What's the best fountain pen ink bottle? A review of 22 different ink bottles!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- Who makes the best fountain pen ink bottle? That's the question I attempt to answer in this video by investigating the strengths and weaknesses of 22 different ink bottles. From luxury bottles like Montblanc and Pilot Iroshizuku to more budget-friendly options like Noodler's Ink and Diamine, I cover a lot of popular options, as well as some lesser known ones. If there's a bottle you like that I missed, let me know in the comments, or if there's a fountain pen ink bottle that you just can't stand, let me know as well!
GET IN TOUCH
Instagram: / downthebreatherhole
Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/s...
Email: downthebreatherhole at gmail dot com
Editing Services: www.brianwalla...
INK BOTTLES IN THE VIDEO
1:35 Montblanc
3:08 Pelikan
3:55 Lamy (Crystal ink and standard bottles)
6:48 Monteverde (large and small bottles)
8:10 Diamine
9:16 Private Reserve
10:20 Robert Oster
11:18 Visconti
12:56 Noodler's Ink
14:44 Birmingham Pen Company
15:30 De Atramenis
15:52 Rohrer and Klingner
16:50 Pilot Iroshizuku
19:20 Anderillium Ink
20:05 Colorverse Ink
20:52 Jacques Herbin (J. Herbin)
21:57 Papier Plume
23:05 Otto Hutt
24:16 Sheaffer Skrip
25:44 My top three fountain pen ink bottles
The Akkerman bottles win for both looks and auction.
You missed 3 for function, Marikina and Pilot and Platinum. They have cups in the neck.
Thanks for that! Those Akkerman bottles sure look nice. I'd love to add one to my collection one of these days.
Come on man, you need to get a Diamine four-footed bottle. My Diamine Polar Glow is in that bottle. It's a nice looking bottle.
Those are so cool! If I had one, it probably would have been in my top three for this video. I almost got one a while back, but I don't think I've found a color I'm crazy enough about yet.
@@DowntheBreatherHole I love the bottle. Even after it's empty, I'll still keep it. Polar Glow is a pretty ink, but it isn't waterproof at all.
Places like Goulet and Vanness sell empty bottles. 😉
@@MarshaLove0723 Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Thanks, Marsha.
I bought a couple of inks that I really like, partly because I love those footed bottles: Polar Glow & Pink Ice.
I really like the design of the Waterman ink bottle. It's faceted, and when the ink starts to run low, you can tip it on one of its facets for an easier fill. Ackerman inks also come in a very cool bottle. It has a narrow neck with a glass ball which allows the ink to sit close to the mouth to facilitate filling.
I've had my eye on that Ackerman bottle for a while. It's such a cool concept!
Absolutely!
*_P.W. Akkerman_* ink bottles all the way
Back in the day, the wax seal did have a purpose. The first product J. Herbin made in 1670 (yes, 1670!) was sealing wax. They also made ink and other stationery for French royalty and others in the aristocracy. If you have to cap a bottle with a cork that can be removed by hand (think no machining threads in 1670) then putting the wax on it would keep it securely stoppered before you got it home to your Louis XIV writing desk. Putting the wax on it now harkens back to the company’s history.
I love the Graf von Faber-Castell Ink Bottles, they look strong, classic and elegant. I also like the Diamine Inkvent Bottles and the Van Dieman's Bottles.
Thanks! Those look awesome!
Nice video with a really interesting topic! My favourites are the bottles from P.W. Akkerman, which are really unique. I don't know if they are available for you, but if you have a chance to get one of these ink bottles, you should get one.
I don't know what American retailers would carry Akkerman, but I'd love to get a bottle one of these days.
The green and black Visconti cap is mimicking old fashioned bakelite.
Nice! Yeah, it reminded me a little bit of some ebonites I've seen.
Great idea for fountain pen people! My favorite bottle is from Akkerman. Robert Oster bottles are too easy to tip over.
The dark colored bottle might be designed to keep UV from affecting the ink on your desk. The string around the neck of the Iroshizuku bottle has been said to prevent drips from traveling down the bottle.
The Iroshizuku bottle is both beautiful and practical. I’d refill those with other inks that have poor bottles.
You may be right about the UV protection. One or two other people also had that idea.
