Diamine WES Imperial Blue

[dandelion]

I fell in love with this ink instantly. It has a vibrant, deep violet blue colour which is a pleasure to look at when writing. I've become a great fan of Diamine inks: No flow problems, broad colour range, affordable, reliable etc etc, and this is no exception from that. This has already become one of my daily regulars.

Edited May 25, 2009 by dandelion

[I am not a number]

Very nice review, just ordered some!

[Titivillus]

I in love with this ink instantly. It has a vibrant, deep violet blue colour which is a pleasure to look at when writing. I've become a great fan of Diamine inks: No flow problems, broad colour range, affordable, reliable etc etc, and this is no exception from that. This has already become one of my daily regulars.

 

I always like to see inks reviewed and find that the 'flaw' I saw was the benefit for another!

 

I stayed with Majestic blue because of the violet I will whole heartedly agree tha Diamine is an incredible ink that is starting to gain on some of the other breath of portfolios that certain other ink companies have. To see the number of different blues for a start keeps me hoping that the green line will soon be expanded to have a dark more earthen green.

 

And I should add nice handwriting as well! Oh that my scratches could conform better

 

K

 

[greencobra]

I like this ink and have been using it on a regular basis for a couple of years. Maybe it's my monitor but I don't get the heavy violet shade but I do get a ton of shading from a fairly wet pen. Thanks for the review.

[dandelion]

Thanks for positive response on my review!

 

Kurt, I agree that as a pure blue (which I should have added in the review) it is a failure, but the violet shade in it really got to me. I'm very eager to try the majestic, but I try to get a grip of myself - if I get too much inks (and pens) I feel like I don't have the time to fully enjoy and appreciate them.

If you haven't tried the Royal Blue, which is blue as the sky in a summer morning, I recommend it very much. I thought it would be to pale for my taste, but it is a piece of summer - perfect for writing letters during this season. If Diamine hadn't been so generous with adding freebies I would never have tried it.

 

Greencobra, I do think this is a chameleon ink. It is a heavy violet blue in my review. In some pens or on some papers it is more blueish/violet than others. I don't know why. In my broader (but not very wet) nibs and on some papers, it gets a very heavy lean to violet, but on some papers/with other nibs it is more of a classical blue.

 

 

 

I in love with this ink instantly. It has a vibrant, deep violet blue colour which is a pleasure to look at when writing. I've become a great fan of Diamine inks: No flow problems, broad colour range, affordable, reliable etc etc, and this is no exception from that. This has already become one of my daily regulars.

 

I always like to see inks reviewed and find that the 'flaw' I saw was the benefit for another!

 

I stayed with Majestic blue because of the violet I will whole heartedly agree tha Diamine is an incredible ink that is starting to gain on some of the other breath of portfolios that certain other ink companies have. To see the number of different blues for a start keeps me hoping that the green line will soon be expanded to have a dark more earthen green.

 

And I should add nice handwriting as well! Oh that my scratches could conform better

 

K

 

 

 

I like this ink and have been using it on a regular basis for a couple of years. Maybe it's my monitor but I don't get the heavy violet shade but I do get a ton of shading from a fairly wet pen. Thanks for the review.

[mucephei]

Thanks for the review. I found Imperial Blue to be a bit wishy-washy in my Capless, and I use Sapphire Blue instead. Perhaps it will work better in one of my Tombows?

 

I agree about Royal Blue though: a lovely, light true blue.

 

I've not tried Majestic Blue though it's been getting rave reviews here, so I suppose I'll have to try it soon.

[PAKMAN]

I was surprised by the purpleness of this ink. I ended up selling mine and went with Presidential Blue.

[MiniMaupassant]

I love 'blurples'.

How does it compare to Diamine Sapphire Blue?

[youstruckgold]

I love 'blurples'.

How does it compare to Diamine Sapphire Blue?

 

I'm a blurpleaholic too. How does it compare to the Sapphire?

[Lloyd]

I had a horrible time cleaning Diamine Sapphire out of my pens; far worse than my other inks (Pilot, Noodlers, PR, MB, Levenger, Waterman). How hard are Majestic Blue and Imperial Blue to flush?

[Idiopathos]

I fell in love with this ink instantly. It has a vibrant, deep violet blue colour which is a pleasure to look at when writing. I've become a great fan of Diamine inks: No flow problems, broad colour range, affordable, reliable etc etc, and this is no exception from that. This has already become one of my daily regulars.

 

Yep. It is my daily blue. An absolutely excellent ink.

[tonysameh]

I love 'blurples'.

How does it compare to Diamine Sapphire Blue?

 

I HATE blurples.

I can write with a true violet. But buying a (blue) ink to find it purple, makes me sick.

It is an ugly color for me.

 

a victim of ordering two blurples on shot: Imperial and Sapphire. I was lucky that I ordered Flordia Blue with them. My loss is 66%

[DerMann]

Unfortunately I'm not too fond of this ink either.

 

I expected something along the lines of a Royal Blue, a blue with a hint of purple - not purple with a hint of blue.

 

Still, the ink itself, apart from the colour, is next to flawless. Perfectly behaved. Flows just right, dries quickly enough, and doesn't feather.

 

I think Presidential or Prussian blue is something that would be worth trying (for me).

 

My bottle was accidentally discarded, not quite sure if I'll miss it.

 

EDIT

 

Also, I'd like to say that the scan looks quite accurate on my monitor.

Edited June 12, 2009 by DerMann

[RickM]

I'll add my voice to those who like this ink. I will admit that I was a bit surprised by the purplish hue, but as I continued to write with it over a week, it grew on me to the point that I'm sure it'll be a regular in my rotation. I currently have it in a Pel M400 EF and it is very well behaved. No issues at all.

 

Rick

[Will]

I bought this over a year ago and I found that it wasn't quite what I was after - I didn't really want the purple undertones. The funny thing is that this is my 10 year old daughter's favourite ink. I keep having to fill her school pen with it. One person's loss is another person's gain.

[nickyd]

I give up.--What does W.E.S. stand for?

N.

[Liverpool 1]

I give up.--What does W.E.S. stand for?

N.

 

WES Imperial Blue was originally made as a special edition colour for the Writing Equipment Society however it proved so popular it was incorporated into the New Century range a few years back.

 

 

[PaulT00]

I had a horrible time cleaning Diamine Sapphire out of my pens; far worse than my other inks (Pilot, Noodlers, PR, MB, Levenger, Waterman). How hard are Majestic Blue and Imperial Blue to flush?

 

Haven't tried Majestic yet, but I've found that WES Imperial Blue can be difficult to clean out completely. There is a very strong pink dye (magenta) in the formulation which I found quite tenacious - I had it in a Waterman 52 1/2V for a while and ended up having to fill it with water and leave to sit overnight for several days to soak the stuff out. At the end the water was still coming out with a pink tinge... but as that pen is now loaded with Diamine Orange it's less of an issue than it might have been.

 

So... nice ink, nice colour, pain to flush.

 

 

[dandelion]

Interesting to see that the opinions on this ink seem to be very pro or con. I haven't tried the Sapphire, so I can't compare it, but I have experienced the same difficulties with cleaning this ink out. As I like it a lot it is just a minor drawback.

[nickyd]

I give up.--What does W.E.S. stand for?

N.

 

WES Imperial Blue was originally made as a special edition colour for the Writing Equipment Society however it proved so popular it was incorporated into the New Century range a few years back.

 

Thanks for that!

N.