Waterman Mysterious Blue
Ink Review # 59
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Overview
The color/properties:
Waterman Mysterious Blue is a dark blue. It offers a light amount of shading, often with a crisp cut between light and dark tones in the areas where the ink pools. There was some light red sheening that I captured in the ink splat and droplets, as well. This might show up in writing with a wetly-tuned nib on some papers, but it’s a minimal sheen and I wouldn’t expect it.
Ink Splat
Ink Droplets
Performance on paper:
As expected, Mysterious Blue is very well-behaved. There wasn’t any visible bleeding or feathering on most of the test papers, and only bleeding through the Kokuyo sheet with the largest nib sizes. The dry times were average, with the finer nibs drying within 5-10 seconds and the broadest nibs drying around the 20-second mark. Water exposure caused a lot of clouding, but there was some retention and the remains may be readable. Overall, the water resistance was still poor.
Water resistance
Chromatography
Performance in the pen:
Mysterious blue has a medium-dry flow. I didn’t experience any issues with hard starting or skipping during my tests, and the flow was fine functionally, but I did find myself wishing there was more in the way of lubrication. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was underwhelming. Cleaning took slightly more effort than expected: the initial flushing left a blue ring inside the pen that required the barrel to soak overnight to disappear fully. On the other hand, disassembly was not required and the nib units ran clean in two 30-minute soaks and flushes.
Performance in a pen: 9/10
Performance on paper: 8.5/10
Color saturation: 7/10
Sheening: 1/10
Shading: 4.5/10
Dry time: 7.5/10
Water resistance: 2/10
Ease of cleaning: 7/10
Shimmer: None
My personal thoughts…
Mysterious Blue is okay, but I don’t have a lot to say about it beyond that. It’s a safe, basic, darker alternative to something like Serenity Blue, but even in comparison to the aforementioned, I personally feel that it lacks a distinct personality. On one hand, that does mean it’s the perfect choice for some situations, but on the other hand, it’s not something I envision myself reaching for often. I personally use this ink whenever I use my needlepoint nibs, where I enjoy the nib more than the ink itself, but if I wanted something in a similar tune to Mysterious Blue, I would personally reach for Diamine’s Oxford Blue instead.
Written in a Leuchtturm1917 notebook with Parker Duofold Victory (Medium)
More images/info:
Tools and materials used in the writing samples:
A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 7 nib units including a Needlepoint grind, EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm stub, and an Architect grind. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same medium wetness.
A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad
A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook
A Midori MD A5 Notebook
A 68gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook
A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook
A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook