Diamine Shimmer Inks 2017 Arabian Nights

October 16, 2017

Im reviewing samples of the new set of Diamine Shimmer inks.

This one is Diamine Arabian Nights

This is a blue-black ink that leans lilac. It is a similar colour to Diamine Eclipse, Diamine Damson and Diamine Vivaldi. It has silver sheen.

I found it a wet and well flowing ink.

It had very good lubrication with the pens I tried it with.

Its a reasonably saturated ink.

With broader nibs it looks more saturated than it does with finer nibs, although its wet enough to show the silver shimmer with all nibs.

It showed through on some of the papers I used.

The pens I used were Pilot VP M nib, Lamy Nexx M Stub 1.1mm nib, Lamy Nexx M F nib.

The comparison inks were swabbed with a cotton bud and their ink names were written with a glass dip pen.

I consider Arabian Nights a well-behaved ink. I didnt experience any ignition or clogging problems with it. Clean-up was easy. No problem at all removing Arabian Nights from hands or pens using soap for hands and plain water for pens.

It is very water resistant, and didnt disappear after a few minutes under water.

The Mebin UK Notebook I used was supplied by someone on FPN who sold TR 68gsm Notebooks. The paper in the Mebin UK Notebook is quite thick at 95gsm. Its acid free, and has a really smooth surface with no drag or tooth at all. Inks generally take longer to dry on this paper, so wetter inks tend to pool and I knew that they would show their shimmer well enough for me to photograph the sheen.

The Moleskine Notebook is a UK clone, and I found there was very little spread on it.

Flow Rate: Very good
Lubrication: Very good
Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.
Start-up: Immediate.
Saturation: Quite a saturated ink
Shading Potential: Very good
Sheen: Silver shimmer
Show-Through:
- Tomoe River 52gsm.
- Cheaper generic 80gsm printer papers & lined pads.
- Field Notes
Spread / Feathering: A little spread seen on the Moleskine clone
Nib Creep / Crud: Not seen, even after over a week in the pen
Staining (pen): Not seen - easy clean-up
Staining (hands): Not seen - easy clean-up
Clogging: Not seen. Seems unlikely.
Water resistance: Not sold as waterproof, but has good water resistance.
Availability: Will be available from Diamine Inks web-site and other outlets.