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It seems there's no Diamine's Brilliant Red review on FPN (not in review index) so I thought I can share my review originally posted on polish fountain pen enthusiasts forum. I'm sorry the text on photos is in polish, however I didn't have time to repeat all the process and write another review in english. Anyway the color is more important than these few sentences that basically say how much I enjoy this ink. SWAB (photo taken on a sunny day) http://imageshack.com/a/img819/861/ccak.jpg Two drops of ink on kitchen towel: http://imageshack.com/a/img34/8626/nqfu.jpg My software identifies this color as follows: http://imageshack.com/a/img59/7483/pik8.jpg INFORMATIONS Producer: Diamine Color: Brilliant Red Saturation: strong Flow: very good in Pilot 78G with B nib Shading: present, I like it Dry time: OK http://imageshack.com/a/img855/5479/zmed.jpg Do I like it: Yes, a lot. Photos : text was written with Pilot 78G with B nib 1. On copy paper printed with dots http://imageshack.com/a/img513/8977/qhec.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img834/5139/fch0.jpg 2. Text written in Oxford notebook http://imageshack.com/a/img849/3446/i1hn.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img829/467/0whb.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img89/1182/sjxj.jpg

I have mixed feelings about Diamine inks - I like the variety of colors and their intensity but many of them aren't well behaved (they tend to clog pens, cause nib creep / nib crud). Syrah used to be my favourite color. I still like it. http://imageshack.com/a/img538/3784/26v4aq.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img908/6766/buyTsY.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img904/1648/xjHimg.jpg Kitchen towel http://imageshack.com/a/img909/907/6JFCS7.jpg Software ID: http://imageshack.com/a/img661/3533/tRsW1s.jpg Color range Calendar - Hero 9300, M nib http://imageshack.com/a/img540/9799/JqJDia.jpghttp://imageshack.com/a/img537/7041/73MG4Z.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img908/3420/gqqaI0.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img673/3581/dsjvED.jpg

I like red inks and I use them on every day basis. I'd like to present you short comparison of ten colors. Of course it would be great to compare more reds but then my samples of Oxblood and Monaco Red are empty. Next time. So the inks I've compared are (in alphabetical order): BRILLIANT RED - Diamine http://imageshack.com/a/img834/7010/tg6s.jpg BRILLIANT RED - Pelikan http://imageshack.com/a/img842/8815/x797.jpg BURGUNDY RED - Montblanc http://imageshack.com/a/img843/6245/qxoy.jpg CIEMNY CZERWONY (Dark Red) - Nicpoń* *Nicpoń is chemistry PhD Student that's active on Polish fountain pen network. He'c created limited line of nice, saturated inks in many colors. http://imageshack.com/a/img834/7862/c9n5.jpg GARNET RED - Graf von Faber-Castell http://imageshack.com/a/img834/7862/c9n5.jpg MATADOR - Diamine http://imageshack.com/a/img834/6818/pmh4.jpg MORINDA - Rohrer & Klingner http://imageshack.com/a/img835/3799/pvp4.jpg RED - Hero http://imageshack.com/a/img842/9356/rew0.jpg RED DRAGON - Diamine http://imageshack.com/a/img842/1002/kwg3.jpg RUBY - Diamine http://imageshack.com/a/img836/6886/yi84.jpg There was an accident. I was ready to make "splash painting" with Ruby. The sample was standing near the sink, I don't know why, but I've abruptly turned and my hand pushed the sample. The rest of the ink flow down the sink to some foreign lands. Ruby is a great color, so it's a pity I couldn't compare it this way. SWABS ON SCAN (Canon MP 250) http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/843/9jsta.jpg SWABS ON PHOTO http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1024x768q90/842/jpna.jpg FEW DROPS OF INK ON KITCHEN TOWEL http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/1280x1024q90/835/bqr6.jpgTEXT WRITTEN WITH PILOT 78G, B NIB in Oxford notebook http://imageshack.com/a/img838/576/fra5.jpg TEXT WRITTEN WITH PILOT 78G, B NIB in notebook http://imageshack.com/a/img841/5115/eifu.jpg TEXT WRITTEN WITH PILOT 78G (B NIB) IN CALENDAR http://imageshack.com/a/img842/3936/qgzj.jpg TEXT WRITTEN ON CHEAP PAPER (inks are listed as above) http://imageshack.com/a/img845/3366/v4ws.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img835/7620/sqyd.jpg TEXT WRITTEN ON CHEAP COPY PAPER PRINTED WITH DOTS http://imageshack.com/a/img834/2382/c4e57.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img834/7564/p4hw.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img843/7411/bud7.jpg SUMMARY RED DRAGON stomps. It's amazing deep color. I love it. Second and third place are taken by CIEMNY CZERWONY and MORINDA / MATADOR ex-aequo. There are also colors I dislike, namely: Pelikan's BRILLIANT RED (it sucks: I can't find anything interesting about this ink), GARNET RED (moderate flow, dull), BURGUNDY RED (dull, not interesting). What's your opinion? You can choose few inks from the poll.

Diamine Celadon Cat Disclaimer: My initial review of this ink was as harsh as Jacques Herbin, Les toits de Paris as both are quite similar and that I don't particularly appreciate washed out inks. But with time it grew on me, especially for drawing. So read this review with a pinch of salt and make up your own mind. A dryish green grey by Diamine designed by r/fountainpens on Reddit. I wanted to review this after Jacques Herbin Les toits de Paris. These two inks are very similar, the former leaning green, the latter, blue. Both need soft smooth nibs and are paper dependant. I would say, Celadon Cat is slightly more lubricated. Personally, I hated the writing experience with Lamy (and I’m restraining myself) in the beginning. It was ok with Pilot Elite, thanks to its gold nib, but the ink was too pale, so I had to press it. In the vintage Waterman W2 flex nib the writing was agreeable. However overtime, the more the ink languished in the pen, the better it became and the lack of lubrication less pronounced. So give it time I think this ink would be suitable on absorbent paper and maybe Iroful. It has some halo effect on Midori, which was nice. Chroma: Very nice! Writing Samples: If the scan look blue, it's not. It's definitely green. Check comparison colour with Jacques Herbin Les toits de Paris on the Iroful scan. Halo effect not visible in scan. Comparison of the blue-grey Les toits de Paris and Diamine Celadon Cat Photo: Top text is again Jacques Herbin Les toits de Paris or Gris Toits Comparison: Water test: Left side 10 seconds under running water. Art Work: Samurai celadon Inspired by Japanese Celadon pottery and samurai statue and obviously the ink itself Ink was applied generously by directly dipping the water brush in the sample vial. Diamine Celadon Cat (Kimono) Jacques Herbin Les toits de Paris (Background) Noodler's Lexington Gray (cat and mouse) Platinum Carbon Black (Outline) · Pens used: Pilot Elite Ef, Lamy (EF/F/M/B,1.1), Waterman W2 flex · What I liked: The colour in abstract, halo effect, getting rid of the ink. · What I did not like: Writing experience was like cat nails on a scratching post · What some might not like: Not lubricated, pale colour. · Shading: Depending on nib/ paper. · Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper, but you might get away with it with a M nib. · Bleed through: Same as above. · Flow Rate: Watery · Lubrication: Yuck. · Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. · Start-up: Ok · Saturation: Pastel · Shading Potential: Yes, but who cares. · Sheen: Some halo effect with B nib on Midori · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice. · Staining (pen): No. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Very easy · Water resistance: Ok. · Availability: 30ml plastic /80 ml glass bottles. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

Diamine x Niche Pens Alexandrite Many thanks @JungleJim for the sample. This was a part of blind test on the FPGeeks. Ink is made by Diamine for Niche pens aka Purepens Uk. Ink comes in both shimmering (30 ml bottles) and non-shimmering (30 ml /80 ml bottles). This sample was the non-shimmering version. It’s a gorgeous, saturated teal /turquoise, with beautiful shading and a red sheen on most papers. The writing experience is so exquisite that makes you forget about the world. Dry times are about 25s on Rhodia, so ink is not suitable for lefty over writers. I left the ink for a long time in the pen. Surprisingly cleaning while needed quite a bit of flushing was easy. While there's some water resistance, you don't want this ink anywhere close to sweaty palms/ pools etc. The amount of dye that washes out is impressive Ink is best used with Japanese paper, where the shading/ sheening is most prominent. Copy paper is not for this ink and with Rhodia the sheen is present mostly with the wettest pen (Nib creaper) The wetter the pen, the more prominent the sheen, the dryer the “sheen” becomes shading. The sheen is very subtle with EF-F nibs on Midori, Tomoe River 68gr, obvious with M, B nibs, disappeared with the stub, and with Semi-flex nib creaper it became prominent. On Iroful paper, the shading appears as sheen, with the flex nib, the sheening was massive. Chroma: Writing Samples: Photo: Papers are Midori /Tomoe River 68 gr /Iroful Nibs are B/Stub/ Semi-flex Comparison: Water test: Left side 10 seconds under running water. Sample was written with glass nib. So, amount of ink is more than a normal nib. Sample was left 1 hour under fan. While there's some resistance to water, you really don't want this ink any place near water Art Work: Sailor Kiwa-guro, Diamine X Niche Pens Alexandrite and Noodler's Polar Brown. · Pens used: Lamy (Reverse Ef, EF/F/M/B, 1.1) , Noodler’s Nib creaper · What I liked: Writing experience, artwork and cleaning. I also liked how you could have both shading/ sheen. · What I did not like: Long dry times, and close to water it can be messy (nit picking) · What some might not like: Long dry times, copy paper. · Shading: Gorgeous. · Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper. · Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper. · Flow Rate: Wet · Lubrication: Excellent. · Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. · Start-up: Great · Saturation: Saturated · Shading Potential: Yes baby! · Sheen: Yes · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: A tiny bit on copy paper. . · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice. · Staining (pen): Not at all. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Quite easy. · Water resistance: Non-existent. · Availability: 30 ml (shimmering), 30 ml/ 80 ml bottles (non-shimmering) Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

