Jump to content

Ink Review: Diamine Steel Blue


Chrissy

Recommended Posts

I'm currently reviewing some of my favourite Diamine inks.

 

This one is Diamine Steel Blue. It's quite a greenish turquoise, and in trying to do comparisons, I find that all of my others are blueish turquoises. This ink is quite a bright shade.

 

  • Bearing in mind the paper I use is very smooth, this ink dries quite quickly in 10-12 seconds.
  • It flows reasonably wet, and lubricates the nib quite well.
  • No start-up problems noticed. No skipping noticed.
  • It is currently available in 80ml glass bottles, or in 30ml plastic refill bottles directly from Diamine or from many online stores. The bottles don't have inkwells.
  • This isn't a waterproof ink.
  • Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.
  • It's reasonably priced.

 

fpn_1427897053__diamine_steel_blue1.jpg

 

fpn_1427897240__diamine_steel_blue2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 12
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Chrissy

    4

  • VivienR

    2

  • mcgeechan

    2

  • lapis

    1

Thanks for the nice review. I myself don't like it because I find it too tealish but I'd still say that "steelish" fits the bill quite nicely. Best fit -- or match -- IMO is with the colour of your pen's cap!

 

Mike

Edited by lapis

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been advised by a friend that this is the closest replacement for the now discontinued C d'ache Caribbean Sea

Edited by Chrissy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have been advised by a friend that this is the closest replacement for the now discontinued C d'ache Caribbean Sea

 

I think there is a comparison post about that here somewhere...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like.

Looks like another one for the ink to buy list.

I am glad Diamine do 30ml bottles, it allows us to have lots of ink without draining out our bank accounts.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like.

Looks like another one for the ink to buy list.

I am glad Diamine do 30ml bottles, it allows us to have lots of ink without draining out our bank accounts.

 

They are good in that they are inexpensive, and are therefore an excellent way to try an ink without breaking the bank. But so many of my pens won't fit into the top of the bottles so I can't fill them. Also, they are a bit unstable if you're accident prone like I am.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are good in that they are inexpensive, and are therefore an excellent way to try an ink without breaking the bank. But so many of my pens won't fit into the top of the bottles so I can't fill them. Also, they are a bit unstable if you're accident prone like I am.

 

I use an ink syringe most of the time to fill up my pens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Another option in this family of colors is Chesterfield Antique Mariner. It can be compared with the Diamine Steel Blue but it is not quite as "bright" on the page. It is probably my favorite in this color family and has a classy look without that ethereal glow some of these colors can have. Trouble is that Chesterfield ink (or renamed Diamine as some would say) was only available at X Fountain Pen which is now Birmingham Pen Co. and they no longer carry it but their own branded ink looks promising. Also been considering the same samples.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another option in this family of colors is Chesterfield Antique Mariner. It can be compared with the Diamine Steel Blue but it is not quite as "bright" on the page. It is probably my favorite in this color family and has a classy look without that ethereal glow some of these colors can have. Trouble is that Chesterfield ink (or renamed Diamine as some would say) was only available at X Fountain Pen which is now Birmingham Pen Co. and they no longer carry it but their own branded ink looks promising. Also been considering the same samples.

 

I dip tested a few of the Birmingham inks, but the only one I really liked was the brown [shadyside Walnut Street Brown] -- they seemed watery, but then someone told me that they weren't blotting the excess water from the nibs after the testing. Their steel blue was more saturated than some of the other colors, but it's not a color I particularly like.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another option in this family of colors is Chesterfield Antique Mariner. It can be compared with the Diamine Steel Blue but it is not quite as "bright" on the page. It is probably my favorite in this color family and has a classy look without that ethereal glow some of these colors can have. Trouble is that Chesterfield ink (or renamed Diamine as some would say) was only available at X Fountain Pen which is now Birmingham Pen Co. and they no longer carry it but their own branded ink looks promising. Also been considering the same samples.

 

Chesterfield inks were rebranded Diamine inks. According to the thread on here that I was reading just the other day, all of the colours matched up with Diamine colours. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if Antique Mariner was Steel Blue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not my idea of steel blue. There are very few green inks that I like & this looks like green to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...