Diamine Black

[Chris]

You may have seen that I bought some ink recently. Well I've been using the Diamine black for a couple of days to see how it fared.

 

To start, I loved the bottle - nice and old-fashioned and the ink showed blues and purples when viewed through the glass. This is my first time with Diamine.

 

Filled my pen (MB Chopin 145 with medium nib) and wrote happily for some pages on a variety papers, including a cheque to pay a bill, some post-it notes, ordinary laser/photocopier paper and some note pads.

 

Flow is very smooth and the rate is neither too wet nor too dry - in other words, I didn't notice it. It just got on with the job of putting words down in an effortless way. (I do have some pet hates with ink and I confess to Quink being one of them.)

 

Drying time is not an issue - and I'm left-handed - and once dry, a vigorous rub with a finger produced no smearing (laser printer paper).

 

The colour is not as solidly black as my favourite black (Pelikan Brilliant Black) or as black as Penman Ebony but does show some slight variation in colour intensity when writing quickly. The other two inks do not.

 

I have heard Diamine rated as 7/10 for blackness - not knowing how to score blackness, I can't disagree. A page of this ink is not as 'depressing' as a page of blackest black perhaps, which can be a bit sombre.

 

I left the pen uncapped and went to make a cup of tea. It wrote first time when I returned - no hesitation or skip. Nice.

 

Finally, I have just washed a few lines of writing under the tap and have to say most of the colour was simply washed off, though what was left was just about readable. Pelikan was still very black and clear though. OK, Diamine is not claimed to be water-resistant.

 

Do I like this ink? Yes. It is an easy to use ink when having to write a lot of words (I'm hand-writing a talk that will run to twenty A4 pages). That much black black is too heavy on the eyes :ph34r: .

 

Will it replace Pelikan as my favourite black? Probably not, but I am pleased to have it and it will be used regularly as a daily writing ink in the office when permanency is not important.

 

I still have the Imperial Purple and Prussian Blue to try .

 

Chris

[KCat]

Prussian blue is my favorite and i'm liking all the diamine inks and their quick drying quality. on very cheap paper they can feather somewhat - but so can most FP inks.

 

ya need to try Prussian blue!

 

don't know where you are located but A Pen Lover's Paradise is carrying them (Pendemonium is no longer doing so.) the prices are excellent as well. I had to bug a UK'er for help in purchasing because the Prussian Blue wasn't available in the US at the time. I am thinking of getting their standard blue to mix with what little Levenger cobalt I have left because I really love the flow of these inks.

[Inkanthropist]

Nice review, Chris. Did you get the nice, ornate bottle? They're pretty things. Unfortunately, my local Diamine dealer only sells the much more bland bottles (which have, for some bizarre reason, 28.4ml in them). I second KCat's praise for the Prussian Blue - it strikes me as an 'old-fashioned' shade of blue.

Neil

[Chris]

I'm in the UK, London. So I have bought the black and the other colours from The Writing Desk. It seems they are well known and certainly my delivery was quick and well packed..

 

In the past I have bought ink form Webster's pen shop through the post and had good service too.

 

I also bought some of the registrars ink - purely out of curiosity. I don't know if anything I write needs to last 100 years...

 

My comments on the other colours will follow in due course.

 

Chris

 

edit to add:

Yes I got the big 80ml bottles and they are very decorative with the fluted sides and neat gold labels. I'm looking forward to trying the Prussian Blue next. It will be interesting to try it in two pens, the one with a medium nib and also one with a broad nib. I've noticed some colours look quite different when written with these two sizes.

Edited November 3, 2005 by Chris

[Maja]

Nice review, Chris...picture or not

I looked up a photo of the bottle----very classy!

 

Oh and as an update, Pendemonium posted this on their website a few days ago:

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE about DIAMINE INKS!

 

October 31, 2005 - We are pleased to announce that we have come to an agreement with Diamine Inks of England and once again we will have these great inks in stock! We hope to be fully restocked before the end of November. Stay tuned, we'll post updates on Diamine Ink right here!

 

so it looks like they will be carrying Diamine inks after all...

[southpaw]

Flow is very smooth and the rate is neither too wet nor too dry - in other words, I didn't notice it. It just got on with the job of putting words down in an effortless way. (I do have some pet hates with ink and I confess to Quink being one of them.)

 

Drying time is not an issue - and I'm left-handed - and once dry, a vigorous rub with a finger produced no smearing (laser printer paper).

As another leftie, this is wonderful!!!

