Search the Community

Today I’m reviewing a sample of the increasingly popular new ink from Diamine called Earl Grey Inside the box lid is a label that says “This ink colour was chosen by the members of r/fountainpens, a wonderful Reddit community of fountain pen enthusuiasts.” It’s a grey ink that has some purple tones, but it doesn’t particularly lean towards the purple or blue edge of the colour spectrum I found it a quite wet and well flowing ink. I didn’t experience any ignition or clogging problems with it. It had good lubrication with the pens I tested it with and it wrote with a smooth glide across the papers I used. It has some very nice shading and looks more saturated with broader nibs than with finer nibs. I had no problem cleaning it out of pens using cold water or off of skin using soap and warm water. It showed through on some of the papers I used. It is not sold as a water resistant ink and it isn’t particularly water resistant. The comparison inks were swabbed with a cotton bud and their ink names were written with a glass dip pen. Flow Rate: Wet, very good.Lubrication: Wet, goodNib Dry-out: Not noticed.Start-up: Immediate.Saturation: Reasonably saturated for a grey ink. Too saturated and they look black.Shading Potential: Very good; shading can easily be seen.Sheen: None noticedShow-Through:Tomoe River 52gsm.Cheaper generic 80gsm printer papers & lined pads.Field NotesRhodia Dot PadClairefontaine Crok BookSpread / Feathering: Not seen except on Field NotesNib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen, even after over a week in the penStaining (pen): Not seen - easy clean-upStaining (hands): Not seen - easy clean-upClogging: Not seen. Seems unlikely.Water resistance: Has no water resistance.Availability: Available from Diamine Inks web-site and other outlets.