Chesterfield Ink to Diamine Cross-Reference

[islandink]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but this is good info ... I was looking for this cross reference to round out my Diamine collection on the cheap. Since then they've added a few ... anyone willing to take a gander what they are?

 

Antique Copper : I'm pretty sure it's Ancient Copper

Antique Crimson : Red Dragon maybe?

Antique Oxford : OMG I want it. (but what is it?)

Antique Yankee : ?

The Chesterfield inks that start with "Antique" are in house mixes of Diamine inks so do not have a one-to-one match with any Diamine ink...so I was told

[radellaf]

I'm inclined to support the idea that Oxford is Majestic and definitely that Yankee is Midnight. I've wondered for a while if my "Majestic Blue" sample is mislabeled as Majestic isn't supposed to be blue-green. This photo shows the sample less green than it looks in reality, and I'm pretty sure real Majestic has absolutely no green-ness in it.

 

There are two chances for mis-labeling as I combined an 5/2011 ink drop sample with one bought 9/2011. The sample has never given me any sheen. A bit today, but it's much less than the Oxford. That could make sense if the sample is half Majestic and half something else. 2011 is very early in Goulet history.

 

 

Sheen:

 

Chesterfield and Diamine Comparison:

Edited January 27, 2016 by radellaf

[radellaf]

So, four new colors. Any idea what they might be?

 

[Helen350]

Getting ready to order both the Antique Raspberry & Orchid. Already have 12 different Chesterfield inks, however, have found myself partial to Antique Yankee, Antique Oxford & Cobalt/Zircon. Siam is also an interesting color, and often use it for journal entries. Currently have one of my pens inked with Chesterfield Emerald, which is a pretty green, not subdued. I am wondering what blending the Siam together with just a bit of Archival Black and/or Mahogany will give me. I don't normally tinker with inks, so this would be a true experiment for me. Any ideas? Things I should consider?

[mhguda]

Use small quantities. Go slow. Document what you do, what you think of it, and in what pen you put it. And be nice - if you find something noteworthy, share. This would mean the good and the bad! Some of your color preferences, BTW, echo mine: zircon, cobalt, antique yankee. I have yet to try, and have just ordered, a bottle of antique oxford. However neither the emerald nor the erinite panned out for me - I liked the digitized swabs but not the ink coming out of my pens. So those will be going into mixes...

[zwack]

Has anyone actually tried chromatography to actually com Pl are samples of Diamine to Chesterfield inks to see which (if any) they match?

 

If they are just relabelled then I would imagine that that would give us definitive answers.

[radellaf]

If we could get people who have possible pairs of chesterfield-diamine equivalents to do side-by side scans or photos that look like a plausible match then chromatography would be a good second test. If it's not a match (i.e., Ancient Copper and Antique Copper), no need. I think some of the info out there is from comparing swatches from different websites, so some on-paper testing is needed.

[oceanlover4evr]

I have some Chesterfield Antique inks that I'd be glad to send samples to anyone who might have the corresponding Diamine ones, just so that a side-by-side comparison can be made.

 

That being said, I know it's not a Diamine ink but Antique Orchid is very very close in color to R+K Scabiosa, or at least I can't seem to see a difference. I haven't tested properties yet, though.

[zwack]

The problem with comparing scans of swabs is that you are relying on things like the paper being similar, the devices having similar colour profiles, and so on. It can certainly give a rough guide but simple chromatography would give a much more accurate comparison.

 

I don't have any chesterfield/diamine pairs to compare at the moment unfortunately.

[majolo]

I compared C. Antique Jade to D. Graphite here, including paper towel chromatography. I think the two are pretty near interchangeable in writing but the paper towel suggested there's a significantly different component.

[radellaf]

Scans of swabs of unknown provenance is the worst, scans of swabs, smears, or writing of two or three you've done yourself under identical conditions, methods, and time, is pretty good. Not useful in an absolute sense, but good enough for a myth busters style: busted, plausible, (chromatography perhaps) confirmed.

 

I think a lot more people have Diamine out there than Chesterfield, so it might work to exchange samples both ways. Economically neutral for an even number-of-vials trade. A spreadsheet might be worth it if we have more than a half doz or so participants.

