Private Reserve's New Daphne Blue

Private Reserve is an ink brand that I'm really familiar with. My first bottles of ink were Private Reserve. They were one of the only ink brands that I could get at the Paradise Pen stores in the Houston or Dallas Gallerias, and I have been using the inks since the 90s. I'd gone through bottles of Lake Placid Blue and a few others before I ever thought of blogging.

The brand has changed hands a few times over the last several years, and it is now owned by Yafa Brands. So, when I heard that they were bringing back the Private Reserve inks, I reached out to them and they sent me a selection of PR inks to review. So: Thanks Niv!

Private Reserve's Daphne Blue is a nice sky blue. I think it's a good color, though it's a little light for me. I think it's a bit on the wet side, and so this medium nib gave it a little too much freedom. It had a tendency to bleed and spread if it wasn't on good papers. And it did want to bleed a little on Rhodia, which was just strange. I don't have any particular reason why that would be. There weren't any problems on the wheat straw, Tomoe River, or other good papers I used.

I've used the original Daphne, but only in cartridges, and they are much darker. I think they've lost some water, though, so the ink has concentrated and I can't really compare them. I do have a swatch of the original, and that'll be in the comparisons below. 

One last thing. There was an issue with PR and "slime-in-the-bottle" a while back. It was a production issue with the previous owner, and Yafa says they've moved production to their "top of the line QC facility." Yafa makes good inks and stands behind them if there have been issues. I wouldn't worry. 

Written Review:

 

Close Ups:

 

Copy Paper Test:

Inky Fingers Currently Inked Journal (wheat straw paper):

Tomoe River Ink Journal:

Water Drop Test:

Chromatography:

Video Review

 

Color Comparisons

Here's the comparison between the original and new Daphne Blue. It looks like the original is lighter, but it's sometimes difficult to judge old swatches on different papers. I think we just have to take the new one as it is.

 **This ink was provided for review by Yafa, the owners of the PR brand. That doesn't shape my review in any way I'm aware of. **