Caveat: this year’s Inkvent appears to have elusive ink colours. I suggest reading my description of the inks and not going by the photos alone, and comparing my results with those of other reviewers. 

The Diamine Inkvent calendar is an advent calendar with 24 tiny (12ml) bottles of fountain pen ink behind 24 doors, and a larger, 30ml, bottle of ink behind the 25th door. All the inks are limited edition, and, at the moment, only available through this calendar.

Day 14’s ink is Diamine Red Robin a standard orangey red.

The colour matches my vintage onion skin paper pad quite well.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Red Robin. There’s a lot of shading in this ink – from orange to red.

I used a Sailor Professional Gear Slim Graphite Lighthouse with an extra fine nib to try out this ink.

Of course I had to draw a red robin with Diamine Red Robin.

This was drawn on a Kanso Sasshi 3.5” x 5.5” Tomoe River Paper notebook (the notebooks I have were bought in 2016, and so they contain the old Tomoe River paper).

Finally, I wrote a page in my Midori Journal:

While I don’t see myself buying a bottle of this ink, Diamine Red Robin is definitely a theme appropriate ink, and a nice bright ink in general. I’m personally just not a big fan of red inks, so this one isn’t for me.

Caveat: this year’s Inkvent appears to have elusive ink colours. I suggest reading my description of the inks and not going by the photos alone, and comparing my results with those of other reviewers. 

The Diamine Inkvent calendar is an advent calendar with 24 tiny (12ml) bottles of fountain pen ink behind 24 doors, and a larger, 30ml, bottle of ink behind the 25th door. All the inks are limited edition, and, at the moment, only available through this calendar.

Day 13’s ink is Diamine Ruby Blues. It’s a royal blue ink with a purple red sheen, and it’s gorgeous. It’s such a saturated colour that I’m worried that it will stain the converter I used, and yet it’s such a glorious colour IT’S WORTH IT!

There’s sheen and then there’s SHEEN. Take a look at the swab below to see what I mean.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Ruby Blues. Isn’t it fabulous? Yes, it’s blue, but at a certain point of sheen and saturation you leave basic blue behind and transcend into “Yasss, queen” blue. This is a blue that can do no wrong. Will it permanently stain my pen? Who knows. If it will, it will be worth it.

I used a Waterman Phileas with a fine nib to test out Diamine Ruby Blues. It sheens even with a fine nib, which you can see below:

I drew a quick trio of three blues players with Diamine Ruby Blues. The photo doesn’t capture the sheen very well, but there was a good amount of it.

This was drawn on a Kanso Sasshi 3.5” x 5.5” Tomoe River Paper notebook (the notebooks I have were bought in 2016, and so they contain the old Tomoe River paper).

Finally, I wrote a page in my Midori Journal:

I’m not a fan of blue inks, as I tend to find them boring, but boy oh boy is Diamine Ruby Blues the opposite of a boring blue. I’m definitely going to buy a bottle of this to play with, and even though I don’t think the colour is particularly festive, I’m glad that it was included in this year’s Inkvent.

Caveat: this year’s Inkvent appears to have elusive ink colours. I suggest reading my description of the inks and not going by the photos alone, and comparing my results with those of other reviewers. 

The Diamine Inkvent calendar is an advent calendar with 24 tiny (12ml) bottles of fountain pen ink behind 24 doors, and a larger, 30ml, bottle of ink behind the 25th door. All the inks are limited edition, and, at the moment, only available through this calendar.

Day 12’s ink is Diamine Stargazer. It’s a navy/denim blue with a red sheen and a blue shimmer.

Shimmer and sheen.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Stargazer. While it’s not as “party time” as yesterday’s Diamine Party Time, it’s still an attractive ink that I can see people using to write greeting cards with.

I used a Diplomat Aero Champagne with a fine nib to test out Diamine Stargazer.

Here’s a better view of the red sheen and the blue shimmer:

I decided to draw an astronaut and rover gazing onto a field of random stars to test this ink out. There is some shading, but it’s hard to see it with the sheen and shimmer that’s going on.

This was drawn on a Kanso Sasshi 3.5” x 5.5” Tomoe River Paper notebook (the notebooks I have were bought in 2016, and so they contain the old Tomoe River paper).

Finally, I wrote a page in my Midori Journal:

Diamine Stargazer can pass as a “serious” ink quite easily because of its base dark blue colour. I don’t need another ink in this shade, but if I did, I would probably buy a bottle of this ink, because it’s such a fun twist on a “office appropriate” ink colour.

Caveat: this year’s Inkvent appears to have elusive ink colours. I suggest reading my description of the inks and not going by the photos alone, and comparing my results with those of other reviewers. 

The Diamine Inkvent calendar is an advent calendar with 24 tiny (12ml) bottles of fountain pen ink behind 24 doors, and a larger, 30ml, bottle of ink behind the 25th door. All the inks are limited edition, and, at the moment, only available through this calendar.

Day 11’s ink is Diamine Party Time, and it’s about time! This is a bright pink with a bluish silver shimmer, and it’s 100% befitting of its name.

