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Help Me Round Out My Diamine Ink Purchase


Mister John

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Generally, I don't worry too much about smearing so I can't help there. Except that Indicago seems to me to dry comparatively fast.

Meadow

Wild Strawberrry

Red Dragon

Denim

To hold a pen is to be at war. - Voltaire
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Okay, here are the top 8 so far. Reds seem to be leading the way.

 

1. Majestic blue

2. Syrah

3. Ancient Copper

4. Red Dragon

5. Asa Blue

6. Pumpkin

7. Matador red

8. Chocolate Brown

 

There is tremendous variation in tastes, 35 different colors received at least one supporter and no color had more than six backers. I'm very surprised to find pumpkin in the mix. It would never have occurred to me to even consider this color. Now, I cannot wait to try it. The other surprise is Asa blue, which did not seem all that exciting from the color swatch, is apparently a whole lot more interesting when seen in person to judge from the enthusiasm here.

 

I intend to close the voting by Saturday morning and then make my order.

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I wouldn't have thought I'd be interested in gray either, but I fell in love with Noodler's 54th Massachusetts, which is more of a gray-blue. I figure it's worth trying a more neutral dark gray.

 

(Have you tried 54th? I'll bet it would look sharp on that yellow legal pad of yours.)

 

 

I haven't, but I'm sure a sample will be in my next order from Goulet!

Girls say they want a guy with serious ink, but then pretend to be bored when I show off all my fancy fountain pens. ~ Jason Gelles

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For what it's worth, someone mentioned Majestic Blue and smearing. That concerned me, as I'd never tested it, but have been signing letters with it for about a month! So I tried it and left it out for about 30 seconds or so—not even a smudge here. That was using a post-it note, for what it's worth, but thought you'd want to know.

Girls say they want a guy with serious ink, but then pretend to be bored when I show off all my fancy fountain pens. ~ Jason Gelles

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This damn thread ... Now I just want to send a blank check to Goulet with "All Diamines" in the memo line! :)

Girls say they want a guy with serious ink, but then pretend to be bored when I show off all my fancy fountain pens. ~ Jason Gelles

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Okay, here are the top 8 so far. Reds seem to be leading the way.

 

1. Majestic blue

2. Syrah

3. Ancient Copper

4. Red Dragon

5. Asa Blue

6. Pumpkin

7. Matador red

8. Chocolate Brown

 

There is tremendous variation in tastes, 35 different colors received at least one supporter and no color had more than six backers. I'm very surprised to find pumpkin in the mix. It would never have occurred to me to even consider this color. Now, I cannot wait to try it. The other surprise is Asa blue, which did not seem all that exciting from the color swatch, is apparently a whole lot more interesting when seen in person to judge from the enthusiasm here.

 

I intend to close the voting by Saturday morning and then make my order.

Alas, no love for Diamine Registrar's. I guess it's just not that exciting. :(

 

Seriously. That's a great list so far. You may consider adding a flex pen or two to the order. In the interest of science, of course.

 

This damn thread ... Now I just want to send a blank check to Goulet with "All Diamines" in the memo line! :)

AMEN! It's all I can do to justify my ink collection to my wife as is. My mantra: "Yes dear, I know it is another blue. It's a different shade of blue." If all else fails: "No, I don't care if you buy that new purse. I understand it's a different shade of brown." :D

"If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special."-Jim Valvano

 

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem."-Ronald Reagan

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The cheapest I've found Diamine 30mL is $6 over at isellpens, so if I'm buying a few bottles I always pick them up from Diamine since it ends up saving you a bundle. Also, I'm pretty sure shipping from Diamine is only around $7 USD (£5 ) not $16.

Anyway, I definitely recommend Marine if you're looking for a quick drying ink, it dries almost instantly in my experience. I also love Bilberry, Grape, Amazing Amethyst, Damson, Steel Blue, Emerald, Asa Blue, and Ochre. Majestic Blue is also lovely, but it definitely does not fit your qualifications of quick drying or non-smearing.

Edited by K. Cakes

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

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My source is direct from Diamine. http://www.diamineinks.co.uk/

 

They sell 30ml at GBP 2.67, but since US shipments don't pay VAT, this falls to around GBP 2.22, which is about $3.50 USD. Now, the problem for us Yanks is that it costs about $16 to ship from the UK flat rate. So the key is buying in some quantity. Four bottles takes the per unit cost down to $7/bottle, 7 bottle takes the cost under $6/bottle. My 12 bottle buy puts the cost per bottle at a very reasonable $4.75/bottle, a bargain when you think about it.

 

We should form a Diamine buyer's club to buy at large scale and then redistribute stateside; thus pushing the cost down close to $3.50/bottle. At that price, it would be the best value on the market.

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Graphite is definitely worth a try. My other favourites are Bilberry and Hope Pink.

It's quite nice out here in the sunshine...

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I have the Grape and am waiting for Umber in the mail.
Grape is fun to mix with both black and blue!

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Syrah and Red Dragon, for sure.

If you'd like a warm, uber bright pink, try Cerise.

Edited by Cake
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If you really like the blues, the Sargasso Sea changes to a very nice bright blue if you add a bit of water to it.

