EFNIR: Diamine Silver Fox

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Diamine Silver Fox

This is review #213 in my series. Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Cleaning was quick and easy.  This is a cool grey, but with a green tinge rather than the usual blue. I don't really have another ink like it. Chroma didn't show the green, but it was clear in the microscopy. The images are all the wrong shade of grey (not darkness-wise, but color-wise) and I couldn't manage to get them to look right.  (OK, first time I've seen the images, including the video thumbnail, on my new computer, and they've got too much green in them compared to what I see in reality, which is just a tinge of green in the background.)

Zoomed in photo (This seems the closest to what my eyes see.)

Screenshot (This is second best, but too blue.)

Scan of Completed Review (This is awful, all wrong.)

Absorbent Paper Close-up (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper) (This isn't too bad.)

Line width (One of the lines used for dry time. Magnification is 100x. The grid is 100x100µm. The scale is 330µm, with eleven divisions of 30µm each. The line width for this ink is roughly 285µm. With 213 inks measured, the average line width is 295µm.)

Microscope image (100x. More green than reality, but gives you an idea.)

Microscope image (400x. More green than reality, but gives the general idea.)

Previous Review: Monteverde Amethyst.

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap.

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View a list of my inks, complete with review results in a google sheet.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh? Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy. Comments appreciated!

[Sailor Kenshin]

It's a wizard palace!  👍🏻

And Quin and his staff are beginning to know a little about one another.  🎉

 

I have this ink, which I got when I was on my gray ink kick, and for its triangle bottle, 'cause I'm like that.  Even in a Not-EF nib, it seemed a little pale and pencil-y.  I think the green undertones are interesting, and it's even more pronounced in last year's InkVent Ash, which is now loaded in a Jinhao 82.  And that looks pencil-y as well.

 

Thanks as always for the ink reviews and serial, @LizEF.

 

 

[Lithium466]

I often refrain to comment to avoid repeating the same thing over and over, but I'd like to thank @LizEF for these reviews. They are immensely helpful and insightful and fit an often unexplored side of ink reviews.

 

(I do after all write with EF to F nibs, and not cotton swab...despite all my attempts and goodwill, I fail miserably at anything artistic!)

[LizEF]

45 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

It's a wizard palace!  👍🏻

 

46 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

And Quin and his staff are beginning to know a little about one another.  🎉

Now I just have to remember to add her to the story now and then...

 

48 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

I have this ink, which I got when I was on my gray ink kick, and for its triangle bottle, 'cause I'm like that.  Even in a Not-EF nib, it seemed a little pale and pencil-y.  I think the green undertones are interesting, and it's even more pronounced in last year's InkVent Ash, which is now loaded in a Jinhao 82.  And that looks pencil-y as well.

I had a hard time getting any image close to the actual color my eyes see - so I suppose "grey" isn't so colorless as it sounds.  Today is the first time I've posted using this laptop (my old one, my favorite of all time finally informed me it was quitting and I'd better migrate) and I'm surprised how different colors look on the two - it's a wonder any of us are able to estimate the color of any product with even remote accuracy when looking at them via computer screens...   Meanwhile, there is something appealing (for some bizarre reason) about ink that looks like pencil marks...

 

52 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Thanks as always for the ink reviews and serial, @LizEF.

You are very welcome!

[LizEF]

15 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

I often refrain to comment to avoid repeating the same thing over and over, but I'd like to thank @LizEF for these reviews. They are immensely helpful and insightful and fit an often unexplored side of ink reviews.

  Thank you!  And you're most welcome.  (And yes, this unexplored extra fine side of ink reviews is why I'm doing this.  It's a gaping, if very narrow, chasm! )

 

16 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

(I do after all write with EF to F nibs, and not cotton swab...despite all my attempts and goodwill, I fail miserably at anything artistic!)

Yeah, I don't know how people manage to write with those great big triple extra super-broad nibs.

[yazeh]

Great review@LizEF 

Microscopic image is so apropos for the season! I have to admit the grey, greys, leave me indifferent but the greys with hint of oomph (read any hint of colour are quite nice!). 

The staff is playing hard to get. She seems to be quite high maintenance. Quin is in for the journey

 

 

[Lithium466]

24 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Yeah, I don't know how people manage to write with those great big triple extra super-broad nibs.

😂 A5 is my preferred size of paper these days (has to fit between my keyboard and my belly after all), and you won't fit much text on an A5 using a super broad nib!

[LizEF]

21 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Great review@LizEF 

Thank you!

 

22 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Microscopic image is so apropos for the season! I have to admit the grey, greys, leave me indifferent but the greys with hint of oomph (read any hint of colour are quite nice!). 

Yes, I'm beginning to agree with you - after a slew of Herbin greys, I'm sort of greyed out.

 

22 minutes ago, yazeh said:

The staff is playing hard to get. She seems to be quite high maintenance. Quin is in for the journey

[LizEF]

12 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

😂 A5 is my preferred size of paper these days (has to fit between my keyboard and my belly after all), and you won't fit much text on an A5 using a super broad nib!

  Exactly.

[namrehsnoom]

Thank you for this review - I really like this grey, and it's been way too long since it has filled a pen. For a grey ink, it's really readable in F nibs, which are the typical nibs in my Kaweco EDC pens.  And I also found this ink to be quite water-resistant (not waterproof, but it can survive an accident). So off I go digging up my bottle, and filling my Kaweco AL Sport Raw Aluminum with it...

