Day 8’s ink is Diamine Dream Catcher, a dark blue “extreme sheen” ink. It’s a super saturated ink with so much red sheen that it makes the ink look a bit purplish.
Col-o-ring swab
Here’s another angle of the sheen:
As you can see, the base ink colour barely appears in these samples:
I was using a TWSBI GO with a 1.1 nib to test out Diamine Dream Catcher and I hadn’t seated the nib properly after cleaning (a common issue with my TWSBI GOs is how hard it is to get the nib and feed assembled well enough to not burp out ink or wobble when writing with them). This meant that I almost had the nib burp ink on the page, which is why there are a few smudges in this sample.
Sketching and writing sample on an Apica CD notebook
You can see the lovely dark blue base ink colour pretty well when you write with it, but as soon as the ink dries practically all you can see is red sheen. It also (unsurprisingly as it’s such a saturated ink) takes a long time to dry.
Another angle of the writing and sketching sample
Today’s bear is called Tilly, and she was made by J&P (Jean & Pauline) Bears. I like her face but I don’t like that she’s clothed.
The bear
Diamine have a lot dark blue inks with varying degrees of red sheen, and in this Diamine Dream Catcher is a bit of a disappointment as it doesn’t really stand apart from its predecessors. If you want a super sheen ink, then maybe this will be for you. Personally I don’t plan on buying a full bottle of this.
Day 7’s ink is Diamine Blush, a standard blush pink. This ink is a “super-shader” and the colour is lovely – a dusky pink that will work wonderfully well for greeting cards.
Col-o-ring swab
Whoever named this ink did a fantastic job – Blush perfectly describes the ink colour and the intense amount of shading that you get. It was a lot of fun sketching with this ink, and if it was waterproof it would be an interesting addition to my sketching rotation. As it is, it’s a very attractive ink that I’m pretty sure will be easy enough to clean out and well behaved enough to be safely used in vintage pens. It is slightly on the dry side, so take that into account when selecting a nib to go with it. I used a fine Lamy AL-Star nib.
Writing and sketching sample.
I think that today’s bear is called Abi – her tag was a little confusing. In any case she’s a British bear, made by J&P Mohair Bears – a small maker – and purchased in Stonegate Bears in York. I don’t like bears that are clothed, but I liked this bear’s face enough to overlook her knitted dress.
The bear
Diamine Blush is a wonderful ink, and a good addition to Diamine’s pink ink lineup. I don’t see myself purchasing a full bottle of it, but I will enjoy this sample while it lasts.
Day 6’s ink is Diamine Fir & Fog, a chameleon ink. The base ink colour is an attractive dark grey grey, which is very evocative of fir trees in the fog. The chameleon effect is subtle but lovely – shimmers range from green, through blue and silver, to pink. What you see depends on the lighting conditions, the angle at which you view the paper, and the width of the nib. I used a generous Lamy Safari medium nib.
Col-o-ring swab
The base ink, without the chameleon effect, would have been excellent as an Inkvent ink in and of itself. It’s a muted and characterful green that offers a good amount of shading and interest and is dark enough to be used not just for holiday correspondence or for journaling. The chameleon effect isn’t in your face, over the top shimmer. It’s more like a little secret that only those in the know get to experience.
Writing and sketching sample
Today’s bear is a Canterbury Bear with no name. I like his “frosted tips” fur and his owl-like face (and the fact that he’s from a small maker), which is why I purchased him.
The Bear
Diamine Fir & Fog is a wonderful ink, a great addition to the Inkvent calendar, and definitely an ink that I would consider purchasing a full bottle of in the future. I think it’s a great wintery ink, and it would look even better on cream coloured paper.
What do you think of Fir & Fog? Did you catch the chameleon effect?
Day 5’s ink is Diamine Marie Rose, a standard ink that looks like a thousand island dressing. Apparently Marie Rose is a British seafood or cocktail sauce. I never heard of it before, likely because I don’t eat seafood. In any case the ink colour is unique and beautiful, with plenty of interesting shading.
Col-o-ring swab.
Although Marie Rose is a light ink, it’s dark enough to be readable, and would work particularly well in thin papered notebooks, as there’s bound to be no ghosting or bleed-through.
Writing and sketching sample.
Today’s bear comes with very little information, beyond a price tag and an embroidered tag with the name “SHULTZ” on it. He’s tiny (about the size of a Col-o-ring) but full of character, and proper bear.
The bear
I like Diamine Marie Rose and I’d see myself using it in the future. It’s a light and optimistic ink that’s well behaved, interesting and unique. It makes up a bit for yesterday’s disaster ink.
What do you think? Do you see yourself buying a bottle of Marie Rose ink?
