EFNIR: Diamine Earl Grey

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Diamine Earl Grey

This is review #103 in my series.  Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes:  Slight bit of blue seen when cleaning the pipette after filling the converter.  Cleaning was quick and easy with plain water.  (Roofers were working on someone's house while I recorded.  Sorry for the background banging.)

And here is a screen of the final result, for those not interested in the video:

Scan of Completed Review:

Zoomed in photo:

Absorbent Paper Closeup (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper):

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap

Previous Review: Sailor Kujukuri Coast Hamanasu.

Want to influence the inky sequence?  Take the "next ink" poll.

Hope you enjoy.  Comments appreciated!

[yazeh]

Nice job Liz... This doesn't look at all like my cup of Earl Grey

 

 

[LizEF]

6 minutes ago, yazeh said:

Nice job Liz...

Thanks!

 

6 minutes ago, yazeh said:

This doesn't look at all like my cup of Earl Grey

Yeah, I hope no one ever buys it expecting it to look like the tea...

[mizgeorge]

Excellent review as ever Liz - thank you!

 

I found some of your conclusions slightly surprising. I use this ink a lot, and get a definite brownish undertone, particularly with wider or flex nibs - it's one of the things I like most about it. I also find it wetter than I think you did, though I tend to use it mid 20c German piston filled pens, which probably lay down a lot more ink! 

 

It's always particularly interesting to see how ink behaviours can vary so much between different nibs/types of pens - I now know to stay away from this one for finer nibs or drier feeds. Which in some ways is more useful than knowing whether I like the colour or not!

 

So a double thanks for that

[LizEF]

38 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Excellent review as ever Liz - thank you!

Thank you!  And you're welcome!

 

38 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

I use this ink a lot, and get a definite brownish undertone, particularly with wider or flex nibs

You're the third person to say it looks different than my images.  I see it as a neutral grey, so any cool tint is an artifact of the digitization process.  And I suspect you need broader nibs to see the color subtleties - this wouldn't be the first ink to need a broader nib to show off.

 

41 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

I also find it wetter than I think you did, though I tend to use it mid 20c German piston filled pens, which probably lay down a lot more ink! 

Yes, I'm finding the Japanese EF is the truest measure of whether an ink lubricates well. 

 

41 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

It's always particularly interesting to see how ink behaviours can vary so much between different nibs/types of pens - I now know to stay away from this one for finer nibs or drier feeds. Which in some ways is more useful than knowing whether I like the colour or not!

And this is the motivation for my reviews!  A lot of colors look and behave just like more general reviews describe, but there are still many that don't.

 

43 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

So a double thanks for that

You're double welcome! <-- that little guy is like my best friend - he makes me smile.  If Wim ever removes him, I may have to stop using FPN.

[namrehsnoom]

Thanks for showing this one. What intrigues me now is what the ink looks like in person - neutral grey? Brownish?  Nothing that sets it apart? I got a bottle of this on principle (because it’s a grey), but haven’t gotten around to testing it. That will now surely change. Thanks for wetting my appetite 😉

 

[LizEF]

46 minutes ago, namrehsnoom said:

What intrigues me now is what the ink looks like in person - neutral grey?

I have a sample (gift, but originally from Vanness).  To me it looks like a neutral grey in writing.  On second look, the swatch (swipe from the back of the nib) does have the sort of lavender undertone someone on reddit mentioned.  If I hold it up next to Kaweco Smokey Grey, Earl Grey stops looking neutral, but I'm not sure what to call it until I look at the larger blot.

 

I'm sitting here looking at my 8 greys, and none of them looks like the rest of them.  How I can have 8 inks called "grey" that don't really look much like each other is a bit mysterious.

[I-am-not-really-here]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

I have a sample (gift, but originally from Vanness).  To me it looks like a neutral grey in writing.  On second look, the swatch (swipe from the back of the nib) does have the sort of lavender undertone someone on reddit mentioned.  If I hold it up next to Kaweco Smokey Grey, Earl Grey stops looking neutral, but I'm not sure what to call it until I look at the larger blot.

 

I'm sitting here looking at my 8 greys, and none of them looks like the rest of them.  How I can have 8 inks called "grey" that don't really look much like each other is a bit mysterious.

