Search the Community

I’m reviewing samples of the new set of Diamine Shimmer inks. This one is Diamine Electric Pink This is a saturated pink ink with silver shimmer. It is along similar lines to Caran d’Ache Divine Pink for being a pink ink that’s easy to read. I found it a wet and well flowing ink. It had good lubrication with the pens I tried it with. It’s a saturated ink, especially for a pink ink. With broader nibs it looks more saturated than it does with finer nibs, although it’s wet enough to show the silver shimmer with all nibs. It showed through on some of the papers I used. The pens I used were Stipula Agata F/M nib, Lamy Nexx M Stub 1.1mm nib, Lamy Nexx M F nib. The comparison inks were swabbed with a cotton bud and their ink names were written with a glass dip pen. I consider Electric Pink a well-behaved ink. I didn’t experience any ignition or clogging problems with it. Clean-up was easy. No problem at all removing it from hands or pens using soap for hands and plain water for pens. It is not sold as a water resistant ink but it is reasonably water resistant. The Mebin UK Notebook I used was supplied by someone on FPN who sold TR 68gsm Notebooks. The paper in the Mebin UK Notebook is quite thick at 95gsm, it’s acid free, and has a really smooth surface with no drag or tooth at all. Inks generally take longer to dry on this paper, so wetter inks tend to pool and I knew that they would show their shimmer well enough for me to photograph the sheen. The Moleskine Notebook is a UK clone, and I found there was very little spread on it. Flow Rate: Very goodLubrication: Very goodNib Dry-out: Not noticed.Start-up: Immediate.Saturation: A fairly saturated inkShading Potential: Very goodSheen: Silver shimmerShow-Through:Tomoe River 52gsm.Cheaper generic 80gsm printer papers & lined pads.Field NotesSpread / Feathering: Not seenNib 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 some water resistance.Availability: Will be available from Diamine Inks web-site and other outlets. Back Mebin then Back Moleskine

I’m reviewing samples of the new set of Diamine Shimmer inks. This one is Diamine Cobalt Jazz It is a strong, saturated cobalt blue colour with plenty of red shading and gold shimmer. I found it a wet and well flowing ink. It had very good lubrication with the pens I tried it with. With broader nibs it looks much more saturated than it does with finer nibs, although it’s wet enough to show the gold shimmer with all nibs. It showed through on some of the papers I used. The pens I used were a Lamy Al-Star with M nib, Lamy Nexx M Stub 1.1mm nib, Lamy Nexx M F nib. The comparison inks were swabbed with a cotton bud and their ink names were written with a glass dip pen. I consider Cobalt Jazz a reasonably well-behaved ink. I didn’t experience any ignition or clogging problems with it. I had no problem cleaning it out of pens. I found that it stained my thumb and middle finger while I was writing with it, if I hadn’t cleaned the grip of the pen carefully enough. In those cases it was more difficult to clean off my skin. However, this is always the case with strong, saturated cobalt blue inks. I was able to wash it off with bar soap, but it took a couple of attempts with warm water. It is not sold as a water resistant ink but it is water resistant. The Mebin UK Notebook I used was supplied by someone on FPN who sold TR 68gsm Notebooks. The paper in the Mebin UK Notebook is quite thick at 95gsm, it’s acid free, and has a really smooth surface with no drag or tooth at all. Inks generally take longer to dry on this paper, so wetter inks tend to pool and I knew that they would show their shimmer well enough for me to photograph the sheen. The Moleskine Notebook is a UK clone, and I found there was very little spread on it. Flow Rate: Wet, very good.Lubrication: Wet, very goodNib Dry-out: Not noticed.Start-up: Immediate.Saturation: A saturated inkShading Potential: Very good; red shading can easily be seen.Sheen: Gold shimmerShow-Through:Tomoe River 52gsm.Cheaper generic 80gsm printer papers & lined pads.Field NotesSpread / Feathering: Not seenNib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen, even after over a week in the penStaining (pen): Not seen - easy clean-upStaining (hands): Occasionally seen - soap & water clean-upClogging: Not seen. Seems unlikely.Water resistance: Has some water resistance.Availability: Will be available from Diamine Inks web-site and other outlets. Back Mebin then Back Moleskine

I’m reviewing samples of the new set of Diamine Shimmer inks. This one is Diamine Wine Divine It’s a saturated, Bordeaux or Burgundy wine colour, dark red ink with some nice shading and sheen as well as gold shimmer. It’s a similar shade to Diamine Syrah. I found it a wet and well flowing ink. It had very good lubrication with the pens I tried it with. With broader nibs it looks much more saturated than it does with finer nibs, although it’s wet enough to show the gold shimmer with all nibs. It showed through on some of the papers I used. The pens I used were a Lamy Al-Star with M nib, Lamy Nexx M Stub 1.1mm nib, Lamy Nexx M F nib. The comparison inks were swabbed with a cotton bud and their ink names were written with a glass dip pen. I found Wine Divine a well-behaved ink. I didn’t experience any ignition or clogging problems with it. I had no problem cleaning it out of pens using cold water or off of skin using soap and warm water. It is not sold as a waterproof ink but it is water resistant. The Mebin UK Notebook I used was supplied by someone on FPN who sold TR 68gsm Notebooks. The paper in the Mebin UK Notebook is quite thick at 95gsm, it’s acid free, and has a really smooth surface with no drag or tooth at all. Inks generally take longer to dry on this paper, so wetter inks tend to pool and I knew that they would show their shimmer well enough for me to photograph the sheen. The Moleskine Notebook is a UK clone, and I found there was very little spread on it. Flow Rate: Wet, very good.Lubrication: Wet, very goodNib Dry-out: Not noticed.Start-up: Immediate.Saturation: A saturated inkShading Potential: Very good; shading can easily be seen.Sheen: Gold shimmerShow-Through:Tomoe River 52gsm.Cheaper generic 80gsm printer papers & lined pads.Field NotesSpread / Feathering: Not seenNib 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 some water resistance.Availability: Will be available from Diamine Inks web-site and other outlets. Back Mebin then Back Moleskine

I’m reviewing samples of the new set of Diamine Shimmer inks. This one is Diamine Spearmint Diva This is a fairly well saturated minty green ink with silver shimmer. It is like Diamine Steel Blue but is more green. It’s darker and more saturated than Diamine Soft Mint. It has silver shimmer and exhibits good shading. I found it a quite wet and well flowing ink. It had good lubrication with the pens I tried it with. With broader nibs it looks more saturated than it does with finer nibs, although it’s wet enough to show the silver shimmer with all nibs. It showed through on some of the papers I used. The pens I used were a Parker 45 Consort with factory C stub nib, Lamy Nexx M Stub 1.1mm nib, Lamy Nexx M F nib. The comparison inks were swabbed with a cotton bud and their ink names were written with a glass dip pen. I consider Spearmint Diva a well-behaved ink. I didn’t experience any ignition or clogging problems with it. Clean-up was easy. No problem at all removing it from hands or pens using soap for hands and plain water for pens. It is not sold as a water resistant ink but it is reasonably water resistant. The Mebin UK Notebook I used was supplied by someone on FPN who sold TR 68gsm Notebooks. The paper in the Mebin UK Notebook is quite thick at 95gsm, it’s acid free, and has a really smooth surface with no drag or tooth at all. Inks generally take longer to dry on this paper, so wetter inks tend to pool and I knew that they would show their shimmer well enough for me to photograph the sheen. The Moleskine Notebook is a UK clone, and I found there was very little spread on it. Flow Rate: Quite wet, GoodLubrication: GoodNib Dry-out: Not noticed.Start-up: Immediate.Saturation: A fairly saturated inkShading Potential: Very goodSheen: Silver shimmerShow-Through:Tomoe River 52gsm.Cheaper generic 80gsm printer papers & lined pads.Field NotesSpread / Feathering: Not seenNib 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 some water resistance.Availability: Will be available from Diamine Inks web-site and other outlets. Back Mebin then Back Moleskine

