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Love/hate Diamine Eclipse, What's A Good Replacement?


terminal

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When I tried Diamine Eclipse the first time, I just loved the color. It was such a unique blackish purple. And it seemed to work pretty well in my pens. So I started using it in one of my daily carries.

 

Well, I've been using it for about six months now, and, while it certainly isn't the type of ink that would ruin a pen or anything like that, I just have gotten so I don't love the way it flows. In comparison to waterman or iroshizuku, it seems relatively 'dry' to me.

 

And, well, I'm tired of it. But I still love the color. Has anyone come across another ink with a similar color?

"One always looking for flaws leaves too little time for construction" ...

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Actually, no, I too love the heck out of it and have until today not ever had any problems with any flow in any pens....

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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My only problem with Eclipse is that it's too dark. In many pens it appears just black. No flow problems either.

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I haven't used Eclipse, but from what I've seen of it on here it looks like Bung Box Ink of the Witch. BB is not quite as wet as Iro, but it's fairly close.

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/fpn_1424623518__super_pinks-bottle%20resized_zps9ihtoixe.png

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My everyday blue-black and all around favorite ink is Iroshizuku Shin-kai. It doesn't have the purple overtones of the Diamine Midnight, but its a very professional, very well behaved ink.

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Did you try a tiny drop of glycerin? Or diluting it by 10%?

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I haven't used Eclipse, but from what I've seen of it on here it looks like Bung Box Ink of the Witch. BB is not quite as wet as Iro, but it's fairly close.

Oh wow, this looks really close. I think this is exactly what I'm looking for. Of course the problem is getting it. For anyone looking, this is what the bottle looks like:

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/ink_of_witch.png

 

The official web page exists only in Japanese. The ink is roughly $21. Needless to say, it's sold out...

"One always looking for flaws leaves too little time for construction" ...

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Ebony purple is pretty, and PR is pretty easy to find in the US.

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Have you checked out the comparison tool at Goulet Pens? It might help you find a substitute you like better.

 

You know... I did play around with it a bit. I feel like the only way to use it in this case is to open a different window and sort by purple, then try to go through them... I don't know, the workflow seems kind of difficult :P

"One always looking for flaws leaves too little time for construction" ...

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My everyday blue-black and all around favorite ink is Iroshizuku Shin-kai. It doesn't have the purple overtones of the Diamine Midnight, but its a very professional, very well behaved ink.

 

Thanks! I too use shin-kai and I have it in my daily carry 3776 right now. I love it. But yeah, not purple.

"One always looking for flaws leaves too little time for construction" ...

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Ebony purple is pretty, and PR is pretty easy to find in the US.

Oh, that's an interesting one... it seems a bit redder to me... maybe that's just the Goulet comparison tool

"One always looking for flaws leaves too little time for construction" ...

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Did you try a tiny drop of glycerin? Or diluting it by 10%?

I was thinking it might make it lighter but, I'm sure with that little it wouldn't change it much.

 

It bothers me nobody else thinks it has a flow problem though. Maybe it just doesn't agree with the pen.

"One always looking for flaws leaves too little time for construction" ...

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Oh wow, this looks really close. I think this is exactly what I'm looking for. Of course the problem is getting it. For anyone looking, this is what the bottle looks like:

http://www.suramar.org/fpn/ink_of_witch.png

 

The official web page exists only in Japanese. The ink is roughly $21. Needless to say, it's sold out...

As a general heads-up the ink IS in stock. Google mistranslates it sometimes, I don't know why. The ink can be had two ways in the US; you can buy a single bottle of it from Cool-Japan on eBay for $40 including shipping, or you can order at least five bottles of Bung Box inks through White Rabbit Express forwarding service for around $31 a bottle including shipping. I prefers the latter myself.

http://i1016.photobucket.com/albums/af283/Runnin_Ute/fpn_1424623518__super_pinks-bottle%20resized_zps9ihtoixe.png

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Really like that bottle! $40.00 or even $31.00 is outside the current budget.

“Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today, because if you do it today and like it, you can do again tomorrow!”

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You know... I did play around with it a bit. I feel like the only way to use it in this case is to open a different window and sort by purple, then try to go through them... I don't know, the workflow seems kind of difficult :P

 

It's really not that hard to use. You can sort according to color (maybe blue or purple in your case) or you could just use the interactive tool and start with the DE and then add on other colors that folks suggest. BTW, I just tried PR Ebony Purple (as Amber suggested) and I have to say it looks pretty close. The colors appear on the same page next to one another with the interactive tool.

 

Seems like someone else recently asked for a substitute for DE and a search might turn it up. I have to agree with Amber's (?) suggestion to try diluting the ink first or adding a drop of glycerine though (I found mine at the drug store.) It's amazing the difference a little dilution can make. Good luck!

Edited by stonezebra
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I"d really consider adding a flow enhancer like glycerin before I changed an ink that I LOVE.

 

BTW, I'll have a sample of Ebony purple up in a few minutes at this location.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/2014-Inklings/index.html

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/2014-Inklings/slides/2014-Ink_584.jpg

Fountain pens are my preferred COLOR DELIVERY SYSTEM (in part because crayons melt in Las Vegas).

Create a Ghostly Avatar and I'll send you a letter. Check out some Ink comparisons: The Great PPS Comparison 

Don't know where to start?  Look at the Inky Topics O'day.  Then, see inks sorted by color: Blue Purple Brown Red Green Dark Green Orange Black Pinks Yellows Blue-Blacks Grey/Gray UVInks Turquoise/Teal MURKY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you all so much, you've been very helpful!

 

...or you can order at least five bottles of Bung Box inks through White Rabbit Express forwarding service for around $31 a bottle including shipping. I prefers the latter myself.

You have the ink shipped to an address white rabbit holds for you, then sent your way, right? I don't see the inks directly on their site. I've been using a shipping service called tenso which seems fine to me.

 

 

 

It's really not that hard to use. You can sort according to color (maybe blue or purple in your case) or you could just use the interactive tool and start with the DE and then add on other colors that folks suggest. BTW, I just tried PR Ebony Purple (as Amber suggested) and I have to say it looks pretty close. The colors appear on the same page next to one another with the interactive tool.

 

Seems like someone else recently asked for a substitute for DE and a search might turn it up. I have to agree with Amber's (?) suggestion to try diluting the ink first or adding a drop of glycerine though (I found mine at the drug store.) It's amazing the difference a little dilution can make. Good luck!

You're right I'm mostly just being lazy.

 

 

I"d really consider adding a flow enhancer like glycerin before I changed an ink that I LOVE.

 

BTW, I'll have a sample of Ebony purple up in a few minutes at this location.

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/2014-Inklings/index.html

 

Thank yo uso much for doing that... it's very very close. Do you consider it a pretty 'wet' ink?

 

Actually I think I'll take a three pronged approach and try adding glycerine and also pick up some PR Ebony Purple

"One always looking for flaws leaves too little time for construction" ...

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I was thinking it might make it lighter but, I'm sure with that little it wouldn't change it much.

 

It bothers me nobody else thinks it has a flow problem though. Maybe it just doesn't agree with the pen.

I just got a bottle and want very much to like it. I have it in my most reliable writer, an old Stipula Novecento, and it doesn't flow as well as Aurora or Montblanc black. So I'm a little disappointed.

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