Diamine Oxford Blue Review

[cgreenberg19]

Diamine Oxford Blue is a nice well behaved blue-black ink with a heavy red sheen. The ink has a very wet flow in the pens I've used with it. The ink has so much red sheen that when you write the ink almost looks like two colors, blue and red. The sheen does not show up in my pictures because of my lighting situation, but if you look the ink up and find some better photos, you will see the sheen. I used a Sailor 1911 with a Music Nib for the writing sample and a Pilot Custom Heritage 92 with a Broad on everything else. Attached below are some photos of the ink in action

 

 

 

[OCArt]

Thanks for posting this review, it looks like an interesting ink.

[JohnUphill]

This quickly became my favorite blue.

[inkstainedruth]

I won't say it's my favorite blue -- but I do like it a whole lot.

Thanks for the review. Trying to remember now if I've gotten any sheen with it....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[PaperDarts]

This ink is a new favourite of mine, thanks for the review. I've never noticed the red sheen - but I write with fine nibs (small handwriting) so that likely explains it.

[como]

I only recently bought this ink but didn't know that it had any sheening (I hadn't noticed any but I didn't look either). I just wanted to buy a nice blue ink and liked the way it looked. Gotta go check my vintage Radius which is currently inked with this one. I hope it's ok. I don't put sheening ink in vintage pens. Could anyone let me know if this ink can be a problem please? Many thanks.

[pararis]

Haven't used mine in a few years. Will have to play with it again. I do like how dark and saturated it is. Also have to test for watertightness. Thanks.

[WLSpec]

Was just about to search for an Oxford blue review when this came right up! Nice quick review, enjoyed reading it. I love Oxford Blue - my favorite blue perhaps after Pilot blue.

[como]

I had another look - it does have quite a bit of sheening, which I had not realised before as the blue is rather dark. Cleaned up my vintage pen with this ink and put it away. I think I will put this ink only in my cc pens as a rule for myself. Really a beautiful blue. I will use it a lot.

[Carguy]

I want to buy this ink, but from the sheen comments above, would I be correct in guessing that’s it’s not good for a Parker 51 or other vintage pen?

 

I can always use it in more modern pens but would love it if I could use it across the board!

[OCArt]

I wonder if you are confusing sheen with "sparkle" or whatever the addition of glitter to the ink is called? I would not want to put those sparkly inks in a pen that couldn't be easily cleaned. I do suppose sheen might be an indicator of a heavy dye load and something you'd want to avoid in a P51but aside from staining the sac what problems could result?

I want to buy this ink, but from the sheen comments above, would I be correct in guessing that’s it’s not good for a Parker 51 or other vintage pen?

I can always use it in more modern pens but would love it if I could use it across the board!

[mallymal1]

Interesting. Thanks for the review.

 

I'm another who has enjoyed this ink, but have not noticed any sheen.

 

I've looked back on where I've used it in the past, and I still see no sheen. However, I've recently swatched all my inks onto Tomoe River paper, and when I look at that, under a magnifier, there is a red sheen where the ink has pooled. Who'd 'ave known? Brilliant.

[inkstainedruth]

@ carguy -- OCArt is right. "Sheen" and "shimmer" are two entirely different things. But a lot of inks that do have sheen are also very saturated, and some people hesitate to put those in pens that are not easy to flush. (Me? I've used purple inks, and saturated ones at that, in my Plum Demi 51 Aero -- but I'd be more hesitant with a 51 Vac).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Carguy]

@ carguy -- OCArt is right. "Sheen" and "shimmer" are two entirely different things. But a lot of inks that do have sheen are also very saturated, and some people hesitate to put those in pens that are not easy to flush. (Me? I've used purple inks, and saturated ones at that, in my Plum Demi 51 Aero -- but I'd be more hesitant with a 51 Vac).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I pretty much exclusively use Diamine inks and some Aurora/Waterman, and I just bought this one to use in my new Pilot 823. I don’t have much experience with sheen or shimmer inks, but I do like this color a lot. I probably won’t use it in any of my 51’s just to be on the safe side. Lord knows I have enough other pens to use it in.

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

This is a beautiful colour!

 

Thank you for sharing, and damn you for making me add yet another ink to my list of things to buy...!

 

 

I pretty much exclusively use Diamine inks and some Aurora/Waterman, and I just bought this one to use in my new Pilot 823. I don’t have much experience with sheen or shimmer inks, but I do like this color a lot. I probably won’t use it in any of my 51’s just to be on the safe side. Lord knows I have enough other pens to use it in.

 

this:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/12704-drum-roll-the-salad-spinner-centrifuge/

 

This is how to clean out a 51.

While I haven't built one YET I have used the same PRINCIPLE, although far more dangerously. I Fill the pen with cool clean water, and then Flick the pen violently towards the sink until it is empty... Repeat .. Repeat, Repeat until the spray in the sink is clear, then do it a dozen more times...

 

Yeah, I know, on a long enough timeline the pen will slip from my hand and go nib first into the sink and then I'll be screwed. I live in fear of that day so my grip on the pen as I do this is borderline extreme. (think Charlton Heston and his guns)

 

That said, I still don't think I could bring myself to try and deal with a SHIMMER ink in a 51...

