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I’m reviewing samples of the new set of Diamine Shimmer inks. This one is Diamine Arctic Blue This is a dark turquoise/cerulean blue ink with some natural red sheen and silver shimmer. It is a similar colour to Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku. I found it a very wet and well flowing ink. It had very good lubrication with the pens I tried it with. It’s a saturated ink. With broader nibs it looks much 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 Lamy Nexx M B 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 Arctic Blue 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 water resistant, and disappeared after a few minutes under water. 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: ExcellentLubrication: Very goodNib Dry-out: Not noticed.Start-up: Immediate.Saturation: A saturated inkShading Potential: Very goodSheen: Silver shimmerShow-Through:Tomoe River 52gsm.Cheaper generic 80gsm printer papers & lined pads.Field NotesSpread / Feathering: A little spread seen on the Moleskine cloneNib 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: Not sold as waterproof, and has little water resistance.Availability: Will be available from Diamine Inks web-site and other outlets. Back Mebin then Back Moleskine

My latest ink is Diamine Marine As I said in my review for Diamine Havasu Turquoise and Diamine Turquoise I have been collecting turquoise inks and samples since I bought a bottle of Caran d'Ache Caribbean Sea. There are several inks that are a good alternative for that deleted ink and I intend to show you as many as I can. The best match I have found so far is Kaweco Paradise Blue and I will be posting a review of that ink soon. Diamine Marine is another alternative. It's very slightly greener than and has about the same saturation as Havasu Turquoise. It is more like a slightly greenish turquoise ink than a sky blue ink. I'm not sure you would need Marine, Havasu Turquoise and Turquoise in one ink collection though. If someone forced me to choose between D Havasu Turquoise, Turquoise and Marine, so that I could only have one of them in my collection, I would have a real problem choosing between Turquoise and Marine. Marine is spot in the middle of blue and green though. The exact colour that you would describe bright turquoise as. I have previously reviewed Diamine Soft Mint and Diamine Steel Blue ink and at the time I believed Steel Blue might be the closest match to Caran d'Ache Caribbean Sea. However, I think you could choose Diamine Turquoise or Diamine Marine for a closer match. Although this isn't a waterproof ink, it shows good water resistance, as do many turquoise inks.Bearing in mind the paper I use is thick with a shiny surface, and I used a Lamy M nib, this ink took 15-16 secs to dry.It flows through the pen very well and lubricates the nib very well. I saw no skips or hard starts while I did swabs and dry time tests. It was one of those pen and ink moments that produced a great match for me. They really played well together.It is currently available in 80ml glass bottles, 30ml plastic refill bottles or International sized cartridges.Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.It's a reasonable price.

I am admittedly ink-fussy. This one is too thick. This one is too dry. But is there one that's 'just right?' After complaining I was unable to tell one turquoise ink from another without a score card, I tested a few...well, all...of my turquoise inks. Although two of them, the Iroshizuku Ama-Iro and the Diamine Steel Blue, were mere sample vials. All the tests except those two were done with a glass dip pen. The Steel Blue was loaded in a Dollar Demonstrator. And even though I have MORE than enough Turquoise inks,the Ama-Iro has such wonderful flow properties when tested in a Metro Retro that I may spring for a bottle. The Pelikan swab looks much darker than it should because I took it from the cap, where it had partially dried, but it also displays the most sheen of any turquoise ink tested. Sparkle, even! The Souten seems bluest, the Steel Blue greenest. The Ku-Jaku is indescribable and undefinable. The paper was Rhodia Ice. Still can't decide on a favorite. Signed, Goldilocks

My latest ink is Diamine Havasu Turquoise. I have been collecting turquoise inks and samples since I bought a bottle of Caran d'Ache Caribbean Sea, and finally found the time to compare it to other turquoise inks to see which was the closest current colour match for it. IMHO, the current closest colour ink to C d'A Caribbean Sea that is available is Kaweco Paradise Blue, and it's quality is comparable. I have that ink to review soon. Meanwhile, there are others that are quite similar, and deserve a mention in their own right. Diamine Havasu Turquoise is one of them. This is despite the fact that it's quite like a sky blue/blue turquoise, and because of this, I deliberately compared it with Pelikan Edelstein Topaz to try to show you their similarities and differences. I am also reviewing Diamine Turquoise and Diamine Marine so that you can compare these two inks. I have previously reviewed Diamine Steel Blue ink and a similar shade Diamine Soft Mint. Although this isn't a waterproof ink, it shows good water resistance, as do many turquoise inks.Bearing in mind the paper I use is thick with a shiny surface, and I used a Lamy M nib, this ink took 17-19 secs to dry.It flows through the pen very well and lubricates the nib very well. I saw no skips or hard starts while I did swabs and dry time tests.It is currently available in 80ml glass bottles, 30ml plastic refill bottles or International sized cartridges.Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.It's a reasonable price.