This week’s ink review dives into Private Reserve Midnight Blue ink, one of the company’s fast drying fountain pen inks we recently added to stock. Everyone’s been sending positive feedback about having access to all these Private Reserve inks again, and we’re so excited that you’re excited to have them back! We’ve received the requests for more Private Reserve ink reviews, as well as more Private Reserve ink samples, and we’re on it! We’ve already featured a couple Private Reserve inks in recent ink reviews (Copper Burst and Tropical Blue), but the Fast Dry inks came in a later shipment, so we haven’t offered you much information on their performance yet. We figured it was past time. Consider this week’s review of Private Reserve Midnight Blue Fast Drying Ink a mini intro to this brand if you haven’t yet had the chance to get to know their products personally.

All About the Ink Maker: Private Reserve

Private Reserve, one of the “new” brands here at Pen Chalet, offers fountain pen inks made in Europe and packaged in the United States. We put quotes around that reference to the brand being new because while they weren’t readily available for a bit, this brand’s inks are known and loved by many in the industry. They’re actually one of the oldest American fountain pen ink companies. They started creating their vibrant, saturated inks over 20 years ago. At Private Reserve, ink batches are not hand-mixed, but the Private Reserve chemists use a precise measuring system so they get consistent results in both color and quality. The Private Reserve inks have a reputation for offering smooth flow, high saturation, and top-notch shading possibilities that…so far, we’ve found to be accurate.

Private Reserve inks were recently reintroduced (under new ownership and with a new distributor). These popular inks still use the same formulas and offer the same colors. So if you loved them in the past, you’ll still love them.

Pen Chalet is proud to be an Authorized Dealer, so check out the available inventory and current price at PenChalet.com. We carry all 38 colors of Private Reserve ink! And while the sample size Private Reserve inks are hard to keep in stock because so many of you want to try the entire line of inks – we DO keep adding samples to stock as quickly as we can!

All About the Ink Series: Private Reserve Fast Drying Ink

This week’s featured ink is one of 6 different ink colors Pen Chalet carries from the Private Reserve Fast Dry Ink Series:

• American Blue
• Chocolat
• Midnight Blue
• Sherwood Green
• Tanzanite
• Ultra Black

5 of the 6 colors in the fast dry ink series are also available in Private Reserve’s regular ink series. The Private Reserve Fast Drying ink series is known for being non-smearing, non-clogging and safe for fountain pens.

This Week’s Featured Ink: Private Reserve Midnight Blue Fast Drying Ink

Private Reserve Midnight Blue (fast dry) ink is a very dark blue color of ink similar to a blue-black ink in its darkness. As expected for such a dark ink, it shows up dark on paper, and we’d recommend it as a good everyday use ink color.

It’s Time: Private Reserve Midnight Blue Ink Review

This week we put this Private Reserve ink to our standard ink review tests. Keep reading to hear all about the results!

Ink Review Testing Factors (to keep things scientific):

For our review of Private Reserve Midnight Blue fountain pen ink, we used a French made J. Herbin spiral glass dip pen on French made Rhodia dot pad paper.  The dip pen has a tip that is comparable to a medium-fine fountain pen nib.

Let’s Talk About the Private Reserve Midnight Blue Ink Bottle

Private Reserve Midnight Blue Fast Drying ink comes in a simple large capacity round bottle, with very large lid. The packaging is simple and effective with a clear description of the ink color. The yellow labeling indicates it’s a Fast Dry ink color (the regular Private Reserve inks’ labels have a white background). The large lid has ridges along the side so it’s easy to grip and open without trouble.

How Much Does Private Reserve Fountain Pen Ink Cost?                 

Private Reserve Fast Drying inks have a slightly higher price tag then their regular ink series. However, due to the quality of the ink and the size of the bottle, these inks are still an economical ink purchase; if slightly higher end. You’re still getting a large quantity of ink (60ml) for a great price (and fast drying at that). Check for the latest discounted pricing at PenChalet.com.

How Did This Week’s Ink Fair in the 1-Dip Test?

We applied a one dip test to see how far one dip could write on paper (dipping the pen into the ink only one time). Private Reserve Midnight Blue ink easily wrote across the paper on all three writing samples (one dip per writing sample: “S” “X” and scribble lines) with medium to high saturation.

How Fast Does the Private Reserve Midnight Blue Fast Dry Ink Dry?

During our review, Midnight Blue Fast Dry ink showed a dry time of approximately 4-5 seconds with medium to high saturation; which is definitely quick enough to be considered a great choice for an everyday ink.

Does Midnight Blue Ink Bleed Through?

We saw no bleeding during normal use, and only slight bleeding during the heavy saturated cotton swab test.

Was There Any Feathering While Using Midnight Blue Ink?       

We saw no feathering during normal use, and only slight feathering during the water test.

How Does the Ink Stand Up to Water?   

Private Reserve Midnight Blue fast dry ink is not waterproof, but we put it through a water test anyway to see how well it performed. We got significant color smearing (expected with any dye-based fountain pen ink), but the lines were still clearly legible. We also saw some slight feathering during the water test.

What About Shading Traits?          

Private Reserve Midnight Blue ink has some possible shading traits, if you have a nib that will allow ink flow variation like a stub or italic nib. We saw a dark black-blue color to a nice deep-sea color of blue. We also saw some slight sheen at the wettest points.

Final Conclusion on this Week’s Featured Private Reserve Ink:

In conclusion, this week’s featured fountain pen ink is an economical purchase with a very reasonable dry time. It’s a high performance fountain pen ink (easy to clean and use) manufactured in the European Union for an American ink company. Ink comes in a large 60 ml ink bottle with clear, neat packaging and simple color labeling. Private Reserve Midnight Blue Fast Drying Ink is a very usable dark blue color (one of 38 color options from Private Reserve ink – 6 of which are found in the Private Reserve Fast Dry ink series). We love how accessible the large, easy to open lid makes this ink, how fast it dries, and the classic, beautiful blue it lays down on the page. Happy writing from the EU!

Enter to Win a Private Reserve Fountain Pen Ink:

Enter to win the actual bottle of Private Reserve Midnight Blue fast drying fountain pen ink that Pen Chalet used in this week’s ink review:

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