Diamine Racing Green

[lapis]

Note

I write "Diamine RACING GREEN" but "Montblanc racing green" solely because that's the way each company itself does it. Diamine RACING GREEN is an ink manufactured and distributed by Rolf Thiel, the creator of the German company “Missing-Pen”. (That company was founded in May 2002 but was later – around 2013 -- discontinued.) For more information about the issuing of this ink, see below under Availability and price.

 

Introduction

Here are three shots that Rolf made. He has allowed me to publish them here. No affiliation.

Pens and papers used here

In decreasing nib width, Lamy Joy 1.5 mm, Crest BB, Parker 51 B, M215 M, Pelikano M, M320 F, Allegro dip pen M, Rubinato dip pen XF. Avery Zweckform (100 g/m²), Clairefontaine (Velouté 90 g/m²), Rhodia (80 g/m²), Bringmann folia (note block, 90 g/m²), Moleskine (notebook, 6.5 x 10.5 cm), HP copy paper (80 g/m²).

 

Ink properties and comparisons with Montblanc's racing green

Sure, there are tons of inks out there which may be an "alternative". But I'm only including the "original", i.e. Montblanc's racing green for obvious reasons.

First off, here is a list of the five currently available reviews of Montblanc's racing green: idazle's review, freewheelingvagabond's review, jeen's review, JJBlanche's review, georges zaslavsky's review, declanh's review. Thanks, Ann!

Secondly, a short comparison with Montblanc's racing green has already been made once (see https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/203677-montblanc-racing-green-comparison/page__view__findpost__p__2391220)

whereby this was an update-post just two weeks ago in a review finally offering a total of 12 other potential contenders. One of the best comparison posts of all time. Thanks, geoduc!

Thirdly, a word or two about a comparison of the original on paper with what I see on my scan.I find the two to be astonishingly similar. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference and/or express that in words. In real life, on paper, this Diamine's is definitely greener than Montblanc's. On my monitor, a scan of Montblanc's swab appears to be a bit greener than Diamine's. In both cases, Montblanc's is darker. Brown is too complicated for me to decide who is who so I'll leave that up to you. Here's a comparison of a scan and a photo:

 

Of course it depends not only on the scanner and monitor but also on the writing instrument used. Also on your eyes of course. For these 2-dimensional objects, I have decided to stick to scans. Here's a scan of both inks on a good paper using all 6 instruments and a list of who is who.

 

Overall -- but especially on the original -- the wider the nib, the greener the colour. IIRC, the opposite was once noted here on the forum. Finally, the paper: the more porous the paper, the greener and lighter the colour. I see this for HP and Moleskine:

 

As a last resort, I did a paper chromatography of the two inks on blotting paper using, as eluents, Brita-filtered water or a 50% solution of isopropanol:

This certainly underlines or backs up my observation that Diamine's is greener than Montblanc's (I think), however chemically inclined. But it also demonstrates that Diamine's has a huge hint of pink to red, basically missing in Montblanc's. More on that later. It's time to say "Whew"!

 

● Intensity and saturation: Diamine's shows, as expected, a medium saturation. For me, personally, a nice character. In general, Herbin inks tend to be somewhat watered down, and most Noodler's and PRs are IMO either "too" or unnecessarily saturated. One test I also like doing is my water test (let exactly 100 µl of ink very carefully and gently fall into 50 ml of water). The ease and speed with which that volume of ink descends to the bottom of the glass also tells me something about its density and/or solubility. How is the cloud formation on the way down? (Yes, this assay may be interesting even if mainly for iron-gall inks.)

 

The above photo (Montblanc to the left, Diamine to the right) shows that FWIW both inks have similar concentrations and diffusion or "spreadoutability". It also seems to "prove" my observation stated above that Diamine's is somehow greener.

● Flow as in wetness during writing: nice and wet. Somewhat more flow than with Montblanc's but that's no problem. This is especially the case for F and XF nibs.

● Lubrication is good too, even better than Montblanc's (which usually lubricates well, except for their bottled blue-black). Again a good feature as it helps to counteract poor ignition and/or thrifty dip pen nibs.

● Drying time is 40-50 s using a Pelikano with an M nib on Rhodia. Montblanc's racing green dries in 20-30 s.

