Diamine Ancient Copper

[DanielCoffey]

INK : DIAMINE ANCIENT COPPER

 

PAPER : RHODIA #16 A5 white lined

 

PEN : Onoto Magna 261 Medium nib tweaked for wet flow by John Sorowka (Oxonian).

 

Scanner : IT8-calibrated Epson V600 flatbed

Colour Space : Adobe RGB

Matte : 50% grey and 100% white

Post-process : Unsharp Mask

 

 

Diamine Ancient Copper has amazing potential for shading and if you have fat, wet or flexy nibs, grab a bottle of this NOW!

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewAncientCopper.jpg

 

 

Here is a close-up of the swab...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewAncientCopperSwab.jpg

 

 

And a close-up of the shading. Shading with this ink is very high. although the flow is high too...

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewAncientCopperShade.jpg

 

 

As expected, this ink is in NO way water resistant but then Diamine never said it was. While the grid can still be seen, it would not be practical to call this water-resistant.

 

http://www.dcoffey.co.uk/images/fountainpennetwork/ReviewAncientCopperWater.jpg

 

 

DRYING TIMES : The writing tests above were done in a VERY wet medium nib that had just been cleaned. Drying times on Xerox 90gsm were in the order of 10s. Rhodia, Clairefontaine Triomphe and G Lalo Vergé took a good 45s.

 

SMEARING : None observed but make sure your hands are dry when handling.

 

BLEEDTHROUGH : Some bleed through may be expected on copy papers with wet or fat nibs. I would not expect bleeding on dry or fine nibs or when the ink is used on a good quality paper. Given the wet nib I used above, I recorded the following... Xerox 90gsm had moderate bleed through and some feathering. Rhodia had no bleed through and no feathering. Clairefontaine Triomphe had no bleed through or feathering. G Lalo Vergé had no bleed through or feathering.

 

FLOW AND LUBRICATION : Flow for this ink seems to be high. I suspect even a dry fine nib will put down a very good line. Lubrication was excellent in the pens tested. The writing experience was very enjoyable.

 

CLEANING : The ink did not stick to the insides of the converter but it is fairly saturated so make sure you clean thoroughly from crevices after use. A bulb syringe will be useful here. There was no staining observed after a few days.

[watch_art]

WOW. Now I want some.

[DanielCoffey]

I'd love to see some flex work in this colour!

[fourseamer]

Thanks again, Daniel. I have a 30ml bottle of this, and as soon as it's out, I'll be securing a larger bottle of it.

[Ad_Astra]

This is definitely one of the 'Must Own' Diamine inks, and an excellent review as well.

 

Thanks!

[inkstainedruth]

I just put this into a Guanleming calligraphy pen. Unbelievably nice shading in that pen. I didn't get a lot of showthrough on Staples sugarcane paper in their Eco-Easy composition book (a little, just because it's thin paper, but not enough to make the next page at all illegible), and I'm not seeing any feathering. I *did* get a little bit of feathering on the heavier slicker paper of my ink journal, but again, not to the point of making for illegibility.

I think I definitely want a full bottle of this at some point -- but I just put in a big order for bottles and some samples so I'm going to be virtuous and wait. For now anyway.... :roflmho:

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dannyboy]

I've been using this ink for six weeks or so and I like it very much. My concern with it over time has been its tendency to look more and more reddish to me. Perhaps it's just me, but when I compare this to other browns, this one leans more toward the red end of the scale. I agree the shading is great (as it is with most Diamine inks)and it's a very pleasing color to the point of being close to a substitute for the discontinued Sailor Red/Brown.

[Inked]

I like it.

 

Thank you for the review.

 

Inked

[quinden]

Wow! This ink looks fantastic!

 

I think my next ink purchase just might be a Diamine

[sombrueil]

Anyone care to compare D.Ancient Copper to Pelikan Brown? They look similar to me. I'm fond of my Pelikan Brown . . . but my bottle is getting low.

In particular, shading.

