Ink Review: New Ink Colour! Diamine Oxford Blue

[Mathematics Teacher]

This looks very similar to Chesterfield Antique Yankee - I would love to see a comparison of these two inks, knowing that Chesterfield is rebranded Diamine ink, but the Antique line of colors do not have a one-to-one Diamine color match.

Edited April 9, 2016 by Mathematics Teacher

[grainweevil]

Thank you for rising from your bed of sickness to do this, Chrissy. Hope you feel better soon.

 

Must admit I was initially somewhat "Meh" but then I wondered, how does it compare to the base colour of Shimmertastic Blue Pearl? An ink I really rather like apart from the glittery bits.

[Chrissy]

Thank you for rising from your bed of sickness to do this, Chrissy. Hope you feel better soon.

 

Must admit I was initially somewhat "Meh" but then I wondered, how does it compare to the base colour of Shimmertastic Blue Pearl? An ink I really rather like apart from the glittery bits.

 

Thank you. Oxford Blue is darker than the ink that was used to make Shimmertastic Blue Pearl

[radellaf]

This looks very similar to Chesterfield Antique Yankee - the Antique line of colors do not have a one-to-one Diamine color match.

 

 

None of them officially do. However, Yankee is an absolute dead ringer for my sample of Midnight. If this is darker than Midnight, it should be darker than Antique Yankee.

[J85909266]

It looks wonderful in your review. I'll definitely be getting a sample, at least.

[Bill Wood]

Thanks Chrissy. This would be a good standard in the blue/black and navy range. Nice work.

[namrehsnoom]

Nice review of a very nice-looking dark blue. This is one ink that I will put on my wishlist (along with dozens of others )

[Gloucesterman]

 

 

None of them officially do. However, Yankee is an absolute dead ringer for my sample of Midnight. If this is darker than Midnight, it should be darker than Antique Yankee.

 

Be aware that an ink labelled "Chesterfield Antique Oxford" is available through xfountainpens.com.* I have a bottle that, although not currently in any of my pens, looks VERY, Very similar with swatch or in the bottle.

*P.S. No affiliation

[Starguard]

I like the color quite a bit, I'm looking forward to it's release. Thank you for the excellent review!

[radellaf]

 

Be aware that ... Antique Oxford..., looks VERY, Very similar with swatch or in the bottle.

 

 

 

Antique Oxford is a much more saturated blue than the (Diamine Midnight-like) Antique Yankee. It's as bright, and less green, than Diamine Majestic Blue.

 

Comparison here https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/306282-chesterfield-antique-colors-line-of-ink/ and also here https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/121990-chesterfield-ink-to-diamine-cross-reference/?p=3549398

 

From what I see here Diamine Oxford is going to be a lot darker than Chesterfield Antique Oxford. Looking forward to the release, though. Checking the Diamine site every few days. Anyone know a date yet?

Edited April 20, 2016 by radellaf

[Chrissy]

I thought release date wasn't that far off when I received my sample.

[jmccarty3]

This ink is a worthy companion to the de Atramentis Sherlock Holmes. Most Sherlockian scholars, but not all, agree that Holmes attended Oxford.

[Chrissy]

I still can't see it on the Diamine web-site, but I think they might be waiting for the new glass bottles. So when they have these, they will hopefully release Oxford Blue in them.

[jandrese]

Thanks for the review. Looks like an OK ink. My favorite recently released Diamine blue is Shimmertastic Blue Pearl. Not so much for the shimmer, just a nice blue and almost incredibly a very well behaved ink.

[CharlieB]

I'm always looking for a really dark blue without any green or teal -- and it has to be a low maintenance ink. In the Diamine portfolio, I am interested in comparing Oxford Blue, Midnight Blue, and Blue Black. I also like the color of the Majestic Blue, but I hear it is high maintenance.

[radellaf]

Here's a cut-together scan of my swabs for those three Diamine blues. Majestic is nice but I wouldn't call it dark. Maintenance isn't _that_ bad. Blue Velvet is, to me, indistinguishable from either Monteverde Horizon Blue and the discontinued Penman Sapphire. It's my favorite of the bunch but I think of it as the brightest blue this side of Bay State, not a dark blue. Try out the Goulet and Anderson ink tools. There are plenty of inks near these colors that I think you'd like. Then try some samples. Anderson Pens has 3mL vs Goulet 2mL if that matters. Diamine 30mL bottles from the UK website are also pretty darn cheap: 5x 30mL shipped to the USA for about $21 (delete the 5mL sample from the basket or shipping doubles).

 

http://i.imgur.com/9ufd8ya.jpg

 

And here's Goulet and Anderson's take:

 

http://i.imgur.com/aPloU08.jpg

[Chrissy]

I'm always looking for a really dark blue without any green or teal -- and it has to be a low maintenance ink. In the Diamine portfolio, I am interested in comparing Oxford Blue, Midnight Blue, and Blue Black. I also like the color of the Majestic Blue, but I hear it is high maintenance.

 

Out of the inks you mention, (all low maintenance in my experience), I like Oxford Blue the best.

1864 Blue-Black is much more black, and Oxford Blue is more saturated than Midnight Blue.

[Chrissy]

Here's a cut-together scan of my swabs for those three Diamine blues. Majestic is nice but I wouldn't call it dark. Maintenance isn't _that_ bad. Blue Velvet is, to me, indistinguishable from either Monteverde Horizon Blue and the discontinued Penman Sapphire. It's my favorite of the bunch but I think of it as the brightest blue this side of Bay State, not a dark blue. Try out the Goulet and Anderson ink tools. There are plenty of inks near these colors that I think you'd like. Then try some samples. Anderson Pens has 3mL vs Goulet 2mL if that matters. Diamine 30mL bottles from the UK website are also pretty darn cheap: 5x 30mL shipped to the USA for about $21 (delete the 5mL sample from the basket or shipping doubles).

 

http://i.imgur.com/9ufd8ya.jpg

 

And here's Goulet and Anderson's take:

 

http://i.imgur.com/aPloU08.jpg

Thank you for this.

[CharlieB]

How would you rank this group of blues in terms of drying times and smearing? (Goulet's video review of Majestic Blue says it dries too slowly and smears like crazy.)

[radellaf]

I don't test for that, but none of them take long enough or smear enough to be notable when I've used them.

 

Majestic would be the worst in those regards, but part of it is that Brian is always writing on Rhodia paper. I usually use something more absorbent. I also go for nibs on the finer & drier side so they work well on a variety of paper. Between those two things, an ink has to be pretty bad to cause me problems. In general, Diamine ink is pretty well behaved.

 

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