I’m reviewing samples of the new set of Diamine Shimmer inks. This one is Diamine Golden Ivy It’s a strong, saturated, dark ivy green ink with some nice shading and sheen as well as gold shimmer. It’s a similar shade to Diamine Tropical Green (150th Anniversary) but leans more green and slightly less blue than that ink. I found it a very wet and well flowing ink. It had very good lubrication with the pens I tried it with. With broader nibs it looks much more saturated than it does with finer nibs, although it’s wet enough to show the gold shimmer with all nibs. It showed through on some of the papers I used. The pens I used were a Jinhao Pearl Windows with M nib, Lamy Nexx M Stub 1.1mm nib, Lamy Nexx M F nib. In the past my Jinhao Pearl Windows pen has occasionally dried out when it has contained a shimmer ink. This one is wetter, so it hasn’t dried out in my pen. The comparison inks were swabbed with a cotton bud and their ink names were written with a glass dip pen. I found Golden Ivy a well-behaved ink. I didn’t experience any ignition or clogging problems with it. I had no problem cleaning it out of pens using cold water or off of skin using soap and warm water. It is not sold as a waterproof ink but it is water resistant. The Mebin UK Notebook I used was supplied by someone on FPN who sold TR 68gsm Notebooks. The paper in the Mebin UK Notebook is quite thick at 95gsm, it’s acid free, and has a really smooth surface with no drag or tooth at all. Inks generally take longer to dry on this paper, so wetter inks tend to pool and I knew that they would show their shimmer well enough for me to photograph the sheen. The Moleskine Notebook is a UK clone, and I found there was very little spread on it. Flow Rate: Wet, very good.Lubrication: Wet, very goodNib Dry-out: Not noticed.Start-up: Immediate.Saturation: A saturated inkShading Potential: Very good; shading can easily be seen.Sheen: Gold shimmerShow-Through:Tomoe River 52gsm.Cheaper generic 80gsm printer papers & lined pads.Field NotesSpread / Feathering: Not seenNib 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 some water resistance.Availability: Will be available from Diamine Inks web-site and other outlets. Back Mebin, then Back Moleskine

I’m reviewing samples of the new set of Diamine Shimmer inks. This one is Diamine Frosted Orchid This is a saturated ‘dusky lilac’/purplish ink with silver shimmer. It is like a more saturated version of J.Herbin Poussière de Lune I found it a wet and well flowing ink. It had good lubrication with the pens I tried it with. It’s a fairly well saturated ink for a ‘dusky lilac’ shade. With broader nibs it looks more saturated than it does with finer nibs, although it’s wet enough to show the silver shimmer with all nibs. It showed through on some of the papers I used. The pens I used were Libelle Nature Mosaic Cocoa M nib, Lamy Nexx M Stub 1.1mm nib, Lamy Nexx M F nib. The comparison inks were swabbed with a cotton bud and their ink names were written with a glass dip pen. I consider Frosted Orchid a well-behaved ink. I didn’t experience any ignition or clogging problems with it. Clean-up was easy. No problem at all removing it from hands or pens using soap for hands and plain water for pens. It is not sold as a water resistant ink but it is reasonably water resistant. The Mebin UK Notebook I used was supplied by someone on FPN who sold TR 68gsm Notebooks. The paper in the Mebin UK Notebook is quite thick at 95gsm, it’s acid free, and has a really smooth surface with no drag or tooth at all. Inks generally take longer to dry on this paper, so wetter inks tend to pool and I knew that they would show their shimmer well enough for me to photograph the sheen. The Moleskine Notebook is a UK clone, and I found there was very little spread on it. Flow Rate: Very goodLubrication: Very goodNib Dry-out: Not noticed.Start-up: Immediate.Saturation: A fairly saturated inkShading Potential: Very goodSheen: Silver shimmerShow-Through:Tomoe River 52gsm.Cheaper generic 80gsm printer papers & lined pads.Field NotesSpread / Feathering: Not seenNib 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 some water resistance.Availability: Available from Diamine Inks web-site and other outlets. Back Mebin then back Moleskine