[Colors]

Definitely have to try this ink

[DanielCoffey]

Anyone care to compare D.Ancient Copper to Pelikan Brown? They look similar to me. I'm fond of my Pelikan Brown . . . but my bottle is getting low.

In particular, shading.

 

Open two browser windows, one with Diamine Ancient Copper and the other with Sandy1's review of Pelikan Brown HERE.

[sombrueil]

Anyone care to compare D.Ancient Copper to Pelikan Brown? They look similar to me. I'm fond of my Pelikan Brown . . . but my bottle is getting low.

In particular, shading.

 

Open two browser windows, one with Diamine Ancient Copper and the other with Sandy1's review of Pelikan Brown HERE.

 

thank you, very helpful.

[Ghost Plane]

I like the performance of this ink. Many in the red/brown/orange spectrum seem draggy for their respective brands. But the flow of this is lovely and easy from any nib I put it in. And the color is hard to beat.

[Lin M]

Daniel many thanks for the review, it inspired me to add a bottle of this to my Diamine Sargasso Sea order and what do you know, I prefer Ancient Copper to that. Go figure.

 

A really helpful review and very accurate about how it behaves. Acknowledges you this ink novice does.

[XiaoMG]

This is one of the only Diamine inks I really like having, along with Majestic Blue. There are probably a few other colors out there I should investigate, but these are quite pleasant. I put Ancient Copper in a few pens, and I rarely use it, but I really should use it more often. It's quite pretty when coming out of the right nib. One of the shades of brown that I am pretty fond of.

[Bhavna]

sorry duplicate

Edited June 16, 2012 by Bhavna

[Bhavna]

Anyone care to compare D.Ancient Copper to Pelikan Brown? They look similar to me. I'm fond of my Pelikan Brown . . . but my bottle is getting low.

In particular, shading.

 

Hi I actually did this earlier today as I ran out of the DAC (which I had received from Diamine in a pot luck box of various unlabeled sampler cartridges) and thought it was a fill from the Pelikan 4001 - the latter is browner, drier and flatter upon drying. Sorry it's not a full review. The shading of the Ancient copper is far more pronounced and gorgeous than the 4001, but each IMHO, has its own endearing characteristics. I have one more bottle of 4001 left and I would have no hesitation in opting for Ancient copper. I may well try a mix with AC and Ochre to see what happens. I can say that the Ochre felt more like the 4001 albeit very slightly darker. Hope that helps.

Daniel, thanks for this as I have spent quite some time today trying to figure out what the stunning colour was by writing with every brown ink I have, including the Diamine Ochre that arrived this morning (which I ordered thinking it was the above..)! Here we go to another order!!!! Really appreciate all your recent reviews, keep them coming!

Edited June 16, 2012 by Bhavna

[sombrueil]

Anyone care to compare D.Ancient Copper to Pelikan Brown? They look similar to me. I'm fond of my Pelikan Brown . . . but my bottle is getting low.

In particular, shading.

 

Hi I actually did this earlier today as I ran out of the DAC (which I had received from Diamine in a pot luck box of various unlabeled sampler cartridges) and thought it was a fill from the Pelikan 4001 - the latter is browner, drier and flatter upon drying. Sorry it's not a full review. The shading of the Ancient copper is far more pronounced and gorgeous than the 4001, but each IMHO, has its own endearing characteristics. I have one more bottle of 4001 left and I would have no hesitation in opting for Ancient copper. I may well try a mix with AC and Ochre to see what happens. I can say that the Ochre felt more like the 4001 albeit very slightly darker. Hope that helps.

 

Daniel, thanks for this as I have spent quite some time today trying to figure out what the stunning colour was by writing with every brown ink I have, including the Diamine Ochre that arrived this morning (which I ordered thinking it was the above..)! Here we go to another order!!!! Really appreciate all your recent reviews, keep them coming!

 

Reading these reviews makes me want to try it . . . but probably not in my Pelikan 400NN, which like most Pels is a very wet writer, and does best for me with dryish inks. Such as Pelikan Brown.

 

 

 

 

 

[pdbissett]

A super review -- with excellent hand-writing and photos. thanks for all this.

db