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Diamine - Twilight Blue


Sandy1

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Please take a moment to adjust the brightness & contrast of your monitor to accurately depict this Gray Scale.

As the patches are neutral gray, their colour on your monitor should also be neutral gray.

Mac LINK WikiLINK http://www.wikihow.com/Calibrate-Your-Monitor

Figure 1.

Gray Scale.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/INK576.jpg

Figure 2.

Swabs: Waterman Florida Blue. Diamine Twilight Blue.

Swatch: Drawn with the Pelikan + 1.0.

Paper: HPJ1124 24 lb. Laser Copy.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Diamine%20-%20Twight%20Blue/INK876.jpg

Figure 3.

NIB-ism LINK

Depicts nib line-width and pens' relative wetness.

 

WRITTEN SAMPLES: Moby Dick

 

Row Widths:

Narrow nibs: 6mm.

Other nibs: 8mm.

 

Figure 4.

Paper: HPJ1124.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Diamine%20-%20Twight%20Blue/INK882.jpg

Figure 5.

Paper: Rhodia.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Diamine%20-%20Twight%20Blue/INK883.jpg

Figure 6.

Paper: G Lalo, Verge de France, white.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Diamine%20-%20Twight%20Blue/INK884.jpg

Figure 7.

Grocery List

Paper: Pulp. One-a-Day calendar page.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Diamine%20-%20Twight%20Blue/INK885.jpg

 

OTHER SAMPLES:

 

Figure 8.

  • 'HAPPY!' on Glossy Card.
  • Smear/Dry Time on Glossy Paper.
  • Smear/Dry Time on HPJ1124.
  • Wet Tests on HPJ1124.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Diamine%20-%20Twight%20Blue/INK877.jpg

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

 

Type:

  • Dye-based fountain pen ink.

Daily writer?

  • Possible.

A go-to ink?

  • When one is oh-so-tired of Blue.

USES:

 

  • Limited by bleed-though and show-through on HPJ1124 - a good quality 24 lb laser copy paper.

Business:

  • OK for just about anything that does not demand Blue / Blue-Black.
  • Not so useful for mark-up / editing - lacks zip.
  • Does not suit error correction or grading of assignments - lacks zap.
  • Requires dry writers or dry/robust papers.

Illustrations / Graphics:

  • Possible if one is careful - it is not Blue.
  • If there needs to be a greater increment between Black and medium Blue, this would be a good choice.
  • Requires dry writers or dry/robust papers.

Students:

  • Nope - bleed-through & show-through make Twilight Blue a risky choice on inexpensive papers / writing both sides of the sheet.

Personal:

  • Very iffy.
  • It is decidedly dark, and seems to suppress a potentially interesting colour.
  • The darkness really does not appeal to me for personal correspondence - and that's Ms Blue-Black speaking.
  • If I were to receive a letter written in Twilight Blue, I would think that the writer and I were on the outs.
  • This ink could be used with any shape of nib, which may be necessary for personal correspondence.

PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE & CHARACTERISTICS:

 

Flow Rate:

  • Nice.
  • Did well on the G Lalo.

Nib Dry-out:

  • Not noticed.

Start-up:

  • Immediate.

Lubrication:

  • Good, real good.

Nib Creepers:

  • None.

Staining:

  • Not noticed in the short-term. (3 days)

Clogging:

  • Not seen.
  • With the good flow clogging seems unlikely, however, the Waterman (Pen D) density faded, but that appears to be a thing with the pen - just can't keep up.

Bleed Through:

  • Yes.
  • Parker 25+XF on Pulp; and Parker 25+XF, Waterman+M, and Pelikan+1.0 on HPJ1124.

Show Through:

  • Yes.
  • Pulp & HPJ1124.

Feathering / Woolly line:

  • Imaginary, but line-width can be 'plump'.

Smear/Dry Time (Figure 8)

  • Glossy: 10 - 12 seconds.
  • HPJ1124: 10 - 12 seconds.

Water Resistance (Figure 8)

  • -3- on the 4S Scale:

"All legible, but either very faint and/or has heavy staining from re-deposit of soluble dye.