Day 4’s ink is Diamine Smoky Tobacco. It’s a scented sepia ink and I loathe it with every fiber of my being. I hate that it’s named after tobacco, I hate that it’s a scented ink, I hate that it stinks to high heaven, I don’t like the ink’s flow and I’m not a fan of the colour. I have no idea what Diamine were thinking naming an ink after Tobacco and then having it reek of stale Tobacco but it’s a terrible idea and a terrible ink. It went straight to the trash can after this review, and the pen is about to be thoroughly cleaned out.
Col-o-ring swab
The issue is that this ink stinks so much that it actually made my whole notebook smell like it had been in a smokers house for the past few years. I am considering ripping the page out and throwing it to the garbage. If it still smells this badly in a day or two that’s what I’ll do.
Writing and sketching sample
Today’s bear is one of the prettiest in my collection. Her name is Zelda and she’s a Charlie Bear. Her body is so, so heavy but her mohair fur is as soft as it looks. It’s like stroking clouds.
Today’s bear
I am so angry at Diamine for naming an ink after Tobacco, and then going out of their way to give us the full Tobacco experience. Here’s hoping that tomorrow’s ink is better, and that this is the last of Diamine’s scented inks, at least for this year’s Inkvent. Otherwise we might be getting a “dead rat carcass in the chimney” ink, or a “rotting wreath” one.
Day 3’s ink is Diamine Carousel. It’s a red pigment ink – which should mean that it’s waterproof, something that I will test later on.
Col-o-ring swab
Carousel is an orangey/coral red ink that flowed well in my Lamy Safari medium nib. There’s a bit of shading with this ink, which surprised me. I wasn’t expecting any shading because it’s a pigmented ink, and from my experience they tend to be “flatter”. In any case Carousel is a bright and cheerful colour, perfect for the season.
Sketch and writing sample.
I had to check if Diamine Carousel is waterproof, so I sketched one of the beaches near my apartment. I then waited for the ink to completely dry, and painted over it with watercolours. It worked perfectly, as you can see, and I actually like the effect of sketching with such a peculiar colour of ink.
Watercolour sketch
Today’s bear is Lialu, and he’s a Dean’s bear, and another one of the few blue bears that I own. Look what a serious little fellow he is:
Today’s bear – very dignified and distinguished
Diamine Carousel is a fun ink that’s completely waterproof when dry, and a joy to sketch with. I will certainly enjoy sketching with it, and time will tell if I’ll be adding it to my waterproof ink collection later next year. For scenes with lots of greens I think it would work particularly well, as it makes greens pop.
Day 2’s ink is Diamine Energy, a purple ink with golden green sheen. I used a Lamy Safari with a medium nib to test this ink out. The ink is very saturated, as I’d expect from a sheening ink, but there’s so much green sheen on it that it makes the ink look dusty.
Col-o-ring swab
Energy can be mistaken for a black ink in certain angles and from a distance, which is a bit of a shame as the base purple colour is gorgeous.
Close up on the colour and the sheen
The sheen is interesting – there’s a cooler, bluish undertone to it that makes it more dusky and more muted than the standard golden green sheen that usually appears in dark purple inks.
Writing sample
The ink has a generous flow, and it will likely sheen even on relatively absorbent paper. I didn’t test it on Tomoe River Paper but I’m guessing that you’d likely not even see the base purple colour there.
A closeup of the sheen in this ink
There is an issue with such a dark, saturated and wet ink: ghosting and bleed-through. Both occurred here, to the point where I’m likely to just dump this ink out rather than use it for writing. This is an ink that is either for those willing to use only one side of the page, or those using very thick paper.
Visible show through and bleed through
Today’s bear is Jayson. He’s literally one-of-a-kind – an artist bear made by Cornfield Cubs. He’s got a bit of a goofy face, which is why I bought him.
The bear
Diamine Energy is an interesting ink. I like the original name, though I don’t think it really fits the Christmas/holiday/winter theme of the Inkvent calendar. I wouldn’t buy a bottle of this ink because the sheen is too much for my liking and the ghosting and bleed-through make it impractical. What do you think?
Day 1’s ink is Diamine Celestial Skies. It’s a dark, saturated teal shimmer ink with plenty of red sheen on the proper paper. It’s a festive start for the Teal Edition calendar, and I love how rich and regal this ink looks on the page.
Col-o-Ring swab. I used a Lamy Al Star with a broad nib to test this ink
The ink has a silvery green shimmer that looks golden under certain lighting conditions and in certain angles. It has a generous flow, and I do see myself contemplating purchasing a full bottle of it when Diamine starts selling Teal Edition inks sometime in the middle of next year. With the shimmer, the sheen and a good amount of shading, plus the wonderful base ink colour, this ink will never be boring.
Writing and sketching sample.
