5 Best Diamine Inks

[Tailbiter]

1. Syrah (I actually prefer it over Oxblood)
2. Imperial Purple
3. Aqua Blue
4. Golden Sands (lovely gold, almost on the level of dip pen calligraphy inks)
5. Silver Fox (lovely, lovely grey)

[KyleKatarn]

+1Crazy sheen.

+ 1

 

In my opinion no other ink that I know sheens the way this one does (Majestic Blue). It's a very bad behaved ink though, use with caution and learn along the way. Not one for begginers. I have a lot of Diamine inks and although it is very hard for me to name only five, I would go with these:

 

Ancient Copper

Majestic Blue

Royal Blue

Red Dragon

Eclipse (very unique color in my opinion)

Edited March 14, 2016 by KyleKatarn

[AlanO]

A lot of people seem to like this Ancient Copper - I'm definitely going to have to try it!

 

Alan

[martinbir]

Yes, Ancient Copper is rather special. I don't really like brown/gold/yellow inks, yet somehow Ancient Copper just hits the spot.

 

As for my current top five:

 

Ancient Copper

Eau de Nil

Asa Blue

Regency Blue

Twilight

 

Not necessarily in that order.

[ScienceChick]

Eau de Nile

Marine

Amaranth

Chocolate Brown

Eau de Nile again

[ink-syringe]

which inks represent the brand.

 

 

 

 

 

Diamine Iconic (Not favorite tho there is overlap) inks:

 

Ancient Copper

Registrars Blue-Black is near iconic as is

Midnight (Famously NONE MORE LAXATIVE)

Autumn Oak

Majestic Blue (or the Blue Velvet, which is giving it a run for the money)

Ancient Copper is my favorite and whatever is #2 is not close. So many inks, so many colors. So hard to make something unique and distinctive. Ancient Copper is all that and a bag of chips. Don't care about the crud and the creep and the dry out. Totally worth it for the color.

[evyxmsj]

Yes, Ancient Copper is rather special. I don't really like brown/gold/yellow inks, yet somehow Ancient Copper just hits the spot.

 

As for my current top five:

 

Ancient Copper

Eau de Nil

Asa Blue

Regency Blue

Twilight

 

Not necessarily in that order.

 

I must admit I'm not a fan of it in fine nibs though. Just an average mid brown unless a lot of ink goes down.

[evyxmsj]

Duplicate post, sorry

Edited March 17, 2016 by evyxmsj

[Darkbulb]

Now I worry a bit that I ordered Onyx as my very first ink - since no one mentioned it

[KyleKatarn]

Now I worry a bit that I ordered Onyx as my very first ink - since no one mentioned it

Onyx is a black ink that I've tried by getting a 5 ml sample when purchasing other Diamine inks. The color isn't bad but I don't like the ink very much, I find it moderately bad behaved and I don't find any compensating characteristics (like the sheen on majestic blue). But hey, maybe it's just me. Give us a review when you receive it!

[Darkbulb]

Onyx is a black ink that I've tried by getting a 5 ml sample when purchasing other Diamine inks. The color isn't bad but I don't like the ink very much, I find it moderately bad behaved and I don't find any compensating characteristics (like the sheen on majestic blue). But hey, maybe it's just me. Give us a review when you receive it!

 

Thanks,

Not sure that I'm capable of giving a nuanced review as this will quite literally be my very, very first ink

I'm looking forward to trying out some more though...some great recommendations in this thread....

 

When you say its bad behaved how do you mean? (So that I know what to look out for...)

Edited March 17, 2016 by Darkbulb

[KyleKatarn]

Thanks,

Not sure that I'm capable of giving a nuanced review as this will quite literally be my very, very first ink

I'm looking forward to trying out some more though...some great recommendations in this thread....

 

When you say its bad behaved how do you mean? (So that I know what to look out for...)

