Diamine Cult Pens Deep Dark Red

[cybaea]

Another Diamine ink in the Cult Pen exclusive 'Deep Dark' range has arrived. If you have been looking for a very dark red ink, this one is for you. I absolutely love the colour and it is one of the few red inks I would use in the office.

 

Oh, and it has both shading and sheen! Form an orderly queue now

 

 

USAGE

 

DAILY WRITER: I can see that

BUSINESS USE: I would use it for all but the most formal of communications

ILLUSTRATIONS: Not convinced that it stands out enough

NOTES: Yes (in a dry environment, at least)

PERSONAL: Very welcome

LOVE LETTERS: Not really my speciality but I can see this one being used for a serious love letter.

 

PERFORMANCE

 

FEATHERING: 4/4

BLEEDTHROUGH: 3/4 - very slight with the 1.1mm nib

SHADING: 3/4 - lots, but can be hard to control?

SHEEN: 2/4 - very obvious in the 3.8mm writing

FLOW: medium, but can skip or burp on Rhodia though that may be the pens....

WATERPROOF: 1/4

DRYING TIME: 2/4

FADE RESISTANCE: (not tested)

 

REVIEW

 

 

WRITING SAMPLES

 

Please forgive the even more than usually atrocious handwriting! (Bad cold => no patience)

 

(As usual, the sample text is from the Office of Readings, in this case following the calendar for England and Wales where today is the Feast of the forty martyrs.)

 

Cartridge stock

 

 

Rhodia

 

 

Rhodia R

 

 

COMPARISONS WITH OTHER INKS

 

The lines on the left (from the monster Diamine comparison) were written with the medium nib. This is cartridge stock.

 

 

 

I hope this is useful.

Edited October 25, 2013 by cybaea

[The Good Captain]

Great review and it looks a pleasant colour. I don't 'do' red inks but can't wait to see the DDGreen.

[swanjun]

Ooh, this one is so pretty! I am not usually drawn to brownish reds, but this one really appeals to me, especially the beautiful heading at the beginning of the review.

 

Thanks, cybaea!

[daintydimsum]

oh nicee. I think this needs to be in my next cultpens haul.

[whichwatch]

I don't use reds - at least I didn't before, but this is one I could certainly be happy with. I wish these Deep Dark Diamines were available in the US.

[cybaea]

  On 10/26/2013 at 10:13 PM, whichwatch said:

I wish these Deep Dark Diamines were available in the US.

 

They ship to the US for £10 (~ $16). Presumably you wouldn't have to pay the 20% VAT which would make the products cheaper.

[Blue_Moon]

Diamine Oxblood is one of my favorites. It looks pretty close.

[Bemo]

I've not been that interested in the reds I've seen but this one speaks to me. Nice review!

[swanjun]

  On 10/27/2013 at 8:36 AM, cybaea said:

 

They ship to the US for £10 (~ $16). Presumably you wouldn't have to pay the 20% VAT which would make the products cheaper.

 

That's correct. And also, their price per bottle works out to less than what Diamine is commonly sold for here. I'm actually planning on a big payday order of the Flower Set, Salamander, Deep Dark Red, and Deep Dark Green (already have the blue and brown) and, including shipping, it was only $11 more than it would've been at Goulet for just the Flower Set and Salamander. That's like getting a bottle free! (All bottles being 80 ml.)

Edited October 27, 2013 by swanjun

[Cake]

This is a very cool "deep, dark red." I was thinking of getting Diamine Oxblood, but I may prefer this one. Thank you for the review!

[WOBentley]

Enablers...you are all a big bunch of enablers!!!

Yes I ordered it as well as the green and Oxblood and one of the new CdA inks......

[rizo52]

great review, thanks.

[martinbir]

Great review of an ink which won't be long in arriving, no doubt accompanied by DDGreen. I am very impressed with this Cult Pens range - the real challenge will be Deep Dark Yellow!

[smiorgan]

Thanks for the review. Great looking red and good comparisons -- this ink clearly isn't Oxblood, Syrah, Merlot or Rustic Brown.

 

One concern I have is the mention of inconsistent flow -- the flow of Oxblood is one reason I like that ink so much. Can you elaborate?

 

I found the flow of the Brown and Blue to be pretty good. Would love to see the Green!

[cybaea]

  On 10/28/2013 at 11:12 AM, smiorgan said:

One concern I have is the mention of inconsistent flow -- the flow of Oxblood is one reason I like that ink so much. Can you elaborate?

 

First the caveat: I have only been using the ink for a day; mostly on absorbent paper and I only had problems on non-absorbent paper (i.e. Rhodia).

 

If you look at the fine nib on Rhodia writing sample you will see several skips, notably on the letter f which I write quite fast ("So we find" ... "of different orders" ... "men of the highest nobility"). This seems to be a genuine problem, but could just as well be with the pen (maybe I oil on the nib or feed?) as with the ink - a sample of one does not tell us a lot.

 

And in that spirit, the ink burp from the medium pen in the review ("as a daily writer") probably tells us less. But I was also unhappy with the flow in the Pilot Parallel for the heading which seems spotty. Granted, I am not caliken and granted that I was sick and impatient when I wrote it but still: any one of these I would not have remarked upon it but three seemed worth a comment.

 

I am not saying the ink has problems. I still think it is more likely to be me and my pens. It certainly works wonderfully on the absorbent cartridge paper which is where I have done most of my writing: no problems to report, not a single one, and a very happy customer. But I would love to hear from others who use it on Rhodia paper.

[Horseknitter]

Anyone compared this new DD Red with Noodlers Black-Red?

[Joe in Seattle]

To me, it looks an awful lot like private reserve black cherry. I like that one, too.

[cybaea]

I was going to review the Deep Dark Green as well, but this ink just doesn't want to leave my pens! I am not a big user of reds (have Noodler's Fox in a fine Preppy for marking edits) but this one .... I think I might have found "my red" ink.

 

[smiorgan]

Thanks for the scan of the green! It looks slightly teal to me. I was expecting a darker version of Green/Black in the way DDB is like a darker Midnight.

[cybaea]

  On 10/30/2013 at 1:07 PM, smiorgan said:

Thanks for the scan of the green! It looks slightly teal to me. I was expecting a darker version of Green/Black in the way DDB is like a darker Midnight.

 

Maybe a hint of teal, but I wouldn't have picked it up. It is very close to Green Black but 'deeper' in the colour, if that makes sense? Probably not - I will have to do that review