This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 Day 22 door:

Day 22’s ink is Diamine Nutmeg, a greyish-brown ink with gold shimmer. I used a Levenger True Writer fountain pen with a fine nib to test out this ink.

Diamine Nutmeg has a mousy brown base colour with a good amount of shading, and with gold shimmer that saves this ink from being a bland, depressing disappointment.

The gold shimmer does two things for Diamine Nutmeg: it warms up what would otherwise be a “cold” brown, and it adds interest and life to this ink.

This year’s Inkvent seems laden with grey, brown, and dark inks, and Diamine Nutmeg fits right in with this crowd. What “saves” it is the gold shimmer, because otherwise it would be the last sort of ink colour you’d want to see in a holiday themed calendar.

Here’s a close up on some of the shading and the glitter. This is a rare case where I would have actually welcomed more glitter:

On original Tomoe River paper you see more of the shading:

The photo of today’s bear sketch came out weirdly dark, I don’t know why. In any case, Diamine Nutmeg is a nice enough ink to sketch with, and as I expected it shades even more on Midori MD Cotton paper than it does on Rhodia paper, but still I wouldn’t call it a very interesting ink.

Here’s a close up of the shading and the shimmer:

Today’s bear is an unnumbered Clemens bear (so he’s a German bear). I love his solid squatness and his squashed face, which is why I got him.

I don’t know what made Diamine lean into the darker and more muted side of the ink colour spectrum this year, but the result isn’t inspiring or festive. Diamine Nutmeg is saved somewhat by its shimmer, and it most certainly fits its name, but I still don’t see myself wanting to use it with any regularity.

What do you think of the ink selection this year so far? Do you like Diamine Nutmeg?