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Today I'm reviewing Diamine Majestic Blue A medium to dark blue ink from the standard range, Diamine Majestic Blue seems to be discussed more frequently than most other Diamine inks. Many love it's strong blue colour and red sheen, while some report problems like it stains hands and pens. I must admit I haven't written with it for ages and am guilty of letting my half full, old style 80ml bottle, sit around, unused, in a box. I took it out and examined it carefully. First I tipped it upside down and can report there was no sign of any sludge in the bottom of the bottle. Then I turned it up and removed the cap. No signs of any sludge there either. I filled my Lamy Al-star converter with it. Then left it on my table for a few days. When I went back to the pen, it started writing straight away. No hard start. It didn't skip once, nor did it blob anywhere. It was neither particularly wet nor dry, and it felt smooth and lubricated on my Xerox smooth Colour/Mono laser 100gsm paper. It's very attractive red sheen was really obvious, as was it's saturated blue colour. Don’t have any concerns about not being able to get Parker Penman Sapphire ink. Diamine Majestic Blue is just as good! I will take a photo to show the red sheen, and will report back on whether or not the converter is stained when the pen is emptied. Flow Rate: Good. Neither particularly wet nor dry in the pen & paper combinations I used.Lubrication: Good with all 3 Lamy nibs I used.Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.Start-up: Immediate.Saturation: Very saturated.Shading Potential: Some seen.Sheen: Red sheen noticeable.Show-Through:Clairefontaine Crokbook Paper.Hobonichi Techo paper.Oxford paper.Midori paper.Field Notes.Cheaper generic 80 & 90gsm printer papers & lined pads.Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not seen even on Field Notes.Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen, even after over 1 week in the penStaining (pen): Not seen after several days - easy clean-upStaining (hands): Two washes with bar soap. More required with liquid soap.Clogging: Not seen. Seems unlikely.Water resistance: Not sold as waterproof, but shows a little water resistance.Availability: Available from Diamine Inks web-site and many other outlets.

Today I'm reviewing Diamine Denim This is a saturated dark blue ink, and is a very good match for the material that it’s named after. It’s a dark denim colour. I wouldn’t quite call it blue-black, although in some pens it will look more like a blue-black ink. It’s a darker blue than Diamine Midnight, but not as dark as Cult Pens Deep Dark Blue or Diamine 1864 Blue-Black. It was a well behaved performer for me in two of my pens. It felt wetter and flowed better when I was using the Lamy M nib and the Parker 45 Cursive Italic nib. *As far as show through goes, I’ve listed the papers where I saw any show through at all. However, on all but the Field Notes paper, show through was really minimal and I would find it acceptable to write on the reverse sides of all of these papers. Scanning really seems to accentuate any possible show through. Flow Rate: Good. Much wetter in the Lamy Al-star with M nib.Lubrication: Good with both Parker and Lamy M nibs I used.Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.Start-up: Immediate.Saturation: Saturated.Shading Potential: Shading seen.Sheen: None seen.Show-Through*:Apica PaperMidori PaperRhodia Graph PaperTomoe River 52gsm paperTomoe River 68gsm paperField NotesHobonichi TechoSpread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not seen.Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen, even after over 1 week in the penStaining (pen): Not seen after several days - easy clean-upStaining (hands): Not seen - Easy clean-upClogging: Not seen. Seems unlikely.Water resistance: Not sold as waterproof. Not particularly water resistant although some remains. I left it soaking in during the time it took me to have a shower.Availability: Available from Diamine Inks web-site and many other outlets.