Tag Archives: diamine

INK REVIEW: FOUR FABULOUS BLUE INKS (Part 2)

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Last week, I took a really close look at four fabulous blue inks.

Some of these inks are not easy to find. Let’s take a look and see if we can figure this thing out…
Sailor Bung Box Sapphire


After a little searching, I’ve found some sources for Bung Box inks . . . 
Rumor has it Cool-Japan had them over on eBay at one time. As of this writing, there are no Bung Box inks listed, I’ve bought ink from Cool Japan in the past and had a great experience.

The bottles and packaging look amazing and I’ve definitely enjoyed using the sample Gerald sent me. 

Here’s the trouble: money.  The Bung Box inks are not cheap – add in some shipping (from Japan!) charges, and you’re at right around $45-50 per bottle. Yikes.
Parker Penman Sapphire would also be a good substitute for Bung Box Sapphire. Because the Penman ink is no longer available, I’ve listed some good replacements in that section.  Zoom down to see.
Bottom Line:  If $ isn’t a concern, go for it. It’s a great-looking and well-performing ink – you wouldn’t be disappointed. If $ is a concern, DC Supershow Blue is a fine alternative.

Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium


Noodler’s Liberty’s Elysium is only available from Goulet Pens. The good news is that Goulet Pens has a fantastic reputation in the fountain pen community for excellent customer service. They will also ship overseas.

I shop at Goulet Pens regularly and mention them frequently. I’m not related to the Goulet’s, I receive no discounts, free product, special treatment, or anything else from them. Unfortunately, in our relationship – the money only flows in the one direction 😉

PW Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue




I got mine direct from the Netherlands. Shipping was fast, seemed reasonable (though I was buying multiple bottles), and everything arrived in good condition.

Vanness Pen Shop also carries Akkerman inks. You’ll have to call or email them for specifics.

It’s expensive. The Akkerman bottles are super-fancy and they’ve come a long distance. If you don’t want to put out the money, my strong recommendation is Diamine Majestic Blue (see image below).

Parker Penman Sapphire


No longer available, there are some inky recipes out there for replacing Penman Sapphire. A quick search turned up these two links for you . . . 

Another Parker Penman Sapphire Replacement

The difficulty here is that while I think it is possible to get the color right (or at least close enough), I’m feeling pretty certain that it’s quite impossible to get the feel of Parker Penman right on target. That is to say this: the color is only part of what makes an ink so special. The feel of the sample I had is wonderfully different from all of the other blues here and I seriously doubt that mixing 6.5 drops of ink #1 with 3.75 drops of ink #2 is going to result in that same feel* – and without that, well, there are plenty of off the shelf colors that come close enough.  Have a look . . .

   
   

Some of the above ink swabs are showing the sheen – and maybe you’re thinking Penman Sapphire doesn’t have much sheen here or in my review from last week, but look at this review over on FPN – crazy sheen.

Sailor Bung Box Sapphire also looks like a good sub for Parker Penman Sapphire, but there are difficulties in obtaining that ink, too. (See the above section for those details.)

Bottom Line – DC Supershow Blue is the color I would choose if I was trying to match the color of Parker Penman Sapphire.

Of course, you could search eBay for it, but there are rumors that it was discontinued because it may contain metallic bits (hello, sheen) in it and it causes pens to clog. I’ve not had trouble with it in my Pilot Metorpolitan, however.

* Did you know that mixing inks can be an invitation for Major Trouble? Some inks don’t play well with others and you could end up with a blobby globby mess – in your pen. Some mixtures will take some time to form the blobby globby mess and by the time it does, you may have already loaded it into your pen. Be careful.

Annnnnd…that’s that!  Four Fabulous Blue Inks. This has been a fun fun project and I really have to thank Gerald again for sending me samples of some of these inks. If you’re not following me and Gerald on Instagram, you simply must.

You tell me . . . Are you going shopping for one of these? Or maybe you have another favorite blue ink?

