Ink Review #309: Vintage Sanford Pen-It Peacock Blue

This week we are looking at vintage inks, and today's is Sanford's Pen-It Peacock Blue. This ink was popular in 1940's and 50's. Sanford no longer makes fountain pen ink, but they are still famous for their biggest product, the Sharpie. Thanks to John from Fountain Pen Love for sending over a sample for review. I had never heard of this brand before, so I'm excited to give it a try.

The color:

Peacock Blue is a bright medium blue. It immediately reminds me of Lamy Pacific Blue. 

Swabs:

In large swabs and ink drops there is actually a little bit of pink sheen, which blew me away. Everyone talks about sheen as if it's a modern invention, but this shows that sheen can be coaxed from a lot of inks if you use Tomoe River paper and lay it down wet enough.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, tiny sheen, and no shimmer. You can only seen the sheen in large swabs on Tomoe River paper.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was some feathering and some bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Ink swabs for comparison, left to right (top to bottom for mobile RSS): Lamy Pacific Blue, Sanford Pen-It Peacock Blue, and Montblanc Unicef. 

Robert Oster Blue Lagoon, Robert Oster Australian Sky Blue, and Diamine Aqua Blue. Click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing: 

I used a Pelikan 400N on Tomoe River paper. The ink had an average flow. It did feel just slightly watery.

Overall, it looks a bit weaker in color than it did when it was new, but it has a good flow, and has not developed any mold or clumps. I love that you can coax a bit of sheen out of it. If you are looking for a modern alternative, give Lamy Pacific Blue or Diamine Aqua Blue a try.

Disclaimer: A sample of this ink was provided by Fountain Pen Love for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page.