 

I have all the Antiques, which are NOT supposed to be matches. But, I'd test anyway. Yankee is a dead ringer for Midnight on my smears. I can do writing tests, but I'm more interested in "busted" or "plausible" before the extra work to get "confirmed". If xFP is right with their new no-exact-relabeled-equivalences-at-all statement, though, none of the chromatography will match. Which is OK for each ink, but would make the Chesterfields untrustworthy for Diamine-based mix recipes.

 

I was hoping Oxford would match Majestic, but nowhere close. So that's two pairs done. Done with the Antiques, though, which if we believe xFP, are unlikely to yield any more near-identical matches.

 

I have like half the Diamine colors, all the Antique, and the non-Antique: Night Sapphire, Rose, and Fire Opal.

I don't have the Diamine proposed matches of: blue-black, scarlet, or straight orange. I have vermillion and a couple other Diamine oranges.

 

I probably _do_ have possible Diamine close-matches for the other Antiques but not sure where to start (newest 6 are not on any list). Maybe this guy's survey, sorted by hue, is a start: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/250366-all-diamine-inks-compared/

 

So, for my own part, I'm missing 17 Chesterfields that I may have Diamines to test against. So, could trade my Diamine for other Chesterfields in some combination. And, I'd happily buy another 2-6 Chesterfields that interest me. If I had more money, I'd just buy the lot for, what, $68 for the 25mLs.

 

Anyone have a large collection of non-Antique Chesterfields? At least 10 here we need in the pool. Diamines should be easier to find people for.

 

---

 

So, to get started, we need:

 

1. a pulled-together list of proposed matches

 

2. who has both inks in the pairs to test, and is willing to test theirs, or already has.

 

Thats the easy start, with no mailing or buying required to get that far.

[radellaf]

Well no progress on a collective exchange, I've picked up a few colors on the reference and the Teal, Siam, and Fire Opal do seem like matches for Diamine Teal, Monaco Red, and Orange.

 

 

3100K halogen light Sony DSC-RX100

 

And here in bright sunlight

 

Edited April 29, 2016 by radellaf

[Helen350]

Well no progress on a collective exchange, I've picked up a few colors on the reference and the Teal, Siam, and Fire Opal do seem like matches for Diamine Teal, Monaco Red, and Orange.

 

DSC02161 compare.JPG

 

3100K halogen light Sony DSC-RX100

 

I am hoping Chesterfield will come up with an ink that compares to Diamine Syrah.

[radellaf]

Sure, though I'm pretty happy about their coming up with more exclusive colors. Both because I like new colors, and so that I don't buy duplicate inks.

 

I'm not sure about Teal being a dupe (Diamine might be more blue), and I just have 2mL samples of the Monaco and Orange. I'll probably get Prussian Blue and Saddle Brown from Diamine (to compare with Sodalite and Mahogany) when Oxford Blue and Classic Green come out.

 

I'll take their word there's _some_ difference, perhaps in behavior rather than color, but I'd still like more complete information. At least they do have better swatches for the Antique colors. They're great inks at a great price (especially the $5 50mL sales), but it's tough to get a feel for them with so little official info and very few FP community reviews. I hope they get more popular.

Edited April 28, 2016 by radellaf

[gamingoodz]

I love the chesterfield inks and the people that sell them have been really good to me. Maybe it is just the few colors I have but has anyone noticed that they seem like very thin inks? I know I seen a thread where someone posted that someone from xfountainpen said in a email or something that the inks were rebranded Diamine but who knows.

 

Even if they are not Diamine they are still a great value. They have some great colors, and although some might not like the bottles they come in I think the bottles are great. Are any of the Chesterfield colors very saturated? As I said the ones I have seem very thin, which is great for shading but I also like nice rich inks as well.