INK REVIEW: Diamine Sunset

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Diamine Sunset Ink Swab
Anyone who has been here for awhile knows how much I love a bold bright ink. Diamine Sunset certainly seems to fit that bill, though the red-orange color isn’t quite enough to cover the dots on the Rhodia paper I was using. 
Diamine Sunset Writing Sample with Lamy Safari (B)
Add in a a little bit of shading and it just might be love.
Er.  What is this?  A B C D E F G . . .
I usually use an ink for a week or so before posting the review, but the hard starting continued throughout the first day and I couldn’t stand it. 
My initial thought was that the ink must be more dry than others. I was using a Lamy Safari – Broad nib – and rarely have trouble with them. I’m fastidious about cleaning my pens, so I doubt that’s the issue.
Here are some other reviews for the same ink…
Fountain Pen Network – “flow for this ink seems high”  (Uh. Oh.)
Fountain Pen Network – “a nice flowing orange”  (Hmm.)
Goulet Pens Reviews – “it is a very dry ink” (Interesting!) and “…made the pen skip quite a bit” (Ah Ha!)
So..what about you? Have you tried Diamine Sunset?  What was your experience?
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INK REVIEW: DIamine Wild Strawberry

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Diamine Wild Strawberry Ink Swab

Ladies and gentlemen, it is safe to say…the losing streak of Monday reviews is OVER!  (In case you hadn’t noticed, my last three Monday reviews were not inks I fell in love with.)

But this!  This is an ink to love!  This is Diamine Wild Strawberry. Yum!

Diamine Wild Strawberry Writing Sample

Because seriously. Look at that color!  Wooooo…color like that makes me happy happy!  Similar in color, but with more saturation than R&K Morinda. Very different from Noodker’s Red.

OK.it’s not perfect. There is no shading and I love shading inks.  Other than that, though, it’s pretty darn perfect.

Dry time is a bit long – even with the fine nib I was using, but I can live with that.

Yep. It’s love!  Yaaay!!!

Tell me, what ink are you loving on this week? Is it a red?

INK REVIEW: Diamine Ultra Green

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Diamine Ultra Green Swab

 With the demise of Caran D’ache Amazon Green, I have been on the lookout for another green that I can love as much.  Maybe Ultra Green from Diamine is it.

I tested Ultra Green on a variety of papers including famed Tomoe River Paper. While I have some issues with Tomoe River Paper (it crinkles like mad and needs to be treated gently for this reason), I also think it is fantastic to get a true read of the color of an ink. Rather than being absorbed into the paper, the ink seems to sit on top of the paper – there is never even a little bleed-through or feathering with Tomoe River Paper.
gorgeous color

I love the clear and crisp qualities that this ink has to offer. Great clean green with good saturation (so important to me) and even a little shading.

In some ways, maybe I like this ink even better than Amazon from Caran D’ache.  Look at the highlighting test and the smearing (well, the lack of smearing).

Diamine Ultra Green Writing Test on Strathmore Cotton Paper

I love the swab below. The variation of color . . .

Diamine Ultra Green Writing Test on Clairefontaine Paper

Yep! This might be my new green – might have to do more testing first, though, yes?

Diamine Ultra Green Writing Test on Tomoe River Paper

Do you have a favorite green? Tell me all about it!

INK REVIEW: Diamine Flamingo Pink (Second Look)

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Diamine Flamingo Pink

Woooo!!!

This is my second look at Diamine Flamingo Pink.  Here’s my first test run of this fabulous color.

Dude.

Go buy this ink.

Flamingo Pink Ink Swabs (3, 2, 1)

I really didn’t think I’d ever buy a pink ink. I mean, seriously? Pink?

But how could I resist this perfect color? It’s bright! Bold! OMG! Serious color.  Seriously serious color.

And do you see it?  That pink-to-orange shading?  It may be glowing a bit in my scans, but the color is there – it’s an orange-ish pink. And it is…wow. I’m swooning over here.

Handwritten Review of Diamine Flamingo Pink
Can you spot the write-o?

QUICK LOOK WEDNESDAY – Six Pretty Colors

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Sometimes, I want to play with my pens, inks, and papers, but can think of nothing to write.

The first step is to write the name of the ink and the name of the pen (see above). I just noticed that each ink is from a different manufacturer – nice.

Apparently, the last resort is to write things that I overhear from the television (see below).

It was actually quite a bit of fun – watching and scribbling, changing pens and writing a bit more. I love the way the entire sheet of paper looks – each color is pretty amazing on its own, yes?

Let’s take a closer look . . .

