Which Diamine ink compares to the Monteverde Sapphire

[samasry]

Hello

Is there a Diamine Ink that  is comparable in color and depth  to  the Monteverde Sapphire Ink?

If there is,  can you share which Diamine ink  is close enough?

Thanks

[mizgeorge]

The closest is probably Bilberry in terms of colour, and Sargasso Sea for properties. Perhaps a mix of the two?

[samasry]

Thanks @mizgeorge , I appreciate the pointer. I will check these out.

[A Smug Dill]

But why Diamine specifically?

 

[samasry]

1 minute ago, A Smug Dill said:

But why Diamine specifically?

 

 

To make a long story short

 

I used to source the Monteverde Sapphire form amazon, on a regular basis.

Last Week,  they sent me   a 30 mL  napa burgundy in place of a 90 mL  Sapphire

so I returned it

I order 90 mL Sapphire again and this time they sent me a 30mL black ash or something like that.

 

In both cases, the 30ML is wrapped in a plastic bag that  indicates it is 90mL  Sapphire

The item is  sold by Amazon

yet someone have fooled them into selling  30mL bottles with variety of colors in place of the  90mL sapphire.

 

Needless to say, I do not plan on ordering again from Amazon.

 

I do not source Diamine from the US, that would be against all  that I hold  sacred. I make a list, and once I get enough items on my list, I order from cult-pens and such.

[KevinS]

The nearest Diamine ink is probably Diamine Sapphire. 

 

It's a lovely intense Sapphire blue without any retina burnout (Noodler's Baystate Blue?). Staying with that comparison Diamine Sapphire has a great intensity, but is less 'electric' tha Baystate Blue. 

 

To my mind it's well behaved, no feathering, spread, nor sheen. And no blead on a good paper. It doesn't stain the pen and washes out easily.

 

I use it with Rhodia, Leuchtturm, Clairfontaine and Stationary Island. It is not at its best intensity with Rhodia, but I find many of my inks don't show their full colour with that paper.

 

I'm waiting for a bottle of the Monteverde at the moment (curiosity). It's not so easy to get in the UK where Diamine inks seem to be a lot cheaper than in the States.

 

I'll try to come back to edit when I have the Monteverde Sapphire.

[Gloucesterman]

6 hours ago, KevinS said:

The nearest Diamine ink is probably Diamine Sapphire. 

 

It's a lovely intense Sapphire blue without any retina burnout (Noodler's Baystate Blue?). Staying with that comparison Diamine Sapphire has a great intensity, but is less 'electric' tha Baystate Blue. 

 

To my mind it's well behaved, no feathering, spread, nor sheen. And no blead on a good paper. It doesn't stain the pen and washes out easily.

 

I use it with Rhodia, Leuchtturm, Clairfontaine and Stationary Island. It is not at its best intensity with Rhodia, but I find many of my inks don't show their full colour with that paper.

 

I'm waiting for a bottle of the Monteverde at the moment (curiosity). It's not so easy to get in the UK where Diamine inks seem to be a lot cheaper than in the States.

 

I'll try to come back to edit when I have the Monteverde Sapphire.

Totally agree. Diamine Sapphire is the one blue ink that I actually purchase in multiple bottle quanitity. Also spot -on when buying Diamine. Cult Pen is my go-to place for Diamine inks. My experiences with them over the last 2-3 years has been superb. No affiliation of course.

[samasry]

6 hours ago, KevinS said:

The nearest Diamine ink is probably Diamine Sapphire. 

 

It's a lovely intense Sapphire blue without any retina burnout (Noodler's Baystate Blue?). Staying with that comparison Diamine Sapphire has a great intensity, but is less 'electric' tha Baystate Blue. 

 

To my mind it's well behaved, no feathering, spread, nor sheen. And no blead on a good paper. It doesn't stain the pen and washes out easily.

 

I use it with Rhodia, Leuchtturm, Clairfontaine and Stationary Island. It is not at its best intensity with Rhodia, but I find many of my inks don't show their full colour with that paper.

 

I'm waiting for a bottle of the Monteverde at the moment (curiosity). It's not so easy to get in the UK where Diamine inks seem to be a lot cheaper than in the States.

 

I'll try to come back to edit when I have the Monteverde Sapphire.

Thank you Kevin for the informative post.

 

I was very happy to reach post count #  "555" and wanted to  freeze my account at that magical number, but I could not help  but  thank you for the kind and useful reply.

Now,  I  will  have to  shoot for  post   #   "666" before  I get a chance to  freeze my account in style      LOL

[samasry]

35 minutes ago, Gloucesterman said:

Totally agree. Diamine Sapphire is the one blue ink that I actually purchase in multiple bottle quanitity. Also spot -on when buying Diamine. Cult Pen is my go-to place for Diamine inks. My experiences with them over the last 2-3 years has been superb. No affiliation of course.

Great, thank you for the helpful information.

[mizgeorge]

I've just reread this thread and realised that I typed bilberry when of course I meant sapphire. I couldn't for the life of me work out why and then realised it was because I'd replied on the day when I managed to spill about a quarter of bilberry (which is a colour I'm really not very keen on) over, of all things, one of my swatch card sets - ruining about 200 carefully organised cards. I was not impressed with myself.

 

Normal service has been resumed.

