Favorite Brand Of Fountain Pen Ink – The Poll Results
01/12/2012Remember that Favorite Brand of Ink poll from December? The poll has closed and the results are in. The top ten inks are
- Noodler’s
- Diamine
- J. Herbin
- Iroshizuku
- Private Reserve
- Waterman
- Sailor
- Pilot/Namiki
- Aurora
- Sheaffer
Noodler’s received a whopping 23% of the vote. That’s huge compared to the next three brands. Diamine at 14%, J. Herbin at 13%, and Iroshizuku at 12% are good numbers but Noodler’s reigns with Inkophile readers. Given the variety of colors offered by the top brand, perhaps the win shouldn’t be a surprise though Diamine runs a well-earned second in that regard.
Also, consider that four brands of ink garnered 62% of the vote while the next two brands received another 10% combined. That means 72% favor six companies and 28% prefer 29 other ink makers. Those top six companies are really doing something right though availability might play into preferences. The majority of you are located in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada where the top three inks are more easily purchased. Hard to love an ink you’ve never tried.
Many of the other ink brands are excellent quality and worth buying. I have lots of Rohrer& Klingner and use Solferino and Magenta regularly. When only a red ink will do, Morinda is my usual choice. Admittedly, I tend to horde my other preferred red, J. Herbin ‘1670’ Rouge Hematite. That’s one ink I do not want to be without.
That brings up another factor: cost. Noodler’s Ink is a veritable bargain compared to many brands especially since it can often be diluted without losing its best attributes. At $12.50 US, a single 3 oz./90 ml bottle can last a very, very long time. That doesn’t sway me when making a purchase but a pricey ink won’t find its way into my shopping cart except on rare occasion.
Many of my favorite individual inks like Caran d’Ache Storm and Montblanc Racing Green are made by companies farther down the list and I only discovered them through trial and error. Do keep looking if you haven’t found that perfect ink. It’s out there.
An Inkophile's Blog 
Sadly Noodler’s is harder to source in the UK than a couple of years ago. Rumour has it that Mr Tardiff is concentrating on the domestic market to the exclusion of others. A great shame as we’re reduced to picking through the remaining stock from helpful sellers such as pelikanpens.co.uk or missingpen.de, or paying a small fortune in shipping from US sellers. Obviously he has to play to his strengths but it’s a lost opportunity for a small US manufacturer to establish a great global brand.
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It just occurred to me that de Atramentis didn’t even make this list and its become one of my favorite inks this year.
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Ana,
De Atramentis is less available in the U.S. than other brands, so that might have influenced the poll. Without using at least a few of the inks, it would be hard to vote for the brand as a favorite. A poll about favorite colors like Aubergine might be an entirely different matter.
Good to know it has worked out for you. Perhaps, others will give it a try based on your experience.
Margana
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You have to be careful when taking a poll. Most people either don’t have the money to buy the more expensive inks or don’t want to spend the money on more expensive inks. So you take a poll and since most people can only afford the Noodler’s ink – they vote for that. My personal experience with Noodlers has been – decent ink – but clogged pens.
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