Sapphire is also a nice blue.

Diamine Chocolate is pretty close to Montblanc toffee brown.

Macassar is a very dark brown that looks almost black in a wet pen.

 

Diamine's pricing for 30ml is the same as for 80ml, but if you are shipping to the States, the bottle works out at the weight of 2 bottles of ink, so rather get the 30ml bottles to save on weight.

 

The colour and drying time depend on how wet a writer your pen is and what thickness nib you use.

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My favorites are:

Mediteranian Blue

Soft Mint

Chocolate Brown

Billberry

Ancient Copper

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Thank you all for your input. I put in my order to Diamine a few moments ago. Now I'm super excited for the inks to arrive. Many of these would never have occurred to me to choose, so I'm quite interested to see what FPN has picked out for me. In particular, Bilberry, Pumpkin, and Red Dragon were not on my radar screen at all. Asa is a nice enough blue, but it does not stand out in the ink swatch on the Diamine site. I'm guessing that these are inks where the scans don't do justice, which is why I started this little poll in the first place.

 

Without further ado, the final winners were:

 

Blues:

Sargasso Sea

Majestic

Asa

Bilberry

 

Black-ish:

Green-black

Eclipse

 

Reds:

Syrah

Oxblood

Red Dragon

 

Browns:

Chocolate

Ancient Copper

 

Orange:

Pumpkin

 

A few inks didn't quite make the final list, but were extremely close, ending up in a tie situation with the last to make the cut (pumpkin).

 

Graphite (?) - huh, I just could not pull the trigger on gray ink.

Matador Red

Grape

 

Interestingly, no greens made the list (other than green-black, which was an automatic pick by me.) A number of greens received multiple votes, but there is no consensus on any single green. Red is obviously much more popular than green among FPN users. Those greens receiving love were:

 

Meadow

Delamere

Evergreen

 

Chocolate ran away with the brown category, but there was significant love for Macassar and Ochre as well.

 

No blacks came anywhere near the list. I suppose there are much better options than Diamine for black. I've been quite happy with Noodler's bulletproof black as well as Pelikan brilliant black. I don't really get much of a charge out of blacks, so it is just as well to leave them off the list.

 

Of the light colors, there were a few suggestions, but no strong interest. No yellows were mentioned at all. Hope pink and mint green each got a mention, as did the retina-cauterizing (in my humble view) cerise.

 

Two out of the box suggestions were both for blue-blacks. One person suggested registrar's ink. Oddly, this costs triple the amount of other Diamine inks. I know it is made from iron gall instead of the usual dyes and pigments, but why so expensive? The other out of the box suggestion was for Noodler's 54th Mass. i may pursue a similar strategy for Noodler's stuff if I could find a way to source it for less than $12.50/bottle. I don't want the commitment of their giant bottles. Maybe samples?

 

 

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Alas, no love for Diamine Registrar's. I guess it's just not that exciting. :(

 

Seriously. That's a great list so far. You may consider adding a flex pen or two to the order. In the interest of science, of course.

 

AMEN! It's all I can do to justify my ink collection to my wife as is. My mantra: "Yes dear, I know it is another blue. It's a different shade of blue." If all else fails: "No, I don't care if you buy that new purse. I understand it's a different shade of brown." :D

 

Now that sounds just like me ... :D

Girls say they want a guy with serious ink, but then pretend to be bored when I show off all my fancy fountain pens. ~ Jason Gelles

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Thank you all for your input. I put in my order to Diamine a few moments ago. Now I'm super excited for the inks to arrive. Many of these would never have occurred to me to choose, so I'm quite interested to see what FPN has picked out for me. In particular, Bilberry, Pumpkin, and Red Dragon were not on my radar screen at all. Asa is a nice enough blue, but it does not stand out in the ink swatch on the Diamine site. I'm guessing that these are inks where the scans don't do justice, which is why I started this little poll in the first place.

 

Asa does look much nicer in person. Especially in stub nibs where it has really lovely shading.

 

Please keep us updated on how you end up enjoying the inks. I'm very curious!

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

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A few inks didn't quite make the final list, but were extremely close, ending up in a tie situation with the last to make the cut (pumpkin).

 

Graphite (?) - huh, I just could not pull the trigger on gray ink.

Matador Red

Grape

 

Interestingly, no greens made the list (other than green-black, which was an automatic pick by me.) A number of greens received multiple votes, but there is no consensus on any single green. Red is obviously much more popular than green among FPN users. Those greens receiving love were:

 

Meadow

Delamere

Evergreen

 

FWIW I ordered 8 bottles from Diamine recently, including Graphite, Evergreen and Meadow. Meadow is a "hilighter" ink for me, the other two I wanted for a green twist on black/grey (what I really wanted was Noodler's Zhivago, but couldn't get that). Neither are bright. I like Graphite a lot, it's certainly a green grey and a bit more expressive than the Evergreen. But it's definitely a grey ink.

 

Expect to be surprised with your choices--China Blue was a (slight) let-down for me, while I only put Hope Pink in to round out the purchase and I'm really taken with it.

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