● Feathering: Papers used here are, from top to bottom, Rhodia, Clairefontaine 90 g/m², Moleskine and HP copy paper 80 g/m². Diamine's RACING GREEN appears to exert more feathering than Montblanc racing green does, but only on the cheapest paper (HP). On the other three papers, no appreciable difference is to be seen in regard to feathering.

 

● Bleeding: Here are the reverse sides of the above-mentioned four papers. What we see is practically the parallel issue observed for feathering. No wonder! As is often the case, Rhodia and CF are essentially feather-free, while Moleskine and this HP both show more and more bleeding. A careful look at the bottom two papers (Moleskine and HP) reveal that both inks bleed approximately to the same extent.

 

● Smudgeproof: yes; i.e. when it is "dry", it remains dry. Smearing a piece of dry paper over it after the aforementioned drying time, I see no harm. With a moist -- but not totally wet -- finger, no big difference. This corresponds a bit to the "water resistance" itself.

● Water resistance in general: As expected, this ink is by no means water resistant but then Diamine never said it was in the first place.

● Water resistance after a drop of water: (Prior to the 50-µl drops of water, the first 4 lines were written with Diamine's and said "Waterdrop test with an M215 on Rhodia. Here, 3 drops @ 50 µl of tap water..... Below that it said "Ditto on Montblanc".) This scan was made after the drops of water had dried out completely by evaporation and/or absorption:

 

As you can see, even one single drop (exactly 50 µl) of tap water on Diamine' ink completely dissolves the ink underneath it, almost as if it were a bleach. Montblanc's OTOH at least leaves the written part somewhat legible. As a check, here's a blow-up of that scan:

 

● Water resistance after a bath in water: if soaked up to 5 min in running water you can still read what has been written. Montblanc's is -- within that little time -- maybe somewhat more water resistant. But Diamine's is IMO still not bad at all. Paper used here was Avery Zweckform 100 g/m². It is interesting that whatever the water leaches out, the result is a lot of pink, not only from Diamine's but also from Montblanc's green.

 

● Shading is certainly not immediately evident, but I guess if pen and nib and paper form a perfect combo, you might see some if you're really trying to find it. Take a look at a few of the Lamy Joy scans.

● Fading: not observed although I've not yet stuck any writing into direct sunlight for more than 24 h.

● Smell: I sense no phenol content (like that notable in vintage inks and/or some modern inks such as Sailor's Jentle Blue-Black).

● Maintenance as in pen cleaning: This ink is, taken together, fairly maintenance-free. It is easy to wash out of a pen. I see no staining of cartridges. Here's a shot of three brand new, up to a week ago, unused Pelikano cartridge converters:

From left to right: unfilled, filled with Montblanc's and filled with Diamine's; each for week, then rinsing with tap water only. I see no difference... but...

 

● Maintenance as in getting it off your finger: imagine that on the inside of my left hand, the forefinger and middle finger were each anointed with 50 µl of ink, Montblanc's and Diamine's, respectively. Both stained apparently to equal degrees but after drying and then washing in warm and soapy water for 5 minutes, this is what I was left with:

Short story long: both stain, Diamine's is much easier to wash off, but Diamine's leaves that weird pink on your skin. That sort of coincides with the paper chromatography shown above. No worries... both stainings on my skin were completely gone after 24 h.

 

Availability and price

This is an exclusive issue (just like Noodler's FPN and FPH inks) and is available only from Rolf. That means that you can't buy it from Diamine and you won't find it in their website either. The ink comes in an 80-ml glass bottle, just like the 100 "regulars" of Diamine. It costs 13.90 Euros (17.01 USD today, very roughly of course). Diamine's 80-ml glass bottle regulars come in at 9.90 Euros (from Rolf) so I'd say that that's an acceptable price increase.

It is currently also available on eBay here. Yes, it is a higher price there but that might still be interesting for some of you who are in a hurry and peeved about making contacts and encountering tax and customs bewilderments.

May I now go completely all the way and state that I myself find this undertaking or Rolf and Diamine extraordinarily reasonable. This ink has not been issued as a LE (say, e.g. only 1000 bottles), the bottles and/or boxes are not numerated, and neither is anything hand-written.

