Inktend / Ink library / Velvet Black
Velvet Black
Highly saturated American inks in dozens of vivid colors, headlined by the pen-show classic DC Supershow Blue.
Paper & pairing
As a near-neutral tone, it reads as professional and safe for anything from journaling to signatures. This ink will behave predictably on most fountain-pen-friendly paper. Cheap, highly absorbent paper (standard copier paper) will dull any ink's saturation and can cause feathering or bleed-through with wetter nibs.
About Private Reserve
Private Reserve Ink was founded in 1994 in Indiana and became known for intensely saturated fountain pen colors at a time when most inks were conservative. The brand was acquired by Yafa Brands in the late 2010s and relaunched with reformulated Premium, Fast Dry, Invincible, and Infinity lines. Its bottled inks remain a staple of American pen shows, most famously the annual DC Supershow blues.
Storing and using the bottle
Bottled fountain pen ink has an effectively long shelf life when kept capped and out of direct sunlight — most inks remain usable for years. The main risk isn't the ink spoiling, it's a pen sitting inked and unused for weeks: that's what causes clogs, not the ink's age.
Frequently asked questions
Similar shades By colour distance
Color shown is a close digital approximation of a typical swatch, not a calibrated color match.