I recently fell in love with Diamine Midnight from the most unlikely of circumstances. I received a 30ml bottle of it with some other Diamines. Because the UK postal service apparently likes to put parcels in a cement mixer then grind them into the gravel with their feet, just for grins, the parcel of inks arrived with the Midnight bottle shattered and with ink all over everything else. All over the packaging, all over the other contents, all over the other post that morning and all over me. I was furious and raging but, somehow, also became weirdly hooked on it. It had begun to evaporate and was this really gunky sticky mess, but also uber saturated. I ordered another bottle which arrived intact and I had to ink it up. It's far less dramatic than when my hands took a bath in it, but it has just kind of stuck there in my mind. It is now one of my go-to inks when I want a pen to just do the pen thing.
diamine almost did too good of a job on the "oxblood" ink. i've seen my own blood smeared on paper a few times (i'm clumsy but persist on working with sharp tools) and oxblood spread on paper with a brush is very close. you can practically see the plasma in oxblood. kinda creepstery.
@@lucasmarabolim8032 You should both try Private Reserve's Vampire Red. I expected it to be brilliant crimson or bright scarlet - but nope, it's like dried blood. PERFECT for vampires! LOL
Also worth checking is Diamine green/black. It may appeal if you like the idea of a traditional dark blue/black but want to change it up for a different colour. I believe it would be workplace-appropriate and inoffensive on the eyes (I find it easy to read and my vision is less than perfect needing high contrast) but at the same time, it is ... 'interesting'.
@@bikkies I kept your recommendation in a corner of my head about Diamine green/black, 3 month later I managed to get my hands on it. Indeed, it's a very sober green. It could be defined as a the equivalent of Oxblood but with green. Didn't not regret getting it. Thanks !
I know that this is an old comment, but if you like Pumpkin you may also like Autumn Oak. It is a beautiful red/orange color and it shades beautifully even with a fine nib.
My list: 1. Golden Brown - basically Iroshizuku Ina-ho. Beautiful gold brown that shades wonderfully. Smooth, easy on the eye. 2. Steel Blue - dark teal, with nice red sheen. It was my first ever bottled ink, and I just love it. Again, easy maintenance. 3. Imperial Purple - rich, dark purple, with a heavy golden sheen. Super smooth and flowy ink. And the color is beautiful, almost Lamy Dark Lilac color... almost...
Favorite Diamine inks: Coral, Damson, Wild Strawberry, Blue-Black, Kelly Green, Earl Grey & Sunset. I keep most of my pens (up to 25 now!) inked up and use them daily on a rotating basis, so I have a lot of go-to inks--and most of them are Diamine. It's is my go-to brand because their inks are so consistent and always behave nicely, and because they are inexpensive. If money was no object and I could afford to buy more higher-end inks like Sailor, Colorverse and Pilot iroshizuku, I would still buy the ones on the list, above. I haven't found any colors I like as well as those. If you're looking for a nice, dark ink for work that looks professional but isn't blue or black, I highly recommend Diamine Damson. I'm a nurse and have a Platinum Curidas for work that I keep inked up with Damson. It's really perfect for the super-fine F nib (by Western standards--I can't imagine what an EF nib would be like!) because it's a fairly wet ink. The dry time is very fast, it tends not to bleed through crappy paper, and it's pretty water resistant--meaning even if it gets wet you can still see what you wrote through the ink smudge.
My favorite Diamine inks in no particular order are Oxford Blue, Sherwood Green, Oxblood, Red Dragon, Ancient Copper, and Syrah, and for purple Monboddo's Hat.
Mine: 1. Ochre: the brown of choice... unlike other browns (incl. the excellent but slightly too orange SBREBrown) it’s not too red (eg. Ancient Copper), not too chocolate (eg. Macassar); and not too yellow. Shades well. A rich tea-stain tannin color; almost like varnishing the page. 2. Damson: A muted grayish purple that goes well on cream stock. The purple equivalent to Graphite’s green. [honorable mention to the staggeringly misnamed Graphite] 3. Earl Grey: a beautiful gray with deep shading and a colder, less neutral tone than the badly-behaved and far more expensive Montblanc Oyster Gray. 4. Sunshine Yellow: What the insipid Lamy Mango should’ve been if they’d actually intended to match the pen. 5. Jade Green: I rarely use it, but it’s such a juicy, vibrant lickable green with tonnes of shading, so it can be dark enough to write with, given a wet enough pen. And a massive Honorable Mention to all the incredible inks that Diamine make for third parties.
MB oyster grey was one of my first branded inks that wasn't Quink. It was cheap and I liked the bottle, but I have rarely used it since. It is almost unreadably faint unless you use a really juicy broad pen or something like a Pilot Parallel. It reminds me of the colour you get from a cheap lead pencil. I have actually considered tipping it down the sink then washing the bottle and using it for a different ink that I can actually see when it hits the paper ...
There is not a Diamine ink that I don’t like. But if I have to choose: - Tropical Glow - shimmering turquoise gloriousness - Ancient Copper - my favorite brown - Blue Velvet - great blue - Red Dragon - an old time facorite - Bilberry - my smoothest ink in a very cool purple/blue with a green sheen - Enchanted Seas - dark and shimmering awesomeness
For me, as a writer who always first drafts in longhand, Diamine inks provide superb results. Available as 30ml, 50ml and 80ml in very stylish bottles. As for colour choice, I stick to pretty regular inks from the range: Royal Blue, Oxblood and Emerald being my favourites. No clogging, no dragging, just good, consistent delivery on the page (I use Clairefontaine, ivory finish 90gsm notebooks, graph pads and plain/lined journals).
My favourites are Apple Glory - which is such a happy green that I’ve not really seen anywhere else Wild Strawberry - has a lovely subtle sheen before sheen it was a thing Bilberry - a super wet blue that is immensely well behaved Earl Grey - the perfect grey, dark enough for every day use with beautiful shading
Just bought my first Goulet Pens order all the way from Tokyo. Diamine Red Dragon ink in the 80ml bottle. My total favorite ink, used with a Lamy Joy and 1.1 stub nib. Rock on Goulet Pens!
Mine are: Autumn oak (beautiful shading) Meadow (nice green alternative to my favorite Iroshizuku's Chiku-rin) Oxblood (how not to like this one, brownish dark red) Majestic Blue Majestic Purple
We’re finally getting Diamine ink in India and i have already purchased 7 (Oxblood, Ancient Copper, Coral, Blaze Orange, Soft Mint, Monboddo’s Hat and Amaranth). So this is perfect timing!! Thank you for getting me to love fountain pens all over again!
Mine would have to be, in no particular order: - Autumn Oak - it's a little dry, but its shading is fantastic and it's way more legible in large quantities than other orangy inks (Apache Sunset just kills my eyes) - Ancient Copper - one of my favourite inks, nothing quite hits the same way - Tyrian Purple - you don't hear a lot about this one, but writing my Latin notes with it just makes me inexplicably happy because it just reminds me of senatorial stripes and emperors - Starlit Sea - another sort of weird one, but I can't get over how it's a shimmering ink that somehow looks distinguished, it's really well behaved, I love the shade of blue and it combines SO well with Autumn Oak and Ancient Copper - Oxford Blue - maybe kind of a safe pick, but I love the sheening it gives without being over the top
Diamine Earl Grey - Always have a pen inked with this one. Diamine Marine - Always have a pen inked with this one. Diamine Aurora Borealis - I was looking for a strong teal blue, & this was my runner-up (winner was Jacques Herbin Bleu Austral). Diamine Pink Champagne - An amazing ink! In the bottle/vial or in a demonstrator, it almost looks alive when you slosh it back & forth. Unbelievable amount of shimmer/sparkle. But the downside is that it's quite clogg-y, and since I always use multiple pens/colors, I will never use Pink Champagne enough that it won't dry up & clog the feed. So alas I didn't re-purchase when my sample was used up. But I do recommend it - get a sample just so you can see how amazing the ink itself looks! :-)
If you put the shimmer ink in a twsbi eco you don't need to worry about clogging. Have a pink twsbi eco (B) inked up with pink glitz for 2+ years now, never cleaned during this time just topped it up when needed and no clogging.
@@sentient.ball.of.stardust Thanks for the encouragement :-) but it was a TWSBI Eco that clogged, for me. As a lefty, I need to use a fine nib, so that was probably the difference. Wish I could use a broad! Glad it works for you - and the clear Eco body is perfect to show off all that shimmer!
That's it ! The Diamine Pumpkin is probably my favorite ink right now, and I noticed the crusty effect too ! I use a 2021 Lamy Safari terra red with it (a match made in heaven), and I was wondering if there were something wrong with the pen itself. Now I know it's the ink when it dries a bit, when you write very regularly with it the phenomenon doesn't appear.
Autumn Oak is my favourite by far. It looks beautiful on medium and wet nibs and it also does a nice job with the finer ones. Sherwood Green is the most nicest pure clear green I've written with, with just enough darkness to it. Then I will say prussian blue, it's more like a matte blue and doesn't strain my eyes at all. Oh, I also want to give a shout-out to Imperial Purple, it's just so lovely to look at.
Now we need to hear from Jenn to finally tell us about her favourite shimmering inks, which she didn't get to do way back when. There where plenty of pens and ink bottles as far as I remember, but unfortunately we never got to see the inks😢🖊️
My tops would include imperial purple, teal, presidential blue, grape and lavender. However the range is so large that my favourites drift from day to day. I have 28 Diamine inks so far and, after this video, I may need to add a few more.
Florida blue is a sleeper for me. Very very rare see it mentioned but it’s shading is brilliant and a fantastic cerulean. Always have it inked in a medium nib.
I'll have to grab a Red Dragon and Blue Velvet, those look really nice. I actually just got my Golden Ivy yesterday which is going to be used for Christmas cards. Soo perfect with the green with a hint of red and the gold shimmer.
No one here mentioned Evergreen so I will.. the color reminds you of mossy, deep serene forest. Passable as an informal black with a bit of flair. You can even get some hidden blue out when you wash it. It's magical!
My favourite blue is Diamine Indigo. Fav. red is Diamine Matador. I went to buy Oxblood but they didn’t have that so I got Matador. Very glad about that. Now off to buy some browns. 🙂
I already have really like all of Brian’s picks, excepting the (Golden Yellow?) one he showed. I reckon nearly half of my modest (60+) different inks are Diamine inks. Some of my top favourites are: Oxford Blue Sargasso Sea 1864 Blue-Black Regency Blue Espresso Ancient Copper Red Dragon Pumpkin Burgundy Royale Dark Forest Autumn Oak
@@humanfirst11 …I do. Twilight is quite a dusky, dark blue-black (even a slight hint of grey on some papers). I like it a lot. Sort of a unique color and shade among Diamine’s blue inks.
@@sajjadhusain4146 thanks! How different it is compared to the 1864 blue black? I like the color of the 1864 BB, but that's more expensive than both the Denim and Twilight. There are no comparison videos anywhere between these inks!
@@humanfirst11 …I also have the 1864 (150th Anniversary 40 ml wedge shaped bottle).. Now, in my experience, most blue-blacks either lean toward blue, or to black. Twilight looks to me like a quite unique blue-black ink (even in Diamine’s line) as I described earlier. It’s worth having in a collection. I like it a lot. 1864 is also great, but it definitely leans toward more black than blue. It looks to me almost black on the page on most papers and in most pens. So, consider this important aspect before buying. If price is a factor, I’d recommend you buy the 30ml bottle of Twilight, a solid, unique blue black for daily use, and excellent value on price.
Hey Brian, I know you're a really big fan of twisty puzzles and also a collector. I noticed a new mirror blocks puzzle on your desk and figure you might also like this puzzle: the FangCun Ghost Skewb. I have one sitting on my desk at the office and it is my absolute favorite shape shifting puzzle. It's got a reasonable number of pieces (14) and it's based on a Skewb Ultimate mechanism which I find way more interesting than a regular Rubik's cube. This puzzle also has an interesting property of parity as the orientation of just one of the pieces is indistinguishable. The puzzle is actually a knock-off version of Tony Fisher's Gold Cube which is no longer in production.
I'm glad to see Blue Velvet made the list. It is, without a doubt, my favorite ink. It's a stunningly beautiful darkish, deeply saturated, true blue. It's the one ink that will always be in one of my currently inked pens. As an alternative to Syrah, look at Burgundy Royale. richard --
Pumpkin and Silver Fox are my two favourite Diamine inks so far. I’m looking for a deep cherry red to add to my colours, I think I’ll give dragon blood a try after seeing this, it looks about right.
Marine is a my Diamine favourite, followed by Evergreen and Green Black. I’ve yet to try shimmer inks. My other favourite colours come from other brands
Brown, I think the reason behind the crusty crystalline anomalies you’re seeing from the hematites, oranges, etc., is the use of natural earth pigments having a chemical reaction with other properties. (although I’m no chemist) whatcha think?
Thank you Brian 👍🏾My favourites are Sapphire Blue and Bilberry. In my journal, Ancient Copper has been a success as it doesn't seem to smudge too much.
Starting my most favorite 1 to 5 Bloody Absynth (second only to my first favorite teal with great sheen, TMKR's Kawasan Teal, a stunner!) Jalur Gemilang Terracotta Earl Grey Wagner I have not yet purchased any of the Happy Holidays inks, so that list might possibly change.
I use Oxblood about 90% of the time in all of my pens. There are some pens (like my Montblanc Boheme) which'll only take cartridges, but I've started using a syringe to refill them with Oxblood :p
Diamine imperial blue: I have small handwriting, I need whichever pen I’m writing with to put down the finest line it can - this ink makes that happen:)
pinkpandamiranda . I have used Autumn Oak, in a Conklin Duragraph, Amber , with a Medium nib , for over two years. I top up the converter about every four weeks and have never had to clean the pen ; and there are no false starts. For me , they are an excellent combination.
@pinkpandamiranda You have every reason to feel that way. I love the ink dearly, too. Very attractive, warm appearance on the page. Beautiful shading and always cheers me up somehow. I have Autumn Oak in two of my pens...A Conklin All-American with a wonderful B nib. And a clear demonstrator, eye-dropper filling Opus Koloros pen with a 1.3 stub. Sweet thrill!
I’m bad to pick, all other factors being equal, between colors based on how well their names appeal to me. Diamine, alas, has a lot of great names in fantastic formulations. One outing with Tyrian Purple and I was a goner....
Ya know there are +100 samples for $1.50 to $1.75 each. Invest $15 or so and see what you think you might like and give it a test. Computer screens never do an ink justice. The sets of ink samples are tempting as heck.
Hello!! I'm so happy I found this channel. I bought my first three fountain pens, a lamy Safari, Travelers Company and a Twisby eco. And I'm really excited. I was also wondering if anyone knew what ink cartridges can be found and where to find them for my Travelers company pen? I haven't been able to find anything. Or can I use other ink cartridges with it cause i haven't found very many videos on that! Thank you ahead of time if anyone finds this comment and helps!!!
Bilberry is my absolute favorite. It can be quite conservative at times with a dark violet-blue color, but on some papers you can get a little bit of a copper sheen.
Brandon Wong . I have used Bilberry in a Platinum 78+ M , for two years. It is an excellent wet writer, which I top up every four weeks, and I have never had to lean the pen.
I'm on Goulet Pens website right now shopping for several Diamine inks and I see that of the 53 different Diamine inks they "carry" in the 30 ml size, they only have 7 in stock. The other 46 are out of stock. Why?
Brian, could you do a similar review of your favourite Robert Oster inks? I only have one Robert Oster ink, Deep Sea, so far. I know Robert Oster is a newer Australian company, whereas Diamine is from the UK and has been around for a very long time. I like the Robert Oster Deep Sea ink, and I would be interested in trying some other colours. Like you, I tend to enjoy blue/green inks and pens.
I find the Robert Oster inks to be inconsistent. Not in color, as I’ve never bought more than one bottle of any color….I just find some to be too watery. I have 4, maybe 5, and I really don’t use them. Maybe it’s just the ones I chose, and I don’t have deep sea, but they are boring.
I recently fell in love with Diamine Midnight from the most unlikely of circumstances. I received a 30ml bottle of it with some other Diamines. Because the UK postal service apparently likes to put parcels in a cement mixer then grind them into the gravel with their feet, just for grins, the parcel of inks arrived with the Midnight bottle shattered and with ink all over everything else. All over the packaging, all over the other contents, all over the other post that morning and all over me. I was furious and raging but, somehow, also became weirdly hooked on it. It had begun to evaporate and was this really gunky sticky mess, but also uber saturated. I ordered another bottle which arrived intact and I had to ink it up. It's far less dramatic than when my hands took a bath in it, but it has just kind of stuck there in my mind. It is now one of my go-to inks when I want a pen to just do the pen thing.
diamine almost did too good of a job on the "oxblood" ink. i've seen my own blood smeared on paper a few times (i'm clumsy but persist on working with sharp tools) and oxblood spread on paper with a brush is very close. you can practically see the plasma in oxblood. kinda creepstery.
and writer's blood also kinda looks like a "few days dried" blood on papel, pretty dope
@@lucasmarabolim8032 You should both try Private Reserve's Vampire Red. I expected it to be brilliant crimson or bright scarlet - but nope, it's like dried blood. PERFECT for vampires! LOL
with ‘oxblood+wild strawberry’, you can get all the red colors on the market🤓
my current favorite would be oxblood40% + wild strawberry60%
Mine would be :
-Oxblood
-Autumn Oak
-Aurora borealis
-Oxford Blue
-Earl grey
Some underrated:
-Monaco red
-Salamander
-Eclipse
-Amber
I have all of these and your definelty right about all of them! :)
Also worth checking is Diamine green/black. It may appeal if you like the idea of a traditional dark blue/black but want to change it up for a different colour. I believe it would be workplace-appropriate and inoffensive on the eyes (I find it easy to read and my vision is less than perfect needing high contrast) but at the same time, it is ... 'interesting'.
@@bikkies I kept your recommendation in a corner of my head about Diamine green/black, 3 month later I managed to get my hands on it. Indeed, it's a very sober green. It could be defined as a the equivalent of Oxblood but with green. Didn't not regret getting it. Thanks !
@@lukaszpokoju Glad you like it!
Monboddo's Hat is my favorite. I journal with purple ink and this is a lovely rich color.
I’ve not met a Diamine ink I didn’t like. Of course the one I wanted is out of stock-Pumpkin-hope it’s still being made.
Yes it is still being made, I purchased it about 3 weeks ago from ebay. I live in uk but I am pretty sure it's still around. It's a lovely ink :)
@@happytrouble5561 Me either too! It is great in all my pens, and smooth as glass.
I know that this is an old comment, but if you like Pumpkin you may also like Autumn Oak. It is a beautiful red/orange color and it shades beautifully even with a fine nib.
@@ldegraaf Thank you very much. 😊
My list:
1. Golden Brown - basically Iroshizuku Ina-ho. Beautiful gold brown that shades wonderfully. Smooth, easy on the eye.
2. Steel Blue - dark teal, with nice red sheen. It was my first ever bottled ink, and I just love it. Again, easy maintenance.
3. Imperial Purple - rich, dark purple, with a heavy golden sheen. Super smooth and flowy ink. And the color is beautiful, almost Lamy Dark Lilac color... almost...
My fav Diamine inks are
- Prussian Blue
- Ancient Copper
- Ochre
- Sherwood Green
- Oxblood
Diamine’s Cappadocia is my favorite ink so far! Nice, smooth and shimmery 💚✨
Diamine Skull & Roses is one of the best sheening inks out there for the price. I also like Oxford Blue for everyday writing with a little flair.
I love Sepia, wonderful shading, and very pleasant light warm color.
I love Red Dragon too and always have it loaded into a pen. Currently it’s in a Parallel.
Favorite Diamine inks: Coral, Damson, Wild Strawberry, Blue-Black, Kelly Green, Earl Grey & Sunset. I keep most of my pens (up to 25 now!) inked up and use them daily on a rotating basis, so I have a lot of go-to inks--and most of them are Diamine. It's is my go-to brand because their inks are so consistent and always behave nicely, and because they are inexpensive. If money was no object and I could afford to buy more higher-end inks like Sailor, Colorverse and Pilot iroshizuku, I would still buy the ones on the list, above. I haven't found any colors I like as well as those. If you're looking for a nice, dark ink for work that looks professional but isn't blue or black, I highly recommend Diamine Damson. I'm a nurse and have a Platinum Curidas for work that I keep inked up with Damson. It's really perfect for the super-fine F nib (by Western standards--I can't imagine what an EF nib would be like!) because it's a fairly wet ink. The dry time is very fast, it tends not to bleed through crappy paper, and it's pretty water resistant--meaning even if it gets wet you can still see what you wrote through the ink smudge.
My favorite Diamine inks in no particular order are Oxford Blue, Sherwood Green, Oxblood, Red Dragon, Ancient Copper, and Syrah, and for purple Monboddo's Hat.
Mine:
1. Ochre: the brown of choice... unlike other browns (incl. the excellent but slightly too orange SBREBrown) it’s not too red (eg. Ancient Copper), not too chocolate (eg. Macassar); and not too yellow. Shades well. A rich tea-stain tannin color; almost like varnishing the page.
2. Damson: A muted grayish purple that goes well on cream stock. The purple equivalent to Graphite’s green. [honorable mention to the staggeringly misnamed Graphite]
3. Earl Grey: a beautiful gray with deep shading and a colder, less neutral tone than the badly-behaved and far more expensive Montblanc Oyster Gray.
4. Sunshine Yellow: What the insipid Lamy Mango should’ve been if they’d actually intended to match the pen.
5. Jade Green: I rarely use it, but it’s such a juicy, vibrant lickable green with tonnes of shading, so it can be dark enough to write with, given a wet enough pen.
And a massive Honorable Mention to all the incredible inks that Diamine make for third parties.
Ochre sounds like something I desperately need in my life...
MB oyster grey was one of my first branded inks that wasn't Quink. It was cheap and I liked the bottle, but I have rarely used it since. It is almost unreadably faint unless you use a really juicy broad pen or something like a Pilot Parallel. It reminds me of the colour you get from a cheap lead pencil. I have actually considered tipping it down the sink then washing the bottle and using it for a different ink that I can actually see when it hits the paper ...
Noodlers Beaver is a nice brown as well.
There is not a Diamine ink that I don’t like. But if I have to choose:
- Tropical Glow - shimmering turquoise gloriousness
- Ancient Copper - my favorite brown
- Blue Velvet - great blue
- Red Dragon - an old time facorite
- Bilberry - my smoothest ink in a very cool purple/blue with a green sheen
- Enchanted Seas - dark and shimmering awesomeness
For me, as a writer who always first drafts in longhand, Diamine inks provide superb results. Available as 30ml, 50ml and 80ml in very stylish bottles. As for colour choice, I stick to pretty regular inks from the range: Royal Blue, Oxblood and Emerald being my favourites. No clogging, no dragging, just good, consistent delivery on the page (I use Clairefontaine, ivory finish 90gsm notebooks, graph pads and plain/lined journals).
My favourites are
Apple Glory - which is such a happy green that I’ve not really seen anywhere else
Wild Strawberry - has a lovely subtle sheen before sheen it was a thing
Bilberry - a super wet blue that is immensely well behaved
Earl Grey - the perfect grey, dark enough for every day use with beautiful shading
Majestic blue and Sargasso sea are my two favorite Diamine inks.
Diamine pumpkin!! I have had that dedicated in my orange twsbi 580 al with no issues. I REALLY love it!
Just bought my first Goulet Pens order all the way from Tokyo. Diamine Red Dragon ink in the 80ml bottle. My total favorite ink, used with a Lamy Joy and 1.1 stub nib. Rock on Goulet Pens!
Mine are:
Autumn oak (beautiful shading)
Meadow (nice green alternative to my favorite Iroshizuku's Chiku-rin)
Oxblood (how not to like this one, brownish dark red)
Majestic Blue
Majestic Purple
We’re finally getting Diamine ink in India and i have already purchased 7 (Oxblood, Ancient Copper, Coral, Blaze Orange, Soft Mint, Monboddo’s Hat and Amaranth). So this is perfect timing!! Thank you for getting me to love fountain pens all over again!
Whoa, didn’t know that monoboddo’s hat was available, thanks for the heads up.
Sourabh Sekhar it is, and it’s epic! (Matches my Lamy Safari in purple quite well.)
Don’t forget Scribble Purple to go with the excellent Monboddo’s Hat! It’s drier, darker but sheens better.
Tom Gidden thanks for the recommendation; I will definitively try it out!
Good recommendations, will definitely order these after i run out of imperial purple or pansy
Love my Diamine inks!!
but THANK YOU for getting the NEW Sailor line in!!
Blue Velvet, Oxford Blue and Wild Strawberry are my favorite Diamine inks.
Mine would have to be, in no particular order:
- Autumn Oak - it's a little dry, but its shading is fantastic and it's way more legible in large quantities than other orangy inks (Apache Sunset just kills my eyes)
- Ancient Copper - one of my favourite inks, nothing quite hits the same way
- Tyrian Purple - you don't hear a lot about this one, but writing my Latin notes with it just makes me inexplicably happy because it just reminds me of senatorial stripes and emperors
- Starlit Sea - another sort of weird one, but I can't get over how it's a shimmering ink that somehow looks distinguished, it's really well behaved, I love the shade of blue and it combines SO well with Autumn Oak and Ancient Copper
- Oxford Blue - maybe kind of a safe pick, but I love the sheening it gives without being over the top
Diamine Earl Grey - Always have a pen inked with this one.
Diamine Marine - Always have a pen inked with this one.
Diamine Aurora Borealis - I was looking for a strong teal blue, & this was my runner-up (winner was Jacques Herbin Bleu Austral).
Diamine Pink Champagne - An amazing ink! In the bottle/vial or in a demonstrator, it almost looks alive when you slosh it back & forth. Unbelievable amount of shimmer/sparkle. But the downside is that it's quite clogg-y, and since I always use multiple pens/colors, I will never use Pink Champagne enough that it won't dry up & clog the feed. So alas I didn't re-purchase when my sample was used up. But I do recommend it - get a sample just so you can see how amazing the ink itself looks! :-)
If you put the shimmer ink in a twsbi eco you don't need to worry about clogging. Have a pink twsbi eco (B) inked up with pink glitz for 2+ years now, never cleaned during this time just topped it up when needed and no clogging.
@@sentient.ball.of.stardust Thanks for the encouragement :-) but it was a TWSBI Eco that clogged, for me. As a lefty, I need to use a fine nib, so that was probably the difference. Wish I could use a broad! Glad it works for you - and the clear Eco body is perfect to show off all that shimmer!
That pumpkin is an interesting color that I wouldn't think to get but it's probably good for fall
I actually adore Diamine registrars/ESS registrars ink for the fun colour change and permanence in the next few days.
I have these in my favorite order:
Prussian Blue
Red Dragon
Flamingo Pink
Blue Saragoso
Jet Black
Sapphire Blue
That's it ! The Diamine Pumpkin is probably my favorite ink right now, and I noticed the crusty effect too ! I use a 2021 Lamy Safari terra red with it (a match made in heaven), and I was wondering if there were something wrong with the pen itself. Now I know it's the ink when it dries a bit, when you write very regularly with it the phenomenon doesn't appear.
When Brian starts to mention all the blue things he has... My mind starts singing the "Blue" song from Eiffel 65 and I go no... not this again...
If Brian had a theme song....
haha, yes, blue would definitely be my theme ;) -Brian
Autumn Oak is my favourite by far. It looks beautiful on medium and wet nibs and it also does a nice job with the finer ones.
Sherwood Green is the most nicest pure clear green I've written with, with just enough darkness to it.
Then I will say prussian blue, it's more like a matte blue and doesn't strain my eyes at all.
Oh, I also want to give a shout-out to Imperial Purple, it's just so lovely to look at.
Grape is my go to but ancient copper is used quite a lot as well.
I love Prussian Blue….and. the shimmery Jack Frost, which goes down deep turquoise and dries to teal with a red sheen/shimmer.
Now we need to hear from Jenn
to finally tell us about her favourite shimmering inks,
which she didn't get to do
way back when. There where
plenty of pens and ink bottles
as far as I remember, but
unfortunately we never got to
see the inks😢🖊️
We have a really similar ink taste. Diamine inks are my favorite. Love Majestic blue. I do like those concentrated colors
Earl Grey and Lilac Night are the two I've tried so far and I LOVE them.
I currently have Earl Grey in three pens, that's how much I love it. ❤️
My tops would include imperial purple, teal, presidential blue, grape and lavender. However the range is so large that my favourites drift from day to day. I have 28 Diamine inks so far and, after this video, I may need to add a few more.
Florida blue is a sleeper for me. Very very rare see it mentioned but it’s shading is brilliant and a fantastic cerulean. Always have it inked in a medium nib.
I'll have to grab a Red Dragon and Blue Velvet, those look really nice. I actually just got my Golden Ivy yesterday which is going to be used for Christmas cards. Soo perfect with the green with a hint of red and the gold shimmer.
No one here mentioned Evergreen so I will.. the color reminds you of mossy, deep serene forest. Passable as an informal black with a bit of flair. You can even get some hidden blue out when you wash it. It's magical!
I bought last mount, and I love it.
I love Diamine, great inks for a reasonable price. Some favorites: Sunset, Aurora Borealis, Havasu Turquoise, Cerise, and Wine Divine.
I love all those colors. Diamine makes some of my favorite inks, Holly, Smoke on the Water and my absolute favorite Golden Honey!
My favourite blue is Diamine Indigo. Fav. red is Diamine Matador. I went to buy Oxblood but they didn’t have that so I got Matador. Very glad about that. Now off to buy some browns. 🙂
OG actually means "original gangsta", but okay. 🤣 Also agree on Diamine Blue Velvet. It's my favourite of their inks!
I‘ve always known OG to mean Old Guard. Maybe it’s a Virginia thing.
I thought the same thing, maybe 'original gangsta' doesn't fit us fountain pen ink enthusiasts that much 🤣
I already have really like all of Brian’s picks, excepting the (Golden Yellow?) one he showed. I reckon nearly half of my modest (60+) different inks are Diamine inks. Some of my top favourites are:
Oxford Blue
Sargasso Sea
1864 Blue-Black
Regency Blue
Espresso
Ancient Copper
Red Dragon
Pumpkin
Burgundy Royale
Dark Forest
Autumn Oak
Do you have the Diamine twilight?
@@humanfirst11 …I do. Twilight is quite a dusky, dark blue-black (even a slight hint of grey on some papers). I like it a lot. Sort of a unique color and shade among Diamine’s blue inks.
@@sajjadhusain4146 thanks! How different it is compared to the 1864 blue black? I like the color of the 1864 BB, but that's more expensive than both the Denim and Twilight. There are no comparison videos anywhere between these inks!
@@humanfirst11 …I also have the 1864 (150th Anniversary 40 ml wedge shaped bottle)..
Now, in my experience, most blue-blacks either lean toward blue, or to black. Twilight looks to me like a quite unique blue-black ink (even in Diamine’s line) as I described earlier. It’s worth having in a collection. I like it a lot.
1864 is also great, but it definitely leans toward more black than blue. It looks to me almost black on the page on most papers and in most pens. So, consider this important aspect before buying.
If price is a factor, I’d recommend you buy the 30ml bottle of Twilight, a solid, unique blue black for daily use, and excellent value on price.
Brother, what dark green (dark olive green) Diamine ink would you recommend? I'm from UK, so Diamine is very affordable here.
1. Majestic Blue, 2. Sapphire Blue, 3. Onyx Black, 4. Aurora Borealis, 5. Ancient Copper. Thats my top 5 picks anyway. :)
My must-haves are 1864, Macassar, Dark Forest and Ruby. And, more recently, the Penb Gallery exclusive Kopi O Kaw.
Big fan of Oxblood and Monboddo's Hat. But those are the only I've used.
Hey Brian, I know you're a really big fan of twisty puzzles and also a collector. I noticed a new mirror blocks puzzle on your desk and figure you might also like this puzzle: the FangCun Ghost Skewb. I have one sitting on my desk at the office and it is my absolute favorite shape shifting puzzle. It's got a reasonable number of pieces (14) and it's based on a Skewb Ultimate mechanism which I find way more interesting than a regular Rubik's cube. This puzzle also has an interesting property of parity as the orientation of just one of the pieces is indistinguishable. The puzzle is actually a knock-off version of Tony Fisher's Gold Cube which is no longer in production.
I will pass this along to Brian! - Holly
I'm glad to see Blue Velvet made the list. It is, without a doubt, my favorite ink. It's a stunningly beautiful darkish, deeply saturated, true blue. It's the one ink that will always be in one of my currently inked pens.
As an alternative to Syrah, look at Burgundy Royale.
richard
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Brian what is your opinion of Eau De Nil.... its my favorite Diamine blue ink.
secularheathen Mine too!
Great choices. After viewing I’ll have to add some of these to my sample order
Red Dragon is the only one I’ve tried so far. I love it.
AURORA BOREALIS!!!
Thanks for sharing and the comments here...I need to get more diamine inks!
I love Diamine Writer’s Blood.
For me, it's Citrus Ice, Wild Strawberry, Blue Velvet, Ancient Copper, and Earl Grey.
My two favorites and staples are:
1. Diamine Sherwood Green
2. Diamine Oxford Blue
Pumpkin and Silver Fox are my two favourite Diamine inks so far. I’m looking for a deep cherry red to add to my colours, I think I’ll give dragon blood a try after seeing this, it looks about right.
Try Sargasso Sea, its really under rated but I love it.
Just inked my 1st pen #TWSBI and I used the Diamine #OxfordBlue 🥰😍 I'm in love!!! Already thinking of my next pen and colors 🤦🏽♀️
Autum Oak and Green Apple...my favorites.
Re: Diamine Pumpkin--I had that problem with every Taccia ink I tried--it's the pigment oozing out.
Diamine Aurora Borealis! My unexpectedly favorite Diamine fountain pen ink color!🖋️😄🇵🇭
I'd add Sargasso Sea and Sherwood Green.
Marine is a my Diamine favourite, followed by Evergreen and Green Black. I’ve yet to try shimmer inks.
My other favourite colours come from other brands
Brown, I think the reason behind the crusty crystalline anomalies you’re seeing from the hematites, oranges, etc., is the use of natural earth pigments having a chemical reaction with other properties. (although I’m no chemist) whatcha think?
Just got Crimson. Love it.
Is this a re-upload or a slice out of a longer video? Because I swear I've seen this before!
It's a slice out of a past Goulet Q&A episode! -Rachel
Thank you Brian 👍🏾My favourites are Sapphire Blue and Bilberry. In my journal, Ancient Copper has been a success as it doesn't seem to smudge too much.
Diamine Damson, Diamine Dark Forest, and Ancient Copper
Eclipse is my go-to black ink--it's just barely on the very very dark violet side of true black.