You missed Ackerman and Sailor inks...they both have assisted systems for low ink levels.
I would love to try those one of these days.
Caran d’ache Chromatics! How can you not like a tilted bottle?
Yeah, that bottle looks cool!
I now have nostalgia for the Montblanc bottle I once had (the second one you showed), I threw it away with the dregs of some brown ink that had gotten bad over the decades… The most out there bottle I have - for design and function - is the Akkerman bottle. I‘m not at all surprised that I‘m not the first to have mentioned it. I think the Pelican bottle (the shape of which seems the same since forever. It is probably designed to be tipped when almost empty. In the heyday of Ink Pelikan sold their ink by the litre (about a quart) for large offices and schools.
A fun video. I like the Akkerman, Montblacc, and Four footed Diamine bottles. Thanks!
The four-footed Diamine bottles are awesome! I'd love to get one of those.
My favorite is the Akkerman bottle.
That is a cool ink bottle!
Loved your video. I, too, think the Pilot Iroshizuku bottles are beautiful. But they're also practical. Weight - they're not "tippy". And the little dip at the bottom. Additionally, every ink I've purchased in the Iroshizuku line, all seven of them, is outstanding.
Some of the tall, narrow bottles make me nervous. I feel better using them if I can place them in a short glass to keep them from tipping over.
The Ink Miser (available from Goulet), is a great aid in filling your pen from a sample or when your ink bottle gets too low. Inexpensive, and works like a charm.
Thanks! Iroshizuku for the win!
There are a lot of bottle styles represented, good work on that. There are two that I recall (one I have, one I don't): Krishna ink came out with a bottle (I don't know if it is still available), that was a globe, with a small test tube on the side, which had a cap on it. You would tilt the bottle so the test tube would flood, and then take the cap off to fill your pen. I have two of these bottles. They're pretty fragile, but very cool looking for the desk. The other bottle I think of (and I would like to get one day) is the Akkerman bottle that has the marble in it in the upper reservoir. You tilt the bottle upside down, then back upright, which would fill the upper reservoir. When the bottle goes back vertical, the marble in the upper chamber would block off the drain to the lower part, keeping the upper chamber filled, from which you could fill your pen. Very cool design as well. Side note: the Colorverse bottles come in three sizes. The two smaller sizes are hard to use because of the small opening, but the large size (I believe it is the 60ml size), is very nice to use. They all have the same sideways teardrop shape.
I would love to get an Akkerman bottle!
@@DowntheBreatherHole me too!
Extremely interesting video. The diamine bottle you raised at the top three in the end is probably my favorite out of everything presented in this video. I think that Endless Alchemy ink bottles are really cool looking. Dominant Industry is also a favorite; the pear-shaped bottles are stunning to display. Bungubox inks also have very thick, heavy bottles. I'd totally be interested in a part 2.
The Endless bottle looks really fun. I'm actually hoping Endless will send me one to review.
Just as an FYI, on the LAMY link, you can remove the plastic bottom rim of the blotting paper but it does not sit flat like you mentioned. It almost looks like a spinning top
Yeah, I figured as much. It would be interesting to design a fancy wooden base it could fit into.
@@DowntheBreatherHole That is such a great idea! I wish I know anything about woodworking hahaha
Love noodlers bottles! Especially the ones with the eyedropper lids. The ultimate way to use every drop possible is to use a dedicated washable vessel like the ink miser...so the eyedropper helps with that when you get there .
I really like the P.W. Akkerman DutchMasters Series bottles.
They have a marble in the neck of the bottle. Which allows ink from the lower resvoir to enter into the smaller upper resvoir. When the bottle is turned upside down. Thus filling the upper resvoir with an ink.
0nce you tip the bottle upside right again. The marble settles into its place in the neck of the upper resvoir in the bottle.
Keeping in reserve what’s in the lower resvoir contained until needed.
I love the look of those P.W. Akkerman bottles! I hope to get one someday.
I love the shape of the J. Herbin bottles. The pen rest is so great for putting dip pens when I am drawing or swatching inks. But because the bottle is so short, I have trouble filling my pen after only a few fills. I think for most bottle shapes an ink syringe is handy to have.
