering: None at all - this is good.






Now for the scanned review:

So there you go. That's Waterman Florida Blue. One of the more unique inks I've tried. You can see in the scan (it's very accurate on my monitor) that the swab looks more blue than the written words. It also has that purple hue to it.


The bottom line:
Waterman Florida Blue is not an ink that I'd personally buy for it's looks. It does not offer lubrication, or excellent bleed-through resistance either.


What is does offer, is a trustworthy ink that you know will not harm your pen in any way. I would especially recommend this ink, and the entire Waterman line to those who perhaps own a rare or expensive vintage pen. I would trust this ink more than almost any other brand out there, mostly due to the people who recommended it to me, and the fact that I have yet to hear of a single bad report of it's behavior.


So there you have my review of Waterman Florida Blue. I hope you enjoyed it! As always, feel free to share your thoughts and opinions below in the comment area, or even via a personal email. I'd love to hear from you.

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Regards,
Tyler Dahl