Beginner’s Guide to Ink Bottles vs. Cartridges

As fun and as beautiful as fountain pens are, they are kind of useless without ink.

Some fountain pens, like vacuum and piston pens, can only be filled with bottled ink. But for most pens, when you inevitably run the cartridge that comes with your fountain pen dry, you have a decision to make when it comes to re-inking your pen. Do you stay with the convenience of cartridges or venture into the world of bottled ink?

Both re-inking systems have their pros and cons. So before we dig into what inking solution is best for you and your pens, there are a few things we need to consider. Is the filling system of your pen proprietary? Are you willing to get messy? And, what colors do you like to use in your pens?

Are your refills Proprietary or International?

One of the most important things to figure out first is does your pen come with a converter and/or does it include a proprietary filling system. Most European and American pen brands use standard international as their cartridge/converter system of choice. But, most Asian brands use their own proprietary system which limits you to exclusively using their brand of refills. Check to see if your pen uses an international or proprietary refill here. A lot of student pens don’t come with a converter so if you want to ink a student pen with bottled ink, you oftentimes have to buy one separately. That converter can sometimes cost you nearly as much as the pen itself.

I LOVE colour! Because of the work I do, I have a significant number of bottled inks - currently just under 200 bottles and 154 ink samples from 52 brands. I tend to have every colour of the rainbow inked up in an array of pens at any given time. However, I know many people who just write in a single colour - Waterman Serenity Blue for example. Nothing wrong with that—it's a personal choice.

The added bonus of using cartridges is the ease with which you can instantly re-ink your pen when you are out and about. They are literally a no-mess solution when you run your pen dry. Simply pop off the empty cartridge and replace it with a new one. (See how to fill your pen with a cartridge here) If your pen uses SI cartridges, they are widely available in office supply and stationery stores around the world. Proprietary cartridges can be more difficult to source, as you would have to order from a retailer who stocks the particular brand.

There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to inking your fountain pens (as long as you are using fountain pen friendly ink) it is all about finding what inking method will work best for you. Hopefully, this post gave you some food for thought the next time you refill your cartridge/converter fountain pen.