Diamine Blue Black

[blueiris]

I received my Diamine Blue Black recently from Pear Tree Pen Company (hi, JamesP!), and I love the color of this ink. I was not sure what to expect, color-wise, and it is hard to describe, but I'll do my best to compare it with other inks that I know.

 

COLOR: It's a subdued (not bright) dark blue with hints of green, but despite how it sounds, I would never call it a teal color. In a wet writer, it is "inky-dark." I used it to write on white, cream, and a medium-blue stationery, and even on the blue, it is very readable.

 

-Compared with my friend's bottle of Noodler's Navy, it is almost identical in color, albeit not as saturated as the Noodler's. My friend's bottle of Navy is not what I think of as "navy," but if you know the color, you know what I mean.

 

-Compared with Sheaffer Skrip Blue Black (Slovenia), the Skrip has gray/black tones that the Diamine does not have. It is not very similar to the Diamine version of Blue Black.

 

-Compared with Levenger Cobalt, the Cobalt is much more saturated and does not contain the hints of green. It is also a bolder color, whilst the Diamine is more murky.

 

-Upon seeing it, I thought of it as a vintage-inspired color. I was looking at house paint not too long ago, and Diamine Blue Black reminds me of the color palettes that were suggested for Victorian or Arts&Crafts era homes. It does not look like a bright, modern hue.

 

FLOW: It seems to flow very well. It does not seem to be a thick or viscous ink.

 

SHADING: I see some, but not tons. This might be due to my using the ink in very wet writers, though.

 

FEATHERING: This is Diamine Blue Black's shortcoming. It feathers on almost everything. No feathering: Crane's felt-finish heavy card stock (but it is tough writing on the felt finish with a fountain pen). Slight feathering/acceptable: Crane's kid-finish 100% cotton card stock, 32lb. HP uncoated laserjet paper, Ampad 20lb. Gold Fibre ivory legal pad, misc. brand printer paper at my office. Unacceptable feathering: thin, lined notebook paper, including Ampad Gold Fibre Steno Book.

 

DRYING TIME: I think it takes a little longer than average to dry, but again, I'm using it in a wet writer.

 

In summary, I happen to love the color and the easy flow of Diamine Blue Black. Because of the feathering, I probably would avoid using it to sign greeting cards or to write letters on paper of unknown quality.

 

The attached image is a photo taken without flash, using only natural daylight. I adjusted it for brightness but did not adjust the colors at all. I placed splotches of Skrip regular Blue (not the above-mentioned Blue Black) and Diamine Umber to show how different this ink is from straight blue and straight dark green.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

EDIT: the photo is small, so I'll try to attach another one later

Edited February 10, 2007 by blueiris

[demeter]

blueiris

 

Thanks for the review. I'm expecting a bottle soon too. You think it would feather on Rhodia papers too?

 

Andrew

[gylyf]

blueiris

 

Thanks for the review. I'm expecting a bottle soon too. You think it would feather on Rhodia papers too?

 

Andrew

No, you'll be fine with good-quality paper like Rhodia, Clairefontaine, or Miquelrius. At least, I've never had a problem with Diamine BB and those papers, and I write with pretty wet nibs. HTH,

 

David

[Matt]

Diamine BB is one of my favorite blue inks. Behaves very well.

 

Matt C.

[blueiris]

Ok, I updated the photo above. It doesn't show just how dark the Blue Black or Umber can go, and there is more of a difference in depth when written with a drier writer. But I hope the photo comparison is useful to see the tones represented in the Diamine Blue Black, Umber, and Sheaffer Skrip Blue.

 

To Demeter: I've never used Rhodia paper, but I imagine the feathering would be controlled, if there is any at all. I think my bulk paper, though heavy, is not consistent from sheet to sheet. Sometimes I get no feathering at all. But on notebook paper, forget it, both the Blue Black and Umber feather a lot.

 

As for Umber, I like it. It probably came from the same batch Phthalo reviewed recently, and I see it as she sees it: a cool dark green with no hints of blue or yellow--just dark green. It is like a murkier, slightly darker, not as saturated/vivid version of Noodler's Green Marine. I avoid using it on regular notebook paper because it feathers on that.

[gene]

That is very odd. i have two bottle Diamine, blue black and jet black. both ink are on the dry side. if i leave my cap open for 30 seconds, the ink stop flowing. this had happened in almost all my pens, edson, M800, 1000, Dani Mikado, MB149....

[Fox in the Stars]

I filled a fine-pointed Waterman Kultur with Diamine Blue-Black (like the color a lot) and left it capped for a few days, and when I picked it up I couldn't get it to write at all. (Currently cleaning it out.) ;_;

[lmederos]

I love the Diamine BlueBlack ink.

