Special Review of Diamine Ink
My interest for fountain pen ink wil high. This is where having a fountain pen makes it difference. Choice of colours. Making a distinctive difference with your message.
The quality of the ink if important. Flow, tone, depth of colour all all aspects that make an ink a "winner" or one that I would not use.
It was with great pleasure that in 2008 I was able to do a test of the Diamine line of inks
Diamine has been around for almost 150 years. They have been making ink since 1864. In 1925 they located in a more modern factory located in Liverpool. Despite numerous changes of ownership, Diamine has maintained production of good quality ink. The most recent change was in 2006 when Diamine merged with Speciality Inks and thus the new name: Diamine Speciality Inks.
Their fountain pen ink is made and marketed as being perfect for any brand of pen, as well as being a recommended choice for vintage pens. Diamine says their inks are made from non-toxic ingredients, and have excellent flow characteristics. They have over 50 colours so it makes the line of inks able to match just about anyone's individual preference.
The test meant I could try out the ink in various lines of pens and on various good to medium type quality paper.
Diamine offers two lines of fountain pen ink: Old English, and New Century. Old English - This line has thirty different colours that lean to more traditional. New Century - This line has twenty colours with a market that is aimed towards a younger generation of writers.
An important consideration for any ink is the bottle. If the bottle is wide and shallow, then it is only good for the first couple of fills. My Pelikan M100's and Omas Paragons need a bottle that the pen nib can get well into.
The Diamine bottles hold 80 ml of link, bigger than the typical 50 ml found in Waterman and most brands. It is a very attractive bottle with a classic look. The Old English line has a smart lable in gold tone, the New Centrury with a silver tone lable. The base of the bottle is a wide two inch square - so there is lots of stability when this bottle sits on the desk.
Browns
I regularly receive emails asking for my view on brown inks. It is a popular colour for ink and I regularly go through periods of time when is is a colour to use. I always find that a card, when written with brown ink, has a distinctive look.
The image to the right is to illustrate the range of tones, check the colour charts, that come from Diamine, at the end of this section.
Golden Brown - (New Century Line) a basic brown, with a gold undertone to the colour. As the ink dries I found the colour to flatten. It has enough richness to it that it stands paper quite well.
Raw Sienna - (New Century Line) after this ink dries, it is very similar to Golden Brown. My comments are the same for both colours.
Saddle Brown - (Old English Line) this is a good example of what people refer to as a true brown. Saddle Brown is a bit darker than Golden Brown of Raw Sienna, so if you like a bit more punch to your writing, this would be the choice of the first three mid-brown inks.
Burnt Sienna - (Old English Line) is an interesting colour. It has a chestnut tone to the ink, a bit red, but when I went back to look at the ink the next day, it stands out very nicely.
Dark Brown - (Old English Line) I was expecting something different, it is a brown with a bit of red to it. It is browner than Burnt Sienna, but richer in colour than Raw Sienna or Saddle Brown.
Sepia - (Old English Line) I not sure what I was expecting. I am always applying Sepia Filters in Photoshop in images to give an interesting tome. This is a brown with yellow-orange tones.
Left to Right: Golden Brown, Raw Sienna, Saddle Brown, Burnt Sienna, Dark Brown, Sepia Good colour choices for individuals who want a brown ink. All the inks had good flow, the drying time was satisfactory. There ink wrote well on different papers.
Greens
I regularly go through periods when I enjoy writing with a green ink. It sets the writing apart from the normal page of blue, and when the right green is used, it is well accepted in business use. So I was looking forward to seeing what the range of choices I would have with the Diamine line.
Again, the image to the right is capture the variance in tones, the colour chart at the bottom of the section shows the colour as presented by Diamine.
Umber - (New Century Line) is one of the darker greens in the Diamine line. The colour flattens when it dries but this is a green that is easy on the eye.
Woodland Green - (New Century Line) is also dark, its brighter even after drying. Nice colour and even when I write a couple of paragraphs, it is a colour that is not harsh to look at.
Emerald Green - (Old English Line) well not what I was expecting. It is kind of a grassy green.
Dark Green - (Old English Line) another one that was not what was expected. It has a good dark tone. This is almost a bit of blue to the green.
