Ink Review: Diamine Ancient Copper

[Chrissy]

My latest ink is Diamine Ancient Copper

I haven't used Diamine Ancient Copper for quite a while. I had a sample from Goulet's Ink drop ages ago, and it's an ink I never went back to after using the sample. I was surprised how much I really liked the colour, and wondered why I didn't have it in my collection. It's a rich dark copper colour with plenty of shading.

I am aware that some users have had a problem with Ancient Copper drying onto their nibs, so as soon as I received my sample, I filled my Lamy converter in my Lamy Next M pen and left it in there for a few days without using it. I didn't notice any ink on the nib when I came to write with it. I wonder if it depends on how airtight the caps are on the pens that are filled with it?

It wrote straight away without any hard starts or skipping. It lubricated the nib well enough, but the flow felt a little dry, as I couldn't see any moist ink as I was writing. However, despite this, it took longer to dry than I thought it would.

It's quite a water resistant ink. I could see the writing, even after several minutes, and though I blotted my water test with a piece of kitchen roll, the ink was still legible.

• Although this isn't a waterproof ink, it shows quite good water resistance, as do many Diamine inks.
• Bearing in mind the paper I use is thick with a shiny surface, and I used a Lamy F nib and a 1.1mm stub nib, this ink took 17-20 secs to dry. That's slower than some other inks I've reviewed recently.
• It felt a bit drier than some other inks I've reviewed, but still seemed to lubricate the nib well. I saw no skips or hard starts while I did swabs and dry time tests.
• It is currently available in 80ml glass bottles or 30ml plastic bottles
• Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.
• It's a reasonable price.

 

[evyxmsj]

Thanks for your review :-) I have a sample lined up ready to try in an Ahab as I thought it would shade nicely with the flex nib. I'll post how it goes after I manage to use up the blue currently in it.

[lapis]

Thanks, too! I must also admit that I have this ink for over a year now and have neglected it ("ignored" would be putting it to too abhorrently) even if only having wanted to avoid any of those calamities expressed by other users. I do like the colour. Also very nice comparisons you've made. Couldn't stop thinking about the Carlo Collodi which I really do like!

 

Mike

[Chrissy]

Thanks both of you. You're welcome.

 

In fact, it was only when I came to select my comparison inks that I realised I had nothing that was quite as deep or as saturated as Ancient Copper.

[Jamerelbe]

I've had this ink for a while, and I *love* it - beautiful reddish-brown, saturated ink., I had problems with "nib crud" in a couple of Chinese pens with caps that were less than airtight - but in my Diplomat and TWSBI pens (for example) it behaves really well.

 

Worst problem this ink will cause you is crusting on the nib, which is easily cleaned away with a damp piece of tissue paper.

[proton007]

One of the best colors in the Diamine range.

I can't think of an alternative that looks as rich and as spectacular on the page as this color does. Nib crud or not, I like this ink.

[masterguns]

Nice review. Thank you.

I love this ink, but it does give me the crustys, even on tight fitting caps.

[Jamerelbe]

Nice review. Thank you.

I love this ink, but it does give me the crustys, even on tight fitting caps.

 

Even with a tight-fitting cap, the likelihood of crusting up increases the longer the ink is in the pen. No big deal, though: it's easy enough to wipe off with a damp cloth (or tissue paper). Definitely worth it for the richness of the colour!

[Abner C. Kemp]

This was my first bottle of ink (along with Noodler's Black) and is still one of my very favorites. I've never experienced any nib creep / crud with this ink and I've probably had it in ten different pens.

[visvamitra]

I really loved the color when I first bought the bottle. Sadly this ink caused nib creep / crud in every single pen I filled with it. For some people it's not a problem. For me it is. Maybe they change formula? It would be good.

[grainweevil]

I really loved the first 30ml bottle, never experienced any crud build-up. Finished that bottle, bought an 80ml replacement, and have had nothing but trouble from it with nib crud. It's literally appeared within half an hour of capping a freshly inked pen. In consequence I'm really not convinced it's just the pen or the user, but also that there is a variation in concentration across batches/bottles. Such a shame, because a page of Ancient Copper is such a delightful thing; no scan can ever really seem to do it justice (but thank you for trying, Chrissy!) As such, one for the patient, or just plain lucky ink lover, I think.