Ink Review : Diamine Blue Velvet (150th Anniversary Ink) Pen: Lamy AL-star Ocean Blue, M-nib Paper: Rhodia N° 16 notepad 80 gsm Review This ink is part of the 8-color set that Diamine released to celebrate their 150th anniversary (1864-2014). The set has quite a number of interesting colors. This pure blue ink is one of them. Blue Velvet... the name evokes the image of a bright late-spring day with a deep blue sky. At the banks of the mighty river Anduin, Galadriel - the beautiful queen of Lothlórien - dominates the scene with her blue velvet reginal robe, waving her goodbyes to the Fellowship... This ink captures the setting well. It is a deep pure-blue ink with no colored undertones, as shown in the chromatograpy. The ink flows well in my pens, and shows some nice - but not too much - shading. A simple but elegant blue for everyday writing, at home in your journal as well as in the workplace. Fortunately for Galadriel, it is a bright sunny day without rain, because this Blue Velvet ink has no water resistance at all. Both the droplet and running water tests show without any doubt that water obliterates this ink. No legible traces remain. A shame, because this ink is otherwise very well-behaving. Let's have a look at how it behaves on paper. For this, I did some tests: Rhodia N° 16 notepad 80 gsm - drying time 15-20 seconds, no feathering, no show-through nor bleed-throughPaperblanks journal paper - drying time ~20 seconds, no feathering, no show-through and no bleed-throughGeneric notepad paper 70 gsm - drying time ~15 seconds, no feathering, no show-through nor bleed-throughMoleskine journal - drying time ~5 seconds, no feathering (that's nice!), but significant show-through and very noticeable bleed-through (making the backside of the paper unusable)Blue Velvet is a very well-behaving ink. Only with the awful Moleskine paper it leaves to be desired. On other paper, it behaves perfectly. You can't go wrong here. Conclusion Blue Velvet is an all-around true blue ink, that behaves well om a wide variety of paper. It's big downside is that it has zero water resistance. Myself, I don't care much about that. But... for me the ink doesn't strike a chord. It's a decent ink for everyday use, but no queen material. This is one dress that will spent more time in the wardrobe than being worn. my overall score: B+

There are currently (August 2013) one hundred colours available in the standard series from Diamine. Below I have written one line with each colour first on low-absorbent paper (Rhodia No 18 dotpad) and second on normal absorbent paper (our corporate printer’s stock “cartridge” paper). All lines are written with a medium Lamy Z50 nib on a Lamy Safari pen. Apologies for the corporate branding: I do not have blank cartridge stock paper. I hope it does not distract too much from the inks. If you want to calibrate your monitor, the blue and orange colours in the logo are Pantone Blue 072 and Pantone 1375, respectively. There are 25 colours on each sheet so 4 sheets in total. I will write more about the sorting of the ink colours later. For now: enjoy! and I hope this is useful. (And if someone wants to send me samples of the special edition Diamine inks that I do not have, then I will be happy to add them. This is mainly the Music set.) Colour set 1 Low-absorbent paper (Rhodia) Normal absorbent paper (cartridge)

