Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

[Chrissy]

I'm currently reviewing some of my favourite Diamine inks. This is Diamine Red Dragon.

I think it's a very good alternative for Montblanc Hitchcock. In fact it's more saturated. It also leans less pink than several other dark red inks. It's what I would call a blood red ink, but it isn't as dark or brownish as Diamine Oxblood.

 

If you prefer your red inks to be a bit darker and not eye-poppingly bright red, then Red Dragon fits the bill.

• This ink is neither waterproof nor archival but it's water resistant.
• Bearing in mind the paper I use is very smooth, and I write with M and B nibs, this ink took 25-30 secs to dry.
• It flows quite wet, especially in broader nibs, and lubricates the nib very well so that it's smooth to write with across the paper.
• It is currently available in 30ml plastic bottles and 80ml glass bottles.
• Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.
• It's reasonably priced.

[VivienR]

Its an absolutely fantastic red, deep lovely red, kind of a love letter red. Its an ink which grabs your attention and not let you away. Not staining, but as most of the reds its bit harder to clean out.

[Chrissy]

I was really pleased with it. I'm glad I tried it because I know it will become a go-to red for me

[aardvarkbark]

Pure, unadulterated, 'who's bleeding?' red. Luv it.

 

This and Oxblood are what reds should be IMO.

[Frank C]

I have always liked this ink. I didn't realize that it was so close to Hitchcock. I'll have to do some comparisons on my own.

[SujiCorp12345]

Yup, one of my favourite reds I keep coming back to.

[sarahfar]

Red Dragon and MB Alfred Hitchcock are great reds.....

[fountainpenlady]

I do not need another red; I do not need another red; I do not need another red....

[Jeff_H]

Very nice review. I love this ink. I started with Oxblood, but got this as a more "wet" blood look. I also have MB Winter Glow, which is slightly lighter, but shades nearly this dark and I just received Diamine Crimson, which I need to try.

 

I NEVER thought I would be writing with red ink, never. Diamine has changed my mind on that for sure.

[ImCannibal]

I was just giving this stuff a quick one over after another FPN user gave me a sample of it at a meet yesterday. Do you know how it compares to Noodlers Rattler Red Eel in color and wetness?

Edited June 13, 2016 by ImCannibal

[alwaysmetara]

Thanks for the review, this is a really nice color! This ink and Matador are both on my "to buy" list

[2GreyCats]

I love this color -- or, rather, I WANT to love it. I'm a teacher, so I live on varying shades of red ink, and it's a great color.

 

And every pen I have tried Red Dragon in stalls out, and then stops writing altogether; this even happens with my usual grading pen, a Sheaffer NoNonsense, which is a wet writer if ever there was one.

 

I have no idea why it refuses utterly to cooperate. Any suggestions?

[A Smug Dill]

I have no idea why it refuses utterly to cooperate. Any suggestions?

Suggestions about in which pen to use the ink, or how to tinker with the ink?

 

My Fine-nibbed Platinum #3776 Century 'Shoryu' ('Ascending Dragon') kanazawa-haku pen is still on its first fill of Diamine Red Dragon ink last August, and the nib has never failed to start writing right away on contact with paper upon being uncapped, even when I left the pen unused for weeks. It has also never stopped writing for me in the middle of sentence. I like the texture of the kanazawa-haku finish better than the 'AS resin' on the standard models such as the Bourgogne, but there is no reason for me to think any other Platinum #3776 Century pen with a 14K gold nib wouldn't perform equally as well with that ink.

[Tom Kellie]

[IanScott]

On 8/19/2019 at 9:24 PM, 2GreyCats said:

I love this color -- or, rather, I WANT to love it. I'm a teacher, so I live on varying shades of red ink, and it's a great color.

 

And every pen I have tried Red Dragon in stalls out, and then stops writing altogether; this even happens with my usual grading pen, a Sheaffer NoNonsense, which is a wet writer if ever there was one.

 

I have no idea why it refuses utterly to cooperate. Any suggestions?

 

I have not tried it in other pens yet, but just inked up a Lamy Safari with B nib - and am experiencing the same thing.  Put nib to paper, start to write, and after a couple of letters, it just stops flowing. Lift the pen from the paper, then try again - it starts to flow but stops again.

 

This same pen previously had Noodler's Legal Lapis ink and was fine. Later, I'll try it in other pens that I have but not impressed so far with its performance in the Lamy.

[inkstainedruth]

Not sure how I missed this thread before now.  While my absolute favorite red is Diamine Classic Red (because it's RED) this one definitely looks interesting....

But it's not like I didn't get a bunch of bottles of ink (and a bunch of cartridges as well) at an estate sale this morning  My wallet -- my poor poor wallet....  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[IanScott]

On 6/21/2025 at 3:22 PM, IanScott said:

 

I have not tried it in other pens yet, but just inked up a Lamy Safari with B nib - and am experiencing the same thing.  Put nib to paper, start to write, and after a couple of letters, it just stops flowing. Lift the pen from the paper, then try again - it starts to flow but stops again.

 

This same pen previously had Noodler's Legal Lapis ink and was fine. Later, I'll try it in other pens that I have but not impressed so far with its performance in the Lamy.

 

Update on this: I decided to try re-cleaning the Lamy. Let the feed and nib sit in water with a bit of dish soap - and after rinsing and letting it all dry out, re-inked with the Dragon Blood. MUCH BETTER!

[IanScott]

4 hours ago, IanScott said:

Update on this: I decided to try re-cleaning the Lamy. Let the feed and nib sit in water with a bit of dish soap - and after rinsing and letting it all dry out, re-inked with the Dragon Blood. MUCH BETTER!

 

Next Update.... wrote too soon. The ink flow was great after I cleaned thoroughly and re-inked - but then after a couple of pages of writing, it just returned to no ink flow on the nib. If I set the pen down, cap it, and come back to it 15 or more minutes later, it has no problem starting, but then a few words later, just stops.

I think all this shimmer stuff is not very compatible with the feed and nib of the Lamy Safari. I can see it all stuck around the small collar that goes around the feed at the top of the nib. It's all gold particles there.

[inkstainedruth]

Yikes!  is Red Dragon a shimmer ink?  Bummer.  I have not had good experience with shimmer inks (and not just with the pen I used to reserve for their use, either -- I discovered the hard way that the shimmer particles don't stay after the ink has dried.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[IanScott]

Thanks for the reply @inkstainedruth  - Yes, it is a shimmer ink. For me, it seems the shimmer particles don't even really end up much on the paper. Sometimes you can see a bit of shimmer but it's very random. Most of the particles seem to be stuck and attached inside the feed or at least the collar that is around the top part of the nib is gunked up with them, on this Lamy. A bit disappointing.