 

It is a nice color for business use, but I find I like it for almost every use.

 

However, I experience no feathering, except when I use my Signum wide medium nib pen (almost broad...) on plain old printer/copier paper. My experiences with Pelikan, Signum fine nib, FILCAO, Lamy, Sailor and a Chinese Haolilai have been very good on any paper so far.

 

 

[omasfan]

One of my favorite colors. Again, as David already pointed out, there is no feathering on papers like Rhodia or Clairefontaine. I also use Domtar Microprint Laser paper, and again, there is no feathering. A great ink! Thanks for the write-up.

[piembi]

That is very odd. i have two bottle Diamine, blue black and jet black. both ink are on the dry side. if i leave my cap open for 30 seconds, the ink stop flowing. this had happened in almost all my pens, edson, M800, 1000, Dani Mikado, MB149....

 

I have inked a vintage Pelikan 400 with Diamine BB. The ink flow does not stop if the pen is uncapped for more than a minute. I have noticed no difference compared to other inks.

 

And because of the vintage nib I have some nice shading.

 

Only problem is: I am not too fond of it's green hues.

[mrjustice]

Can anyone who has used this ink compare it to Waterman's BB?

[KCat]

I've had no trouble with feathering on Rhodia paper from any Diamine inks.

 

Nice review!

[punch]

One of my favorite inks. I always have at least one pen inked up with it.

[behrendprof]

I really like this ink a great deal. It is well behaved out of the pen - and later. That is, it holds color much better than my current bottle of Waterman blue-black which goes turqoise pretty quickly.

 

Actually, all the Diamine inks I have tried have been excellent

[snorkeler]

Diamine Blue-Black is my favorite blue-black ink and one of my favorite inks altogether. It is a little darker than Waterman Blue-Black, and as noted above does not turn to teal or turquoise the way Waterman Blue-Black often does (I do also like Waterman BB a lot, however).

[tawanda]

I love Diamine inks altogether, and I think its fantastic that on their website, they sell smaller (30ml) quantities very reasonably priced, for you to try before forking out for an 80ml bottle. Good on you Diamine!

I bought the BB just two weeks ago, and I have to say I agree with everything blueiris says, especially that it has that old-time feel to it. I do find it a bit of a dry writer compared to the Diamine Imperial Purple, which, though gorgeous in hue and tone, is the only Diamine to give me trouble in my Moleskine, even in a fine nibbed Hero 332. But the BB always starts up first time, every time, the line is just a little drier is all.

I also bought Umber, but really didn't like it from the get-go, not deep enough for my tastes. I'm still looking for a true bottle green colour, if anyone has any suggestions.

[Jersey Diabolo]

I also bought Umber, but really didn't like it from the get-go, not deep enough for my tastes. I'm still looking for a true bottle green colour, if anyone has any suggestions.

 

By "bottle green", I assume you mean something similar to the color of the old 7-Up glass bottles.

 

Private Reserve Sherwood Green is a beautiful, deep green. It may be just a tad darker and it doesn't have the translucency - no pun intended - of the glass bottles mentioned above. Drying time is a bit slow and there are reports of some smearing, although I haven't experienced the latter. My pen dealer warned me away from the "fast dry" version of this ink - there were complaints.

 

Still, an elegant color that is easy on the eyes and holds up well over time.

[tawanda]

Thanks Jersey

I'll look into that!

T

[mediaguy]

The Diamine blue-black is my favourite ink. When I ran out and couldn't find

a replacement bottle at my local pen shop, I purchased the Waterman's blue-black.

 

Using my daily writer, a Pelikan M805 fine nib, I've found a few differences:

 

Diamine:

Pro: The Diamine has more variation in colour (partly due to being a dryer writer)

with that lovely, ever-so-slight green hue

Con: The Diamine caked up & stopped flow routinely, and at unfortunate times

(several hours into an all-day workshop while taking copious notes)

 

Waterman

Pro: The Waterman flows more freely, giving a slightly wider line without as

much variation, mostly navy blue

Con: I miss the colour variation of the Diamine

 

Despite the Waterman being an easier, more reliable ink (never cakes, always flows)

I will likely go back to Diamine's blue-black because the colour reminds me of the

Pacific Ocean off Canada's West coast and for that reason, I can't help but smile

whenever I review my scribblings.

Edited March 5, 2009 by mediaguy

[The Bantam Scribbler]

Diamine Blue-Black is an absolutely stunning color, but I don't use it much because I heard somebody say it's an iron-gaul ink and I thought I remembered reading that those were very corrosive inside fountain pens (especially piston-fillers). Can anybody substantiate this?