Diamine Sargasso Sea

[jandrese]

This is a mini review of Diamine Sargasso Sea.

 

Has there been another recent Diamine release with such a high level of expectation? Even Brian Goulet was excited in his preliminary video review showing all the new colors.

 

I was expecting a lot. But what was it that I was expecting? A vibrant blue that reminded me of the sea. A blue that popped off the page, dried fast, showed a little shading, and had a red sheen. A blue that didn't feather or bleed through. A sumptuous writing experience. A blue to beat all other blues. A Champion!

 

What did I get? See below.

 

 

 

So, I did not quite get what I expected. First, there was an oily slime on the ink surface noticeable as soon as I opened the bottle. OK, I thought, it does not mean anything. Then the swab....(see below). The swab looked awesome; bright, lovely, rich, shady, luscious, but only when wet. When the ink dried it was much flatter looking, almost boring. The same experience occurs when writing with an actual pen, not a Q-tip. Shading is minimal. Saturation is high. There is no feathering, but bleedthough can occur, especially on cheap copy paper. Like many inks it looks the best on Staples Bagasse, but it dries a tad slower on that paper than on HP Premium Choice Laser paper or cheap copy paper. Perhaps because it dries relatively fast I've experienced some hard starts, or poor ignition as it is known. You can see this in the incomplete "A" above although there were other spots that I covered up. The ink is not always waiting at the tip of the nib ready and willing to write a line. Depending on the paper, and the wetness of the line a red sheen can be seen. In his unboxing video Brian Goulet thought this ink and De Atramentis Indigo Blue would work out to be pretty similar. Not so. Indigo Blue has a different hue, and is less saturated. I like Indigo Blue better I think. Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue also has that special something that Sargasso Sea is missing.

 

Diamine has so many new inks lately I guess they all can't be winners. Bilberry is a more fun ink. Perhaps better writing qualities. It also really pops off the page. The name threw me off, but I like Bilberry a lot. I have others to try yet: Ochre, Wild Strawberries, Grape (this one is promising in my awesome green stub nibbed Conklin Crescent filler), etc. Sargasso Sea was supposed to be the clear winner, instead it is a failed top draft choice. Still a good ink, but not what I was hoping for.

 

Some comparisons, just some of the blue or near blues I have at work. Also a water test. Most did really well on this. One of the worst was Diamine Registrars Ink. Go figure. All the iron galls started out blue, trust me. Also, there will be some among you that wonder how close this is to Noodler's Baystate Blue. I have that vexing stuff here too, but I did not include it because so many folks can't or won't use it, including me.

 

 

And after holding the paper under a running faucet for about 5 minutes.

 

 

[DanielCoffey]

The comparison swabs are great and I expect your fingers were the same colour as mine after handling that sheet of wet paper!

 

One point - the Diamine Registrar's Ink... it is never meant to be a blue nor is it intended to stay one. Given a day or two it will turn to a mostly-black. The blue is only there for you to see what you have written while it is wet.

 

See how Sargasso performs for you on a broader wetter nib - my Broad Stub laid down a completely different line than my Medium - a richer blue. I also don't see any poor starting with this ink in my pens but then again I specifically asked John Sorowka to set my nibs for both wet flow and Diamine which he did - hence my long drying times and inability to raid the printer for paper.

 

EDIT : just seen you did use a Broad... sorry I missed that before. All I can say is that on good papers it will look better than, say, generic copy paper. A lot of the Diamines looked a bit flat on copy paper.

Edited June 12, 2012 by DanielCoffey

[vistafan]

I tried it in a fine, wet nib and it was blue and flat. I now have it in a Lamy Safari fitted with a medium nib and the colour is much more bright - it looks just slightly darker than your scan of PR Supershow Blue.

[The Good Captain]

Sorry but I agree with Daniel. This ink is superb and on my usual Clairefontaine or Rhodia it just sings. At the moment it's in a Sailor Sapporo with a B nib. I've got the Bilberry in an Onoto Magna but even with its unadjusted steel M nib, that ink sings even louder!

[Laura N]

Thanks for the review. I appreciate your honest impressions.

 

My compliments on your outstanding scans, too. Those colors look very accurate on my monitor.