Yes, I went the first few years of my hobby without ink syringes, but now that I have them I can't imagine not having them.
I like the old Scheaffer bottles. I have three. I really appreciated the small glass cup they designed so you could easily fill your pens.
I still have the two I used in grade school! They're empty now, but they've moved 6000 miles (or more?) with me because I couldn't give them up.
They're keepers for sure!
I think the Schaeffer Skrip bottle was the best ink bottle ever made. I don't care so much how they look as I do how easy they are to use, and how well you can use every bit of ink in the bottle. They came in two sizes. The smaller one doesn't work well with some pens with big nibs, but the large one does.I transfer ink I use all the time to Skrip bottles I get on eBay. Yes, they're nothing much to look at but they are the most functional bottle ever made.
Nice! Yeah, those Sheaffer Skrip bottles are really cool.
Lots of bottles! The Diamine 80ml is pretty cool. I do want to get an Akkerman bottle like the SBRE Brown ink.
Same! The Akkerman bottles look cool!
Interesting video and actually really relevant because practicality is key (imho) and is often overlooked. I don't have a huge collection of inks yet but I do have an opinion on the ones I have. I adore the Pelikan Edelstein bottles. It's a lot of glass for the ink but I can see that I would enjoy them when they are empty. They are practical and stable. Waterman bottles are good to use and the shape is good. I loathe the Diamine 30ml bottles but they are cheap so there is a compromise. If I ever empty a Pelikan Edelstein bottle maybe I could decant the Diamine 30ml.
The Pelikan Edelstein look really nice!
My Visconti bottle is old and it is glass. I can't imagine why they would change it to plastic! That would make it very tippable. In glass, not as much so. Also, the Diamine bottle with the feet are really cool and eye catching. :)
That's really interesting about the Visconti bottle! Good to know!
My favs are Iroshizuku,Graf von Faber Castell and Akkerman
Those are good ones!
a lot of the boutique inks are done by very small outfits. Oftentimes just a single person. Amazing what they make, all things considered. Nathan Tardif is Noodler's Ink.
I rather like the Pelikan standard ink bottles. The faceted faces help with filling as the ink gets low. There are only a few colours I've managed to draw down to the point I struggle to fill from them. I might have an ink problem. I would like to get a few of those skrip bottles. Those look really nice to fill from.
Yeah, the Sheaffer Skrip bottles are nice. And I agree that those small fountain pen ink companies do amazing stuff. Anderillium is a good example. I just got more of their inks, and they are very pretty. I think they have just a couple of people who do everything.
A surprisingly good one is ST Dupont. At first glance you think, ok yeah it's beautiful but it's useless because it's so shallow, but then it turns out it has an inkwell in the middle, for which there is no evidence of its existence visible from the outside, even on the bottom.
Very cool!
The only bottle that attracts me is the slanty Caran d'Ache one, but it is way too expensive. If I can find one empty for sale I might buy it.
The Lamy, Iroshizuku, and Platinum are the three best bottles on the market.
Those are good ink bottles!
One thing I really don’t appreciate about the bigger Monteverde bottles is that they shed ink residue flakes every time I twist the cap. Makes for a very messy desk. They may look good, but quite annoying to actually use.
That's a good point. I've run into that with some ink bottles. It may also depend on the ink in the bottle. For example, orange inks tend to get very crusty, which can make a mess.
@@DowntheBreatherHole yes, the two Monteverde bottles I have are orange and red leaning. Fireopal definitely gets crusty.
The best bottles for refilling fountain pens and for using them with dip pens are those in the style of Pelican ones, those with the squarish sides because they have a wide enough opening to insert the fountain pen or a dip pen easily without staining their handles and they can also be used on their sides when the ink level is too low.
I seal the ink bottle caps with those rubber rings that are used to seal water pipes' joints. They are available in any size imaginable so you will definitely find one with the right diameter to fit inside your individual ink bottle's cap. (take the cap with you when you visit the hardware store).
When you screw the cap back in its place the rubber ring makes it leak proof. They also make the bottles air proof and so the inks don't dry into the bottles.
Using o-rings on your ink bottles is brilliant!
I have 7 of the large Pilot Iroshizuku inks and that by far is my fave!
It's a great one!