Well, in the pens that I have used it I found a tendency to nib creep excessively, to the point of bleed out one or two droplets from one of them (a Sheaffer Legacy). And it bleeds through / feathers a bit on cheap paper. Other than that all fine, but the episode with the Sheaffer left me a bit of a bad impression. And please note that I am a Diamine fan and use many of their inks extensively. Maybe the problem was with the pen and not with the ink, but it appears to work well with all other inks that I've used it with...

[rickygene]

I have three, all of which are great colours:

Graphite

Oxblood

Ancient Copper

 

I use Graphite the most as it works well in a work environment. Oxblood next as it is a good mark up ink for work. Ancient Copper is more of a personal ink.

All of course is my opinion and lately I have put the Diamine inks on the back shelf as I am currently fascinated with the Sailor Four Seasons inks.

Edited March 17, 2016 by rickygene

[pedropa84]

Hi all,

 

the ones i like (the only inks i have tried):

 

Royal blue

Turquoise

Orange

Kelly green

 

I love the orange but I am a bit afraid of the deposits... i did not read that before buying it, but gosh it is worthy, at least by now.

[evyxmsj]

Well, in the pens that I have used it I found a tendency to nib creep excessively, to the point of bleed out one or two droplets from one of them (a Sheaffer Legacy). And it bleeds through / feathers a bit on cheap paper. Other than that all fine, but the episode with the Sheaffer left me a bit of a bad impression. And please note that I am a Diamine fan and use many of their inks extensively. Maybe the problem was with the pen and not with the ink, but it appears to work well with all other inks that I've used it with...

 

I really like Onyx black. I find it very wet, so tend to use it in some pens and not others. It flows very smooth on Rhodia with my Pelikan M200 F. It is very saturated, so needs a bit more work to clean than many other Diamine inks. There's a slight chance of reddish staining on some materials, but I used it without staining my TWSBI Vac.

[brianmontgomery2000]

Blue Velvet

Sargasso Sea

Grape

Midnight

[visvamitra]

There are Diamine inks that have amazing color but are high maintenance and show misbehaviour. Hence I'll name the ones that I like and which never caused me any trouble.

 

Crimson, Macassar, Vermillion, Saddle Brown, Grey.

[Yarn-Yogini]

Oh I am currently in the I wanna collect the whole set phase with Diamine...

not sure if I'll ever actually do that, too many gorgeous inks out there! I am a textile artist too, and the plethora of yarns out there is just as bad.

 

Here's my top 5 of the moment and my top 5 gonna buy next...just to help me gain some clarity!

 

Personal TOP 5 DIAMINE INKS

1. Regency Blue (this has a great red sheen on certain papers - discovered it accidentally on my Rhodia dot pad)
2. Red Dragon (use this for all my grading)
3. Blue Pearl (crazy sparkly fun with great shading)
4. Sapphire Blue (I switch between this and Regency in my Pilot Metropolitan F nib)
5. Damson (in a juicy nib, didn't like how dark it got in my Pilot) - planning to put it on a test in my TWSBI Eco stub, after I finish obsessing with J.Herbin scented Lavender

Top 5 Wanna Buy next

 

1. Blue Lightning - shimmer
2. Ancient Copper
3. Matador
4. Meadow Green
5. ummm Majestic Blue? Marine? Autumn Oak? Syrah? Steel Blue? Marigold? Ruby? Hope Pink? Pumpkin? (Pleeeeeze mum can I have the whole set? These are all sitting in my Diamine shopping cart waiting to get narrowed down to 5 + the 5ml sample - my crazy number crunching determined that's the best shipping/price ratio for CDNs)

[Misfit]

Here is the TWSBI Diamond 580 with the remains of Sherwood.

[Misfit]

Ugh. For some reason iPhone photos post sideways. I rather like Soft Mint. I didn't know if I'd like Ancient Copper because it gets many posts talking about nib creep and crust. I got a sample and had no issues, so far, and like the color.

 

Sometimes blues seem so basic. Sargasso Sea is a very nice blue (another sample, as was Sherwood). I gave my brother a 30ml bottle of Ultra Green because a reviewer said it was like writing with liquid emeralds.