Private ReserveInk Bottle American Blue

Rumor is, Private Reserve reverse engineered Parker Penman Sapphire to produce its American Blue. Job well done. This is a beautiful blue. The ink is also well-behaved.

This is a beautiful blue ink. It goes down like your typical royal blue, but it dries a little lighter. Not light blue, but lighter than most. You just have to see it.Despite its beauty, it's perfect for use at the office. I mean it's pretty, but it doesn't look showy or unusual. It's "just right."I got the regular bottle, not the fast-dry, but it dries surprisingly quickly.Add this blue to your collection of inks. You won't regret it.

This is a deep, rich blue that is not too dark, yet still not too light. Compared to the Lamy Blue, it is more professional in appearance. One thing I did notice was how much smoother the ink flow is compared to Lamy Blue (cartridges, no opinion of the bottled yet).For fountain pen newcomers, I would compare this to a Pilot G2 rollerball in blue. It is hair more on the blue side rather than the black-blue of the G2.

This is my favorite dark blue. I'm not sure why, but my last bottle is much darker than this new one. Perhaps it darkens with age. Great every day ink, flows awesome with all nib sizes. Currently in my Pilot Vanishing fine point, and Lamy Safari fine nib. The seller, Jupiter, also receives five star rating for their excellent service. Incredibly professional and efficient.

Waterman makes a very well behaved blue that used to be called Florida, now is called something I can't recall. But it is insipid. This blue looks as good as Visconti Blue and at way less a price point. Love it.

Color is very pretty. Easy to fill the fountain pen also.

I used to be a devotee of Parker's Penman Sapphire Blue ink, and this has been a good substitute. Excellent price and fast shipping from Pen Boutique Ltd. My only small complaint is that it's labeled "fast dry" and I didn't find it to be noticeably faster than standard inks. Overall, very pleased.

The ink is beautiful and flows excellently in my slimline Sheaffer Targa. It doesn't flow very well at all in my Parker Sonnet, but that might just be an issue with that pen (bought used off eBay - need to test it with another ink for comparison).A clean, bold blue on the darker side. It's by no means a "blue-black," but a fine, color-rich blue, evocative of the American flag - hence the name, one supposes.This color I find appropriate both for business and personal correspondence. It's not a color that anyone is likely to exclaim over if they see a written note, but it's quite pleasing to the eye and no one finds it too much. This strikes me as an excellent first bottle of ink for the novice fountain pen enthusiast - exactly what I am at the moment!I do wish the bottle were a bit more evocative, like those of the Iroshizuku line by Namiki; also I suspect that as the bottle gets low in ink, it will become more difficult to fill, as it has no internal well or other such mechanism for easy filling. But for this price, these are minor quibbles. Far more important to me is the quality of ink itself - and it is great indeed.As for the buying experience, Pen Boutique shipped it promptly and securely, and at the time I bought it (and at the time of this writing - 11/19/13 - shipping is free).