Shimmer all the way! Of course Party Time shimmers 🙂

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Party Time. There’s a good amount of shimmer in this ink, but sadly the photo doesn’t really capture it. I tried capturing it from a different angle in a later photo.

I used a Pilot Falcon with a soft fine nib to test out Diamine Party Time.

Here’s a slightly better view of the shimmer in Diamine Party time.

I decided to sketch a board game party that I hosted a few years ago (pre Covid times). It’s a rough sketch, but it’s all I can do under the circumstances with my neuropathy being what it is.

This was drawn on a Kanso Sasshi 3.5” x 5.5” Tomoe River Paper notebook (the notebooks I have were bought in 2016, and so they contain the old Tomoe River paper).

Finally, I wrote a page in my Midori Journal:

Diamine Party Time is a bright and joyful ink that is a nice departure from the previous inks in this year’s Inkvent. While I don’t see myself purchasing an entire bottle of it, it is still a fun ink to play around with.

Caveat: this year’s Inkvent appears to have elusive ink colours. I suggest reading my description of the inks and not going by the photos alone, and comparing my results with those of other reviewers. 

The Diamine Inkvent calendar is an advent calendar with 24 tiny (12ml) bottles of fountain pen ink behind 24 doors, and a larger, 30ml, bottle of ink behind the 25th door. All the inks are limited edition, and, at the moment, only available through this calendar.

Day 10’s ink is Diamine Peach Punch, and it’s pretty amazing. It’s a peach coloured ink with a ton of shading, and it’s sure to brighten up any page.

Diamine Peach Punch is a standard ink with utterly non-standard amounts of shading. It goes from a light coral to a dark orange, and you don’t even have to bother with special paper or a super wide nib to get the shading effect.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Peach Punch. You can really see the wild shading here:

I inked up a Kaweco AC Sport Red with a fine nib and the ridiculous Kaweco Sport converter. It holds about a drop or two of ink, but that was more than enough to give Diamine Peach Punch a try.

Of course I had to draw a giant peach for this ink.

This was drawn on a Kanso Sasshi 3.5” x 5.5” Tomoe River Paper notebook (the notebooks I have were bought in 2016, and so they contain the old Tomoe River paper).

Finally, I wrote a page in my Midori Journal:

If I didn’t already have a bottle of Diamine Coral, I would have been tempted to buy a bottle of Peacg Punch. As it is, I’m glad to finally encounter a truly bright and optimistic colour in this year’s Inkvent. This and Candle Light give me some hope that there are more cheery colour ahead.

Caveat: this year’s Inkvent appears to have elusive ink colours. I suggest reading my description of the inks and not going by the photos alone, and comparing my results with those of other reviewers. 

The Diamine Inkvent calendar is an advent calendar with 24 tiny (12ml) bottles of fountain pen ink behind 24 doors, and a larger, 30ml, bottle of ink behind the 25th door. All the inks are limited edition, and, at the moment, only available through this calendar.

Day 9’s ink is Diamine Storm, a blue ink with silver shimmer.

Diamine Storm shades a little, doesn’t sheen, but does have some lovely silvery shimmer.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Storm. It’s a shade lighter in the photo than in real life.

I used a Monteverde Giant Sequoia with an omniflex nib. The nib on this pen is hard starter, regardless of the ink in it, but once it gets going it flows beautifully.

I sketched out a stormy scene from the Tel Aviv port, where I used to run regularly.

This was drawn on a Kanso Sasshi 3.5” x 5.5” Tomoe River Paper notebook (the notebooks I have were bought in 2016, and so they contain the old Tomoe River paper).

Finally, I wrote a page in my Midori Journal:

I like Diamine Storm, but not enough to justify purchasing a full bottle of it. Even with the shimmer, it’s the most pedestrian of the 2021 Inkvent inks so far. It works well with the winter theme, but I have a feeling that this will be an ink that fades into the background while other more interesting and vivid inks in the set take centre stage.

Caveat: this year’s Inkvent appears to have elusive ink colours. I suggest reading my description of the inks and not going by the photos alone, and comparing my results with those of other reviewers. 

The Diamine Inkvent calendar is an advent calendar with 24 tiny (12ml) bottles of fountain pen ink behind 24 doors, and a larger, 30ml, bottle of ink behind the 25th door. All the inks are limited edition, and, at the moment, only available through this calendar.

Day 8’s ink is Diamine Raspberry Rose, a dusky pink/burgundy standard ink that isn’t exactly bright and cheery, but does seem to fit the winter theming well.

A standard ink with plenty of shading, as you’ll see.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Raspberry Rose. I’ve still not figured my lighting situation fully, so the swab is a shade lighter than it is in real life.

I used a Lamy Safari Dark Lilac with a medium nib to test this ink out.

I decided to do a quick sketch of rose to test out Diamine Raspberry Rose, and the photo bellow captures the colour pretty well. It’s a very wine coloured ink, and it shades very well, especially on Tomoe River paper.

This was drawn on a Kanso Sasshi 3.5” x 5.5” Tomoe River Paper notebook (the notebooks I have were bought in 2016, and so they contain the old Tomoe River paper).

