Quink

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Also known as Double Quink and Parker 51 Ink. This ink was developed by The Parker Pen Company and Francisco Quisumbing, A Filipino Chemist. A common misconception about Quink is that it was invented as the ideal ink for the world's most successful fountain pen, the Parker 51. That pen sold for over 400 million dollars in its thirty year history. It was in fact the Parker 51 pen that was developed as the only pen of the time capable of using Quink effectively.

In 1928, under the direction of Kenneth Parker, the Parker company invested three years and $68,000 into the development of an ink that would eliminate the need for blotting. When used with the Parker 51 pen, this ink was to become a completely new "writing system". Research for the project was headed by the chemist Graham Sayler and took place in a small laboratory at the company's headquarters in Janesville, Wisconsin. The major discovery in the project's development was in creating an ink that dried by absorption, as opposed to evaporation.

Quink was first marketed in 1931. The resulting product was strongly alkaline and contained isopropyl alcohol, a solvent that was not used in ink until then. At that time, most pen barrels and caps were manufactured using pyralin, and it was often damaged by the alcohol contained in Quink. This problem is what eventually led to the development of the Parker 51 pen. However, the Parker 51 was only made available ten years after Quink, in 1941.

The success of Quink lay in the fact that it had a number of useful features:

it resisted water,
it did not clog,
it had the desired quality of ink flow,
it resisted moulding,
it was non-corrosive,
it did not leave deposits,
it did not fade

and, most of all, it was quick-drying.

It was manufactured in four colors: India Black, Pan American Green, China Red, and the famous Tunis Blue. It was sold in bottles made by the Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, PA. The bottles were designed with a low centre of gravity into order to prevent tipping. The ink was to have several improvements over the years; among them, an even quicker drying product was brought out in 1939 called "Double Quink". With a further refinement in the addition of the chemical SOLV-X which dissolved sediment and cleaned the pen when writing.

In 1941, when the Parker 51 was launched, "Double Quink" was renamed and repackaged as "Parker 51 ink" as a marketing initiative. Parker's ink sales became the key to maintaining the company's profitability. (This is still true today for modern day computer printer companies whose survival often depend on the sales of ink cartridges.) Further enhancements were made to Parker inks with its revolutionary "Super Chrome" ink. This ink was marketed in 1947 after a research period that cost over $200,000 and lasted 17 years. It claimed to be the "first basic ink improvement in over 250 years." It offered almost instant drying, greater brilliance and a wider selection of colors.

Quink ink is still the world's biggest selling pen ink in this millennium. According to fountain pen enthusiasts Parker Quink is generally considered to be so called "safe fountain pen ink". It means it should not stain or clog fountain pen very easily. Yet, the use of fountain pens gradually fell out of favor over the second half of the 20th century. In fact, the manufacture of the Parker 51 ink was phased out in the UK in 1972 and the US in 1978. But the legend of the Parker 51 still lives on, with a large worldwide network of collectors and enthusiasts who still use these vintage pens today. In fact, in 2002 Parker introduced a limited edition of Parker 51 revival pens. As part of the revival, Parker emphasised the value of using their own quick drying ink as the perfect partner for the Parker 51, a classic of engineering and design.