This is one of the new Diamine inks, recently announced. It's a fairly neutral, darkish green, more on the cool side of the spectrum. Like many Diamine inks, it has a vintage quality and I would see it almost as a green equivalent of Diamine's Prussian Blue, a favourite of mine.

It flows extremely well, and with any nib grade thicker than Fine, it will shade very nicely. This will come as no surprise to users of Diamine inks, all of which seem to share these qualities. The character is quite different from super-saturated inks like PR or Noodler's.

I chose it because I'm looking for a green that could be used in some business situations. I quite like Noodler's Sequoia, but it can be a little temperamental in some of my pens. Diamine Umber, though lighter, comes fairly close to what I'm looking for.

Plus it looks so nice coming out of your green Pelikan.....
Thanks for the review.

yeah baby yeah...

that looks like a color I'd love. REminiscent of Squeteague but not as dark. hmmmmmmmmmmm

Richard, what is that nib ground to?

Chupie, the nib shown on the Pel in the picture is an 18kt Fine, as used on all the Pelkan City pens. (I think standard M600s have a 14kt nib?) It's strange but the tip looks broader in the close-up picture, though I promise you it isn't!

I used a gold-plated M200 OBB nib to write the first part of the text. This is a lovely, inexpensive nib and the biggest bargain in Pendom I think. I then swapped it out for the 18kt F which you see.

The pen matched the ink! Wow!

Beautiful pen and ink.

I like the look of that colour. Any chance of a full image of the bottle so we get to see all of the new style cap?

Strange, that everybody says 'Umber' is new. I've seen it on their site since I disovered thewritingdesk in 2004

Even the strokes look broader, more like an italic or stub. Huh!

I bought a bottle of Umber from The Writing Desk just before the new colours were introduced (I suspect it come to them in the same shipment, but it was sampled on their comparison pages before then). I would hazard that it is not one of the new colours.

I've been quite happy with the result it gives using a rotring 600 fine nib; there is some shading (but I'm wary of posting a picture as my writing is awful). The pictures that RichardS has posted appear pretty close to the colour I'm getting as well. (And I have the same style cap as the one in his picture.)

--joey

Saintsimon, Joey, you may well be right. I had never seen this ink before, so assumed that it was part of Diamine's new range. When it arrived with its snazzy new cap, that clinched the assumption. Now I look at the WritingDesk site, it isn't listed as new. Still, it was new to me - and seems to be to most of the folks on here!

Carrie, I'll try and take a snap of the whole bottle tomorrow (Saturday).


Edit: small pic removed; larger below

Thanks for the great review - pics of your Pel and that ink are very nice! Enjoy them together - looks like a great match.

Full pic of new style Diamine bottle cap with older at back, and some of those cute Visconti cartridge containers that may just have provided some of the inspiration

Excellent, Richard! Thanks for the review.

I was definitely going to try this ink next (I've decided to scrap Conway Stewart's Green from my list, as I think it will be lighter than a Sequoia), and you've just made me even more convinced. Like KCat observed, I think it looks like a Squeateague (even though I've not personally tried one yet, just seen pics of it online).

G.

Thanks for the picture of the new cap, especially alongside the cartridge containers.

Just curious: Does anyone know why Diamine named a green ink with a brown name? (I looked up 'umber' in the online dictionary just to be sure.)

don't know Tricia - i had the same question. who has the inside track at Diamine?

Hi Richard,

Thank you for a very nice review with writing samples and pics!

This is a green that I think could well find its way towards my ink drawers over here .

Warm regards, Wim

I agree. Any Umber I've used in art has always been a Brown

The color looks very nice though. But I think anything would look good coming out of that pen!

All the best,

This is a colour I have been searching for for a long time - a sort of antique blue-green. It somehow appealed to my imagination. It is what I thought PR Blue Suede would have been, but wasn't. I must get a bottle sometime soon.

Yeah, me too, I really thought I had lipped my flid.....

-Bruce

Richard, I like the photo. I'd be interested in how you took it. Did you use an external flash?

I've been having limited success with my internal flash.

Stephen

Hi Stephen, the picture was taken with natural diffused light, no flash at all.

I find that direct flash (as fitted on the camera itself) leads to an over-contrasty and "glare-y" result. You can of course use flash, but it really needs to be off-camera, and usually have at least a second slave unit to balance out the strong shadows. I have some of this kit, but prefer using diffused daylight. You can achieve this by using a light tent (see Ebay or the Green Board - Zoss has a new consignment) and shooting by a window or in the garden. You can also use flash or photoflood bulbs with this system, but again, off-camera obviously.

Whatever you use, remember to have some reflectors handy - white or silver card, to bounce light and shade back into the pen. This makes a big difference with nib detail and things like the highlight running along the pen barrel.

Hope this helps
Richard

The new cap is interesting. I'd get that color if I didn't use a lot of greens already, but who knows?


I thought umber was brown. The umber color pencil Dillo has is brown.

Umber sure is brown! I join the rest here who are puzzled over that choice of name.