Wax seals on bottles are still used today, most famously with Maker's Mark whiskey.
I had a couple bottles of Skrip ink in the early 80. Bottles looked just like yours.
Mine is probably from the same time as yours.
Great video, I appreciate the tour of bottles! Here's a few things I though about as I watched:
LAMY standard bottle - yes, the plastic bit can be removed and replaced without damage, and yep the bottle looks really funny underneath! I will also say that my complaint with LAMY standard bottles is that they don't anywhere have a label spelling out which color you have, so if you have one of the purples but none to compare it to, you might have a hard time knowing which bottle to reorder if you don't recall the name. But that's nothing a little writable washi on the side can't fix.
Private Reserve - that bottle makes me think of finger paint tubs I had as a child 😂
Pilot - I was hoping to hear some vindication of my dislike for Pilot's plane, rounded saucer-like bottles, as I find them hard to store if your space is cramped - they tip easily, and I was recently frustrated by mine as I found it had leaked while it was tipped in the drawer I use for storage...
J.Herbin - maybe it's just the two I've gotten, but I was disappointed to find that the pen rest isn't consistently level, so if I set a pen on it, it sort of teeters on the center as there's a point there, like some sort of mold / injection line.
Schaefer Skrip - that's a really neat old-timey version of the built-in inkwell many bottles today have, really cool to see the innovation in glass!!
Thanks for your wonderfully detailed comment! I've also struggled with Lamy's lack of labeling. A friend gave me a bottle of Lamy ink in the box, and I had to look up the model number to figure out what color it was. haha
As someone with numbness in my hands I always look for inks that have some sort of texture to their lids. Currently FWP, Montblanc & Sailor are my favourites purely because the lids are easy for me to get on and off. If I was only looking at bottles & ignoring lids, Sailor still makes the list because I like how the square bottles look.
Colorverse does the 5ml ink bottle as well, same shape, much smaller, overload cuteness. Same cap of the 15 ml, so the bottle is as big as the cap itself 😂
I well remember the Scrip bottles. Very stable and practical. Should be revived.
6:14 Yes, that plastic part can be snapped off/on the standard LAMY bottles. But like you said, there is no reason to do that, as you need the plastic part for it to stand upright.
I like the old Waterman bottle and the Akkerrman bottle (with a glass ball inside) And the Pilot bottle is handmade by a perfume maker.
Thanks for this! I can't confirm this, but I've heard it's only the older Iroshizuku bottles that were handmade. I've heard the current ones are mass-produced.
@@DowntheBreatherHole Sorry, I thought that all were handmaded. What do think about the Akkerman bottle?
@@liselottefrejdig1112 no worries. Like I said, I can't confirm that. But the Akkerman bottles look very cool.
Check it out. Just sayin'
my favourite bottle by far is the smaller 50ml Montblanc bottle: it’s so pretty, the lid feels solid and the inks are just perfect - they always nail the colour and they produce a nice fine line which doesn’t spread out:); my other favourite is Parker: this may have been the first bottle I ever bought - it just looks cool imho!: Akkerman bottles are cool too, as is the ink which is made for them by Diamine:)
The Pelikan bottle is the same shape as used by Faber-Castell and Octopus Fluids (and maybe others) - I guess they buy from the same supplier? I'm not a fan of the Lamy bottles - too big a footprint and no label to tell you what's in it. My other least favourite is the Diamine 30ml plastic bottle with the narrow opening. My favourite of the few that I have is the Nahvalur Explorer 20ml bottle - nice cap and label.
The string on the Pilot bottle is to stop getting ink all over the bottle. You’re right about the Herbin bottle. It’s First and foremost for a dip pen though.
The Montblanc ink bottles are called “shoes” because of their shape.
That makes sense! While filming I wanted to call it a boot. haha
Farris Wheel Press bottles!❤
Wow that Viconti bottle is a joke, it reminds me of a vending machine pod. 🤣
Right!?
Absolutely! I had NO CLUE that they were so poorly made until I saw this video. I’n really glad that I haven’t spent any money on them
They are glass bottles now, with filling inserts.
The Lamy plastic bottom comes apart from the bottle. The blotting paper is wrapped around the bottle point, you can replace it if you want. It's a good design but I'm not sure if they are still producing them.