Finally, I wrote a page in my Midori Journal:

If I didn’t have a bottle of Diamine Amaranth I would consider buying a full bottle of Raspberry Rose. It’s a lovely, rich, deep burgundy colour that is really winter appropriate, even though it’s not the brightest of shades.

Caveat: this year’s Inkvent appears to have elusive ink colours. I suggest reading my description of the inks and not going by the photos alone, and comparing my results with those of other reviewers. 

The Diamine Inkvent calendar is an advent calendar with 24 tiny (12ml) bottles of fountain pen ink behind 24 doors, and a larger, 30ml, bottle of ink behind the 25th door. All the inks are limited edition, and, at the moment, only available through this calendar.

Day 7’s ink is Diamine Candle Light. It’s a standard yellow colour, and the first bright and festive ink of the bunch. Hooray!

Nothing standard about an ink that fits the Christmas theme in this year’s Inkvent, but Candle Light is a standard ink:

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Candle Light. It’s a bright orangey yellow with a good amount of outlining and some shading. It dries darker on the page, so take that into consideration when selecting a nib size for it (I wouldn’t go less than medium for this).

I used a Pelikan Pelikano with a medium nib to test this ink out.

I decided to draw a lion in a savannah for this one, and you can see the outlining and the shading quite well here:

This was drawn on a Kanso Sasshi 3.5” x 5.5” Tomoe River Paper notebook (the notebooks I have were bought in 2016, and so they contain the old Tomoe River paper).

Finally, I wrote a page in my Midori Journal:

Diamine Candle Light is the bright and cheerful ink we’ve been waiting for this Inkvent. It’s also a surprisingly legible yellow, and if I was in search of a yellow ink I definitely would have given it a try. It reminds me of Caran d’Ache Saffron, which is my favourite yellow to date. Will I be purchasing a full bottle of this? No, because I rarely use yellow inks. Is it a fantastic yellow ink? Yes it is.

Caveat: this year’s Inkvent appears to have elusive ink colours. I suggest reading my description of the inks and not going by the photos alone, and comparing my results with those of other reviewers. 

The Diamine Inkvent calendar is an advent calendar with 24 tiny (12ml) bottles of fountain pen ink behind 24 doors, and a larger, 30ml, bottle of ink behind the 25th door. All the inks are limited edition, and, at the moment, only available through this calendar.

Day 6’s ink is Diamine Winter Spice. It’s a rich brown colour with a blue shimmer and a green sheen.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Winter Spice. It came out more yellowish in the photo than it looks like in reality – the Tomoe River sketch below is more true to colour. There’s a significant amount of blue shimmer and green sheen, especially with the music nib that I used to test out this ink.

I used a Sailor Pro Gear with a music nib to test Diamine Winter Spice, and it lays down a generous amount of ink.

I drew a Yayoi Kusama pumpkin to test Diamine Winter Spice out, and it shows the colour of the ink pretty well.

This was drawn on a Kanso Sasshi 3.5” x 5.5” Tomoe River Paper notebook (the notebooks I have were bought in 2016, and so they contain the old Tomoe River paper).

Finally, I wrote a page in my Midori Journal:

Diamine Winter Spice is the least favourite of the Inkvent 2021 inks that I’ve tested yet. Something about the combination of the brown with the green sheen and the blue shimmer makes the ink take on a sickly yellowish green tinge in certain lighting conditions. You can see it in the Col-o-Ring swab above. It’s another peculiar colour choice for the occasion, and not an ink that I see myself using in the future.

The Diamine Inkvent calendar is an advent calendar with 24 tiny (12ml) bottles of fountain pen ink behind 24 doors, and a larger, 30ml, bottle of ink behind the 25th door. All the inks are limited edition, and, at the moment, only available through this calendar.

Day 5’s ink is Diamine Harmony, a standard ink in lavender (i.e. light, slightly pinkish-grey purple). As with all the Inkvent inks so far it’s far from what I’d expect to find in this calendar, and it’s elusive to photograph.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Harmony. It’s a pinkish-grey purple with a lot of beautiful shading. It goes down slightly bluish on the page and then dries to a lavender colour. A really interesting ink.

I used a Lamy Lx Palladium with a fine nib to test this ink out.

I drew the view of the Mediterranean from one of my morning walks to test this ink out. The photo doesn’t do this ink justice – it’s a more vibrant and less grey than it appears here. Diamine Harmony shades beautifully even in a fine nibbed pen. It’s a shade lighter than Diamine Seize the Night, and it doesn’t have the shimmer or the sheen of that ink, which makes it distinct enough from the other purple Inkvent calendar ink.

This was drawn on a Kanso Sasshi 3.5” x 5.5” Tomoe River Paper notebook (the notebooks I have were bought in 2016, and so they contain the old Tomoe River paper).

Finally, I wrote a page in my Midori Journal:

Diamine Harmony is very deserving of the name, and a lovely shade of lavender that I plan on adding to my ink stock. Is it the right ink to include in a Christmas themed advent calendar? I’m not so sure, but then again, it’s an interesting and optimistic colour, so I’m very happy that it’s there.