Above – DeAtramentis Alexander Hamilton. I love this purple. It’s so rich and deep in color – nice saturation. I don’t see this ink discussed much on the various forums, but I think this is a purple that could be used anywhere.  (more on that another day)

Below – Private Reserve Spearmint. One of my favorite green inks. It looks a bit dark here to my eye, but it is usually quite cheery.

Do you have a guess as to which show I was watching at the time?

Below – Montblanc Hitchcock. A gorgeous blood red ink if I ever did see one. Some really pretty shading in there, too. I have to confess, I have a quite a lot of this in my cabinet. Shall I keep it forever? Use it as if I’ll never run out? Or maybe even sell some?

Below – Noodler’s Habanero. A favorite. That shading. The brightness of the color. Need I say more? Mm..wait, I already did right here.
 

By the way, the above quote is the one that seems like the one that would tell the secret of what I was watching. Have you guessed it yet?

Above – Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun. I wonder if I only could have one ink, if this would be it. Check out my big review here. It is crazy CrAzY to think that I, lover of bright and beautiful colors, would be so taken with a gray ink, but there you go.

Above – Diamine Majestic Blue.  Easy to see why it’s one of my favorites, yes?  So pretty.

And, so, there we have it – six pretty colors. All so different from one another and yet all so wonderful.

Which show was I watching?  Downton Abbey, of course!  Have you seen it? Highly recommended.

QUICK LOOK WEDNESDAY: Four Fab Blues

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Time for this week’s Quick Look Wednesday!

I like all of these inks for different reasons.

De Atramentis Indigo Blue – a straight-forward blue that could be used in any setting

Diamine Eau de Nil – (does this mean River Water?) a bit of green, but not quite enough to call it turquoise

Private Reserve Ebony Blue – maybe my least favorite because it looks more like a green-black in my swabs. Have any of you tried writing with this one?

Noodler’s Ottman Azure – boom! Pure blue saturation with this one.

So, yeah, each of these are so different from the others and I like them all.  Which is your pick?

QUICK LOOK WEDNESDAY: You call that red?

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Time for another Quick Look Wednesday!

What do all of these inks have in common?  They are all samples from my bag of red inks.

Red?

 Private Reserve – Vampire Red
 Diamine – Maroon
 Pelikan Edelstein – Ruby
 Sailor Jentle – Grenade
So, yes, I sort my ink samples by color. I have so many that there has to be a system – I’ll take pictures and show you sometime soon. 
I first look at the name of the ink and sometimes it’s obvious where the ink belongs.  Delta Brown?  Not a big decision. Frankly, Pelikan Edelstein Ruby didn’t seem like a big decision either. Ruby – Red, right? Not so much. Yikes.
When the name doesn’t make it obvious, I open the sample, have a peek, and make a best guess. Sailor Jentle Grenade belongs with the purples. Oops.
I’m really liking Private Reserve Vampire Red. Perfect name for this color, yes? Can’t wait to write with it!
Maroon from Diamine is ok – nothing special to me. It’s one of those colors that isn’t really a color. Haha.
What do you think?  Do the names of inks get you all bothered, too? Ruby – ha!

INK REVIEW: Diamine Majestic Blue

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Diamine’s Majestic Blue is not a perfect ink.  If you’re looking for an ink that is fast-drying and water-resistant, you should move along because this is not the ink for you.

However.  If you’re looking for a blue ink with absolutely fabulous color and saturation – this may be the ink for you.  It is for me.

I love Majestic Blue.

The ink is rich with color. Not so bright that it cannot be used in an office environment. Not so dark that you question if the ink is blue or black. This is blue.

I actually wrote this review awhile back (using my old and kinda misleading form) and loved it so much that I ordered a full bottle. I’ve used it nearly every day since then and am still in love with it.

The fascinating thing to me about this ink is that sometimes, in the right light, at the right angle, there is a red sheen. I’ve not been able to photograph it, though.  But, man, it’s special – and it’s not an intrusive sheen like some of the other inks about there.  
This is my blue ink. I am also realizing that I’m a huge fan of Diamine inks.  It’s all about the color to me – I can be (at least somewhat) flexible on other issues, but not color. No way, Jose.
Oh oh oh..and look, I’m working on a much more casual format for testing inks.
Casual. That’s me. 
Well, sometimes.