Jade Green - (New Century Line) you can get the idea of difference in tone by the image file, Jade Green and Light Green are on the bottom left. Jade has a bit more brilliance than Light Green. This is one colour that, when you looked at an entire page, is a little hard on the eye. I would say that this ink has very selective use.
Light Green - (Old English Line) a delicate green, probably going to be used for special cards etc and when I write any large amount of text with it, the colour was not as distinctive as I would like.
Left to right: Umber, Woodland Green, Emerald Green, Dark Green, Jade Green, Light Green Umber and Woodland Green come out as the colours I would use the the most.
In May 2008 Diamine issued three new greens and I have had the opportunity to try them out. Good colour additions they are.
- Teal Green - I really have enjoyed using this colour. It has a rich green tone, with just a tinge of the blue-green undertone to give it a distinctive look. I used it right away for some of my writing and work and it is a colour that when you go back and look at a page of writing, is well received by the eye. Good flow. Good drying time.
- Kelly Green - A bright green, there are yellow undertones and they certain came out when I scanned the writing sample. This is a good solid colour.
- Ultra Green - bold, bright, rich true green ink. This may be the green that folks are looking for! When I wrote with this ink I found I tended to lean towards this a little more than say the Kelly Green, as I found that once I had a couple of paragraphs of text written out, it was may to my personal liking.
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Left to right: Umber, Teal, Kelly Green, Ultra Green |
Orange and Yellow
Yes, orange and yellow are colours that are available in fountain pen inks. The image to the right is mean to illustrate the range of tones, check the colour chart at the bottom which shows the colour from Diamine.
Sunshine Yellow - (New Century Line) this is a yellow with a green tone to it. I think the inks needs some type of tone as when I write with the Yellow it was hard to read.
Yellow - (Old English Line) yep, this is a true yellow ink. I think this ink would be used for very specific purposes, but not general writing.
Blaze Orange - (New Century Line) a toned-down orange, there is a distinctive difference from the Orange colour, just a hint of brown to the ink so it is not as harsh.
Orange - (Old English Line) a bright, bold, orange. Amber - (Old English Line) orange and yellow tones make up this ink. It is quite light in depth on the paper. We are probably talking about inks used for specific cards.
Left to right: Sunshine Yellow, Yellow, Blaze Orange, Orange, Amber
Magentas, Reds and Pinks
Here is a range of colours that I did not think would appeal to me. In fact I questioned why Diamine would produce even one pink ink! There were a couple in this group that I found myself saying: I like that. In the end, for my 2008 Easter Cards I selected Scarlet.
Vermillion - (New Century Line) a burgundy-tone ink, has a flat appearance when it dries.
Monaco Red - (Old English Line) I found this ink to be very close to Vermillion, although there is more red to the colour. Not quite a flat in appearance when it dries. It stands out a bit better on the page.
Passion Red - (New Century Line) a red that has some real pink tone to it.
Scarlet - this one is leaning towards the magenta colour, although not as dark and risk as the Deep Magenta. This this ink goes done as the ink of 2008 Easter Cards - who would have known. I selected this over the other pinks as it had a little more punch to it.
Violet - (Old English Line) this is is a bold, rich colour, leaning towards the blues. I could see myself using this ink on a regular basis.
Deep Magenta - (New Century Line) I think most users would find this a good representation of magenta. Good tone and depth to this colour.
Amaranth - (New Century Line) I had no idea as to what to expect from this ink, but as I write with it, I liked it.
Claret - (Old English Line) there is red and magenta in this colour.
Cerise - (Old English Line) this is one of the pinks.
Crimson - (Old English Line) this colour I found to be very close to Deep Magenta. It is bold, with a brightness and very distinctive.
Maroon - (Old English Line) I have used this ink quite a bit as there is something I really like about the colour.
Coral - (New Century Line) this is a light, delicate pink ink.
Flamingo Pink - (New Century Line) one of the pinks, a bit darker and brighter than the Cerise.
Left to right: Vermillion, Monaco Red, Passion Red, Scarlet, Violet, Deep Magenta, Amaranth, Row 2: Claret, Cerise, Crimson, Maroon, Coral, Flamingo Pink
In May 2008 a new red came out aptly called Ruby.
- Ruby - I like writing with reds but sometimes they are too garish on the page, especially when you see a full page of text. Here is a colour that I fould pleasing to the eye, yet has a bold. look.
