This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 day 3 door:

Day 3’s ink is Diamine Noble Fir, an apple green star bright ink. Star bright inks feature extra shimmer, as in all the shimmer that Diamine could plausibly get their hands on. It shimmers, I promise, you won’t be able to miss it. I used a Lamy Safari with a medium nib to test this ink out.

Here’s a close up on the ink, wherein you can see that it is indeed a star bright ink, and you can see some of its shading properties.

If this ink feels somewhat familiar, it’s because it’s basically last year’s Diamine Merry and Bright but one shade darker (and bluer) and with a lot more shimmer. You can see the two side by side below and also see the difference between what Diamine calls a shimmer ink and what they call a star bright ink.

Here’s a writing sample on Rhodia paper with this ink. Diamine Noble Fir flows well, has some shading and a ton of silver shimmer. More than you think is healthy for any pen, which is why this ink will get nowhere near one of my vintage fountain pens.

Also, I kind of wish that they would have called it “Diamine Elphaba” after seeing and enjoying the movie “Wicked”. It’s too sparkly for Elphaba, I know, but it’s also nowhere near dark enough to be called “fir” and yet here we are.

Here’s a closeup on the writing sample, where you can see the ink shading and the shimmer.

Today’s sketch features a German bear which is called “Spooky” for some reason. It’s not spooky at all. You can see some of the shading properties of this ink and again the ever present shimmer.

And here’s Spooky, the not-at-all spooky bear. There’s actually something about him that reminds me of Elmo from Sesame Street.

In terms of practicality, Diamine Noble Fir scores higher than you’d think. This isn’t by any means an everyday ink, but for the holiday season it’s pretty much perfect. Select your pen carefully and clean out the ink once you’re done writing all those cards and letters, but Noble Fir is surprisingly well behaved. It’s also the most Christmasy of all the inks we’ve seen so far, so it scores very high on the theming side. Would I buy a bottle of this? No, as I don’t have a need to write a thousand holiday greeting cards. I will, however, enjoy writing this pen dry as soon as possible, before it becomes impossible to get all the glitter out of it.

Which pen would you use Diamine Noble Fir with? Do you see yourself needing or wanting a full bottle of this ink in your collection?

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 day 2 door:

Day 2’s ink is Diamine Wilted Rose, a standard ink in a dark dusty rose shade. I tested it using a Lamy fine nibbed fountain pen.

Diamine Wilted Rose has an interesting colour and a good amount of shading. It’s dark enough to be seen on both white and cream paper (and it would work particularly well on cream coloured paper). It’s well behaved though it’s a wet ink, so I would shy away from using it in wide nibs. I find the decision to include it in a Christmas themed product like the Inkvent calendar a bit peculiar, but Diamine have made stranger choices in the past.

As Diamine Wilted Rose is pretty similar to last year’s Diamine Masquerade (minus the shimmer), I decided to compare the two swabs. Wilted Rose is darker and redder than Masquerade, and more easily readable. It is also a wetter ink that shades a bit less than Masquerade as it’s more saturated.

Which one of these do you prefer? I like Masquerade’s colour more, but Wilted Rose is a more practical choice.

Today’s bear sketch features a charity collectible teddy bear that was originally part of a pair, but when I purchased him had been separated from his counterpart. Joshua has his paw in a sling, and has a lovely Dean’s Bears face. There’s something childish and innocent about him, which fits the charity he’s supporting very well.

You can see Diamine Wilted Rose’s shading well here, much better than in the writing sample, likely due to the Midori MD Cotton paper.

Here’s Joshua from the Two’s Company Dean Rag Book company. He’s a British bear, and I bought him second hand in York from a store called Mary Shortle’s.

Diamine Wilted Rose scores relatively high on practicality, as it’s a standard ink that is readable. It’s not a perfectly practical ink, as it’s on the wet side and you can’t use this shade of ink for everything. It is a good ink for journaling and personal correspondence though, as it’s an interesting colour of ink with a good amount of shading. I wouldn’t hesitate to use in my vintage pens.

In terms of theming, I think that it likely adds variety and interest to this year’s Inkvent but it’s not a very “Christmasy” colour (nor does it have a very festive name). It’s a good addition to the Diamine lineup, and while I don’t see myself buying a full bottle as I don’t use pink very often in my pens, it is a much better purchasing choice than yesterday’s Baltic Breeze.

What do you think? Do you use pink inks in your pens often, and would you buy a bottle of Diamine Wilted Rose? Would you rename the ink to something more seasonally themed?

This is the Diamine Inkvent 2024 day 1 door:

Day 1’s ink is Diamine Baltic Breeze a shimmer periwinkle blue ink:

The sample came out a bit rough because I tried to use a dip pen for the first few lines of writing.

Diamine Baltic Breeze is a gorgeous dusty, purplish blue in with a good amount of shading and a copper shimmer that really makes the ink come to life. This is a wet ink that will sheen if used in wide nibs.

On the Rhodia there was some feathering and a lot of show through and bleed through, but as I was using a wide 1.1 Monteverde nib, this is to be expected. On the Midori paper there was still some feathering, but you can also see the richness and depth of this ink.

Here’s a closeup on the shading, shimmer and sheen of this ink, and you can also see where it feathered a bit.

And here is the bear that I sketched, Topaz, made by Dean’s Bears and bought in York.

Diamine Baltic Breeze is a gorgeous ink that doesn’t score high on the practicality side. It’s a wet ink that is pretty saturated, so it takes a while to dry, and the shimmer, feathering and bleeding doesn’t help it in the every day use department. I won’t be getting a bottle of this, but I think that it’s a great ink for the calendar, as it fits thematically and is an attractive ink. Sometimes a sample is all that you need to enjoy an ink.

What do you think of Diamine Baltic Breeze? Do you see yourself buying a bottle?