 

Thank you Ron for the amazing instructions. now if I could just get off my butt and make one...

 

*off to amazon to find a REALLY cheap salad spinner and a funnel.... Wonder how attached my wife is to the spinner we own now...*

[sansenri]

This is a very dark but still blue ink, which is among my favourites when needing/wanting a very dark blue.

A well behaved ink as far as I have tested.

I also own Diamine Regency, but have come to prefer Oxford, as Regency is so dark that it almost looks black.

[sansenri]

this:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/12704-drum-roll-the-salad-spinner-centrifuge/

 

This is how to clean out a 51.

While I haven't built one YET I have used the same PRINCIPLE, although far more dangerously. I Fill the pen with cool clean water, and then Flick the pen violently towards the sink until it is empty... Repeat .. Repeat, Repeat until the spray in the sink is clear, then do it a dozen more times...

 

Yeah, I know, on a long enough timeline the pen will slip from my hand and go nib first into the sink and then I'll be screwed. I live in fear of that day so my grip on the pen as I do this is borderline extreme. (think Charlton Heston and his guns)

 

I use the same technique, however when I do this (mostly to empty my piston fillers from water after washing) I grab them securely inside a cloth, so the residual water is retained by the cloth, and the pen has less chance to slip out of my hand...

The cloth also helps to understand when the pen is more or less dry as, if it does not become wet anymore, it means it's mostly dry (I still leave the pen uncapped to dry for a day or so)

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by sansenri

[inkstainedruth]

This is a beautiful colour!

 

Thank you for sharing, and damn you for making me add yet another ink to my list of things to buy...!

 

 

 

this:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/12704-drum-roll-the-salad-spinner-centrifuge/

 

This is how to clean out a 51.

While I haven't built one YET I have used the same PRINCIPLE, although far more dangerously. I Fill the pen with cool clean water, and then Flick the pen violently towards the sink until it is empty... Repeat .. Repeat, Repeat until the spray in the sink is clear, then do it a dozen more times...

 

Yeah, I know, on a long enough timeline the pen will slip from my hand and go nib first into the sink and then I'll be screwed. I live in fear of that day so my grip on the pen as I do this is borderline extreme. (think Charlton Heston and his guns)

 

That said, I still don't think I could bring myself to try and deal with a SHIMMER ink in a 51...

 

Thank you Ron for the amazing instructions. now if I could just get off my butt and make one...

 

*off to amazon to find a REALLY cheap salad spinner and a funnel.... Wonder how attached my wife is to the spinner we own now...*

 

I bought a new salad spinner so I could make one of those centrifuges, but never got around to it. I only tend to flush one pen at a time, though, so just draining into paper toweling (in another votive candle holder) tends to work for me. And it's easier to see if there's still old ink leaching out....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

I use the same technique, however when I do this (mostly to empty my piston fillers from water after washing) I grab them securely inside a cloth, so the residual water is retained by the cloth, and the pen has less chance to slip out of my hand...

The cloth also helps to understand when the pen is more or less dry as, if it does not become wet anymore, it means it's mostly dry (I still leave the pen uncapped to dry for a day or so)

 

 

I don't know why i had not thought to hold the pen in a cloth...

 

 

I bought a new salad spinner so I could make one of those centrifuges, but never got around to it. I only tend to flush one pen at a time, though, so just draining into paper toweling (in another votive candle holder) tends to work for me. And it's easier to see if there's still old ink leaching out....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I also usually only flush one pen at a time and I have recently tried FILLING with water and draining into paper towel repeatedly. I like the results, but it is so much slower than the shaking/centrifuge way.

 

I will still likely use the paper towel / leave the cap off for a couple of days afterwards method as my final step

 

A demonstrator Wing Sung 601 helps you to understand WHY you should do this last step... Now if only i could get the last of that diamine registrars staining off of the collector...

[inkstainedruth]

 

I don't know why i had not thought to hold the pen in a cloth...

 

 

I also usually only flush one pen at a time and I have recently tried FILLING with water and draining into paper towel repeatedly. I like the results, but it is so much slower than the shaking/centrifuge way.

 

I will still likely use the paper towel / leave the cap off for a couple of days afterwards method as my final step

 

A demonstrator Wing Sung 601 helps you to understand WHY you should do this last step... Now if only i could get the last of that diamine registrars staining off of the collector...

 

Yeah, I do that with caps too. It's amazing how much ink can collect in a cap, and a lo of people forget to clean them out as well as the pen itself. And even when I'm then draining the caps into paper toweling as well, it takes longer than for a pen.

Which is why, even though I got the new-to-me Parker 75 Ciselé arriving in the mail on Monday (YAY!) I didn't actually get to ink it up until yesterday -- I wanted to flush it out, just to be on the safe side, before I inked it up.

Liking the pen a lot, BTW -- it's a little heavier than some of my pens, but not as bad as the TWSBI-580AL and 580-ALR for weight; the B-ish nib is very smooth -- I've got Eclat de Saphir in it at the moment. It is a little slimmer than some of the pens I've gotten used to recently, so I'm not sure I'd be using it for writing the Great American Novel (but I have my 51s and my Pelikans for that).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth