Diamine Bilberry

[DanielCoffey]

INK : DIAMINE BILBERRY

 

PAPER : RHODIA #16 A5 white lined

 

PEN : Onoto Magna 261 Medium nib tweaked for wet flow by John Sorowka (Oxonian).

 

Scanner : IT8-calibrated Epson V600 flatbed

Colour Space : Adobe RGB

Matte : 50% grey and 100% white

Post-process : Unsharp Mask

 

 

NOTE : Apologies for the smudges on this review but I made the mistake of handling it with wet hands after doing the Soapy Soak and I think the two pages touched before the water test page was fully dry.

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewBilberry.jpg

 

 

Here is a close-up of the swab. I noticed a clear metallic sheen on a very wet writing pen which was plainly visible on the Rhodia and was very clear on G Lalo Vergé Ivory....

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewBilberrySwab.jpg

 

 

And here is that sheen on the G Lalo Vergé...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewBilberrySheen.jpg

 

 

And a close-up of the shading. Shading in a wet writer is muted in this ink because it is so saturated. I did not have a fine or dry nib to test it on...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewBilberryShade.jpg

 

 

As expected, this ink is in NO way water resistant but then Diamine never said it was.

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewBilberryWater.jpg

 

 

DRYING TIMES : The writing tests above were done in a VERY wet medium nib that had just been cleaned. Drying times on Xerox 90gsm were in the order of 10 to 15s. Rhodia, Clairefontaine Triomphe and G Lalo Vergé took a good 45s.

 

SMEARING : None observed but make sure your hands are dry when handling.

 

BLEEDTHROUGH : Some bleed through may be expected on copy papers with wet or fat nibs. I would not expect bleeding on dry or fine nibs or when the ink is used on a good quality paper. Given the wet nib I used above, I recorded the following... Xerox 90gsm had moderate bleed through and some feathering. Rhodia had no bleed through and no feathering. Clairefontaine Triomphe had no bleed through or feathering. G Lalo Vergé had no bleed through or feathering.

 

FLOW AND LUBRICATION : Flow for this ink seems to be medium. I suspect even a dry fine nib will put down a good line. Lubrication was excellent in the pens tested. The writing experience was very enjoyable.

 

CLEANING : The ink did not stick to the insides of the converter but it is fairly saturated so make sure you clean thoroughly from crevices after use. A bulb syringe will be useful here. There was no staining observed after a few days.

[Alexandra]

That's beautiful!

[Koyote]

Wow, that looks nice! Thanks for the review. Well done as always.

[The Good Captain]

A great review of a really promising ink. It reminds me of Sailor Jentle Blue. I might get a bottle when I call for the Sargasso.

[DanielCoffey]

I am really liking the Bilberry myself - it flows right, writes a nice tight line and is smooth under the nib. The colour on hard white papers in natural light tends slightly to the purple and of course it has that metallic sheen which it displays proudly.

 

I don't know yet how it will stack up against the Diamine Grape but we will see soon enough (once postal deliveries resume after the Jubilee Bank Holiday of course).

[Scriver]

Daniel, how would you compare the drying time for the Bilberry to Sargasso Sea and Denim? Are the all about the same?

[DanielCoffey]

Denim dries the fastest with Sargasso and Bilberry being a bit slower... but this was in a VERY wet pen remember.

[lapis]

Thanks again for one great review. Food for thought. Review-wise, everything I need and nothing I don't need.

Only one upmanship: for me, it's not a medium-flow but a rather high-flow ink. It really helps out, my drier pens to step on the gas.

 

Mike

[gumwater]

Excellent review. Thank you so much!

[adyf]

Is anyone finding this ink to be a slightly hard starter when the pen has been left uncapped for a minute or two?

[goldiesdad]

One of my favorite colors ... I likey ....

 

Great Review

[vistafan]

I love this ink. I recently used it in a medium TWSBI and the shading was spectacular. There is also a nice gold sheen.

[Fabienne]

Bilberry is like Black Swan in North African Violets bigger, darker, more saturated brother. Mine is a definite purple, though. I never see it as blue very much.:mellow:Maybe only good people can see it as a blue. It's a gorgeous ink.

[shaylenwilliams]

In my very limited testing, this ink is darn near identical to PR Tanzanite. That is, of course, to say that it's pretty!!!

[Colin68]

Is anyone finding this ink to be a slightly hard starter when the pen has been left uncapped for a minute or two?

 

Yes - it's really frustrating because I love the colour but the slow starting is so annoying. I find it runs ok in my medium nib Montblanc and a 1.1 TWSBI diamond 540, but not so in my Pelikan M800, medium or fine nib. I'm gradually working through all the dark purples I can find, looking for a Bilberry equivalent that starts reliably!

[DanielCoffey]

I hadn't noticed Bilberry being hard starting, but then again I did ask John Sorowka to set up my pen for wetter flow and did say I would be exclusively using Diamine. As a result, I get excellent flow from all the inks I have tried so far - even Registrar's Ink flows well. The only downside is that I have to use better quality paper but that is fine since my daily jotter pad is Clairefontaine Triomphe.

[tawanda]

In my very limited testing, this ink is darn near identical to PR Tanzanite. That is, of course, to say that it's pretty!!!

 

+1 on that. I found you could not tell them apart when dry. Great news for UK buyers as Diamine is MUCH cheaper than PR, and IMO easier to handle, wash out etc. As a general rule, a very well behaved brand of inks.

[georges zaslavsky]

very nice color it is very close to mb royale blue

[The Good Captain]

Just for the record...

[mhphoto]

Just an absolutely gorgeous ink. This is waiting in the Goulet wish list until payday…