Ink Review : Diamine Vivaldi (Music Collection)

[namrehsnoom]

Ink Review : Diamine Vivaldi (Music Collection)

 

 

Pen: Lamy Safari, M-nib

Paper: Rhodia N° 16 notepad 80 gsm

 

 

Review

 

Venice, Piazza San Marco, March 23th 1723

Buone sera signore, welcome to Venice. My name is Antonio Lucio Vivaldi, and I'm enjoying this beautiful spring evening at the beginning of spring. Look at that magnificent twilight sky... that purple-grey color stretching from horizon to horizon. Nature truly shows its beauty in every season. This purple-grey color inspires my muse... time to get to work on composing a fitting concerto. I think I'll call it "Le Quattro Stagioni"

 

In 2015 Diamine released the Music Collection, a set of ten inks named after well-known composers. This is a collection of serious, subdued colors. In this review, I take a look at Vivaldi - after the above introduction, you're sure to remember that this is a purple-grey ink.

 

Diamine Vivaldi is a purple-grey - i.e. more of a grey with purple undertones. It really is something special. The color is subdued, classical, and can easily be used for business correspondence. And yet... it has that special touch that will give your writing a more personal flavor. This is not an ordinary ink, not at all ! It shows that you - as a writer - care about your correspondence. There is also some subtle shading going on, which gives the ink some extra character. The ink also exhibits good flow and writes fluently. I'm really fond of it! You really need to see this ink in person - in the scans the subtle purple undertones are difficult to capture, but believe me: they are there, and they make this ink shine!

 

OK - but how does it behave on paper ? For this, I did some tests:

• Rhodia N° 16 notepad 80 gsm - drying time ~25 seconds, no feathering, no show-through nor bleed-through
• Paperblanks journal paper - drying time ~20 seconds, no feathering, no show-through and no bleed-through
• Generic notepad paper 70 gsm - drying time ~15 seconds, no feathering, no show-through and no bleed-through
• Moleskine journal - drying time 5-10 seconds, a tiny amount of feathering, significant show-through and noticeable bleed-through

Vivaldi is a well-behaving ink. It's only with the notoriously bad Moleskine paper that it starts behaving badly. On better paper, it really shines. The ink has only limited problems with smudging. Running water will remove most of the color, but a perfectly readible light-purple trace of your text remains. Not bad at all!

 

Conclusion

 

This ink rocks! It is a really interesting color that feels at home with any type of writing. Very suitable for both personal journaling and official business correspondence. And that color... it's just stunning. In my personal opinion, Diamine scored a winner here ! I just hope it will be possible to get this color in individual bottles, outside of the Music Collection.

 

My overall score: A+

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cleosmama]

Great review! I liked your written samples and particularly the comparisons. Another ink you might compare to it is Diamine Damson. Thank you for the review.

[migo984]

A well-thought out, original & articulate review. I enjoyed reading it - thank you.

[alexander_k]

Lovely review, as always. I wish I could say the same about the ink colour. Somehow I expect a grey to be grey - nothing more.

[jmccarty3]

Another nice ink in this category is Sailor Kobe Tamon Purple Grey.

[Newjelan]

Great review thanks. I have this ink and the other 3 comparison inks. I really like Vivaldi although I prefer Chopin. I also prefer Amethyst to Handel. However, all 4 are excellent IMO.

[rudyhou]

oh, i like this. as i'm a fan of grey inks. the grey tone looks just right. not bluish or purplish or brownish. just pure grey.

[lapis]

Thanks for such a nice review. I love this grey, as you say purplish, not a pure grey by any means. I too am into grey (now have about 70) and it's one of my gravourites (har, har)... "Graves" would be going too far................

 

Mike

[migo984]

Thanks for such a nice review. I love this grey, as you say purplish, not a pure grey by any means. I too am into grey (now have about 70) and it's one of my gravourites (har, har)... "Graves" would be going too far................

 

Mike

Have you tried Roberson 's Penman Classic Grey Hematite, Mike?

[lapis]

Hi Migo!

 

Thanks for the kind note! No, not yet tried, but will order. I don't see it anywhere here: http://www.robco.co.uk/.

Maybe this would do the trick: http://www.jandtsartandcalligraphy.co.uk/online-shop/proddetail.php?prod=CTIGreyH or here: http://www.dippennibs.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=CTIGreyHematite ?

Or can you suggest a better source in the UK, not down there where its now high summer....

BTW any special reason why those last-mentioned sites say "... Fountain pens (except Mont Blanc)"? [No problem, but MB is spelled in one word, man!]

 

Strange

[lapis]

Okay, okay... I just ordered a shot from Dip Pen Nibs and got their last bottle.

 

Yay!!

[Oldtimer]

Nice review. I never paid any attention to the music collection - although I love diamine inks - and never looked at the colors it included. Very nice ink I can be pleased to have . Many Thanks! It does not bother me that it has no resistance to water.

Edited January 30, 2016 by Oldtimer