Faceted angular bottles allow the bottles to stand at an angle so you can access the remaining ink.
Reinforced base glass is for stability so that the bottle doesn't tip over when you fill. Noodlers, Robert Oster and Ferris Wheel Press inks have the worst bottles. You have to be prepared and focused when you are filling your pen or it will be in your lap or on the floor. Ink disintegrates in the plastic bottles, it will become thick and gloopy; so if you want your ink to last buy it in a glass bottle or transfer it to one.
The best bottles are Faber Castell, Akkerman, Edelstein, Pilot Iroshizuku, Waterman in my opinion anyway.
Also wax seals are just that, a seal. Break the wax off, you can easily take a wax stamp and make a replacement if you wish.
Top 1: P.W. Akkerman (that now was copied? by Tools to Libely)
Top 2: Sheaffer Skrip (Looking to have)
Top 3: The new Visconti (glass) and the montblanc
and honor place for the diamine inkvent and you missed the S.T. Dupont that is massive.
Nice! Thanks for that.
Another great video. Would love a bit more context about where you (or your friend) bought some of these inks. For example, Birmingham Pen Company - are headquartered in Pennsylvania. I've only recently become familiar with the brand, but they are very small scale. Two brothers run this thing, so it takes time to fill the orders because they both have day jobs. However they make such lovely inks. HOWEVER - they only ship to within the US. They do not have the scale to support the paperwork for international shipping. They also do not ship to sub-national territories (such as Puerto Rico and Guam.) I'm thinking about using a freight forwarding service - and have a short-list of about five companies - and wanted to get your take on how you purchased your bottle.
Also - the Rohrer & Klingner Ink bottle is very well thought out. The tinted glass (sometimes they use clear glass) - and the label - are strategically designed to limit the amount of UV light exposure agains the actual ink. UV light (natural sunlight) will break down most inks. R&K have really thought this through. Their bottles, while super cute, and compact, are almost entirely wrapped around by their label. Their inks are also very, very well behaved and incredibly good value for the quality. They are true dye makers and release special edition iron gall inks which have a natural archival property (so they are water resistant), but also a corrosive PH level that can permanently damage your pens. They do a great job labelling which are iron gall and which are not so you know when not to use an expensive pen.
That's good to know!
Sara sent me the Birmingham Pen Company bottle, and I don't know where she got it. You could reach out to her on her TH-cam channel (Fountain Pen Insanity) to ask. I'm afraid my other bottles I've mostly gotten from very unremarkable sources: Jet Pens, Goulet Pens, Truphae, etc. I've also won quite a few bottles of ink by entering Instagram giveaways. My most interesting sources have been the yard sale and auction house I mentioned.
Diamine Xmas bottles, Ackerman ink, and both the 20ml and 38ml Ferris Wheel Press bottles, Dominant Industry. Rachelle in Seattle
Those are good ones!
Pilot Iroshizuku: I assumed the string is to help open the inner lid of the paper box, pull the string and it lifts up. Plus it looks nice.
I like the Iroshizuku bottle best. It’s beautiful and functional and it has the name of the ink and the color on the label. It drives me crazy that so many companies don’t put either of these things on the label. As a side note, it makes me chuckle how Americans struggle with the pronunciation of “Diamine.” Imagine you see the word “mine” printed in a book - would you ever consider pronouncing it “meen”? lol. But a good video! Thanks.
The pronunciation might be a regional/dialect thing. I just looked up the word "elephantine" for comparison, and Google pronounces it "elephanteen."
If I had to guess, I'd suspect that the catawampus labels may be indicative of less automated processes; someone put those on by hand.
I'm still a beginner fountain pen person, but I've kind of settled on Noodler's, so I don't have exposure to the other inks listed. That said, it looks like the plastic-based Lamy, Pilot, and the Montblanc would be the most practical. The Skrip was really cool, too, though.
Thanks! Yeah, you could be right about the label. I've often been frustrated by Noodler's inks. Some are great but some are weird and not well behaved. I definitely recommend getting samples at least of other inks you like. When I started, I used Noodler's almost exclusively, but I don't use them much now.
OMAS fountain pen ink makes my favourite bottle.