Diamine Vivaldi Thanks for @Lithium466 for the sample. This review is in three parts: Feel free to jump to your preferred part. In a nutshell: a gorgeous dark purple, which is almost black with EF nibs. It doesn’t appreciate cheap paper. It’s wet, well lubricated. It’s Diamine. Chroma: What’s in a name? I’m confused by the Diamine Music set. It’s composed of 3 baroque composers: Bach, Vivaldi and Handel. 2 Classical era composers: Mozart and Beethoven. (Cancelling Poor Haydn) And 5 romantics. Schubert and Chopin, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Strauss. Though technically you can argue that Schubert is early romantic, and Tchaikovsky late romantic. And then there is Strauss which I’m assuming it's Richard and not one of the Johann's . I don’t understand the logic behind the names. Diamine could have chosen some fabulous English composers, granted they would be mostly renaissance, baroque, and then jump to early 20th century, Byrd, Tallis, Dowland, Hume, Purcell, Sullivan, Elgar, Delius, William, Britten etc.. Or they could have chosen one composer per European country. This is just a mishmash of composers, with no rhyme or reason. Vivaldi’s micro bio and music (1678 - 1741) Now a bit about Antonio Vivaldi. Vivaldi is one of the pillars of the Baroque era and codified the concerto form. He was the musical director of Ospedale della Pietà an orphanage. He was admired by Bach who transposed some of his concertos for Harpsichord, died in poverty and his work was promptly forgotten until the early 20th century, until his work was re-discovered. He composed some 500 concertos about 50 odds opera, religious music etc. His nicknamed was il Prete Rosso, the Red Priest. (He was ordained a priest) The Four Seasons his most famous fiery tempo, dynamics contrasts with the colour of the ink: Or his lovely Lovely lute or Mandolin concertos. Here is the slow movement of his Lute Concerto RV 93. Or If you’re an opera fan, and have 3 hours or such to spend you can try his opera Orlando furioso, don't ask me the story, it's a medieval fantasy story Ink review: Now for the ink, again I don’t understand why would any one would choose this dark purple for Vivaldi, who's nicknamed the Red Priest, thanks to his reddish hair, and his passionate music. This one is not an ink for a Vivaldi over. Writing Samples: I used a Pilot F3A for the Japanese Ef and is it semi-flexible, I flexed it at the end to give you an idea of "flex". Photo: Comparison: Water test: Decent water resistance. and finally An art work. I had a bit of difficulty. While I appreciate his music, he's not one of my favourites composers. 😛 Anyway here's is one of Vivaldi's cats playing one of his concertos on an imaginary gondola I used a bit of of Octopus Grey Merkat and the brownish ink was created by mixing the purple with De Atramentis Artist Orange: · Pens used: Pilot F3A (JEf /Semiflex)Lamy (EF/F/M/B, BB) · What I liked: Colour, Doing washes. · What I did not like: Name didn’t correspond to the fieriness of composer nor his music · What some might not like: It doesn’t like copy paper. · Shading: Only with wide nib. · Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper. · Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper. · Flow Rate: Wet · Lubrication: Well lubricated. · Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. · Start-up: Ok · Saturation: Dark · Shading Potential: Not so much. · Sheen: No. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice. · Staining (pen): Did not notice. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Easy. Though as a purple ink it might stain · Water resistance: Not bad. · Availability: 30 ml bottles. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

Diamine Dark Forest Many thanks @Lithium466 for the sample. 🙏 This is a dependable dark green/ teal, part of Diamine's 150th anniversary inks It’s a very well-behaved dark green, especially with a Japanese Ef nib, which was quite pleasant. From M onwards the colour changes from a dark green to a dark teal (shading appears also from M nibs onwards, despite what the scan wants you to believe. And it doesn’t like copy paper. It's a great ink to do washes, surprisingly creating a teal effect, even though I don't see any blue in the chroma: Writing Samples: My apologies for the misspelling. I must have been thinking of another Forrest I couldn’t fill the Nib creaper, so it is not a real representative of a flex nib, and finally I stumbled on my Tomoe River notebook (don’t ask) hence the major smudging, which I believe shows the range of the ink Photo: Comparison: Water test: and finally an art work. As you saw with the quotes, the name of the ink, conjured the Enchanted Wood, by Enid Blyton. This is a rendition of the Magic Farway tree, by my child's mind. Noodler's Polar Brown Sailor Kiwa-guro Octopus White Polar Bear J Herbin Éclat de Saphir · Pens used: Pilot Kakuno Ef, Lamy (EF/F/M/B, BB, 1.1), Nib creaper dipped · What I liked: Writing with M/ B nibs. Doing washes. · What I did not like: Nothing much. · What some might not like: If you use copy paper, it’s not for you. · Shading: M nibs onwards. · Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper. · Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper. · Flow Rate: Nice and wet. · Lubrication: Generous. · Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. · Start-up: I had some difficulties when switching nibs. · Saturation: Nice and dark. · Shading Potential: M /B nibs. · Sheen: Did not notice. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Did not notice. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice. · Staining (pen): No. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Easy · Water resistance: Inexistant. · Availability: 40 ml bottles / Cartridges Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

