Diamine Announce Their 10 New Shimmertastic Inks!

[Prolix]

Yeah, maybe they will be just the same as the J. Herbin. Or, maybe they will have different qualites. Either way ...

 

More inks? YAY!

 

Fewer inks? BOO!

[Wheatflower]

I am delighted to have more shiny inks available. I can see five I want off the bat (all the blues and blacks), the brown sounds very tempting, and I'll wait to see the reviews of the other colors.

 

My rough drafts will look fabulous, darling.

[The Good Captain]

I did my tests using Lamy Safaris. Although not a big issue, it's advisable to keep the pen shaken now and again, when writing; just to keep the particles well-distributed. Then probably a clean-out a bit more often than one might usually do.

There's something nice about them though and I think Diamine have come up with a good entry into the 'special-looking' bit of the market. Well done to them, as ever.

[J85909266]

Where can I see these?

[WirsPlm]

I've been experimenting with cake luster dust in inks for a while and it works pretty well, if Diamine had come out with these earlier for a decent price point (the Herbin inks are much too expensive) then I'd be interested but as it is I can add glitter to any ink I want so I probably won't get more ink until I need it.

[jordanjay29]

I need me some Purple Pazzazz.

[Gloucesterman]

And what a totally puerile name - Shimmertastic. It's like Toys R Us for inks.

They have a "Toys-R-Us for inks???

[FinalEleven]

Oh man, I can't throw money at my screen fast enough!

[inkstainedruth]

I want to see the review of these when they come out.

Yes, the name of the line is really pretty atrocious (I suspect that I'm not the targeted demographic -- they may be trying to lure in the kids using gel pens). And yes, Herbin did it first. But the blue with silver particles is what we all wanted from Herbin Bleu Ocean from the getgo. Let's be honest. We wanted it. And we didn't get it. Bleu Ocean got seriously hyped when it first came out and then *didn't* have the "like Rouge Hematite only blue and with silver in it" that everyone wanted and it was a *huge* disappointment. So, after seeing how well Stormy Grey did, they reformulated it (I have a sample but haven't had time to try it yet). But it didn't have silver.... As for the new one, I was hoping someone at DCSS would have at least a written exemplar, the way someone did last year with Stormy Grey -- which I didn't bother to sample; I went full tilt for a full bottle after seeing in person what it looked like out of a pen.

So Diamine *may* be copying Herbin. Or, they may just be playing a game of "oneupmanship": "They may have four, but we have *ten* -- and some of them have silver in them!" So I'm waiting to see....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Uncial]

I'm actually looking forward to this and am fairly certain I will buy some of them. It will be interesting to see if the effect is similar to Herbin or of they have done something different.

[jmccarty3]

 

Now, when you say 'pixy-dust inks', I'm sure it's just a typo and you really mean super-alpha-male-inks. Right?......I mean......right?!

 

Well, that just about sums it up. Don't know why, but being a guy, sheen looks sophisticated, but sparkles remind me of glitter and rhinestones. Just dull, I guess.

[Chrissy]

I'm actually looking forward to this and am fairly certain I will buy some of them. It will be interesting to see if the effect is similar to Herbin or of they have done something different.

 

Well there are 10 of them, so that's different.

[Feathers]

As someone who particularly loves shiny and glittery things, this new line of ink is most definitely relevant to my interests. I will unabashedly be lining up to purchase.

I think it's great that Diamine, an ink brand that I love, is adding this lineup. I just wish they had chosen a better name. Shimmertastic? Seriously? Sounds like something on a Crayola box or from an episode of Jem and the Holograms. Between Pelikan's new pink "Ladies pen" with the accompanying horrendous 'corset' packaging, (which to be fair, I love the look of this pen, and will be picking it up - it's the name and the packaging I abhor LOL) and now Diamine's Shimmertastic line, I'm beginning to wonder if these two companies made these design decisions during 'take your kid to work day'

 

I would have preferred to have the line be named something a tad more elegant sounding, heck, even simply calling it Diamine Shimmer would have been an improvement. Hahhaa, or maybe Diamine Chatoyant to really class things up

 

Ahh well, the name aside, I'm already making room in my ink cupboard for these beauties.

[Chrissy]

Well you can always just call them your Diamine Shimmer inks.

[Fabienne]

How about "Shimmer-Shimmer-Coco-Bop"?

[Christopher Godfrey]

Grainweevil wrote this:

 

<...cannot get my head round what people are using these "sparkly" inks for, never mind this idea that deliberately putting shiny metal particles is something you'd want to do to a functioning fountain pen, so I am clearly not in whatever demographic they're aiming at...>

 

I am in accord, Cornish! Let's have proof that the ink is wholesome food for our pens, first...

 

(Why "grainweevil", yet picture of a pair of (different species) parrots? One is an African grey)

[drafty]

 

Well, that just about sums it up. Don't know why, but being a guy, sheen looks sophisticated, but sparkles remind me of glitter and rhinestones. Just dull, I guess.

Yeah I think it's how you view it. I'm a fan of iridescence, two-tone sheen, that kind of thing (ever since I saw a TVR when I was young and it looked purple then blue and gold when I walked past it).

 

If inks sparkle like those gel pens that girls use to write cards to each other then I might not get on board, although I can absolutely see the market for it. The Emerald of C from J. Herbin is more like the iridescent effect I am after and it works for what I need it for.

 

I'm excited to see what the Diamine inks do on paper - which is kind of stating the obvious, but still. I don't really care what they are called if they do what I want.

 

'Shimmer' to me means something like the colours coming through oil or the quicksilver effect above a hot road/race track. I like that. If that's the case, then I'm very interested in these.

 

EDIT: also, Night Sky (black/silver) - I can see some serious draft chapters of space opera being written in that!

Edited August 22, 2015 by Drafty

[Feathers]

How about "Shimmer-Shimmer-Coco-Bop"?

Perfect!!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Of course this is jumping on the bandwagon. Herbin didn't release theirs without years of development either, which Diamine would have been aware of. The final development by Diamine & timing of the release has been dictated by assessment of Herbin's success, or otherwise, first.

I'm not a big fan of Diamine anyway. A few are good, most are pedestrian. Adding glitter won't change that.

And what a totally puerile name - Shimmertastic. It's like Toys R Us for inks.

 

How 'bout Shimmeriffic?

[grainweevil]

Grainweevil wrote this:

 

<...cannot get my head round what people are using these "sparkly" inks for, never mind this idea that deliberately putting shiny metal particles is something you'd want to do to a functioning fountain pen, so I am clearly not in whatever demographic they're aiming at...>

 

I am in accord, Cornish! Let's have proof that the ink is wholesome food for our pens, first...

 

(Why "grainweevil", yet picture of a pair of (different species) parrots? One is an African grey)

 

Because I have parrots but I don't have a pet grainweevil.

 

I truly hope my pen paining paranoia is totally unfounded; it may be I'm a little scarred by an early experience in vintage FP hunting that revealed a hooded something-or-other (I forget) that had clearly had some glitter-heavy fluid inflicted on it and then allowed to dry out.* The result was not pretty.

 

*And then bashed around a bit by the torturer owner who was evidently annoyed it didn't work any more. I almost bought it just to give it a decent burial.