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Hello again to all my FP friends, [This review has been sitting on my desk for months and I finally got around to posting it. Stay tuned for a comparison of Diamine Cornflower and Penbbs #116 Cornflower.] Diamine needs no introduction on this board. Suffice it to say that they have been making inks for over a century and produce many, many beautiful hues, a lot of which are prone to feathering and bleed through on everyday office paper. This ink up for review is from Diamine’s Flower Series. It is named after the cornflower (centaurea cyanus) which can be various shades of blue or lavender. I’ve never seen the flower in person, but by just comparing with various photographs online, the ink looks like a pretty good match to the flower. Diamine Cornflower is a deep and very saturated blue with a dash of purple. This ink dries quickly on absorbent paper, but has an average dry time on nicer papers. Sheening is nice and shading possible with wet nibs on good paper. It can be quite a stunning color with the write combination. Unfortunately, this ink’s downfall as a daily work ink is its tendency to feather and bleed through. Although feathering with finer nibs wasn’t too bad on copy paper, even the Japanese fine nib produced noticeable bleed. Water resistance is passible; a dark purplish line remains legible. This is a lovely vibrant color that reminds me of a dark counterpart to Noodler’s Baystate Blue. The color is also standard enough that it could be used in most professional environments. They only thing that keeps me from buying a bottle is that the feathering and bleed through make it impossible to use on any paper I would run into outside the house. However, if you like saturated, slightly purplish dark blues and mostly use good paper, then this is not an ink you’ll want to miss. *A special thanks to lapis for sending a sample of this ink to me! Pens used (in order): 1. Pilot 78G Fine 2. Lamy Safari Broad 3. Pilot Plumix Italic 4. Noodler’s Nib Creaper Flex 5. Hero 5028 1.9mm Stub Swab Paper Towel Drop 80gsm Rhodia Tomoe River *Many thanks to Lord Epic for kindly sending me some of this paper! Check out that subtle sheen! 70gms Deli Copy Paper Moleskine Water Resistance Comparison (More blues to be added later) Thanks for reading! SDG

Penbbs is a Chinese online fountain pen community similar to FPN. They not only talk about inks but also produce their own inks every year. Each series consists of ten to fifteen inks and 2017 marks the release of Penbbs’ fifteenth ink series. Due to Chinese postal restrictions, these inks are virtually impossible to obtain outside of China. Within China they are extremely affordable (21 RMB or about US$3 per 60ml bottle) and can easily be purchased through the Chinese online shopping giant Taobao. This ink up for review is from Penbbs’ tenth series. It is named after the cornflower (centaurea cyanus) which can be various shades of blue or lavender. Personally, I think this ink is too dark and too purple to match the flower, but it’s a nice purple nonetheless. No. 116 is noticeably bluer than No. 95. It is very saturated (more so in person than in the photos) and has virtually no shading. This ink dries quickly and only shows a little feathering and bleed through with wet nibs. There is slight water resistance as well; the blue and purple components separate and leave a feint line. This is the best performing ink of the four Penbbs inks I’ve reviewed and is the only one I’d be comfortable using regularly on average paper. Penbbs No. 116 is a nice, vibrant blue-leaning purple that behaves itself, but doesn’t stand out as particularly interesting or exciting to me. Pens used (in order): 1. Pilot 78G Fine 2. Lamy Safari Broad 3. Pilot Plumix Italic 4. Noodler’s Nib Creaper Flex 5. Hero 5028 1.9mm Stub Swab Paper Towel Drop 80gsm Rhodia 73gsm Chinese Tomoe River Wannabe (brand unknown) 70gms Deli Copy Paper Moleskine Water Resistance Comparison Note: The comparison shows the ink's color more accurately than the other photos. It really is this dark. Here is Penbbs’ image of the bottle and label for reference: SDG

I'm currently reviewing some of my favourite Diamine inks. This one is from the Flowers Gift Set and is called Cornflower. As Blues are my favourite colours I'm reviewing Blues first Water test on the review form shows this isn't a waterproof ink, but it's water resistantBearing in mind the paper I use is very smooth, this ink dries fairly quickly.It flows very well and lubricates the nib very well. No start-up problems noticed.It is currently available in the gift set in 30ml glass bottles that are stable and user friendly.It's also now available in 30ml plastic bottles as refills.Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.