February 27th, 2025 – Thor’s Day
Time to refill the cartridges in two of my favorite vintage Parker Vector fountain pens:
50 mL bottle of Robert Oster Signature Ink next to vintage Parker Vector fountain pens
Being that it’s almost March (springtime!) and I love the color green, having a couple of my favorite fountain pens inked up with it was a priority for me.
The moon was dark earlier today and is now officially a new waxing moon in Pisces (my sun sign — not that I believe in any of that ;)) so kicking the new moon and my birthday month off with the color of growth and rebirth in a couple of wet medium-nib pens feels like the auspicious thing to do.
{{{swoon}}} – I love all the saturations and shades of green on my beat up desk today!
Ryde Green isn’t quite as NEON BRIGHT and light as my dream green ink color. Still, I’m happy I bought a whole bottle without testing it first. The price point seemed fair, and having it makes me feel like I can afford to use it generously.
If I remember correctly, some people complain about these bottles not being good for filling fountain pens from. For me, though — a syringe-filler of re-used cartridges — it’s perfect since I’m not trying to dip my pens into it, but using a long needle to suck it up.
I love the color-swatched sticker-top, and I also kind of like that the bottle is plastic. It feels less costly and risky for shipping and all kinds of handling, and again makes it feel less like some expensive precious treasure I shouldn’t squander. All without seeming cheap — this line of ink feels like a quality tool/supply that you should have many different colors/bottles of.
Scribbled test notes on un-fancy printer paper immediately after refilling my fountain pens.
Even those these pens were lying around and getting dried up for awhile, THEY STARTED WRITING IMMEDIATELY. Not sure how much of that is the pens and how much is the ink, but I suspect both are contributing factors. One of the pens had been sitting on my counter, unwashed for MONTHS. And it started right up! The other one was only sitting for a few days, but yeah … I love that feeling of lubricated, reliable efficiency my old medium-nib Parker Vectors give me, especially when paired with a reliable ink, which Ryde Green definitely is.
Cheaper paper also seems to help draw ink out after dry spells, I’ve found, and this is definitely *not* “fountain pen friendly” fancy paper.
I’m not 100% positive if the green I had in the pens before was the same/Ryde Green or something from some samples that could have influenced the performance and appearance of the ink today. The darker-looking writing sample on the right was produced by the pen I’d left laying around for months, so the darker color could be due to that stagnation or leftover residue from a different green (I’m guessing the former, though).
*****
Looking for a real in-depth and detailed breakdown of Ryde Green in different pens and on different paper? Check out Mountain of Ink’s thorough testing, samples, and review of Robert Oster’s Signature Ryde Green ink.
After reading her review, I wonder if this ink is less-bright in my pens and on my paper than I hoped because my tools (cheap paper and relatively broad wet nibs) produce more flow, creating more of the black shade effect seen with heavy swabs.
