Fountain pen inks reviews and comparisons

  It's Spring, we just had King's day and the European Championships football are being held next month. More than enough reasons to fill up some pens with orange inks. I was surprised to see I had gathered eight inks in the past few years that qualify as orange. Some true bright orange, some leaning more towards red or brown. Which one is your favorite? Written on Tomoe river, 52g

  Writer's Blood by Diamine. The latest addition and chosen by Reddit's r/fountainpen community after a long debate and many voting rounds. A dark red, heavily leaning towards brown and aubergine purple. A subtle color that works both in the office and for personal correspondence.   There is no feathering and some shading. The ink is very wet, even wetter than usual for Diamine. The ink is smooth. I was surprised to see it can handle a bit of water. At least your work will remain legible. Drying times are slow, 85 secs on Tomoe River paper. The characteristics: Feathering None Shading Some Show through Light Wetness High Lubrication Excellent Shimmer/sheen None Price/ml € 0,12 Writer's Blood reminded me most of Diamine Oxblood. In some...

Following last week’s post of autumn inks, today a selection of fifteen brown inks. Although some of them can easily be used throughout the year, brown inks are most often associated with the fall. Warm inks that give a melancholic feeling. The fantasy  of writing handwritten letters or stories,  overlooking a Scottish lake. The fireplace warming the room. Outside it is wet, cold and foggy. The bright autumn colors are gone. Winter is approaching fast. As any list, this list is incomplete and could easily have been different. Why did I leave out SBRE Brown? Or Herbin’s Cafe des Iles? Let me know what your favorite is!

September. Autumn has started on the northern hemisphere. The evenings are longer, the nights already cold and the days more chilly. Yet, there is still plenty of sunshine and the leaves are starting to turn yellow, brown, and red.  So what ink colors match this early Fall season? I’ve compiled a list of ten suitable colors. Fully aware that any list is arbitrary and unfair to some beautiful colors that I left out. To name a few, Montblanc’s Homage to Victor Hugo , Diamine’s Macassar , Herbin’s Lie de Thé or Cacao du Bresil , and KWZ’s Capuccino . Yes, these are all brown inks. Too early in the season. I guess I will have to write a brown ink special in a few weeks.  The colors that did make it to the list are more colorful, resembling the sunshine and colorful leaves. In random order Yama-guri (Iroshizuki), Oxblood , Autumn oak, Pumpkin, Burnt Sienna (all Diamine), Rosso antico, Red fox , James Purdey & Son single malt (all Montblanc), Habanero (Noodler’s), and SBRE Bro...

My second ink from the 2019 Diamine inktvent series, bought in a full size bottle. A medium dark brown that reminds me of cold winter nights with a fireplace. Warm enough for personal correspondence and writing, but subtle enough for work notes as well. Not surprisingly for a Diamine ink, the ink behaves really well with high, beautiful shading. No feathering, good lubrication, negligible show-through and a quite wet ink. Drying times are average, 35 seconds on Tomoe River paper.  The ink doesn't like water much, even a little bit of water will ruin the writing. Diamine calls this a standard ink, there is no sheen or shimmer.  The bottle is beautiful, but as the Jack Frost ink, putting the cap back on straight is impossible, the threading in the cap is quite poor.  I have compared the ink to a few other medium dark browns. Herbin's Terre de Feu is more red, Lie de The comes close (a bit more light) and Diamine's Cacao Shimmer is - besides the shimmer - ...

A very dark purple with a high amount of green sheen. I had never seen this color until I accidentally ran into it at a small pen and ink shop. Especially with finer nibs the purple is near black. That makes the color suitable for the workspace and of course, for any personal writing.  The ink is very well behaved. I have used it in various pens with different nib sizes. The green sheen is visible in all nibs used. Especially on Tomoe River paper, but also on Rhodia or Clairefontaine.  In the image below you can clearly see it in the title with a broad poster nib.  Despite the very dark color you can still see shading. Show-through is minimal. There is no feather on decent paper. Lubrication is good and even though the ink doesn't seem that wet, its drying time is high, more than one minute!  Compared to some other purple inks, Scribble Purple is by far the darkest. Diamine's Bilberry is dark too, but leans far more to a blue. Damson is a ...