I found Diamine Inks Ltd.'s street address. I'm airmailing a paper letter to them today, asking in a friendly and polite way for an explanation, to be posted on this website and topic thread, about the "Umber" ink name.

Now that's how to get to the bottom of this!

Good going, Steve. Hope they respond.

One other possible choice could be http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/

They are an ink vendor in the U.K. and may have a pretty close tie with Diamine.

I'll let you know tomorrow .

Martin

OK folks, here's the run-down:

Diamine Umber is made of a mixture of green and brown. However, as we have all seen, the green is dominant. According to Diamine, the origin of this blend is most likely to be a customer request as it isn't on their regular "shade card".

Diamine's recipes are really quite old so this particular customer request could have been made 100-years ago. Unfortunately, no records exist to give any further background as to its origin or naming.

Hope this helps.

Martin

Thanks Martin.

Interesting, but I still wish they'd rename it.

Ok! That makes sense. A little history on ink. Very good.

Thanks,

Thanks, Martin!

Here is what sounds plausible to me, although I'm just making it up: A customer in the 1890's wanted a brownish-green color . This customer discussed and perhaps argued with the person in charge of the colors (I don't know that person's real title, so I'll say, "color master") . The color master followed the customer's instructions exactly <_< , knowing the customer wouldn't like the result. The customer didn't in fact like the result after all, sheepishly agreeing to put less brown in the mix and producing a "compromise," very green, product. Other customers liked this new "compromise" color, so the color master put it into regular production and gave it a name that carries an inside joke . Like I said, I just made this up. I would expect the truth to be more interesting.

Oh, now I wonder if the real story behind Diamine Umber, whatever that story is, is related to the story behind the association some British people still draw between green ink and craziness?

In the digital scans, including the photo in the review at the top of this thread, I can't notice any brown or red tones in Umber, but it looks darker and denser than all the greens except Dark Green.

I'm curious now, I want to know how much of Diamine's archive still survives. Presumably still held by the company rather than in a Record Office. Next question, whereabouts in Liverpool are they? I've never been able to find an address.

They are now located here. Prior to Diamine's recent resurrection as a maker of writing ink the brand was owned by Dormy, a stamp pad manufacturer based in Stockport.

A quote from our website:
"Now located in Liverpool, the history of Diamine dates back to 1864 when the company was founded by T Webster and Co. in London. The business moved to Liverpool in 1925 and T Webster and Co. changed its name to Diamine in 1964. However, changes of company ownership had all but killed the brand until its recent resurrection."

We have an old Diamine ink bottle at home (we even used it until it ran out a few years ago) and the label states "Diamine Ltd, Liverpool 5".

Martin

I've worked in the graphics industry in a position where I formulated and named the colors we used. I could see that happening!

Thanks, Martin. It makes sense now, but still doesn't make sense as a name since few folks will be lucky enough to have read your post!

Maybe "Umber-Green" or "Green-Umber"?

Still, on my monitor it has a blue cast to it. Does it in real life? If it does indeed look like it does on my monitor, it really is a pretty color! (And would be put on my list. Like I need more ink...)

Carrie, the address I found in a business guide after several tries in Google was

Edit: Feb. 19, 2996: I finally found Diamine's website! The following address is NOT the snail mail address given on Diamine's website!

DIAMINE INKS LTD
38 - 46 BRASENOSE RD
LIVERPOOL MERSEYSIDE
L20 8HG
GREAT BRITAIN

That's how I addressed my envelope to them. If the format isn't standard, I hope the Royal Mail can decipher it easily enough to get it there soon enough. Did I use the correct format?

Edit: Feb. 19, 2996: Please see my new message today for the address from Diamine's website.

The US Postal Service's "Automated Postal Center" machine (see the thread I'm going to post about it in "Chatter") refers to your country as "GREAT BRITAIN" rather than as the "UNITED KINGDOM." I had written the former on the envelope before arriving at the post office, so I added the latter as another line before putting the stamps on and dropping the envelope into the slot.

Here's a theory on the name vs. the actual color...

Maybe the color name refers to something that is originally brownish/umber, but then develops a greenish patina over time, like copper...

Plausible?

Petra

Here is Diamine Inks' website.

Here is the current snail-mail address for Diamine Inks, from the Diamine website, today:

28 FARRIERS WAY INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
OFF BRIDLE ROAD
LIVERPOOL
L30 4LX
GREAT BRITAIN

Sorry about the previous, out-of-date information! I wonder if the letter I sent them will be returned to me, forwarded or lost. Oh well.

Great job, Steve. I've never found anything by them when searching.

Ah, and now this is confirmed:

"... Monaco Red which was specially formulated for His Serene highness Prince Rainer III of Monaco and the Grimaldi family in conjuction with a presentation of a limited edition fountain pen. Good enough for royalty, good enough for you!"
http://www.diamineinks.co.uk/aboutus.aspx

And now, for an up-to-date photo of Diamine's front door by Guy the Excellent, and related thoughts, click here!