(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
I may have twisted the Bossman’s arm when I said we HAD to get these Diamine exclusive inks from Tom Forsythe of Sugar Turtle Studio. These inks came out in two releases in 2023 and 2024 - the first two inks were Turtle Belly and Wet Turtle and the second two were Cold Blooded and Warm Heart. Given that Tom just released a new set of inks, I knew I had to swatch and review the first four before I could even think about getting the new ones!
The first four bottles of Diamine x Sugar Turtle Studio inks - Turtle Belly, Wet Turtle, Cold Blooded and Warm Heart. They are currently only available in 30 ml bottles.
As in the past, all swatches were done on Col-O-Ring cards using a Kakimori steel dip nib, while writing samples were done with a TWSBI Go with a Medium nib and a Lamy Vista with a steel Medium nib. The TWSBI Go is a wetter writer and the Lamy is a drier writer, so these two give me a good idea of how an ink will look from different pens. The notebook used for writing samples is from Endless Recorder with 68 gsm Tomoe River paper. Dry times for the Vista is shown with “(V)” and the Go will be below that and might also be shown with “(T)”. Dry times may be a bit slower on 52gsm TR or faster on paper like Cosmo Air Light, Rhodia, copy paper, or with drier or finer nibs, etc.
Tom’s Etsy page for Turtle Belly describes it as a deep orange with a hint of red, and depending the on the wetness of your pen/nib, it might appear more orange or darker red. It is a fairly quick drying ink, especially in the Vista.
Writing sample of Turtle Belly on 68 gsm Tomoe River Endless Notebook. You get more shading from the Vista compared to the Go, which leaves a more saturated line.
Chromatography of Turtle Belly shows the dominantly reddish orange tones separating at the end to yellow and brown at the edges.
Inks similar to Diamine Turtle Belly: Not really a surprise that Diamine 150th Blood Orange and Cult Pens Deep Dark Orange (also made by Diamine) would be similar. Monteverde’s Jungle Giraffe is a touch darker, KWZ Flame Red is a touch lighter and Diamine Ancient Copper has a bit more brown.
Swatches of Diamine Wet Turtle.
Diamine Wet Turtle is a green-leaning darker teal and is the only one of the four that is sold out.
Writing sample of Wet Turtle on 68 gsm Tomoe River Endless Notebook. As expected with the drier Vista, the ink is almost a medium-light mint green, while the Go’s wet nib and feed makes it a nice green teal.
Chromatography of Wet Turtle shows some yellow followed by a turquoise blue. It’s always fascinating to see the different colors which are often not obvious in the final product.
Inks similar to Diamine Wet Turtle: Hard to tell from the photo, but Montegrappa Green is pretty close in color. Diamine Holly from the 2019 Inkvent is just a touch darker, while Pelikan 4001 Dunkelgrun (or Dark Green) is a bit lighter in swatches and despite the name, a touch bluer. Robert Oster Peppermint was a bit darker and greener too.
Swatches of Diamine Cold Blooded.
Diamine Cold Blooded is a bright blue with a hint of purple and some red sheen on wetter swatches/writing samples. This ink is almost an ultramarine or blurple in color.
Writing sample of Wet Turtle on 68 gsm Tomoe River Endless Notebook. The ink is almost “school blue” with moderate shading in the Vista but a much darker, more saturated line from the Go.
Zooming in on the writing sample, you can see the light red, almost copper sheen on the edges of the letters.
Chromatography of Cold Blooded is predominantly blue but you can see hints of purple in the mix.
Inks similar to Diamine Cold Blooded: Not a big surprise that two of the similar inks are also made by Diamine - Thunderbolt from Inkvent 2021 and Festive Cheer from Inkvent 2019. Taccia Ao Blue is also very similar. These inks all have a hint of red sheen, but it’s the bit of purple to them that distinguishes them from many of the other blue-with-red-sheen inks.
Diamine Warm Heart is a light, slightly dusty pink in drier pens and a darker vibrant pink that’s almost fuchsia, but not quite.
Writing sample of Wet Turtle on 68 gsm Tomoe River Endless Notebook. It is surprising how different the ink is in a dry vs wet writer! Bright cotton candy pink in a dry pen and darker hot pink in a wetter one.
Zooming in on the writing sample, you can see the pretty dramatic difference between the two writers. I didn’t see any sheen despite the description on the Etsy page.
Chromatography of Warm Heart starts out with bright pink and faint yellow before separating into purple/magenta.
Inks similar to Diamine Warm Heart: Pelikan Edelstein 2019 Ink of the Year, Star Ruby aws the closest match. It is not quite as electric as GvFC’s Electric Pink or Kyo-no-oto’s Imayou-iro. Iroshizuku’s Tsutsuji is also similar and has more sheen. Akkerman’s #20 Pulchri Pink is a touch too red.
Diamine x Sugar Turtle Studio inks can be found on Tom’s Etsy shop for $8 for a 30 ml bottle and Wet Turtle the only one that isn’t available any longer. The upcoming Slowpoke series will be making their way to his Etsy shop as well.
(Disclaimer: All 4 bottles of ink were purchased at last year’s DC and this year’s Baltimore pen shows.)
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