[samasry]

1 minute ago, mizgeorge said:

I've just reread this thread and realised that I typed bilberry when of course I meant sapphire. I couldn't for the life of me work out why and then realised it was because I'd replied on the day when I managed to spill about a quarter of bilberry (which is a colour I'm really not very keen on) over, of all things, one of my swatch card sets - ruining about 200 carefully organised cards. I was not impressed with myself.

 

Normal service has been resumed.

 

 

Well, in my last order from Cult-Pens,  and  following your    advice as an   ink-Guru , I have ordered a 1 or 2   bottles of this Billberry ink. 

 

Of course, I am   responsible for my own decisions.   I was   aware that the color is not  a match to  MV Sapphire, by any means shape or form,  since my trusty reviewer,   mountain of ink showed a significant difference.

 

https://mountainofink.com/blog/ink-review-diamine-bilberry

 

I am typically very set in my ways, which means I was not even going to try it   

The plan has always been to give this one to my daughter  (who likes to explore new colors)  when we go halfsies and share the Cult-Pens ink loot,  50/50.   

 

 

[mizgeorge]

I'm so sorry!! I gave the remains of the offending bilberry to my own daughter, who loves it. 

 

I promise, though I wouldn't consider myself an ink guru, I'm usually pretty reliable on this sort of thing. It took my until just yesterday to re-swatch all my RO greens, all my Pure Pens, most of my Pilots and a fair number of Sailors. So I have been punished for my carelessness, and now I've given myself a firm talking to for posting without checking what I've written too.

 

 

[sansenri]

You will not regret buying Bilberry, it is one of Diamine's nicest inks (IMHO) and a rather special purple-blue shade.

[samasry]

4 minutes ago, sansenri said:

You will not regret buying Bilberry, it is one of Diamine's nicest inks (IMHO) and a rather special purple-blue shade.

 

No regrets at all and thanks for giving  the ink  your   vote of confidence. I appreciate it.

[samasry]

10 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

I'm so sorry!! I gave the remains of the offending bilberry to my own daughter, who loves it. 

 

I promise, though I wouldn't consider myself an ink guru, I'm usually pretty reliable on this sort of thing. It took my until just yesterday to re-swatch all my RO greens, all my Pure Pens, most of my Pilots and a fair number of Sailors. So I have been punished for my carelessness, and now I've given myself a firm talking to for posting without checking what I've written too.

 

 

 

There is no issue here are all   I have never even thought about this  till you brought it up today and reminded me.  Some of these ink bottles lay around for months before my daughter gets to even look at them.  She has her own preference, and she could  use  Diamine Graphite and Oxford forever

 

I typically ask her  before we plan a new ink haul form Cult-Pens to give me her list of new colors, and she usually pick them randomly without even looking, other than her usual, 4 Graphite and 4 Oxford.  In effect, having someone from FPN network recommend a color, is a much better  way  to pick some new good colors for her to explore as opposed to just  doing things at random  

[amberleadavis]

On 5/29/2021 at 3:28 AM, mizgeorge said:

The closest is probably Bilberry in terms of colour, and Sargasso Sea for properties. Perhaps a mix of the two?

 

I love both these inks. I enjoy them individually and together. I also add either to an ink that I don't otherwise enjoy.  

Great suggestion!

[samasry]

3 hours ago, amberleadavis said:

 

I love both these inks. I enjoy them individually and together. I also add either to an ink that I don't otherwise enjoy.  

Great suggestion!

 

Thanks for the support and expert advice I have received in this thread and couple of others.

 

I have my base ink, the Pelikan royal blue. I now have few of these Diamine inks you-all have suggested.   I am in the mixing business 

 

[chromantic]

Are we talking about Monteverde Gemstone Sapphire? What a great color! I bought it on the strength of visvamitra's review. I love it and currently have it in 2 pens, my 140 and a Lyra roller I use at work. I've bought it twice now in a 30ml bottle from pensavings.com for $9. (I ordered from ebay and the price was higher but included the shipping.) Checking their site, they have the 90ml bottles, $12.50.

 

The Diamine seems weaker in comparison, just going by review photos.

[samasry]

19 hours ago, chromantic said:

Are we talking about Monteverde Gemstone Sapphire? What a great color! I bought it on the strength of visvamitra's review. I love it and currently have it in 2 pens, my 140 and a Lyra roller I use at work. I've bought it twice now in a 30ml bottle from pensavings.com for $9. (I ordered from ebay and the price was higher but included the shipping.) Checking their site, they have the 90ml bottles, $12.50.

 

The Diamine seems weaker in comparison, just going by review photos.

 

Yes, it is the Monteverde Saphire from their Gem stone collection.

This color is my preferred blue ink and at the moment it is also very useful in a mix with the Pelikan Royal blue  to give the Pelikan RB some depth and character.

I have tried the Diamine Sapphire recently and it is not close to the MV Sapphire;  it is a nice color on its own right though.

 

I am not really sure which site are you referring to,  at MV own site, I see the 90ml bottle listed at $20. Perhaps they change prices like amazon does on a regular basis.

[chromantic]

pensavings.com

 

Here's the 90ml: https://pensavings.com/collections/ink-monteverde?page=6

and the 30ml: https://pensavings.com/collections/ink-monteverde?page=1