[etaylor33]

I got a sample of Diamine Ancient Copper and loved it. I was all set to order a bottle of this, but if they are having issues across batches I'll have to rethink this. It didn't cause any nib creep or crusty buildup. I would prefer not to have to deal with it in the future so I'll have to do some more thinking before pulling the trigger on this ink.

[geoduc]

Thanks for the review, Chrissy.

 

Guess I'm one of the lucky ones. I have a bottle of Ancient Copper from when it first came out and have had zero problems with nib crud, even after letting pens sit unused for a couple of weeks. It's a beautiful ink and the closest match I've found to replace the long-discontinued Sailor Red-Brown.

[Chrissy]

I've never seen any 'nib crud' when using Ancient Copper either. There is none on the two pens I used for the review so far, even though one of them seems to have a looser fitting cap than the other.

 

However, even if I saw any, it wouldn't put me off using this wonderful colour ink. As Jamerelbe said, I would just wipe it off with a piece of kitchen roll or tissue.

 

IMHO, life's too short to not use an ink that is such a wonderful colour, just in case it might cause inconsequential 'ink crud' on a pen one day.

[proton007]

Talking about nib crud, I recently witnessed a tiny bit with Ochre. That was after the pen was left unused for about a week.

[knarflj]

I get nib crud with this ink, but not when the pen is capped: it shows up when I leave the pen uncapped while I stop to think about what I'm going to write next. But I just wipe the nib occasionally and keep using it, because it's too lovely to give up on.

 

Jenny

[Abner C. Kemp]

I really loved the color when I first bought the bottle. Sadly this ink caused nib creep / crud in every single pen I filled with it. For some people it's not a problem. For me it is. Maybe they change formula? It would be good.

 

Something must be going on between batches. At one point I loaded an entire Ahab barrel with this ink and probably left it for a good 4 months with very sporadic use, absolutely no nib creep whatsoever. Currently, it's loaded in my Visconti Van Gogh which is on its second fill and the inks probably been in the pen a month (I need to clean it), again not a hint of nib creep. I will say that it was an absolute pain in the ass to clean out of the Ahab after four months but I'd expect that with pretty much any saturated ink.

 

If I ever need to order another bottle of Ancient Copper and I do experience nib creep, I wouldn't hesitate to contact Diamine for a replacement bottle. There are some inks that are prone to creep and it is what is it but with Ancient Copper I really do think there is something going on with the batches.

Edited February 2, 2016 by Abner C. Kemp

[evyxmsj]

Thanks for your review :-) I have a sample lined up ready to try in an Ahab as I thought it would shade nicely with the flex nib. I'll post how it goes after I manage to use up the blue currently in it.

 

http://i67.tinypic.com/oh7atf.jpg

 

Well, finally got round to it. Definitely a good choice in the Ahab (Tomoe paper).

[graystranger]

Thank you for a great review, I had not realized its water resistance was this good. I'll use it even more now from what you have taught me.

 

I bought a bottle of Ancient Copper after reading so many postings from people who just love this ink and all the positive reviews on Goulet Pens. I have been keeping it in one of my pens for quite a while. Nib creep does not bother me, but I have not seen it with this ink. However, it has been kept in pens that have airtight sealing caps. Now in my 1.5mm TWSBI Mini (been in this pen for several months). None of my pens has had any crud buildup at all.

 

However, I did open my TWSBI Diamond 50 inkwell/bottle of Ancient Copper recently and found a lot of the "crud" had built up around the threads of the glass. It had not been opened in a very long time (I had been filling the Mini directly from the bottle with only the upper cap open, so I did not open the main cap for a long time). It wiped off easily with a damp paper towel and I tightened the cap firmly after re-filling my Mini. So, I believe the crud formation is a function of the ink drying out on a surface and wet ink wicking to the dried ink. If you use your pen regularly you won't have a problem. If you have it in a pen with an airtight cap (Platinum, TWSBI e.g.) you won't have a problem unless it sits uncapped. If it forms, just wipe it off the nib or rinse the nib off.

 

I love this ink a lot, wonderful color, looks great on nearly all paper, perfectly behaved. One of my favorites.

[graystranger]

 

http://i67.tinypic.com/oh7atf.jpg

 

Well, finally got round to it. Definitely a good choice in the Ahab (Tomoe paper).

 

Wow, this is wonderful!!! Love your writing, I may have to change some of the letters now I've seen this. Thank you.