Diamine 1864 Blue Black

[white_lotus]

Well, at long last, a review by me of an ink readily available! thanks to a sample provided by a kindly FPN member.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't like the ink too much, perhaps I used too wet a pen. Which is surprising for me as I usually like wet inks. But I didn't find any character in the ink. As a blue-black I expected something blue, dark blue, but it was none of these things, it was black, nearly Sharpie black. When emptying the pen used in the review, there was quite a bit of blue appearing in the water in the sink, and the ink droplet revealed a good amount of blue dye. The waterfastness test also showed a wash of blue and purple. So perhaps others who've used this ink can comment, and we'll discover that my views are anomalous. The handling on the better MvL and TR papers was very good, but quite a bit of show through on the inkjet paper.

 

It's kind of interesting that the camera picked up on the blue more so than my eyes do.

 

And I apologize for the slightly bad word in the Shakespeare Sonnet. I picked it out to use, and started writing, and only when I got to the word that could be construed as offensive to some did I realize my error. Please accept my apologies. The word originated from Middle English, and is not related to an offensive term for African Americans.

 

Pen: Edison Premiere (F-steel)

Papers: MvL=Mohawk via Linen, TR=Tomoe River, Hij=Hammermill 28 lb inkjet, Rhodia=Rhodia 90g ivory.

Camera: iPhone 7

[kronos77]

I have a sample and I have found that the ink really shines in a dry writer. If the pen is wet it really has no character, as you said. Love this in my dry writing Pilot 78G stub.

[white_lotus]

Thanks for letting us know!

[namrehsnoom]

I had very much the same experience with this ink... much too dark for a blue-black. I really hated it. It became really nice though when diluting with water (2 parts ink, 1 part water).

[bstnnyc]

Thank you for this review white_lotus! I have a sample of this ink that I dip tested when it came out , but I've never really played with it. You've made me want to look for it to see if I get any more blue depending on the nib. Did you try cleaning it from your pen yet?

[white_lotus]

Yes I have cleaned out the pen. It definitely is a saturated ink and the Edison feeds seem capable of holding a good amount of ink. I also use one of those bulb things from the pharmacy to really flush the feed. So I don't think it was much more effort than for any other saturated ink.

[alexander_k]

Same here: lovely ink but too dark, even darker than Eclipse, unless one uses a very dry writer. I wonder what happens if it's diluted.

[inkstainedruth]

I tried a sample of this when it first came out, and while I liked it I didn't like enough to spring for a full bottle, the way I had for Eclipse. Or, for that matter, Terra Cotta (one of the other Anniversary inks). Thanks to all who suggested trying the ink in a dry pen -- and not. I may end up rethinking my decision not to get it after all.

How the heck am I gonna save up for an M405 Streseman when people keep making suggestions about how to salvage inks I didn't like that much?

Thanks for the review. And not....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[ca49reber]

There are so many 'good' inks in this set that one has to get all of them to complete the 'pie'. But I do like this color.

[mmg122]

This is one of my favorite blue black inks...and I concur with Kronos 77 that it is best appreciated in a dry pen. Thanks so much for your thorough review.

 

Mary

[bstnnyc]

Yes I have cleaned out the pen. It definitely is a saturated ink and the Edison feeds seem capable of holding a good amount of ink. I also use one of those bulb things from the pharmacy to really flush the feed. So I don't think it was much more effort than for any other saturated ink.

Thank you for confirming!

[jmccarty3]

This is very dark indeed. I like Regency Blue better.

[moylek]

I'm actually quite fond of this colour and will soon have used up the bottle I bought a couple of years ago - and I do not empty ink bottles very often, given that I keep buying more ink needlessly :/

 

I like this ink *because* it is almost black. I consider it "black with a bit of character" rather than blue-black, I guess.

[Noihvo]

 

PS. The TWSBI is neither dry nor wet is what I meant. DS.

Edited March 10, 2017 by Noihvo

[SpikeColby]

I LOVE this ink.

I agree that it looks better in a drier pen. And surprisingly (to me, a newbie to these things) it looks more colourful in my Fine than in my Medium nibbed pens.

 

The colour to me is the same as my tuxedo. By itself it looks blacker than black, but when seen on a page alongside black inks the blues really stand out.

[TheDutchGuy]

I like it too, but it sure is dark and it definitely could be more blue. Following a suggestion in another thread on this ink, I diluted it with 25% water. This greatly increased shading, made the ink less intense yet much more interesting to look at. Unlike what others experienced, I found that diluting it did not change the basic colour, it only made it somewhat paler with better shading. Others experienced that the ink became more blue when diluted.

Edited May 11, 2018 by TheDutchGuy

[JulieParadise]

#50shadesofbluechallenge (link to the hashtag on Instagram) is the hashtag for the ongoing challenge over at the German PenExchange forum for July & August 2020. Since I inked up all my pens for this challenge with all the 50+ blue inks I have I also want to share my snapshots here.

 

Diamine 150th Anniversary 1864 Blue-Black is a very dark (but not very blue) blue-black that can develop quite some sheen. It flows well in my Pilot Parallel Pen.