Awesome! I'll have to check them out.
interesting topic, great idea
Interesting to see this. I've occasionally talked about it on my channel, but only in passing. My favorite wobbles back and forth between the standard Lamy bottles and the 70 ml Pilot bottles. If I had to finish off a top three, probably the Akkerman bottles.
Good choices!
You need to see or have the Ferris Wheel Press bottles. There are 3 basic shapes. One is round like a snow globe with a copper nut as the lid. There there next size down is a flattened beveled circle shaped bottle with the same kind of copper or brass nut. Finally the sample bottle size is a completely cylindrical shape with a flush cylindrical metal lid.
Yeah, the Ferris Wheel Press bottles look great!
This is why you get an ink miser. You will never need to worry about the bottle just the ink. I can now easily fill from my ferris wheel press bottles.
I think Sara actually sent me one. I'll have to give it a try.
what I don't like the Lamy boxes is that that they don't have any identification of the ink on the box (yes, the boxes are -- sort of -- the color of the ink, but this does not distinguish similar inks.) And many of the bottles have no indication of the ink, either. The Pilot Iroshizuku bottles are really nice, but their caps are very fragile. I've had several crack and leak in transit. Two bootle that are nice, and -- like the Iroshizuku bottle - sort of perfume-ish. The Caran D'Ache (which tips back), and the Faber Castel,
Thanks for the info! I'll be careful with the lid of my Pilot Iroshizuku bottle. And I think it's strange when companies like Lamy don't label their products clearly. My friend Sara gave me a bottle of Lamy ink, and I had to go to Google to figure out what it was (Lamy Pink).
In the country I come from I’m a Justice of the Peace, I have a rubber stamp of office, before the 1900 hundreds the stamp, was a signet ring which had the state or area they lived in.
Hope this was helpful.
The small Diamine bottles are pretty hopeless. Small, super narrow throat, and no weight because they are made of plastic. But they probably help keep the price down.
Yeah, probably. Those Diamine bottles are dirt cheap.
@Down the Breather Hole I don't mind that they're keeping the cost down with a plastic bottle, but I find that there's no excuse for the narrow neck which makes them completely useless to me. I bought 5 bottles a year ago and have only used each ink once because I need something to decant them into. I saw a video from a guy that went on a quest to find a bottle for just that and he tested a bunch, finally deciding on a 30ml glass sirop bottle. They have a 28mm neck size. He put his whole collection of inks into them to have them all uniform and keep them in his desk drawer. I'm thinking of doing the same. Very practical to decant ink into smaller bottles - avoids contamination and drying out. It's because of these bottle issues that I'm starting to lean more to filling with a syringe, but there's no getting around it with piston fillers. One of my favourite bottles is the sailor jentle - I love the short squat design so I don't worry about tipping, and they have those cones that always allow filling. They have the inkwell vibe too. The Platinum bottles have them too but the Sailor one is better I think. The trouble is that I don't buy those inks, so have to buy empties. Your choice were great too. Thanks for sharing this.
What about Akkerman bottles with their divine clear colours and marble so you can use every last drop.
Yes! I would love to get one of those ink bottles.
Amazing video❤
I like Duke 30ml ink bottle also 60ml is cool but ink itself is so so.
You need to get yourself an akkermann
I do! Those look awesome!
I had that skrip ink in blue. Those metal caps are hard to seal properly and it totally evaporated. Very sad.
That is sad. The paper seal insert on mine definitely likes to come loose, and I keep having to put it back in.
3:45 fir what ever reason all Germany ink companies seem to be using this same bottle in their starting ink lines
We need another SBREBrown impersonation 😊
oh please, no
you can find plenty of that on the SBREBrown channel
(not everyone appreciates his unique style).
Complete with bad production quality? 😂
haha I've been wanting to do a Peter Draws impression.
Dislike: any bottle with a narrow opening so that only pencil-thin pens will fit in. What were they thinking of when they 'designed' those?!
I know, right? Some people only fill their fountain pens' converters, so maybe that's what some ink companies have in mind?
Your handsome voice matches your handsome face 🥰
The Montblanc has an ugly design that is technically functional but done much better by other brands. Much like their pens.
To each their own