This ink is not commercially available in Diamine's 30-ml plastic bottles. Since my M1000 doesn't fit into the neck of a 30-ml plastic bottle, I wouldn't buy any ink in that bottle anyway.

A little research today (December 10, 2021) seems to indicate that the whole company “Missing-Pen” (https://www.missing-pen.com/) is getting back into business. I sure hope so, and… if everything works out fine, they might even re-launch this ink!

 

All in all

For me, the three most important things about any ink are: colour, flow and maintenance. In regard to colour, IMO, Diamine's RACING GREEN is the ink currently still available which most resembles -- and/or may be considered to be a nice "alternative" to -- Montblanc's racing green. Diamine's has a better flow and is easier to maintain than Montblanc's. It feathers and bleeds more than Montblanc's does. Diamine's has no water resistance on paper under a drop of water, but any ink on your skin is much more easily washed off.

I said "alternative" on purpose here because there have been a few disparate or depreciatory remarks in respect to the actual hereunto pertaining characterization of such a new ink. "Substitute", "replacement", "replicate" or "copy"? I don't know if that is still possible, or (forgive me for being so crass) really necessary. It also depends on how much you feel about green and brown. Or how important feathering and water resistance are to you. Maybe you'll have to try it on for size yourself.

 

BTW

As mentioned above, "verschollen" means long-lost or long-forgotten. But it can also be translated as "missing". Maybe they might have called this Diamine ink MISSING GREEN instead?

 

Mike

[picautomaton]

Thank you for such a detailed and informative comparison.

 

May I ask if you could check if the ink is highlighter fast? I find the three Diamine inks I have do not like being highlighted.

 

The Diamine ink looks like blackened green ink whereas the Montblanc seems a purer green.

[jandrese]

Wow, awesome review, thanks! Might have to get this one. I'll put it next to Burma Road Brown, El Lawrence, and Verde Muschiato it seems.

[lapis]

May I ask if you could check if the ink is highlighter fast? I find the three Diamine inks I have do not like being highlighted.

Good question! I find that Diamine's doesn't mind being highlighted e.g. by a Stabilo or Faber-Castell marker. All you have to do is wait a minute until it's really dry. Or use a blotter. Montblanc's is just as fest, it only takes less time to dry.

 

Mike

[The Good Captain]

Up to now, I'd always considered it a crying shame that Rolf's price was so much more that the regular Diamine bottles. After your wonderful and informative review and comparison, I think that I might try a bottle one day but for the time being I'll just soldier on with the Evergreen and Sequoia Green that I have on my shelf.

However, after a couple of TSs and the wind in the right direction, I just might splash out...

... and get one.

[lapis]

In your neck o' da woods, 1 x 80 ml from the house of D. costs you 6.79 quid.

In my vicinity, 1 x 80 comes in at 9.90 Eros = 7.77 quid. That is only 14% more. Of course you'd have to pay for shipping, while my treat would come by train or bus.

 

Mike

[The Good Captain]

In your neck o' da woods, 1 x 80 ml from the house of D. costs you 6.79 quid.

In my vicinity, 1 x 80 comes in at 9.90 Eros = 7.77 quid. That is only 14% more. Of course you'd have to pay for shipping, while my treat would come by train or bus.

 

Mike

Yes but what about the Racing Green costs? Isn't that about 13.90 Euros?

[Federalist Pens]

A great and comprehensive review on these inks, Mike!

Thanks for a great job!

 

I am a big fan of MB RG. It (was) is my favorite Green, and I am in the middle of my last bottle!

This looks like a possible replacement, but I am still leaning towards Noodler's Zhivago!

I got a few green ink samples (tubes) recently from Goulet Pens, and both Zhivago and PR Ebony Green look like possible replacements. I will also give Diamine Racing Green a try as well!

 

Regards,

Frank

[lapis]

In your neck o' da woods, 1 x 80 ml from the house of D. costs you 6.79 quid.

In my vicinity, 1 x 80 comes in at 9.90 Eros = 7.77 quid. That is only 14% more. Of course you'd have to pay for shipping, while my treat would come by train or bus.

 

Mike

Yes but what about the Racing Green costs? Isn't that about 13.90 Euros?