[sadiemagic]

I really, really wanted to like this ink too. I was eagerly awaiting it...but am somewhat disappointed.

 

I got a sample from the Goulets. (Actually 2 samples, in case it sold out before I could order a whole bottle if I liked it.)

 

I like how it goes down while wet...but when it dries, it's a little boring, IMO. (No offense meant to people who like it, it just doesn't do it for me.) It reminds me a lot of DeAtramentis Sapphire -- both are nice dark blues that are inoffensive and appropriate for business settings, but nothing to make my heart sing.

 

I use good paper - Clairfontaine - so it's not because it's on inexpensive copy paper. I have it in a Bexley Corona in Summer Storm with a broad nib ground to a CI and tuned to be a wet writer.

 

Your choice of the word "flat" -- I think that's perfect. I'm bummed. I'd hoped it would be more than it is....

[bunnybaby]

:hmm1: Okay, this really makes me in such a huge dilemma. Now it's really a question of "to buy or not to buy, to buy or not to buy, to buy or not to buy ...

 

Jules

[dizzymizzy]

Also HUGELY disappointed with this ink.

[dizzymizzy]

Anyone want to trade a bottle?

[DanielCoffey]

For those of you finding the ink flat and disappointing, try it on some heavier writing paper with a hard surface.

 

On my off-white Piccolo 160gsm it exhibits shading and that strong metallic gleam which some of us have commented on.

[georges zaslavsky]

very good review thanks looks like almost close to mb royal blue

[Lin M]

jandreseThanks for the review - very informative and honest. I think I've been pysching myself into inevitable disappointment with this ink.

 

What I was looking for, no dreaming of was an ink the colour of lapis lazuli, or to use a pen-related reference point, close to the colour of my blue Safari.

 

My delivery arrived this afternoon from the Writing Desk. Now I've tried it, the colour is very close to what I longed for - but I was disappointed all the same. Then I realised my reference points are glossy and will catch the light -- and of course the ink isn't and doesn't.

 

Can't speak for anybody else but on balance I think that's the self-inflicted source of my dissatisfaction.

 

I think it'll pass as the colour itself is so good, unless the ink misbehaves in some way.

[milojinx]

2 years into the future, I put this ink into 4 different pens, Pelikan 800, Montblanc 146 and two Conway Stewarts after using it and refilling with it. When it came time to change inks... Holy Molly! that ink penetrates every part of the pen. Hard to clean out. I had to wash and take every part of all those pens apart to get rid of the stuff. it almost destroyed the 800 nib section because that one dried out and was worse than cleaning a 50 year old pen that was dried up. Was impressed with the color but not after the clean up. Two days of soaking the 800 nib and it still leaks the stuff in a heavy dark blue. That is changing the water every hour on the hour.

[The Good Captain]

It's a great ink and I can't understand any problems reported by those that let it dry out in a pen. Shouldn't do that with any ink, so don't blame Sargasso.

[milojinx]

It drys it is like glue for me. but you are right about that being true with all inks. I was amazed how it saturated the pen with the color. It reminded me of Bay State Blue. I got rid of the stuff.

[lapis]

Maybe a new charge?

[dneal]

Another vote for the "disappointed" group. I love the color. The performance... very paper picky and easy to smear (even when "dry"). The worst problem though is cleaning. It is almost impossible to get out of a pen, even if it's never dried up.

[checkrail]

Sargasso Sea is a lovely colour and has been working well for me this forenoon in a Lamy Al-Star in which I currently have a 1.5mm italic stub. I find both it and Majestic Blue pretty high maintenance, though the latter more so. The encrusted deposits at the top of the bottles when I open them show why.

Kindest regards

Timothy

[squishymochii]

I just purchased Sargasso Sea and inked it up in a Pilot Metropolitan. I love the color and the flow. Probably hands down the best blue ink I have tried so far. Now I'm torn based on the comparison If my next blue should be the Diamine Midnight. I wish the Diamine Midnight was a bit more vibrant.

[a_m]

After having used three Diamines - Sargasso Sea, Sapphire Blue and Presidential blue - i can say, i find the shade of sapphire blue the best. Though initially i was quite enthusiastic about the sargasso sea

 

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