Posts filed under Diamine

Diamine Inkvent Blue Edition Jack Frost Ink: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Christmas in July when it's 105 in Abilene, Texas?! Who would've thought? Diamine, that's who. Remember the Inkvent Calendar from December? I remember it well, because I did mini-reviews of all 25 inks over 25 days (see the final day's summary here). In my original review of Jack Frost, I lamented that the 7ml bottle wouldn't last long. But Santa Claus is good, even in July, because Diamine decided to make all 25 Inkvent inks available in 50ml bottles.

Diamine Inkvent Blue Edition Jack Frost Ink

And oh what a bottle it is--thick glass, a unique shape with four feet, and a shiny cap. I realize ink bottles are mostly utilitarian, but I absolutely love it when manufacturers put their inks in bottles that you can display like china.

Diamine Jack Frost is a deep, midnight blue with silver shimmer and magenta sheen. Like Jack, this ink is magical and evokes moody winter sunsets viewed through ice crystals on your window.

Diamine Inkvent Blue Edition Jack Frost Ink Swab

On Rhodia paper, the sheen doesn't show up like it does on the Col-o-dex card, but the shimmer stands out. This ink flows well and looks great in all nib sizes. But, broad or flex nibs show off the sheen and shimmer the best. The ink is not waterproof.

Jack Frost is gorgeous, with lots of turquoise amidst the deep blue as demonstrated in the chromatography.

Diamine Inkvent Jack Frost Chromatography

This ink is fantastic when used with a ruling nib. The sheen outlines every letter and pools beautifully. The shimmer skates along the surface.

I drew a mandala with Jack Frost using Bank Paper and a fine nib. Although I was careful to shake the pen, the nib was too fine to display the shimmer. A tiny bit of sheen comes through. I think the blue stands on its own, even when sheen and shimmer are minimal.

You can probably tell that I am entranced with Diamine Jack Frost. The combination of a stellar blue color with both sheen and shimmer makes it special.

You can purchase this or any other Diamine Inkvent color from Stilo & Stile, 11,00€ (approximately $12.73) for 50ml.

(The Pen Addict purchased this ink at full retail from Stilo & Stile.)

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Posted on July 24, 2020 by Susan Pigott and filed under Diamine, Ink Reviews.

Diamine Scribble Purple Ink: A Review

Diamine Scribble Purple ink is dark purple with lots of gold sheen. The shade is so dark, that it looks like black ink in finer nibs.

You can see the gorgeous gold sheen on the Col-o-ring Card, both in the swab and in the writing. The ink splats are entirely gold.

On Rhodia white paper, the gold sheen is almost non-existent except for a hint in the swab. Still, the white paper brings out the purple color quite well. The ink is wet and takes a good thirty seconds to dry (I would leave it longer just to be sure). It’s definitely not waterproof.

Chromatography reveals all the shades of this complex ink. There’s quite a bit of pink, some lavender, gold, and deep purple.

Of course giant lettering brings out the best in sheeny inks. I used my Handwritmic ruling pen on MD Cotton paper. The purple and gold colors stand out magnificently.

I’ve been using Diamine Scribble ink for over two months. It’s in my Lamy 2000 with a fine nib, and it writes beautifully, though it’s difficult to tell that the ink is purple (it looks black). I like its wetness and good lubrication. I’ve also inked my Leonardo Furore in Deep Purple (review here) with this ink. It is great for the luscious stub nib and the purple and gold sheen come through more evidently in the wider nib.

I thought Scribble Purple might be a good substitute for Lamy Dark Lilac (review here), but, in fact, Dark Lilac is a much lighter purple with gold sheen. I prefer Lamy Dark Lilac over Diamine Scribble Purple simply because, if an ink is purple, I want it to be obviously _purple_not so dark it looks black. But, of course, Dark Lilac was a limited edition, so if you’re looking for a purple ink with gold sheen, Scribble Purple is a good option.

You can get a 80ml bottle of Diamine Scribble Purple from Cult Pens for £5.90 (=$7.63 depending on conversion rate).

(Cult Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Susan Pigott and filed under Diamine, Ink Review.

Diamine Inkvent Calendar Day 25

Merry Christmas everyone!!! As usual, I spent Christmas Eve waking up every hour until the kids came in at 6:00 a.m. to open presents. Yes, they’re in college, but it’s tradition!

The ink for Christmas Day is called Happy Holidays. It’s a shimmer and sheen ink, and it comes in a 30ml bottle.

Happy Holidays is a blue/purple ink (primarily blue but with purple/magenta sheen), and I believe the shimmer is silver (in close up pictures it looks light blue).

I love, love, love blue inks, so I’m happy that the December 25th ink is blue. And it’s a pretty spectacular blue at that. The cobalt color shows up well in any size nib and that magenta sheen is fantastic. As always, if you want the shimmer to show up, it’s best to use wide nibs.

So, we’ve come to the end of the Diamine Inkvent Calendar. Now all twenty-five doors are open and all the inks are revealed.

I did an inventory of the twenty five inks in terms of color distribution. There were

Six blue inks: Blue Peppermint, Polar Glow, Jack Frost, Festive Cheer, Midnight Hour, and Happy Holidays
Five red inks: Candy Cane, Ho Ho Ho, Noel, Mulled Wine, and Poinsettia
Four brown inks: Triple Chocolaté, Nutcracker, Gingerbread, and Roasted Chestnut
Four green inks: Mistletoe, Elf, Season’s Greetings (teal), and Holly
Two purple inks: Winter Miracle and Purple Bow
One yellow/gold ink: Gold Star
One orange ink: The Embers
One grey/silver ink: Snow Storm
One grey/black ink: Winter Solstice

Of these, my favorites are: all the blue inks, Noel, Mistletoe, Winter Miracle, and Winter Solstice. What are your favorites? Let us know in the comments.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these posts. I tried to do more than just ink reviews. I incorporated some of my favorite Christmas memories--memories evoked by the various inks in the Inkvent Calendar. I’ve enjoyed opening each door with you for the past twenty-five days.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

(Cult Pens provided the Diamine Inkvent Calendar to Pen Addict free of charge for review purposes.)

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