Private Reserve - Neon Blue

Private Reserve - Neon Blue - Ink Drop

This is Private Reserve Neon Blue. It’s the second of four inks in the six-ink series that I have for review.

Private Reserve - Neon Blue - on Cosmo Air Light

When I opened the 60 ml bottle, I expected to find the same strong UV fluorescence that showed in the previously reviewed Neon Green. I didn’t, but what I did find was a nice, bright, turquoise sky blue that offers a lot of beautiful variation in shading.

Private Reserve - Neon Blue - Color Range

This isn’t the most unusual color, but it compares nicely against well-known inks in the popular turquoise category. At its darkest, Neon Blue is slightly lighter compared to Private Reserve Infinity Turquoise. From light to dark, stroke shading was dramatic and consistent on all of the papers I used for testing. Shading is definitely one of Neon Blue’s dominant visual features.

Private Reserve - Neon Blue - on Rhodia

The specific blue reminds me very much of highlighter blue, and this ink performs very well in this function. Like a traditional highlighter, when the ink covers words, it leaves them completely visible, but there’s no smudging or spreading of the original strokes. This is a writing ink first, but performing well as a highlighter ink is a far more useful feature than I previously realized!

Private Reserve - Neon Blue - Writing Samples

In writing experience, Neon Blue performs well. This is a fairly wet ink in flow, both comfortable and smooth on the page. Strokes were clean and sharp on most of the high-quality, coated papers that I use for testing. On some uncoated papers, there’s some minor spreading (I used a wet, Jowo medium for testing and writing samples), but I didn’t find the feathering that you see on the ink drop image. Drying times were very reasonable, too.

Private Reserve - Neon Blue - Ink Swatch Card

I recommend being a bit careful with the cap, especially when putting the cap down after opening the bottle. It’s my one complaint. Because the bottle is straight sided and doesn’t indent to the mouth of the bottle, the ink tends to gather at the edges of the cap and in the threads. This becomes less of a problem as the ink level goes down.

This is a nice ink. At US$12-15 for a 60 ml bottle, it’s also a very well-priced ink. Turquoise is a very popular color, and I’m not sure that as many people think to consider Neon Blue when shopping the category. I recommend giving it a look. If you’re in the market for a turquoise, I think you’ll enjoy this one.

Private Reserve - Neon Blue - Comparisons

Special thanks to Private Reserve and Yafa Brands for sending this ink, and several others over to try. As always, my reviews reflect my honest opinions. I only review pens and inks that I enjoy and have used extensively, and I always include both the positives and the negatives that I find.

Private Reserve - Neon Blue - 60 ml Bottle