[LizEF]

24 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

Thank you for this review

You're very welcome.

 

24 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

And I also found this ink to be quite water-resistant (not waterproof, but it can survive an accident).

Oh, that's good to know.  I only test the ones that claim water resistance, but this shouldn't surprise us - often, in chromatography and water-resistance tests, what's left behind is grey!

 

25 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

So off I go digging up my bottle, and filling my Kaweco AL Sport Raw Aluminum with it...

Nice match!  Enjoy!

[mizgeorge]

Thank you as always @LizEF. Smashing review of one of my favourite greys - in fact my go-to for a lighter grey. It has permanent residence in a Kaweco Sport Frosted Coconut with a 1.1 nib, but regularly gets used in other pens too. 

 

I'm enjoying the gentler interlude in the story as well. 

[LizEF]

13 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Thank you as always @LizEF.

You're very welcome!

 

14 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Smashing review of one of my favourite greys - in fact my go-to for a lighter grey. It has permanent residence in a Kaweco Sport Frosted Coconut with a 1.1 nib, but regularly gets used in other pens too. 

Thanks!  That sounds like a great match.

 

14 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

I'm enjoying the gentler interlude in the story as well. 

  Gotta give our heroes a rest.

[PithyProlix]

I've had this on my list for a while and, based on your review, I went ahead and ordered it. I have a few greys but nothing like this one. I love the serene look of it.

 

So, yet again, another very useful review! Thanks.

 

On 12/29/2022 at 12:40 AM, mizgeorge said:

I'm enjoying the gentler interlude in the story as well. 

 

Perhaps inspired by the feel of this ink?

[LizEF]

53 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

I've had this on my list for a while and, based on your review, I went ahead and ordered it. I have a few greys but nothing like this one. I love the serene look of it.

 

So, yet again, another very useful review! Thanks.

  You're very welcome!  I hope you enjoy it.

 

54 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

Perhaps inspired by the feel of this ink?

  A fluke - or the universe arranging for harmony.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Silver Fox had been recommended by fine posters, when I said I twas time for me to broaden my mainland only euro ink limit.** But it was said to be gray..and I have two or three....not that it was greened gray.....which does get it back on my list. I have only 4 other Diamines....but with over 100 inks....glacier age has arrived.

 

** The mail culprits became too expensive or are right on the border of my 20 Euro limit. MB is well over and Edelstein, luckily comes out only once a year but it's now only 50 cents under my limit.

With inflation....well it will be over and I don't have to buy every years issue.

 

Thanks for the ink review even if the pictures didn't come out quite right....at least you showed it shaded and the hue is different.

After all, one does have to have R&K Altgoldgruen, so this ink falls into a must have because of it's slight oddity.

[LizEF]

54 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

Silver Fox had been recommended by fine posters, when I said I twas time for me to broaden my mainland only euro ink limit.** But it was said to be gray..and I have two or three....not that it was greened gray.....which does get it back on my list. I have only 4 other Diamines....but with over 100 inks....glacier age has arrived.

 

** The mail culprits became too expensive or are right on the border of my 20 Euro limit. MB is well over and Edelstein, luckily comes out only once a year but it's now only 50 cents under my limit.

With inflation....well it will be over and I don't have to buy every years issue.

 

Thanks for the ink review even if the pictures didn't come out quite right....at least you showed it shaded and the hue is different.

After all, one does have to have R&K Altgoldgruen, so this ink falls into a must have because of it's slight oddity.

You're very welcome, @Bo Bo Olson!  There's only a hint of green, but it's definitely there (or else it's in my eyes).  Anyway, if you do get it, I hope you like it.

[InesF]

Oh, ah, I missed this review and can only argument about winter time and snow and cold and couldn't leave the house ... and wait, frozen wires, data didn't pass through .... 😇

 

Thank you @LizEF for the review and for the magnified images. Generally a nice colour but I can't get in love with grey inks. Did you find a reason why or when a grey ink could look better than, let's say a petrol or teal or purple?

However, the big crystal in the microscope seems to appear in same shape but different sizes.

[Bo Bo Olson]

44 minutes ago, InesF said:

I can't get in love with grey inks.

I really like two toned shading inks; a must of over 90% of my inks........and originally thought why get a gray ink when I could use an MP if I wanted gray. Pencils and Mechanical Pencils lead don't shade.

A shading gray ink can be rather nifty, when expectations are exceeded.

[LizEF]

5 hours ago, InesF said:

and wait, frozen wires, data didn't pass through

That's the worst!  Of course, I have about a dozen printed books I have yet to read, but somehow, when the power (or internet) is out, all I want to do is get online...

 

Glad you survived!

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you @LizEF for the review and for the magnified images.

  You're very welcome!

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

Generally a nice colour but I can't get in love with grey inks. Did you find a reason why or when a grey ink could look better than, let's say a petrol or teal or purple?

Hmm.  I think it's more about variety.  But I confess, my infatuation with grey inks has faded a lot.  Blue-blacks, on the other hand, still make me drool.

 

5 hours ago, InesF said:

However, the big crystal in the microscope seems to appear in same shape but different sizes.

Yes, every ink that forms any crystal forms multiple - always the same general shape, but in various sizes and groupings.