Needs recovery/restoration for anything beyond personal use."

Smell:

  • Very faint.
  • Slightly tart.

Hand oil sensitivity:

  • None noticed.

Archival:

  • Not claimed.

Clean Up:

  • Fast and thorough with plain water.

Mixing:

  • No stated limitation.
  • Only for personal use, I would lighten the density through dilution.

THE LOOK:

 

Presence:

  • Very much in the background.
  • It does not seem to seek-out and engage the reader.
  • Although the colour is interesting, it is soon overlooked.

Saturation:

  • High.

Shading:

  • Not so much: rare & elusive

HiRes Scans:

  • Safari+M on the HPJ1124: LINK
  • Prelude+B on the Rhodia: LINK
  • Parker 25+XF on the G Lalo: LINK

 

Variance depending on pen+nib combos used:

  • Not so much - typical of such a dark ink.
  • Looks similar regardless of paper & pen. :thumbup:

FIDELITY:

 

Is the name appropriate?

  • Nope. (Again!)
  • Someone needs to find their 'A Game', friend-o.

Are swatches accurate?

SIMILAR COLOURS:

  • The resemblance to the Rohrer & Klingner 'Verdigris' is striking. (More on that later.)

PAPERS:

 

Lovely papers:

  • Crisp brilliant white paper.
  • The warm tint of the G Lalo VdF white is very good-looking.

Trip-wire Papers:

  • Those that cannot prevent bleed-though and show-through.

Tinted Papers:

  • Keep to the not-too-yellow ivory and creams; and pale blues.
  • Avoid the pink/red/orange/violet/purple areas of the colour wheel.

Is high-end paper 'worth it'?

  • Mandatory.

OTHER THAN INK:

 

Presentation :

  • 80 ml. bottle in a box.
  • No HazMat warnings.

Country of origin:

  • UK

Container:

  • A squat square-based, clear glass, slope shouldered bottle, 65mm tall when capped.
  • Difficult to detect ink level.
  • The centred round opening seems snug: 20mm in diameter.
  • Single tank, no sediment collector, no filling aid. Tsk Tsk ... Tsk.
  • The bake light screw cap has adequate grip.
  • The cap is not child-proof.
  • The cap seal seems to be some sort of plastic-coated card. (>_<)

Box:

  • 58x78x58mm
  • Nicely coated card stock.
  • No swatch. GASP!!
  • Labelled on top. Tsk Tsk Tsk
    • No kidding: useless when inks are stacked, or at/above eye level.
    • Work-around: Draw & affix your own Herbin-esque picture.

Eco-Green:

  • OK.
  • All should be recyclable or benign.

Availability:

  • Directly from Diamine. (At time of writing.)
  • As time passes, unless there's a recall, it is likely this ink will be available from your Diamine retail outlet.

ETC:

 

Majik:

  • Nope. The ink does not have the jump & juice.

Personal Pen & Paper Pick:

  • Ooooo - tough one. I like the Prelude on the Lalo: the hard textured paper lightens the density and brings some warmth.

Yickity Yackity:

  • Frustrating.
  • Cannot believe it, really cannot.
  • Another new ink, and nothing new.
  • Ah kushbaby, I hope you didn't read this far.

<=-+-/\-+=>|<=-+-X-+=>|<=-+-\/-+=>|<=-+-X-+=>|<=-+-/\-+=>

 

MATERIEL USED:

 

To be relevant to most members, I make an effort to use papers, pens & nibs that are readily available. Pens are those for which I paid $100 or less, and are 'factory stock' - not customised.

 

These pen+nib combos were used:

  • Parker 25 + Steel XF
  • Pilot Prera + Steel M
  • Lamy Safari + Steel M
  • Waterman + 18K M
  • Sheaffer Prelude + steel B
  • #Pelikan M200 + g-p steel richardspens Stub 1.0

#Note: Nib is a stock item offered on the richardspens.com site - not a custom nib.

For lines & labels:

  • Pilot Penmanship + XF with Noodler's Lexington Grey.

On these papers:

  • HPJ1124 24 lb. Laser Copy.
  • Rhodia.
  • G Lalo, Verge de France, white.
  • Pulp.
  • Glossy paper.
  • Glossy card.