My top ones are:
Autumn Oak
Ancient copper
Eau de nil
Amazing Amythest
Earl Grey
Tyrian Purple
Soft mint
Starting my most favorite 1 to 5
Bloody Absynth (second only to my first favorite teal with great sheen, TMKR's Kawasan Teal, a stunner!)
Jalur Gemilang
Terracotta
Earl Grey
Wagner
I have not yet purchased any of the Happy Holidays inks, so that list might possibly change.
I use Oxblood about 90% of the time in all of my pens.
There are some pens (like my Montblanc Boheme) which'll only take cartridges, but I've started using a syringe to refill them with Oxblood :p
Diamine imperial blue: I have small handwriting, I need whichever pen I’m writing with to put down the finest line it can - this ink makes that happen:)
Mine Diamine's:
-Denim.
-Sepia.
-Autumn Oak.
-Oxblood.
-Havasu Turquoise (“Havasu blue turquoise” on some fountain pens).
Do you have the Twilight as well? I wanted to know the difference between Twilight and Denim!
I think Autumn Oak might be my favorite ink ever!
pinkpandamiranda .
I have used Autumn Oak, in a Conklin Duragraph, Amber , with a Medium nib , for over two years. I top up the converter about every four weeks and have never had to clean the pen ; and there are no false starts. For me , they are an excellent combination.
@pinkpandamiranda
You have every reason to feel that way. I love the ink dearly, too. Very attractive, warm appearance on the page. Beautiful shading and always cheers me up somehow. I have Autumn Oak in two of my pens...A Conklin All-American with a wonderful B nib. And a clear demonstrator, eye-dropper filling Opus Koloros pen with a 1.3 stub. Sweet thrill!
Another vote for Autumn Oak ... a stunning interesting colour!
Blue Lightning
Blue Velvet
Red Dragon
Shimmering Seas
Aurora Borealis
Asa Blue is my all time favourite. I also like Meadows.
I’m bad to pick, all other factors being equal, between colors based on how well their names appeal to me. Diamine, alas, has a lot of great names in fantastic formulations. One outing with Tyrian Purple and I was a goner....
I prefer Red Dragon over Writers Blood also. However, I love blues and blue blacks to the point I cannot decide and want them all. 😅
Could you do a video of inks that have both shimmer and sheen, similar to Emerald of Chivor?
Monteverde California teal
Chocolate brown
Majestic blue
Oxblood
Sherwood green
Imperial purple
Ya know there are +100 samples for $1.50 to $1.75 each. Invest $15 or so and see what you think you might like and give it a test. Computer screens never do an ink justice.
The sets of ink samples are tempting as heck.
Autumn oak and Majestic blue.
Hello!! I'm so happy I found this channel. I bought my first three fountain pens, a lamy Safari, Travelers Company and a Twisby eco. And I'm really excited. I was also wondering if anyone knew what ink cartridges can be found and where to find them for my Travelers company pen? I haven't been able to find anything. Or can I use other ink cartridges with it cause i haven't found very many videos on that! Thank you ahead of time if anyone finds this comment and helps!!!
My favorite Diamine inks are: Diamine 150 Blue Velvet, Blood Orange and Terracotta ...
On a typical week, about how many pens do you have inked up, and ready go? Which inks, and which pens?
Thanks for sharing info, I noticed the same thing on my fountain pen when using pumpkin, I thought I did something wrong...
I shall counter with:
1. Autumn Oak
2. Tobacco Sunburst
3. Smoke on the Water
4. Ancient Copper
5. Aurora Borealis
I have not tried 2, 3, 4, or 5, but I agree that Autumn Oak is the best
Blue his house...blue da ba dee da ba die...great looking inks! Oxford Blue is my favorite... Majestic Blue is lovely too, but...yikes the mess.
Sunshine Yellow!
I would highly recommend diamine espresso! Ive got a quick video up on my channel about it. Its fantastic to work with when sketching :)
Not forgetting Asa Blue, Ultra Green, Hope Pink, Poppy Red, and Bilberry.
Nick Higham .
I have the last four, on your list .(:- j
Bilberry is my absolute favorite. It can be quite conservative at times with a dark violet-blue color, but on some papers you can get a little bit of a copper sheen.
Brandon Wong .
I have used Bilberry in a Platinum 78+ M , for two years. It is an excellent wet writer, which I top up every four weeks, and I have never had to lean the pen.
Golden Oasis, it's like the first day of spring in a bottle
I'm on Goulet Pens website right now shopping for several Diamine inks and I see that of the 53 different Diamine inks they "carry" in the 30 ml size, they only have 7 in stock. The other 46 are out of stock. Why?
Brian, could you do a similar review of your favourite Robert Oster inks? I only have one Robert Oster ink, Deep Sea, so far. I know Robert Oster is a newer Australian company, whereas Diamine is from the UK and has been around for a very long time.
I like the Robert Oster Deep Sea ink, and I would be interested in trying some other colours. Like you, I tend to enjoy blue/green inks and pens.
I find the Robert Oster inks to be inconsistent. Not in color, as I’ve never bought more than one bottle of any color….I just find some to be too watery. I have 4, maybe 5, and I really don’t use them. Maybe it’s just the ones I chose, and I don’t have deep sea, but they are boring.
do you have inks for dip pens (used in copperplate calligraphy)