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Review: Diamine China Blue


smiorgan

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Diamine China Blue: a really nice, light but characterful blue. I'm not a big user of blue, and this one won't make for a day to day ink owing to the light colour and poor contrast. Should be good for cards, though. It needs a wet pen, or even better a flex pen like my Noodler's Ahab.



It looks slightly violet in the scan but on the page there's no hint of violet. The ink is notable for changing colour over 24 hours as it dries (bottom swab is just applied, top has had a day to sit, middle has had about 9 hours).



Appears to even have a smidge of water resistance...



http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rjp1zlfNyV4/UrXIxhHbayI/AAAAAAAABQ0/HXSfPoW561o/s1600/chinablue.jpg



Also on my blog.

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I bought my first Diamine ink just a few days ago (Onxy black) and was very impressed with it.

 

Thank you for making this review China Blue might have to be my next ink purchase!

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It looks similar to the Iroshizuku Kon Peki ink.

 

I think that when I run out of Kon Peki, I will replace it with the Daimine China Blue.

 

What pen did you use and what size nib? Also, how did it write - wet or dry?

 

Thanks for the brief review.

 

Just think about it. In the (more distant) past, people simply used black, blue, blue-black, and maybe red or green. AND that's what it was called.

“Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today, because if you do it today and like it, you can do again tomorrow!”

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It looks similar to the Iroshizuku Kon Peki ink.

 

I think that when I run out of Kon Peki, I will replace it with the Daimine China Blue.

 

What pen did you use and what size nib? Also, how did it write - wet or dry?

 

I don't know the Kon Peki ink, so I couldn't comment on your comparison, but I'm getting more and more concerned with my scans--on this monitor it looks even more violet. I think the common denominator may be the Rhodia paper I'm using, although the scanner isn't great. I've now written on an index card and I'll scan that in a day or so.

 

The pen was a Noodler's Ahab, which writes wet when flexed. A dry fine nib will produce less depth of colour (obviously) but even a fat wet nib will go quite pale after a day or so.

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I love China Blue; I enjoy the way it becomes paler as it dries (down to a nice Delft blue colour), and it shades nicely in a wet flex nib.

 

Something very weird happened to a note I'd written in it on some scrap paper and left in the car over the summer; it turned pale greeny-turquoise. I don't know whether that was because of the heat, sunlight, or because the paper was acidic; interesting effect, though! Has anyone used it in the Fade Olympics?

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I like this ink and thanks for your review. I don't use it as often as I ought to though. I prefer their Presidential Blue in this sort of colour range.

The Good Captain

"Meddler's 'Salamander' - almost as good as the real thing!"

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  • 2 weeks later...

China Blue is one of my Indispensable inks, one that I will always have on hand. Once dry and the colour shift complete, it is very close to Iroshizuku Tsuyu-kusa, perhaps half a shade cooler.

 

Thanks for the review!

"I was cut off from the world. There was no one to confuse or torment me, and I was forced to become original." - Franz Joseph Haydn 1732 - 1809
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very nice blue color :thumbup: thanks for sharing

Pens are like watches , once you start a collection, you can hardly go back. And pens like all fine luxury items do improve with time

 

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I was looking for an ink to replace my Quink Washable Blue. I love the soft, gentle color of the QWB, but grew tired of the drastic fading I experienced with it. I just couldn't trust it for journalling.

 

So I samples maybe 15 different blues from Goulet, and chose D. China Blue as my replacement. A very close match it is to the QWB, slightly more colorful if anything. And I've found it pretty colorfast. China Blue has become a staple ink for me. Love the stuff.

Learning from the past does not mean living in the past.

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BTW, China Blue is very different from I. Kon Peki. Kon Peki is much more brilliant and saturated a color. More pure cerulean. China Blue is softer, more pastel. I love both, and use both all the time.

Learning from the past does not mean living in the past.

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Thank you for the nice review! Because of the difference between the color sample from Diamine self and this review, it really helps me for my ink choice. :)

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Diamine China Blue: a really nice, light but characterful blue. I'm not a big user of blue, and this one won't make for a day to day ink owing to the light colour and poor contrast. Should be good for cards, though. It needs a wet pen, or even better a flex pen like my Noodler's Ahab.

It looks slightly violet in the scan but on the page there's no hint of violet. The ink is notable for changing colour over 24 hours as it dries (bottom swab is just applied, top has had a day to sit, middle has had about 9 hours).

Appears to even have a smidge of water resistance...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rjp1zlfNyV4/UrXIxhHbayI/AAAAAAAABQ0/HXSfPoW561o/s1600/chinablue.jpg

Also on my blog.

 

Beautiful handwriting! The color is almost a pastel or chalky blue, but still bright. Or maybe it's my 5-year-old computer screen...

@arts_nibs

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  • 7 months later...

Looks like a great shade of blue without a lot of the cost associated with some of the sailor's and Pilot inks. Thanks for your review. Well done.

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This is my favorite blue. Occasionally I think to myself "Maybe I should try something that doesn't change color" but I 'm never satisfied with another blue. I think the color change is pretty unique to it and it is easy on the eyes wet or dry. It may sound goofy but I'd describe the ink as "charming. (It really shows it's potential in a flex nib.)

"A man's maturity consists in having found again the seriousness one had as a child, at play."

 

Friedrich Nietzsche

 

kelsonbarber.wordpress.com

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