Diamine Earl Grey

[The Good Captain]

Diamine have informed me that a new ink, EARL GREY will soon be available as part of their general range, but ONLY in 80ml bottles. This will not worry me at all!

By way of explanation, I've included a comment from Phil Davies at Diamine who said the following:

 

"This ink colour was chosen by the members of r/fountainpens, a wonderful Reddit community of fountain pen enthusiasts. If you aren't a part of the community, join in - www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens!

"The EARL GREY will become part of our standard line but only available in 80ml."

 

My short review below was done using a Lamy Vista with M nib and on the usual Rhodia dot 80gsm paper.

 

 

However, I think that this ink could well benefit from being used with finer nibs so I have included two other examples. A Lamy Vista with F nib and a Sailor Sapporo, also with F nib.

 

 

 

 

Although never having used many grey inks, I have shown comparisons with the only other three I have. I found Earl Grey to be a nice mid to dark neutral colour, whereas Graphite has green undertones and Chopin, blue. That's of course a personal opinion. Silver Fox is too 'light' for my liking, and eyesight/legibility. It has no waterproof qualities at all.

 

I will be using this ink as a frequent addition to my rotation, and unlike Graphite, there's no 'interesting' smell - which we all know is just a factor in the dye components of that ink. Also, Earl Grey is dark enough to be easily distinguished from some of the 'pale' black inks that are knocking about.

 

I have no idea when it will be available but it's certainly worth considering.

[lgsoltek]

The colour is not bad. Worth a try, but Im not going to jump into a whole 80ml bottle right away. As a matter of fact I dont have any Diamine ink in their bigger bottles.

This has me worried though. Why in 80ml bottle only? Is it a one time thing, or does that mean Diamine is going to make their new releases in big bottles only? No more 30ml for new inks? If thats the case itd be such a shame cos i find 30ml is just the ideal volume for me.

[namrehsnoom]

Great preview - thanks for showing it. I quite enjoy grey inks, and this one went immediately to my watchlist. Looking forward to its arrival.

[JakobS]

It will be interesting to see how this compares to Diamine Grey, I think that would be the closest comparison in Diamine's grey lineup.

[lapis]

Thanks for the nice appraisal, ol' chap! Looks good to me. Tastes good too? All we need to do is add a drop of bergamot oil. I'll order a bottle ASAP. 80 ml = no problem. I've only got 80-ml bottles of their juice anyway.

 

Mike

[visvamitra]

After seein the title I expected new brown. I like the color and I gues I'll try it.

[inkstainedruth]

Agree with JakobS -- I'd like to see a side by side with Diamine Grey. Although this one does look nice. Thanks for the review.... And, well, not.... Sigh. Another one to add to the spreadsheet I see.... And it's not as if I didn't just buy ink yesterday, and I haven't tried the samples I got at the Commonwealth Pen Show yet (etc., etc.)....

And yeah, an 80 ml bottle isn't a problem... or is it?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Tas]

Oooo.

Thank you

Will look out for this at The London Pen Show.

[crahptacular]

Some background info--the /r/fountainpens community requested a purple-grey ink from Diamine, who provided several different swatches, and there was a community vote for the favorite. The community also came up with their own ideas for ink names and voted on that as well--as I recall, they came up with names before having seen the actual ink color. So the ink name was decided concurrently with the ink color, but the color wasn't concocted based on the name, nor was the name devised based on the color.

 

The color that won wasn't my first choice, but I'm still interested in at least trying the ink when it becomes widely available .

[ENewton]

Some background info--the /r/fountainpens community requested a purple-grey ink from Diamine...

 

I am generally interested in purple-grays and gray-purples, but this does not look like a purple grey on my screen.

[crahptacular]

The pictures in this thread don't seem purple to me, either. I do recall the requested color being purple-grey, though. I believe this is the swatch from Diamine for the winning ink color:

 

 

[ENewton]

The pictures in this thread don't seem purple to me, either. I do recall the requested color being purple-grey, though. I believe this is the swatch from Diamine for the winning ink color:

 

 

 

Thank you. This color would interest me much more.

[amberleadavis]

It reminds me of Tamon Grey.

[ENewton]

Also Robert Oster Purple Rock (not the images in the review, but the Diamine swatch)

[The Good Captain]

As I mentioned, I only have the greys I used in the comparison. I couldn't see any purple in it but that doesn't mean others won't. As for the 80ml availability only; I have only a handful of the 30ml bottles anyway and these have been samples for testing purposes. I'll certainly be getting one as soon as it's available - just trying to decide which pen to use it in!

[The Good Captain]

Thanks for the nice appraisal, ol' chap! Looks good to me. Tastes good too? All we need to do is add a drop of bergamot oil. I'll order a bottle ASAP. 80 ml = no problem. I've only got 80-ml bottles of their juice anyhow.

 

Mike

Not sure about the taste - yet...

[alexander_k]

Thanks for the preview, Cap'n, and especially for the comparison. I'll stick to the lighter Silver Fox for the moment.

[bureaudirect]

Very nice - thank you for the review. It's lovely warm grey colour, perfect everyday ink imho.

I'll bring inked pen with me to the Pen Show for people to try

Mishka

[Tas]

Very nice - thank you for the review. It's lovely warm grey colour, perfect everyday ink imho.

I'll bring inked pen with me to the Pen Show for people to try

Mishka

 

Best I get there early then . . .

[Lee Wright]

Agree with JakobS -- I'd like to see a side by side with Diamine Grey. Although this one does look nice. Thanks for the review.... And, well, not.... Sigh. Another one to add to the spreadsheet I see.... And it's not as if I didn't just buy ink yesterday, and I haven't tried the samples I got at the Commonwealth Pen Show yet (etc., etc.)....

And yeah, an 80 ml bottle isn't a problem... or is it?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Here is an image of the ink compared with Diamine Grey:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZYI4rLBDx5/ - Credit to coqdorysme from Reddit

 

Also bonus pictures https://imgur.com/fpngallery/ACL5c Credit to 7heDaniel from Reddit as well.

 

The ink will be available in about 4 weeks time.

 

I helped organise this ink with Diamine for the Reddit r/fountainpens community, so please feel free to ask if you have any questions.