Terribly out of season maybe, but it doesn't  make the color less beautiful. Recently Diamine released  colors of their 2019 invent calendar as full 50 ml bottles in a new and very beautiful shape. I had barely managed to avoid buying the inkvent calendar, but buying a few of these bottles I couldn't resist. Jack Frost is a medium blue color with heavy shading, some subtle silver sheen and heavy purple/red sheen. Any nib medium and up will clearly bring out the sheen. The color itself reminds me of a bright, cold winter day. I wouldn't use it in the office, but it is not wildly inappropriate. The ink behaves really well. There is no feathering on this paper, high shading, a lot of sheen, and some shimmer as mentioned. The Splatter makes it visible. Jack Frost is not too wet but has average drying times, writes smooth enough and with negligible show-through. The ink probably likes ice more than water, it immediately smears, even days...

Recently, the Dutch webshop LaCouronneDuComte launched a new series of ink under their own name. The ink is being produced by Diamine and has similar bottles and pricing.  The webshop claims that the colors are exclusive for them. Pain d'Épices is a warm red, or as the website describes it, "Pain d'Épices is a warm, red-brown ink with an olive-green sheen that evokes the feeling of a delicious gingerbread." I wouldn't touch a gingerbread in this color with a ten foot pole, but it is a warm red and when using very wide or poster nibs, the green sheen is clearly visible. Much better for personal use than for office use, but it is elegant and dark enough.  Quality of the ink is as expected. No feathering, beautiful shading, hardly any show-through, normal wetness, good lubrication and average drying times. As afraid of water as the next Diamine ink. So how does the color compare to other inks? As can be seen in the Ink Comparisons, it will be extremely hard t...

Bilberry by Diamine is in the twilight zone between blue and purple. Far more dark than the European blueberry it’s named after. Billberry is a very nice dark ink. I’d call it a dark purple leaning towards blue, but it’s really a matter of perception. In any case it’s an elegant ink that works both for personal correspondence as well as note taking in the office. At first glance many will consider it a blue.  Like most if not all Diamine inks, this ink is very well behaved. No feathering, some shading, and minimal show-through. The ink is less wet than most, writes smoothly and has a drying time that's below average for Diamine (Clairefontaine paper). The ink is very afraid of water, even a little drop or some wetness will smear it and ruin your writing. Even days after writing.  Diamine’s Lilac Night was my first thought for a comparison, but it’s much lighter and more blue. Noodler’s Tchaikovsky (a not very vibrant purple) and iroshizuku’s Murasaki don’t come ...

A bright red ink, exclusive for the German market (but easily available online) and with a very intriguing name for a writing ink. Which effect does this red color have or aim to have?  It is a beautiful red color, bright and deep.  In my opinion it is more suitable for grading and correcting than for notes or correspondence. For longer reads I like reds with a bit more brown, for greeting and holiday cards I prefer a shimmering red ink (Firestorm Red, Rouge Hematite for instance) . The quality of ink is high, as is to be expected from Diamine. No feathering, nice shading, negligible show-through and very smooth writing. The ink is very wet, which can be seen easily when writing and it comes back in above average drying time of 50 seconds (Crown Mill Vellum paper, medium nib Parker). In the writing with a poster nib some silver/green sheen can be seen. The ink most certainly doesn't like water. The color that comes closest is Red Dragon, also by Diamine....