 

Just gonna have to get some.

[Chris]

Anyone want a bottle of Diamine Black? Sale or swap.

 

I have used probably 2ml out of a very full 80ml bottle - and I expect there is still over 80ml left.

 

I am not likely to use it again as I like blacks that are much darker.

(Apologies if I should have posted this somewhere else on the site - please advise the proper etiquette, thanks)

 

I'm in the UK so postage costs might limit interest from overseas.

 

Chris

 

Sorry everyone - seems I should have put this in the Marketplace. Ooops - sorry for the bother and thanks for the help. I guess this will disappear.

 

Chris

Edited December 6, 2005 by Chris

[emrecan]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the review.Somehow i missed your review?

 

Take Care

EC

[Chris]

As you can see, I was not overkeen on the Diamine black so, over the Christmas break, I played a bit with it and found that if I mix 75% Diamine black with 25% Penman Sapphire I get a deeply intense 'inky' blue-black that is just great!

 

It is black with that blue sheen I hope for, and does not appear flat or greyish.

 

Good Diamine flow is retained and the mixture is even very water-resistant (ie a good soaking to the point where the paper was transluscent and the ink was still perfectly legible with only a little blue running out).

 

Chris

[Slush99]

Great review!

 

Another on my wish list-- :ph34r:

[djahughes]

I'm becoming a big Diamine fan also.

 

I LOVE Monaco Red!

 

I also have Royal Blue and Indigo.

 

I quite fancy Prussian Blue and may try the blue black also.

 

However, I must find a new storage place for my ink so my wife will make no comments such as "I think you have enough ink now... don't you?"

[Carrie]

I quite fancy Prussian Blue and may try the blue black also.

Prussian Blue is lovely, rapidly becoming one of my favourites.

 

Southpaw, as another leftie I can confirm that drying times for all the Diamines I've tried are excellent. My Vacumatic tends to put down a lot of ink, but even so it's absolutely no problem when filled with Prussian Blue. I don't use that pen very often because to me it's too senitmentally valuable, but having filled it up at the weekend I simply don't want to put the pen down.

[Chris]

I'm just ordering some more Prussian Blue - need to have one in stock! - and will add Monaco Red - lovely ink in lovely bottles.

 

Inkaholics unite

 

Chris

 

ps Can one have too many inks?

Edited January 5, 2006 by Chris

[M4R1N4]

Chris,

From where are you ordering your Prussian Blue?

 

I want to get a bottle myself but wasn't sure where in the states carried it (other than apenloversparadise.com).

[Vintage Pens Fan]

Hello,

 

I got a couple of bottles from Pencity: http://www.pencity.com/

 

http://www.pencity.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.ex...4288+1136566896

 

Also, they have good pricing in Aurora inks as well...

 

Usual disclaimer: I have no relation with them; just a past customer.

 

Regards,

 

Dave

[Chris]

Dear M4R1N4,

 

I ordered from The Writing Desk (I'm in the UK) and they were very speedy. But I have also had good service from many others, but the others do not stock Diamine.

 

I believe the WD would do overseas shipping, but postage costs for single bottles tend to be significant (so order lots at once and the extra 'per bottle' becomes less )

 

Chris

[twdpens]

Yes, we do ship internationally but you have to bear in mind that ink is heavy and fragile and therefore the postage cost can be significant. However, on orders of, say, 4 or more bottles the price is competitive. For orders to non-EU countries we can take off the VAT (17.5%) if you ask us nicely . Just ask us for a quote.

 

Martin

[djahughes]

I'd like to add my vote for the Writing Desk.

 

I've ordered many bottles of ink and a few pens from them and the service is ALWAYS brilliant! The ink is sent quickly and very well packaged.

 

Very nice people offering great service - what more can you ask for?

[Vintage Pens Fan]

Hello,

 

Also purchased some ink from Pensations. Their selections are somewhat limited, but the prices & shipping are very resaonable:

 

http://seiky.zoovy.com/category/inkrefills...ers.bottledink/

 

Hope this helps.

 

Dave

[twdpens]

I'd like to add my vote for the Writing Desk.

 

I've ordered many bottles of ink and a few pens from them and the service is ALWAYS brilliant! The ink is sent quickly and very well packaged.

 

Very nice people offering great service - what more can you ask for?

Thanks for your kind words, David .

 

BTW, we should get your latest item any day now. We had a big rush on them leading up to Christmas. Maybe something to do with that article in Esquire.

 

all the best,

 

Martin