Manufacturers since 1864, Diamine Inks relocated to this purpose built 'state of the art' factory in Liverpool in 1925, where they successfully carried on using the traditional methods and formulas for ink production. Over the years the company has changed hands and are now located close to the world famous Aintree Race Course http://www.diamineinks.co.uk/images/DimaineFactory.gif http://www.diaminein...uk/AboutUs.aspx I'm still looking for perfect grey ink. Caran d'Ache Infinite Grey is close, the hue is stunning but the ink is average in terms of behavior. Diamine Graphite is definitely less expensive and it has this slate hue that I enjoy a lot in grey inks. The behavior is good, the ink flows smoothly and leaves reasonably wet line. In one pen (Pelikan M805) it caused hard start after doing a pause of 30 seconds. In other pens however it writes really well. I think it's undesrvedly underrated Diamine ink. I really enjoy this one although I still believe one of these days I'll discover perfect grey ink Drops of ink on kitchen towel Software ID Color range Tomoe River - Kaweco Classic Sport, broad nib Tomoe River, Pelikan M805, fine nib Leuchtturm 1917 - Kaweco AL Sport, broad nib Linen paper, Kaweco Classic Sport, broad nib Copy paper, Lamy Al-Star, broad nib No-name notebook, Lamy Al-Star, medium nib

Diamine Majestic Blue vs De Atramentis Steel Blue An Ink comparison for a somewhat peculiar reason Notice Diamine and De Atramentis use similar lids There is of course nothing so special about comparing two inks especially then they are both blue inks. What is peculiar though that they are both very talented at smudging and staining. But I will come back to this later first have a look at the colours. I will enter in the links to the more extensive reviews of both inks at the end of this review Handwritten text comparison Let me "throw up" another comparison Q-Tipp comparison Sheeny Shiny happy Inks yeah How great both inks sheen The De Atramentis Ink sheen very well but is topped by Sheen Master Majestic Blue Judge Smudge Down here is the reason that gave me the idea for this comparison Both inks smear even after days of drying time. Just a drop of spit on the finger tip can cause this smudging It seems to be quite normal though, some inks tend to smudge alittle more, they are no IG or document inks after all In this comparisonThe Diamine seems to be the most talented when it cooms to smudging smudging. I once had Dr. J of De Atramentis test the Diamine Majestic Blue. Dr J Lsaid that the ink was perfetly well... He liked it a lot! Availability La Couronne du Comte I guess Dennis and Rik would even travel to the moon to get it for you (just pay them a million or 2) Well it is safe to say that they do almost everything to satisfy their customers… Considering http://www.lacouronneducomte Bankers have Rothshield Ink lovers have the Goulet Pen Company. Rachel and Brian carry the almost* largest assortment of ink on earth an it's near surroundings http://www.gouletpens.com (*almost Dear Amberlea Davis carries the largest assortment in the universe but is not a seller Larry Post of Australia is a Great Supplier of Stationary and Artist Equipments. They carry a lot of De Atramentis Inks http://www.larrypost.com.au/ The same applies to Singapore based Arters of the utterly friendly Yitpeng and WeetekOng http://arters.com.sg Conclusion I really do like both inks. They both are lovely blues. Normally I am not so fond of blue inks because they are so standard that i believe that they are mor sommething for boring biro writers these inksmade me change my mind and I now use blue inks quite often The Diamine is the better sheener therefore the De Atramentis seems to " hold his liquor" better https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/352616-diamine-majestic-blue/ https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/352615-de-atramentis-steel-blue/

When I tried Diamine Eclipse the first time, I just loved the color. It was such a unique blackish purple. And it seemed to work pretty well in my pens. So I started using it in one of my daily carries. Well, I've been using it for about six months now, and, while it certainly isn't the type of ink that would ruin a pen or anything like that, I just have gotten so I don't love the way it flows. In comparison to waterman or iroshizuku, it seems relatively 'dry' to me. And, well, I'm tired of it. But I still love the color. Has anyone come across another ink with a similar color?