Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

[Sailor Kenshin]

Lamy nibs are easily pulled to clean both that and the feed with a toothbrush.

[inkstainedruth]

True, but I had been using shimmer inks in what I think is a Pelikan M100 which had a 1 mm stub, thinking that it would be easy to clean.  Only some of the shimmer particles got stuck in the piston threads and I broke the piston -- and replacing that cost *way* more than I'd paid for the pen to begin with....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[IanScott]

Hi @Sailor Kenshin - Yes, they are not hard to pull - but the disappointment is in the fact the ink does not really behave well, at least in my particular pen. And when the ink is flowing, there is not much of any shimmer laid down on the paper.

[Black16]

3 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

Yikes!  is Red Dragon a shimmer ink?  Bummer.  I have not had good experience with shimmer inks (and not just with the pen I used to reserve for their use, either -- I discovered the hard way that the shimmer particles don't stay after the ink has dried.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Red Dragon is a regular ink while Dragon Blood is a shimmer one. @IanScott wrote about Dragon Blood, so if you wanted to get the Red Dragon - that is a regular ink.

[IanScott]

2 minutes ago, Black16 said:

Red Dragon is a regular ink while Dragon Blood is a shimmer one. @IanScott wrote about Dragon Blood, so if you wanted to get the Red Dragon - that is a regular ink.

Ahhh! You are so correct! I had a brain fart and confused the Red Dragon with the Dragon Blood, which is the one I'm complaining about... but this thread was about Red Dragon.

I feel silly now and my apologies for the confusion!

[Sailor Kenshin]

48 minutes ago, IanScott said:

Hi @Sailor Kenshin - Yes, they are not hard to pull - but the disappointment is in the fact the ink does not really behave well, at least in my particular pen. And when the ink is flowing, there is not much of any shimmer laid down on the paper.

 

Which is why I don't often use shimmer inks.

[Black16]

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

True, but I had been using shimmer inks in what I think is a Pelikan M100 which had a 1 mm stub, thinking that it would be easy to clean.  Only some of the shimmer particles got stuck in the piston threads and I broke the piston -- and replacing that cost *way* more than I'd paid for the pen to begin with....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I also agree with both troubles you got. I tried only one shimmer ink so far - De Atramentis Pearlescent Whiskey Brown Silver. It didn't clog the c/c pen but after I used it (only once! and I flushed it clean right after) the pen started to skip with all other inks so I guess I'll have to disassemble it and clean the feed with a toothbrush. The second issue I was afraid of to encounter but still considered trying this ink in my next piston pen. I am sure I'll get similar experience so I guess I'll just abandon this idea.

[Black16]

1 minute ago, IanScott said:

Ahhh! You are so correct! I had a brain fart and confused the Red Dragon with the Dragon Blood, which is the one I'm complaining about... but this thread was about Red Dragon.

I feel silly now and my apologies for the confusion!

No worries, happens to all of us! Dragon Blood was in my cart but thanks to you I'll reconsider

[IanScott]

Just now, Black16 said:

No worries, happens to all of us! Dragon Blood was in my cart but thanks to you I'll reconsider

Haha.. okay, good things can come out of brain farts after all.

Not sure if the Dragon Blood is available in a sample size which at least you could try it. I got the 50ml bottle after reading some people's reports of loving it and in their photo, you could obviously see the gold shimmer. Perhaps one of your pens will do better than mine. But a good example of why to try sample sizes if possible, before paying out for something that does not work for one, personally.

[Black16]

33 minutes ago, IanScott said:

Haha.. okay, good things can come out of brain farts after all.

Not sure if the Dragon Blood is available in a sample size which at least you could try it. I got the 50ml bottle after reading some people's reports of loving it and in their photo, you could obviously see the gold shimmer. Perhaps one of your pens will do better than mine. But a good example of why to try sample sizes if possible, before paying out for something that does not work for one, personally.

I usually never buy samples because if I'd like the ink I'll want a full bottle just immediately on my desk as I'll finish the sample the day I'll get it and to wait for the full bottle to arrive will be a pain if it won't be in the nearest store. So I usually choose and think a lot and then grab a full bottle. I have only one shimmer ink so far and I've no idea where to use it (I don't have anything to write with such inks) and my most used pens are all vintage or piston fillers. Just now I had to eventually disassemble a c/c pen I tried that ink in (Caran d'Ache 849) as it managed to clog the feed anyway so even after flushing and changing the ink to a regular one it started to skip badly. The feed appeared to have very narrow channels so this pen is definitely not for inks with particles. I'm considering buying a Kaweco Perkeo for this purpose now, but first I'll have to learn what kind of feed they have as it might be a waste of money. So yup I suggest to do the same if you wanna use shimmer inks - to find an easily disassembleable pen with c/c system and feed with wide channels. All in all fountain pens aren't made for such inks so it's not an easy quest to find one that'll endure them.

 

My shimmer ink was from De Atramentis, not Diamine, if anything. And I've another one in the mail - from PenBBS.

[inkstainedruth]

23 hours ago, IanScott said:

Ahhh! You are so correct! I had a brain fart and confused the Red Dragon with the Dragon Blood, which is the one I'm complaining about... but this thread was about Red Dragon.

I feel silly now and my apologies for the confusion!

Whew!  Of course my wallet is now *quite cranky* (especially after picking up 6 partly to mostly full bottles of ink on Saturday at a local estate sale (not tom mention a whole bunch of cartridges for a number of different brands, as well as 6 FPs, a Waterman pen that might be a BP or roller ball, and some unidentified converter that SEEMS to fit in one of the pens -- a Parker 45), and I'll have to add Red Dragon back into the spreadsheet I have of what sellers have what pens/inks/converters again....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Black16]

On 6/26/2025 at 6:49 PM, inkstainedruth said:

Whew!  Of course my wallet is now *quite cranky* (especially after picking up 6 partly to mostly full bottles of ink on Saturday at a local estate sale (not tom mention a whole bunch of cartridges for a number of different brands, as well as 6 FPs, a Waterman pen that might be a BP or roller ball, and some unidentified converter that SEEMS to fit in one of the pens -- a Parker 45), and I'll have to add Red Dragon back into the spreadsheet I have of what sellers have what pens/inks/converters again....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Feeling you so much actually! I just HAD to add that Dragon Blood after I got into dip pens now (yup being ill for a week made me dive into dip pens to cheer myself up, what an awful situation...) and so I have inks for around £140 worth in my carts at different stores without calculating the shipping and it is all in the asap section only and without counting all the pens and nibs I must get as well. 'Tis all when I have literally zero funds for all the "little treats" currently. Well maybe I'll make a deal with myself and buy only Parker Black or something of course, it might not hurt... The best moment in ordering from far-away online stores is that you have time while it arrives so you can hold on with your impulsive hauls, sometimes.