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Colour swatch from Diamine Website |
Blues
A good blue is a staple of most pen users, and many have more than one blue that they use in their writing.
Well Diamine has some 14 blues to choose from. The image to the right is mean to illustrate the range of tones.
Turquoise - (Old English Line) this is slightly darker than the Aqua Blue ink. Overall, good tone, and enough depth of colour that it will "hold a message" as soon brands have a turquoise that seems to fade away.
Aqua Blue - (New Century Line) very similar to Turquoise but with a little more blue.
Florida Blue - (New Century Line) is what I would call a good middle range blue.
Royal Blue - (Old English Line) this is an easy-on-the-eye blue with good colour depth.
Washable Blue - (Old English Line) this colour had more punch than what I was expecting.
Imperial Blue - (New Century Line) this blue leans to the violet tones, but it has a sharp, crisp appearance on the paper. I can see using this ink on a regular basis.
Presidential Blue - (New Century Line) it has a darker tone than say Royal Blue or Washable blue, and a nice solid look to it.
Indigo Blue - (Old English Line) the blue has a flat appearance, fairly good colour density.
Blue Black - (Old English Line) this is a very solid good looking ink. I should just get a case of this ink as I have really enjoyed writing with it.
Sapphire Blue - (New Century Line) good colour, stands out on the page when you write with the ink.
Prussian Blue - (Old English Line) this is what I call a blue-black.
China Blue - (Old English Line) the colour swatch on the Diamine site has this a very light blue, when when I loaded up one of my pens with this ink, I liked the crisp blue look and it had enough colour saturation for my liking.
Steel Blue - (Old English Line) I particularly asked for this blue and when I used it the colour was not what I was expecting. There are green tones to the ink, so it is one of those green-blue inks - goes well in many types of documents.
Mediterranean Blue - (New Century Line) good solid blue.
Left to right: Row 1: Turquoise, Aqua Blue, Florida Blue, Royal Blue, Washable Blue, Imperial Blue, Presidential Blue,
Row 2: Indigo Blue, Blue-Black, Sapphire Blue, Prussian Blue, China Blue, Steel Blue
In May 2008 I was introduced to a new colour by Diamine, Damson. I must admit as I tried this ink a couple of times it took carefull cleaning of the pen etc until the true colour tone of the ink started to come out.
- Damson - the first time I used the ink I had not cleaned out my pen correctly and I thought it was a black ink, but then when I flushed the pen correctly the dark purple tone came out in the colour. Rich, good flowing, dries nicely on the paper.
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Blacks
When it comes to inquiries about inks, what is the best black ranks as one of the more frequent questions.
Black is a real staple when it comes to fountain pen ink. Despite all the colours I have, I regularly switch to periods when black is the only colour I will use.
They have two black colours available. I found each one to very a very good ink.
Quartz Black - (New Century Line) nice rich dark black. Glad to get some of this ink. It is going to be a regular item on my desk.
Jet Black - (Old English Line) I have been using Jet Black for more than a year now, and this ink has moved up into my Inks of Choice. Here is a real rich, dark black. No gray or blue undertones. I have been using it with broad and double-broad nibs and impressed with the solid line it leaves, no feathering and it dries within an acceptable time.
In advance of the question: Which black is best? At this point I am not sure. The jet black from the Diamine colour sample comes across as being much darker and richer, but from the writing I did one morning I did not find that much of a difference. The colour of ink from a nib is always different than one sees on a colour sample chart. So the test will continue and I am sure that one of the blacks will start to edge out - time is the judge of that.
Grey - (Old English Line) I was interested in this colour, some greys in other brands of inks have been too washed out for my liking. This grey writes a bit darker than the colour swatch and I can see incorporating this into nicely into my collection
Left to right: Quartz Black, Jet Black, Grey
So what is next?
I am continuing with the test of the various colours. I will use colours for an at least a week to see how life with the particular colour goes. Some I will have to wait until I get regular full bottles of ink
I will have to try their Registrar's Ink as from what people have told me, this is a really permanent and waterproof ink that is of archival quality. It comes in a deep blue black in colour. The name comes from the fact that it is used to sign official documents in England.
Information about Diamine Ink is available on their web site: www.diamineinks.co.uk/
In Canada the distributor is Stylus Fine Pens.
More ink reviews are available for other lines.