Last week in a car museum I saw a  Lincoln Sedan Delivery Deco Liner , with a Harley Davidson. In a bright dark purple. The car was out of reach, but such an ink color might not be. Searching online I found Diamine's Imperial Purple. Beautiful and bright, especially in a broad and web nib. A bit too much for the workspace, but excellent for all sorts of personal writing. The color is pleasant to read, which makes it suitable for personal notes and correspondence. I found the ink a bit more dry than usual from Diamine, but other than that the ink behaved very good. The shading is phenomenal. No feathering and negligible show-through. Water makes an instant mess of the ink, be careful. Compared to other purple inks this is by far the most saturated, bright and dark purple. Montblanc's Lavender Purple is more red. So is  Herbin's Larmes de Cassis, and much less saturated. The closest match is Améthyste de l'Oura l (Herbin 1798, shimmer ink). That ink is dar...

Late november. The days are noticeably short and the first Christmas decorations and festive lights in the streets are there. I was looking for a cold, but still blue color to write in this season. Prussian Blue is such a color. Elegant and classic enough for the workspace, beautiful and different enough for personal correspondence and notes.  The ink is very well behaved, a pleasure to write with. Most if not all Diamine inks are great and this one is no exception. No feathering, enough lubrication and beautiful shading. Maybe the ink is a bit wetter than average, but with 35 secs drying time still reasonable. There is even some water resistance.  The ink is quite low in saturation. It did remind me a bit of Herbin's Vert de Gris (green cousin?). Other blues like Iroshizuku's Shin-kai or Sailor's Kikyou are a lot more blue and - especially Kikyou - also more saturated. All is all this is a nice winter ink. I'm sure I will use it regularly...

Lilac Night by Diamine is one of their 150th anniversary inks. I wouldn't call it Lilac. In my opinion it's a dark blue with hints of purple. In any case it's an ink you can use anywhere. Its appearance is professional enough for the workspace and the color beautiful enough for personal notes, correspondence and greeting cards. The behavior is excellent. It feels and looks a bit dry on Clairefontaine paper, but surprisingly enough the drying times were a bit above average with just under 40 seconds. No feathering, beautiful shading, no show-through. Just what I expected from Diamine. Water resistance is low at best, but you will have a chance to rewrite or accept. A few drops won't completely destroy your writings.  The color is a lot less purple than the bottle suggests. When compared to Iroshizuku's Shin-Kai however the purple hints are noticeable. However, when compared to Jurojin or Herbin's Amethyste, this color is very blue! I have used ...

A very bright, in-your-face red. Red as a firetruck, with a heavy dose of silver shimmer. The color certainly lives up to its name. It would be a perfect color for grading and corrections, if not for the shimmer. The shimmer makes it a bit too festive for that. So it's not suitable for the workplace, but for greeting cards, short notes or some personal writing, it will work pretty well. The ink behaves as expected: really good. No feathering, negligible show-through, moderate wetness, good lubrication, and average drying times. Shading is very low and he amount of shimmer is high. It's visible even in medium nibs. With a poster nib it's even too much. The ink doesn't like water.... the ink washes away almost immediately. Funnily enough, the shimmer stays.  Firestorm Red is the brightest red I have. Even Red Dragon is significantly darker. The Rouge Hematite looks much more purple in comparison (that surprised me). Lamy's Ruby is a lot less saturated.  ...

By special request of a dear friend, I was looking for a honey colored or gold colored ink and I ended up buying Diamine's Honey Burst, from their guitar series. More honey than gold, but yes, more or less the color I was looking for. Not something I'd use in the workspace, but it does work for personal correspondence and notes. Be careful though, long letters in this color are quite the strain to both the writer and the reader's eyes. Behavior of the ink is good, not great. No feathering, negligible show-through, nice shading, and not too wet. Drying times around average. The ink wasn't as smooth as I expected (or hoped). Writing with a TWSBI (stub nib) on Original Crown Mill Vellum paper felt a bit crude at times. Compared to other inks Herbin's Ambre de Birmaine comes pretty close. Desert burst from the same guitar series is more diaper brown, Herbin's Café des Iles is way more brown. All in all it's a nice fun color that certainly has it...

