Diamine: Midnight Or Majestic Blue And Why?

[sansenri]

forgive the slight OT about the stink...

I have also found that some Diamine inks stink.

In my experience limited to just a few bottles, however, it seems to be the plastic 30 ml bottles that stink, not the glass ones.

I had a 30 ml of Sargasso sea that smelled so badly I could smell the stink even when writing from the pen...

but I liked the colour so much (and the sheen) that I bought a 80 ml glass bottle. No stink.

The same happend with a plastic bottle of Syrah.

After quite some time the stink in both plastic 30 ml bottles gradually faded.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

 

In my experience limited to just a few bottles, however, it seems to be the plastic 30 ml bottles that stink, not the glass ones.

I had a 30 ml of Sargasso sea that smelled so badly I could smell the stink even when writing from the pen...

After quite some time the stink in both plastic 30 ml bottles gradually faded.

I also smell it from the pen. I hope it goes away soon then.

[minddance]

Speaking of smell, Sailor inks stink of Phenol. Or call it aromatherapy if you please If you don't smell it while writing, then it is not writing wet enough.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

Speaking of smell, Sailor inks stink of Phenol. Or call it aromatherapy if you please If you don't smell it while writing, then it is not writing wet enough.

I have read in several threads that Sailor inks have a strong smell. Are they like Kiwa-Guro? I've wrote with Kiwa-Guro cartridges and it smelled strongly of paint, and it didn't bother me.

Midnight though smells of bleach, or a mixture of detergents that have fermented and gone bad. It bothers me.

[richila]

Midnight, it is the perfect blue and the only blue that I use.

[The Real Yossarian]

Speaking of smell, Sailor inks stink of Phenol. Or call it aromatherapy if you please If you don't smell it while writing, then it is not writing wet enough.

 

KWZ Inks have their sweet smell, almost like a honey or a simple syrup.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

Midnight, it is the perfect blue and the only blue that I use.

It's a lovely blue, not navy like Diamine Blue-Black. On good paper it shades from royal blue to blue-black and its sheen is lilac.

[minddance]

I have read in several threads that Sailor inks have a strong smell. Are they like Kiwa-Guro? I've wrote with Kiwa-Guro cartridges and it smelled strongly of paint, and it didn't bother me.

Midnight though smells of bleach, or a mixture of detergents that have fermented and gone bad. It bothers me.

Wow, and they say ink is mostly water and some dyes and 'some others' in very small percentage.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

Wow, and they say ink is mostly water and some dyes and 'some others' in very small percentage.

When I was a child I thought that all inks were like the Pelikan 4001 inks, simple, unassuming colors. Then I discovered lubricated inks, nano-pigmented and iron gall inks, scented inks, sheen buffs and even shimmering concoctions, and now I say "the ingredients of fountain pen inks are water and dye and the rest is anybody's guess."

Edited February 19, 2018 by RoyalBlueNotebooks

[EBGBs]

For what it's worth, many years after the question was asked; I have both of them, and I like them both. Picking one over the other would probably be more a matter of mood of the day than an absolute preference for me.

 

Here are both; same (dipped) pen on the same paper. Note: this paper is not one that reveals sheen

 

 

I had no problem with smell with any of them and haven't noticed much smell from any of my Diamine inks. I have them in glass bottles if it does change anything.

My most smelly ink is Sailor Yama Dori - which doesn't stop it from being one of my all time faves (I actually love that smell and wish more inks had it ! )

[sansenri]

thank you for the picture EBGBs

it's one of the best representations I have seen so far of Majestic blue. Most of the time on the PC screen Majestic looks "true blue" while it's not.

I tend to place Majestic in the category of "sea blue" because it has a slight tendency to green, which is rarely detected in scans and images of which I have seen so many, and almost none reflects the real colour.

To my dislike Majestic, while it's quite nice when you write with it and just closely afterwards, with time increases the green shade as it dries.

 

About KWZ's smell, very true, sweet but also medicine like - yes, syrup - I am convinced it's the preservative used, it does not bother me nonentheless (the Diamine stink when present is more disturbing). In terms of quantity of substance vs smell I would not be too concerned, the proportion is surpricingly small, i.e. very tiny amounts of substances with distictive odor can be detected, our sense of smell is so acute it can pick up even few molecules in the air.

[minddance]

Beautiful! Diamine makes pretty good inks but require a super wet pen and/or Kodak Photoflo for my tastes. Dip pens certainly are of the correct wetness for these inks.

Edited February 20, 2018 by minddance

[Chrissy]

Beautiful! Diamine makes pretty good inks but require a super wet pen and/or Kodak Photoflo for my tastes. Dip pens certainly are of the correct wetness for these inks.

 

Not in my experience but maybe in yours

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

Beautiful! Diamine makes pretty good inks but require a super wet pen and/or Kodak Photoflo for my tastes. Dip pens certainly are of the correct wetness for these inks.

"Requires a super wet pen" as in, they're dry? This doesn't coincide with my experience at all. All Diamine inks I've tried are wet and lubricating so they go in dry pens.

[minddance]

"Requires a super wet pen" as in, they're dry? This doesn't coincide with my experience at all. All Diamine inks I've tried are wet and lubricating so they go in dry pens.

"Requires a super wet pen for my tastes" dear, please extend your quotation marks all the way to the end of my sentence

 

Any ink can be presented wet or dry or super wet. I happen to enjoy very much the wet versions