Images:

  • Scans were made on an Epson V600 scanner; factory defaults were accepted.
  • Figures shown were scanned at 96 dpi & 24 bit colour.
  • Images linked were scanned at 300 dpi & 24 bit colour.
  • Scans were not adjusted, and went straight to the file sharing thingy.

Densitometer Readings, FWIW

Red 89

Grn 117

Blu 147

Lum 117

-30-



The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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  • Sandy1

    22

  • Thornton

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  • Lyssa

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  • IndigoBOB

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How does this compare to Diamine Teal? Looks similar on my monitor.

Hi Lyssa,

 

I don't have a pot of the Diamine Teal, so I really cannot respond directly - only compare online samples. And I think you're pretty close. An astute observation. :thumbup:

 

That said, I rather doubt that Diamine would have two very very similar inks in their array, especially if they are of the same general 'category'. For example, Noodler's has some quite similar colours, but some are 'EEL' series, others are 'Bulletproof', and so on. Private Reserve has some (Midnight Blues for example) that are 'regular' and the other is 'Fast Dry'.

 

I don't think that Diamine makes such distinctions. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

 

Similar? Maybe. (Especially if it were a Blue.)

Very similar? Possible. (Think of ink Co.s with >1 Black; Noodler's for example.)

Very Very Similar? Doubtful.

 

Time will tell, as usual ...

Tick

Tock

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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No, nothing like Teal (at least to me). Teal has far more green.

 

Within Diamine, the closest one is Blue Black (although that doesn't have as much green as Twilight). It could actually be a mix of Teal & Blue Black, come to think of it. I haven't used Twilight much as yet, so I can't compare flow. Diamine BB is a bit dry.

 

The ink I have that is most comparable IMO is R&K Verdigris, which although gorgeous does have similar show through problems with poorer paper and a fat nib.

 

I think you are a bit hard on the colour, Sandy - but then I am a bit of a gunge merchant and love Diamine's Indigo & Prussian Blue! Grubbiness rools :happyberet:

 

John

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No, nothing like Teal (at least to me). Teal has far more green.

 

Within Diamine, the closest one is Blue Black (although that doesn't have as much green as Twilight). It could actually be a mix of Teal & Blue Black, come to think of it. I haven't used Twilight much as yet, so I can't compare flow. Diamine BB is a bit dry.

 

The ink I have that is most comparable IMO is R&K Verdigris, which although gorgeous does have similar show through problems with poorer paper and a fat nib.

 

I think you are a bit hard on the colour, Sandy - but then I am a bit of a gunge merchant and love Diamine's Indigo & Prussian Blue! Grubbiness rools :happyberet:

 

John

Hi,

 

I see we agree on the best guess 'similar colour' being the R&K Verdigris.

 

And I don't think I'm being hard on the colour, honest! If this is similar to Verdigris, and I believe it is, then I have the same 'problem' placing Verdigris. It is a great colour when needed. I think I mentioned in reference to another ink, it's like having an itch you can't scratch until inking-up with Verdigris. Perhaps Twilight Blue will fill a similar niche.

 

If there are steady users of Verdigris, I do hope they chime in.

 

When I do the Comparison, I'll make sure I run a wide damp nib too.

 

And maybe you shouldn't look at the IR I did of the Diamine Indigo - now that was justifiably hard on the colour.

:P

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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Great review S1!

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right

to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers,

and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. Revelation 22:14-15

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No, nothing like Teal (at least to me). Teal has far more green.

 

Could be my ideal blue, then. I'm not a huge blue-green fan.

--Lyssa

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No, nothing like Teal (at least to me). Teal has far more green.

 

Could be my ideal blue, then. I'm not a huge blue-green fan.

 

EEEK!

 

You don't like Turquoise?

 

GASP!!!

 

It is the yummy yummer Summer colour!!! From a red Parker Super 21. OooooLaLa.

 

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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Twilight has become one of my favorite blue-greens. It's definitely more blue than Teal which is very green. All in all a great ink. Thanks for the wonderful review.

