Diamine Majestic Blue

March 6, 2020

Diamine Majestic Blue

After reading so much nice reviews in Diamine inks I had to buy 2 bottles of their inks when I was at La Couronne du Comte. I bought the lovely teal a blue/green ink which reminded me a bit of De Aramentis Pigeon blue and this Diamine Majestic Blue.

I can say one thing in advance: I love these inks.

To start with I love the shape of the bottle which for me is a mixture of classy and classical

Btw did you know that Diamine uses almost the same lids on their bottles as De Atramentis does.

Anf there is one other thing it has in common with De Atramentis Steel blue ink… It keeps smudging but more to that later.

Anyway I will post another review where I will compare these 2 Inks…

Well now let’s go to business

Diamine Majestic Blue

points 1-5 1 = 5=

Fountain Pens: Diplomat Excellence A medium Nib / Online Best Writer 1.8 Italic Nib

Paper: Waldmühle Reflex Premium

Drying time: fast points 3

Flow: very smooth points: 5

Lubrication: smooth in both pens points: 5

Bleeding: absent) Points 5

Shading: medium points: 3

Scheening: High points 4

Waterproof: Keeps staining with water points: 2

Package: Nice bottle points: 4

Diamine Majestic Blue is a very well behaving ink. It is smooth it is saturated and it Sheeeens!!!

One thing is that itkeeps staining even after days of drying time with the smallest amount of water

The Smudge test

When I first wrote with this ink, I immediately loved the Colour, but I got somewhat disturbed by the smudging. It even smudges strongly after drying with jus a bit of spit on my fingertip.

I showed this to Dr J of De Atramentis when I visited him at home when I drove from Austria to Holland. He tested the ink and told me the ink was perfectly well and lovely. According to Dr J some Ink (colours) tend to smudge more than others.

And of course I have to say that most inks smudge a little as long as they are non-document inks… this one is just a little bit more talented at smudging 😉

Ink Comparison

Availability

La Couronne du Comte I guess Dennis and Rik would even travel to the moon to get it for you (just pay them a million or 2) Well it is safe to say that they do almost everything to satisfy their customers… Considering

http://www.lacouronneducomte

Bankers have Rothshield Ink lovers have the Goulet Pen Company. Rachel and Brian carry the almost* largest assortment of ink on earth an it's near surroundings

http://www.gouletpens.com

(*almost Dear Amberlea Davis carries the largest assortment in the universe but is not a seller

Larry Post of Australia is a Great Supplier of Stationary and Artist Equipments. They carry a lot of De Atramentis Inks

http://www.larrypost.com.au/

The same applies to Singapore based Arters of the utterly friendly Yitpeng and WeetekOng

http://arters.com.sg

Conclusion

This one of my first bottles of Diamine Ink and it was a most pleasant experience.

The smudging is a thing I am not really fond of, but I can live with it… Just be careful with fluids!

Therefore I really love the colour and that awesome sheeeeeeeeennnn 😊

I want more Diamine

March 6, 2020

Thank you for this review. I prefer this color over DeA Steel Blue . Your first scan seem to have a bit too green in it and it looks very much like Steel Blue, but the rest is pretty close to what I have.

March 6, 2020

Thank you for this review. I prefer this color over DeA Steel Blue . Your first scan seem to have a bit too green in it and it looks very much like Steel Blue, but the rest is pretty close to what I have.

Yes that Diamine is stunnig but I like the Steel Blue too

March 7, 2020

Thank you for the review.

You do not say much about the colour besides that fact that it's a deep blue.

Can you describe the colour better?

My experience, with my bottle, is that Majestic has a slight green tinge, and I tend to consider it a "sea blue".

In fact (as opposed to Eclipse157) my Majestic blue looks closer to your first scan, than the others.

Your "Ink comparison" is far too blue for me.

The greenness in the ink also shows more once the ink is dry.

I've tried to reduce the greenness by mixing it with Diamine Sapphire, but it's very difficult to get rid of the green tinge.

Sometimes I wonder whether it's my bottle...

Regarding the smudging, it happens because it's so saturated. You can reduce the smudging by diluting it slightly with water (10-20%), however when you do that it loses most of the sheen...

Edited March 7, 2020 by sansenri

April 15, 2020

Thank you for the review.

You do not say much about the colour besides that fact that it's a deep blue.
Can you describe the colour better?
My experience, with my bottle, is that Majestic has a slight green tinge, and I tend to consider it a "sea blue".
In fact (as opposed to Eclipse157) my Majestic blue looks closer to your first scan, than the others.
Your "Ink comparison" is far too blue for me.
The greenness in the ink also shows more once the ink is dry.
I've tried to reduce the greenness by mixing it with Diamine Sapphire, but it's very difficult to get rid of the green tinge.
Sometimes I wonder whether it's my bottle...

Regarding the smudging, it happens because it's so saturated. You can reduce the smudging by diluting it slightly with water (10-20%), however when you do that it loses most of the sheen...

I don't think it's just your bottle, sansenri., and the first line of the review does say "lovely teal a blue/green ink ".

I also have found that Majestic Blue has a slight green tinge to it, close to Robert Oster Blue Sea. Also, on Tomoe River paper, a red sheen halo, where ink has pooled.

The paper here is just no name, no weight, WH Smith notebook paper, which is more relevant to the types of paper I'd be using at work.

Of course, there's always a problem with reproducing colours online, and that's why I find comparisons invaluable.

April 16, 2020

Ah, thank you very much, this shows the tinge I see much more closely!

Admittedly I prefer the less green looking inks, and I think there is a net distinction between all inks before Diamine skull and roses and after it.

I am very much convinced it depends on the chemical dyes that are used (it is not so easy to fix a defined colour with dyes, the chemical dyes used have an own predominant colour, mixing them can shift the resulting colour, but there are usually some dominants which remain in the ink, which can usually be noted when you do a chromatographic separation...)

April 17, 2020

Thanks for the review, especially the comparisons with other inks.

Majestic Blue is a bit too smudgy for me, even without liquid on the hands. But it is a decent blue.

April 17, 2020

Thank you Peter for the review! I really appreciate your detailed comments.

While I really enjoy Diamine Majestic Blue, I love DeAtramentis Steel Blue even more. It is one of my "mainstay" inks.

Lately, I have been exploring many other Diamine inks. And I have found most of them to be excellent and very affordable. But to be honest, DeAtramentis is still my favorite ink brand. I don't have as many colors as I once had, or that I would like, but I appreciate the formulation and consistency from bottle to bottle.

August 29, 2020

For the #50shadesofbluechallenge (link to the hashtag on Instagram), a challenge over at the German PenExchange forum for July & August 2020, I inked up all my pens with all the 50+ blue inks I have. The snapshots might also be of interest to some here.

Diamine Majestic Blue is quite a sheener, you could say

I had it in a wet & juicy Platinum 3776 music nib, so the amount of ink laid on paper is considerable. Somewhere in the collages you find a comparison with the writing from another nib where the ink appears lighter.

The reddish cast Majestic Blue has is a bit more pronounced in my snapshots than in reality, but it is definitely a blue leaning towards blurple.

The sharper and finer writing was done with the reverse of the music nib which I did tune a bit before selling it some weeks ago. I like my nibs to be(come) versatile ...