Edited April 29, 2016 by gamingoodz

[Helen350]

I have 18 Chesterfield colors in my ink collection. Love Chesterfield Inks, and they work well in all of my pens. Their customer service is really on point! Have all of the Antiques - and partial to Antique Oxford & Yankee, Antique Crimson, Antique Orchid, and love the new Antique Shamrock. I am not an ink expert, however, I do not find them watery. I use Rhodia and Black n' Red notebooks, and I have no bleedthrough or feathering. I use broad and 1.1 stubs, and get some shading with most of their inks. My computer camera is truly not the best, but these are just a couple of snaps of my color swatches that I keep of all my inks showing some of the Chesterfields I have:

Edited April 29, 2016 by Helen350

[radellaf]

The official word is: "Chesterfield inks are made by the same manufacturers as Diamine ink, there are not direct correlations between colors. You may find that some Chesterfield inks are very similar to some Diamine inks"

 

The Antique Oxford is by far the most saturated of the bunch (21 so far) I have, with a red sheen to boot. It may be chemically more saturated than the rest. Emerald and Rose are also saturated, in a colorimetric sense.

 

Unlike the majority of reviewers, I don't really notice a difference in ink viscosity between any of the 100+ inks I have, they all seem more or less like water, so they're all thin in that way. When I do reviews I have no idea what to write under "lubrication", as that seems to only indicate how wet the nib is.

 

Some cling to plastic more than others and some penetrate the paper faster, so surface tension has a wide range. The Chesterfields are all over in terms of cling. The mariner won't stick to the plastic so much that it's hard to see the color while tilting the bottle, whereas Night Sapphire clings forever. In general Diamine and Chesterfield both seem pretty good about not bleeding through thin paper.

 

FWIW, here's some writing on Rhodia scanned instead of photographed, to see how brown vs. purple the Raspberry is:

Edited April 29, 2016 by radellaf

[gamingoodz]

 

 

The official word is: "Chesterfield inks are made by the same manufacturers as Diamine ink, there are not direct correlations between colors. You may find that some Chesterfield inks are very similar to some Diamine inks"

 

 

I didn't realize that is was said they are from the same manufacturer but not the same "ink colors" that makes more sense then a direct rebrand. Thats the only reason what I originaly said popped into my head, I had heard they were supposed to be just straight rebranded Diamine and I was trying to come up with if that was the case why the colors are not 100% the same. So I was just misinformed which is my fault. I removed that part of my post I don't want to offend anyone or take the chance of accidently tarnishing any reputations since it could have been taken wrong.

 

The Antique Rasberry is one I really want to get, And the Siam and Mahogany also. Some people dislike the bottles that the ink comes in, I actually like the bottles. They are nice and simple and I know that they wont break in shipping. Soon as I get paid I need to buy some more of their inks, got a couple PR and noodlers inks on my list to buy also. PR inks in comparison to Chesterfield are much more saturated it seems.

Edited April 29, 2016 by gamingoodz

[radellaf]

I like the bottles, too, not sure what's not to like.

 

They don't look fancy on a shelf? Get some Iroshizuku and Edelstein for the shelf, and keep the Chesterfield in a drawer. Doubt I have any pens that wouldn't fit in the neck, but then I hardly ever put a nib directly into a bottle anyway.

 

They fit in with my cluttered decor just fine:

 

PR and Noodler's (standard line) are all probably more chemically saturated and I often dilute them with 20-50% water. Ink often dries out a bit in my pens and I don't need those going above bottled concentration. If Antique Raspberry gets a bit darker in the pen, fine with me. I've refilled things like Waterman blue that dried out halfway with more of the same ink to intentionally make it darker.

 

Antique Oxford may be just as saturated as some PR, and Diamine definitely has a few, like Sargasso Sea and Majestic Blue, that definitely don't need to be any more concentrated.

 

Just photographed the sheet in (7100K?) sunlight so here's what they look with that blue-er lighting:

Edited April 29, 2016 by radellaf

[hazel]

I decided to start matching the Chesterfield Inks to the Diamine Inks. I posted the results on this blog --> Thoughts with Ink.

I have gone through the reds, browns, purple, orange, black and greens. But, what's posted right now is the Reds and browns.

I can tell you with a certainty that Ancient Copper is not Antique Copper.

 

I'll be posting results this week and the next. My last set to do are the blues. I need to purchase them first.

Once I'm done, I'll create a new spreadsheet and post that to a shared drive for reference.

 

I hope this is a little bit helpful.