Obtain just 42 more and you can make a much longer video.

[LizEF]

11 minutes ago, I-am-not-really-here said:

Obtain just 42 more and you can make a much longer video.

Since I only do one per video, more wouldn't result in longer videos, just more, and just yesterday I calculated, and I have enough inks to last until September 2022 - 16 months!

 

(And if you meant by doing comparisons of all of them at the start, I wouldn't do that!  I'd pick out the closest matches.)

[I-am-not-really-here]

32 minutes ago, LizEF said:

Since I only do one per video, more wouldn't result in longer videos, just more, and just yesterday I calculated, and I have enough inks to last until September 2022 - 16 months!

 

(And if you meant by doing comparisons of all of them at the start, I wouldn't do that!  I'd pick out the closest matches.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_of_Grey_(film)

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the review.  While Earl Grey isn't my favorite grey ink, I do really like it.  Good to know that it does okay in finer nibs.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[PithyProlix]

After seeing many examples online that have a purple cast I bought a bottle only to find a neutral grey - and I've tried a few different combinations of pens/nibs/paper. 

 

Thanks much for the great review!

[LizEF]

39 minutes ago, I-am-not-really-here said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_of_Grey_(film)

Ah ha.  Yeah, not something I would have come up with on my own.  I get it now.  Har har.

[LizEF]

24 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

Thanks for the review.  While Earl Grey isn't my favorite grey ink, I do really like it.  Good to know that it does okay in finer nibs.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

You're very welcome!  And yeah, works just fine, but may not show color subtleties.

[LizEF]

Just now, PithyProlix said:

After seeing many examples online that have a purple cast I bought a bottle only to find a neutral grey - and I've tried a few different combinations of pens/nibs/paper. 

So my eyes aren't alone!   I could only see something different in a big swipe of ink and if I put it next to other grey inks.

[PithyProlix]

7 minutes ago, LizEF said:

So my eyes aren't alone!   I could only see something different in a big swipe of ink and if I put it next to other grey inks.

 

Yeah, and I see purple in some grey's that others judge as neutral.

 

In the past week I've actually written a couple pages of notes with it using the reverse side of the nib of a Pilot Varsity - so an Japanese EF, as well. IMO, it gives a fairly nice, soft look but not not nice enough that I really want to use it again. 

 

I have a bottle of Lexington Grey (another one that others seem to like a lot but I've never warmed up to) and I might try a comparison later today, if only to convince myself that Earl Grey really is neutral. 

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, PithyProlix said:

I have a bottle of Lexington Grey (another one that others seem to like a lot but I've never warmed up to) and I might try a comparison later today, if only to convince myself that Earl Grey really is neutral. 

[PithyProlix]

10 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

I have a bottle of Lexington Grey (another one that others seem to like a lot but I've never warmed up to) and I might try a comparison later today, if only to convince myself that Earl Grey really is neutral. 

 

8 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

OK, so with a #2 dip pen nib there is definitely a very faint purple undertone which is easier to see in cool temperature light - I didn't need to see it next to Lexington Grey to notice that. But, still, no noticeable purple on either side of a Pilot Varsity nib (Japanese EF & M), a dry writer, unless I really, really use my imagination and only in the lighter parts of the line. Certainly, it's nothing like the much more prominent purple I'm seeing in many samples online. 

 

(Interestingly enough, with a #2 dip pen nib Lexington Grey gives a very subtle olive drab undertone - something I never noticed before.)

[yazeh]

11 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

 

Yeah, and I see purple in some grey's that others judge as neutral.

If you want it not to be neutral, use it with a flex nib. It's incredible how much character it can give to some drab inks.

11 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

(Interestingly enough, with a #2 dip pen nib Lexington Grey gives a very subtle olive drab undertone - something I never noticed before.)

 

My point. Flex is all the way to go

[PithyProlix]

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

Quote

(Interestingly enough, with a #2 dip pen nib Lexington Grey gives a very subtle olive drab undertone - something I never noticed before.)

 

My point. Flex is all the way to go

 

Yeah, but a #2 dip pen nib is a firm italic/roundhand... 😉  I'll try with a Tachikawa G nib and maybe a fountain pen with a semi-flex nib tomorrow.