Sorry, now I understand. I thought you meant Ds in general. Yes, this new missing link is more expensive than the other 100, but what I was getting at is the fact that whereas this new ink is 14% more expensive than their usuals, R&K's LE is asking for 218% the price of its regulars.

 

Mike

[geoduc]

Thanks for the very thorough review and comparison, Mike. Nice work!

 

It's interesting that you see DRG as being more green than MBRG, as my perception is the other way around. I pulled out my written pages and swabs of both inks and I still think that DRG has a little more brown to it, but that may well be due to a difference in how we perceive color. Vive la différence! In any case, DRG is still the closest color match to MBRG that I've seen.

 

I was a little bit surprised that you found it easy to clean out of a pen. While I haven't had any issues with staining, my experience is that DRG is one of the more difficult inks to flush out of pens, mainly due to the persistent red component. I takes significant extra flushing before I can get the last remnants of red dye to completely go away.

 

Your characterization of the Diamine ink as an alternative rather than a replacement for MBRG is good, I think. The color is close, but I still prefer the behavior and maintenance characteristics of MBRG. I'll be glad to have the Diamine version available once my supply of MBRG is exhausted.

[tenney]

Great review in our never ending battle to find a replacement, thank you.

 

You've mentioned "Rolf" as the one who developed and / or sells this special Diamine ink. Who is he? Is he the one selling it on ebay.de or does he have a website?

[lapis]

Thanks, everybody. I spent so much time on this since there seem to be so many parameters. Scanner, monitor, of course, but the pen (nib width and flow) and the paper play a bigger role than usual (I think). Drying time oo. Blotting make things look greener, not just lighter and so on.

 

Mike

[lapis]

Your characterization of the Diamine ink as an alternative rather than a replacement for MBRG is good, I think. The color is close, but I still prefer the behavior and maintenance characteristics of MBRG. I'll be glad to have the Diamine version available once my supply of MBRG is exhausted.

Thanks, too and very good point. I really did stress my choice of the word "alternative" exactly for that reason. Of course if MB reissued it and/or anybody else re-created it then we'd all be happier. But in the meantime I'm afraid we'll have to make do with what we have (or can still buy). IMO this is the "best" alternative, although a few others are noteable, e.g. Zhivago.

 

Mike

[lapis]

Great review in our never ending battle to find a replacement, thank you.

 

You've mentioned "Rolf" as the one who developed and / or sells this special Diamine ink. Who is he? Is he the one selling it on ebay.de or does he have a website?

Hi! He helped develop it with Michael Richter alias Michael R. here on the forum (along with Diamine's company too, I assume). He used to have 1 or 2 websites but I think he is still looking for a new provider.

If you look at that ebay site down at the bottom of that page, you can see (in English) that Rolf Thiel who has the website www.missing.pen is in fact the seller. The price is 13.90 Euros which already includes the federal sales tax of 19%. So if you ordered it directly from him, then you should be able to get it duty free. But... then you'd likely have a hassel with your own customs and the shipping would also be required. Here in Germany there is no postage to be paid for amounts over 29.00 Euros. Ask him what it'll cost to have some sent to you. Maybe bulk prices are available, e.g. just like those considered for Pharmacist's iron-gall inks from Belgium or Akkerman's inks from Holland getting sent to Australia etc.

 

MIke

[tenney]

Thank you very much. I still like the MB version better, but this does seem to be getting close.

[leod]

Mike,

your ink reviews are getting better and better and it is getting more scientific

 

this color looks more green from the other photos that i've seen before where it is more brown.

 

How does it compare to Diamine Evergreen?

[lapis]

Mike,your ink reviews are getting better and better and it is getting more scientific

this color looks more green from the other photos that i've seen before where it is more brown.

How does it compare to Diamine Evergreen?

Thanks, leod! Glad that you see some green as I certainly do. What a neat question!! I'm still working on that ink, but, already even if it is only with Diamine's Emerald, Umber and Teal, I'll still have something to do!!!

 

Mike

[The Good Captain]

I've nothing to compare it with but these are the two that I like, that look similar enough for my purposes...

...for the moment.

[amyx231]

Wow. Above and beyond. Just wow. Chromatography and everything!

Any plans for mass spec analysis to determine puncture speed? Lol.

[georges zaslavsky]

excellent looks like a good replacement for the no more produced bottles of mb racing green