"Instant gratification takes too long."-Carrie Fisher

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I almost added this to my Diamine order. Glad I didn't. Doesn't do anything for me...."no zing".

Thanks for another superlative review S! :notworthy1:

God is seldom early, never late, and always on time.

~~Larry Brown

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I do! just not in my pens, nor on my paper. Teal/Turquoise shirts make up a good third of my wardrobe.

Outstanding!:thumbup:

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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Twilight has become one of my favorite blue-greens. It's definitely more blue than Teal which is very green. All in all a great ink. Thanks for the wonderful review.

Hi,

 

Already a favourite? Wow!

 

What inks were set aside to make room for Twilight? (Ooops, pardon my poor manners.)

 

What pen/s and paper/s have you come to favour with the Twilight?

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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I almost added this to my Diamine order. Glad I didn't. Doesn't do anything for me...."no zing".

Thanks for another superlative review S! :notworthy1:

Hi,

 

Glad you liked the Review.

 

And nice too that I saved you a few $, and saved a pot of ink from being exiled under the stairs.

 

Yet 'Thorton' has adopted this as their top-drawer ink; hey, lots of ink, lots of people.

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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from where i'm sitting, looks very close to their BB. thx, sandy!

Hi,

 

You're welcome.

 

You may be correct - I don't have their BB to run a comparison.

As mentioned, I don't think that an ink Co. would market 2 'almost identical' inks of the same sort, but that was specific to colours other than Blue / Blue-Black.

 

It really seems that there is so much splitting of hairs in the Bl - BlBk that it's a bit nutty; and my own ink-shelf only proves that people will indeed buy very similar inks: looking for that 'certain something' - what one member referred to as 'the it factor'. And then add-in the difference from pen, paper, environmental conditions, etc. What I refer to as The Look, is not going to be all that consistent. Exceptions are there, but...

And then there are the truly unique colours, such as the Noodler's Baystate Blue, that cannot be mistaken for anything else: the only Blue that is a screaming orange-red at its core.

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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Twilight has become one of my favorite blue-greens. It's definitely more blue than Teal which is very green. All in all a great ink. Thanks for the wonderful review.

Hi,

 

Already a favourite? Wow!

 

What inks were set aside to make room for Twilight? (Ooops, pardon my poor manners.)

 

What pen/s and paper/s have you come to favour with the Twilight?

 

Bye,

S1

 

Hi Sandy, your manners are just fine. Twilight did win me over instantly. It has bumped Noodler's Legal Lapis, Navy, and Diamine Teal out of the way as favorite blue-greens. It's actually quite similar to Legal Lapis, but no nib creep. So far I've used the ink in a Conway Stewart Dandy Heritage-fine, and a Stipula 22 with a medium Ti nib. Ti nibs can be a little finicky in my opinion, but Twilight works wonderfully in the pen. So far I've used the ink on Rhodia and Crane paper. I've noticed no feathering, or bleed through on either.

"Instant gratification takes too long."-Carrie Fisher

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Twilight has become one of my favorite blue-greens. It's definitely more blue than Teal which is very green. All in all a great ink. Thanks for the wonderful review.

Hi,

 

Already a favourite? Wow!

 

What inks were set aside to make room for Twilight? (Ooops, pardon my poor manners.)

 

What pen/s and paper/s have you come to favour with the Twilight?

 

Bye,

S1

 

Hi Sandy, your manners are just fine. Twilight did win me over instantly. It has bumped Noodler's Legal Lapis, Navy, and Diamine Teal out of the way as favorite blue-greens. It's actually quite similar to Legal Lapis, but no nib creep. So far I've used the ink in a Conway Stewart Dandy Heritage-fine, and a Stipula 22 with a medium Ti nib. Ti nibs can be a little finicky in my opinion, but Twilight works wonderfully in the pen. So far I've used the ink on Rhodia and Crane paper. I've noticed no feathering, or bleed through on either.

Hi,

 

Thanks for the feedback on inks, pens & papers.

 

I do hope that others find they can use the Twilight Blue (and the ASA Blue) with better results on utility / office paper.

 

Bye,

S1

The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

 

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