Diamine Macassar

[DanielCoffey]

INK : DIAMINE MACASSAR

 

PAPER : RHODIA #16 A5 white lined

 

PEN : Onoto Magna 261 Medium nib tweaked for wet flow by John Sorowka (Oxonian).

 

Scanner : IT8-calibrated Epson V600 flatbed

Colour Space : Adobe RGB

Matte : 50% grey and 100% white

Post-process : Unsharp Mask

 

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewMacassar.jpg

 

 

Here is a close-up of the swab. There was a slight metallic green sheen to this ink when laid down exceptionally wet but I was unable to reliably capture it on camera...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewMacassarSwab.jpg

 

 

And a close-up of the shading. This ink would be a fair candidate for shading and might look good from a flex nib if someone could oblige...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewMacassarShade.jpg

 

 

Now, Diamine never says any of its regular inks are water resistant but there was something in this one that stayed on the paper. I saw a faint grey grid remaining in the soapy soak. If you dropped a page of Macassar in the sink, while 90% of the ink would wash away, there would be enough behind to salvage what you had written...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewMacassarWater.jpg

 

 

I wanted to see what was in this ink so I dabbed the swab q-tip onto kitchen paper and let it dry. A few drips of cold water caused almost everything to rush for the edges but there was a grey circle in the middle where the q-tip had rested. There is definitely something water resistant in this ink...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewMacassarChroma.jpg

 

 

DRYING TIMES : The writing tests above were done in a very wet medium nib that had just been cleaned. Drying times were longer than expected... Xerox 90gsm was around 15s. Rhodia, G Lalo Vergé and Clairefontaine Triomphe took a good 45s to dry.

 

SMEARING : None on any paper. This ink bonds nicely with the paper and noes not sit on top, even on Clairefontaine Triomphe. A careless wipe with a damp finger, however, will result in the colour moving.

 

BLEEDTHROUGH : This ink showed less tendency to bleed through on copy paper than the other Diamines that I have reviewed recently. In fact I would say this ink is fairly tolerant to copy paper. Given the wet nib I used above, I recorded the following... Xerox 90gsm had slight bleedthrough and low feathering. Rhodia had no bleed through and no feathering. Clairefontaine Triomphe had no bleed through or feathering. G Lalo Vergé had no bleed through or feathering.

 

FLOW AND LUBRICATION : Flow for this ink seems to be medium. I suspect a dry fine nib might have issues but would we well worth trying. Lubrication was excellent in the pen tested (my medium above). The writing experience was very enjoyable.

 

CLEANING : There were no colour residues left on the converter and this ink washed out fairly nicely. It did not cling to the pen insides but a more thorough wash was needed to get the pen clean. Dark dye and saturated ink means a little more work needed to clean.

[alexander_k]

Many thanks for the review. It seems an interesting colour. I was about to include Chocolate Brown in my next order from Diamine (I've already had a 30 ml bottle and I liked the colour) but Macassar seems an good alternative. The only thing is Tawanda wasn't impressed by it (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/205115-three-new-diamine-colours/). She didn't find it deep enough.

[DanielCoffey]

I think you might enjoy it... I would recommend a 30ml to see. You can always go back to Chocolate Brown in the next order.

[watch_art]

Wow that's pretty!

[DanielCoffey]

I can just see Devil Worms drawn in this!

[dannyboy]

Well, here's another brown I'll have to add to my stock. Thanks for the good review of what appears to be another winner for Diamine.

[DanielCoffey]

Thanks, Danny - glad the Macassar hits the spot.

 

Now you have to ask yourself... do you order now or wait till after June 1st to get the other new colours?

[P.A.R.]

Anyone have Noodler's Walnut to compare to this? It looks a bit like dark chocolate.

[alexander_k]

I think you might enjoy it... I would recommend a 30ml to see. You can always go back to Chocolate Brown in the next order.

 

That's my current plan. Macassar seems even more brown than Chocolate. I'm eagerly waiting for June 1 so that I can order the new batch of inks (unfortunately there's no indication of a pre-order posibility on the Diamine site). It gives me time to select the pens for the new inks. In any case, the MB 149 has been flushed and is now ready to receive Sargasso.

[esterbex]

I think you might enjoy it... I would recommend a 30ml to see. You can always go back to Chocolate Brown in the next order.

 

That's my current plan. Macassar seems even more brown than Chocolate. I'm eagerly waiting for June 1 so that I can order the new batch of inks (unfortunately there's no indication of a pre-order posibility on the Diamine site). It gives me time to select the pens for the new inks. In any case, the MB 149 has been flushed and is now ready to receive Sargasso.

 

+1 !!!

Good review.

(Noodler's Walnut seems very close to this Macassar....also Iroshizuku's yama-guri)

[watch_art]

I really like Noodler's #41 mixed 50/50 with water. It shades nicely and is still wet and lubricating.

 

Still, it's going to be hard not to pick a bottle of this up.

 

[georges zaslavsky]

very nice color thanks for the review

[Charles Skinner]

Would you say that it is a "dry ink," and that accounts for little or no show through?

 

C. S.

[Ambrose Bierce]

I definitely have a soft spot for a warm brown, and this one definitely hit it

[bone215]

this is a great ink to work with, no fuss no muss.

[Armand.D]

This looks just great to me