I've mentioned it before: I like red inks, my absolute favorite is  Diamine's Oxblood  and I am still searching for a dark bright red . After Crimson I decided to buy Red Dragon as well. A popular red and often sold out.Red Dragon is definitely a beautiful red.  It's dark and elegant enough to use in the office for note taking. But in my opinion this ink is far more suitable for personal use. Personal notes, greeting cards, stories that require red ink, etc.  The ink is more wet than usual for Diamine, causing a slightly longer drying time, some show-through and negligible bleed-through. Still the ink is very well-behaved and writes very smoothly. The ink is saturated and has low to moderate shading, even in broader nibs.During normal writing there is no feathering, but on Vellum paper and broad nibs I have noted it a few times, as visible on the scan. As always with these inks, water is a bad idea, but you might have a chance to rewrite it.  Red ...

After yesterday's review of Merlot , Diamine's Syrah had to be next. As the Merlot grape, Syrah/Shiraz based wine will come in a huge variation of colors, but I think the ink still gives a good impression of the wines. A fun ink.  It's quite red and far less subtle than the Merlot. That makes is harder to use  in an office environment for note taking. For cards and letters to your red wine loving friends it's an excellent color. Merlot for the Merlot lovers, Syrah for the fans of Syrah. I often pick ink colors for the day based on mood and weather, now you can pick your color based on the meat too.  The ink feels a bit dryer and is a little less lubricated than what I'm used to from Diamine inks, but other than that the ink behaves really well. No feathering, nice shading, and hardly any show-through. Drying times little around 25 seconds which is pretty good. Water or fluids will immediately ruin your writings. With the poster nib, some green sheen can...

Diamine has over one hundred colors and some of these are quite creative. Merlot is a good example of that. The color is designed to resembles a Merlot wine. Considering the variation there, as well as Merlot being a grape often used in blends, there will be a few wines out there that look exactly like this. The result is a red and purple ink that is not too serious..   However, it's still subtle enough to use in an office environment for note taking. For cards and letters to your red wine loving friends it's an excellent color with a wink to wine or dinner of course. The color remains pleasant to read, even in long notes. The ink feels a bit dryer and is a little less lubricated than what I'm used to from Diamine inks, but other than that the ink behaves really well. No feathering, nice shading, and hardly any show-through. Drying times little less than 25 seconds which is pretty good. Water or fluids will immediately ruin your writings. Compared to the Diamine S...

If there would be a price for the ink with the most beautiful, intriguing name, this ink would definitely be nominated. Aurora Borealis by Diamine is a green, 'tealish'  ink. The color is saturated, but still modest. Suitable for an office environment (note taking) and of course for any personal correspondence. Both short and long. I have used this ink for one letter, some cards and a day of note taking. The behavior of Diamine inks is well-known and predictable. Works absolutely fine in any pen. High quality inks that don't feather, have minimal or no show-through, are well lubricated, are wet but with acceptable drying times and heavy, beautiful shading. Even when writing with a Lamy EF nib, shading is clearly visible. The ink is very susceptible to water.  At first glance this reminded me of Iroshizuku's Syo-ro and yes, the colors are close. Aurora Borealis is a little bit more green and saturated. Iroshizuku's other teal, Ku-jaku, is noticeably mor...

Mid September, the last week of summer. Autumn is already sending its rain; a colorful season is ahead. Red inks fit autumn perfectly in my opinion. I love Diamine Oxblood and P.W. Akkerman's Stone red and assumed this Crimson ink would be a nice addition to my collection of reds. I was not mistaken.  Crimson is a very nice, beautiful color. Red of course, but subtle and elegant. Not a red for graders and correctors. It's no problem to use this for note taking in the office or for any personal correspondence and writing you want to do. The ink is pleasant for the eyes and remains so even when reading long notes or letters. Diamine makes great, wonderful value for money inks. No feathering, negligible show-through, wet but not too wet, well lubricated and high, beautiful shading. Drying times were surprisingly fast, roughly 18 seconds. The ink doesn't like water, spilled fluids ruin your writing rapidly and thoroughly.  Crimson is a dark red color with a hi...