I think I have only three blue bears, and Finn here is one of them. Once I saw the ink colour I decided he’d be a nice bear to start off this year’s Inkvent reviews with. He’s five years old, though he doesn’t look it, and I love his pensive face and outreaching “hug me” paws.
As the year comes to a close, it’s time for this year’s Diamine Inkvent. This year’s calendar is the Teal Edition – one of my favourite colours. I am guessing that it will include some version of Diamine’s new Forever pigmented inks. It will likely also include shimmer, chameleon, sheening and super sheening inks, scented inks (alas) and likely also a few surprises. I have done as much as possible to not read about the inks in it in advance – the surprise is most of the fun.
My Diamine Teal Edition Inkvent calendar.
I have been reviewing the Diamine Inkvent calendar since it was first issued, and it’s been a huge undertaking, and a fun one. You can find my review of the 2019 Blue edition starting here, the 2021 Red edition starting here, the 2022 Green edition starting here, the 2023 Purple edition starting here, and the 2024 Black edition starting here.
This year I’ve decided to streamline things a bit. I’m very busy, and my calendar arrived very, very late due to shipping issues so I haven’t really had a head start creating the review posts, and they take a LOT of time and effort. To cut down on the overhead I will not be photographing the individual doors or bottles – they aren’t really interesting. I will be creating a writing sample and a teddy bear sketch for each ink – using teddy bears from my collection as models. This year, however, the sketch and the writing sample will be done in a single notebook – the Apica Premium C.D Notebook. It has very fountain pen friendly paper that does a good job of showing off individual ink properties.
Apica Premium C.D. Notebook
Like in previous years, I will be using my trusty Col-o-ring to swatch and sample each ink. I will also be actually filling fountain pens instead of just using dip pens to test the inks. I think that it’s provides more insight into how an ink behaves in a pen, particularly in terms of flow. Unlike in previous years I have a brand new ultrasonic cleaner, so hopefully the pen cleanup won’t be too bad…
Col-o-ring (no 2025 inks are swabbed here yet)
Have a great Inkvent to all who celebrate! I can’t wait to dig into this year’s calendar and see what Diamine came up with.
Tomorrow is the Pelikan Hubs 2025 event, and to prepare I have inked up a whole flock of Pelikan fountain pens.
Here’s my current lineup of fountain pens and ink:
Currently inked part 1
The top four have been inked way back in the beginning of August, but because of my travel schedule I’ve yet to write all of them dry. You can read about the Radius 1934 and the Pelikan M205 here as well.
Leonardo Momento Zero Grande 2.0 Galattica Universe – F nib – Montblanc The Beatles Psychedelic Purple – great pen and ink combination. I wrote this pen dry just after writing the sample above.
Parker 51 Plum – F nib – Sailor Jentle Peche – all vintage Parker 51 fountain pens are fabulous and this one is no different. The plum colour is very rare, but I decided to “use the good China”. The ink is a long discontinued Sailor Jentle Peche, a beautiful pink with great shading and outlining. Sailor used to make fantastic inks at great prices – in terrible bottles. It was a struggle to fill this pen, even with their internal ink reservoir dingus.
Pelikan M205 Petrol Marbled – EF nib – Pilot Iroshizuku Sui-gyoku – I was hoping that Sui-gyoku would be the green ink that I was looking for, but it’s more of a teal than a green. The Pelikan M2xx series is a solid workhorse kind of pen, and I highly recommend it.
Radius 1934 Settimo Cielo – F nib – Diamine 150th Anniversary Regency Blue – the ink has grown darker with time, to the point where it’s almost black. This isn’t surprising as it was a very saturated dark blue ink to begin with, and it’s had some time in the pen. I will likely write this pen dry today or tomorrow. The new Radius pens by Leonardo feel very much like Leonardo Momento Zeroes but with a slightly different design. That’s not a bad thing – they are gorgeous pens, and for now they’re slightly cheaper than the Momento Zeroes.
Last week I inked up a new Platinum Preppy 03 nib with De Atramentis Document Ink Black as part of a post that I am working on. It’s the first time I’ve used a Preppy with a converter and not the Platinum cartridge it comes with – and it works well.
Pelikan Flock – currently inked part 2
I inked these pens today for the Pelikan Hubs event tomorrow:
Pelikan M605 Stresemann – M nib – Sailor Ink Studio 123 – a classic and elegant pen and ink combination. The Sailor 123 is really that good, and the generous medium nib shows off its dual shading properties.
Pelikan M320 Pearl – M nib – Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown – my rarest Pelikan, always a crowd pleaser at the hubs. This tiny pen came with a tiny brilliant brown bottle and so far I’ve filled it only with that. I bought it about a decade ago in Berlin on a whim, and I’m so glad that I did.
Pelikan M800 Blue O Blue – F nib – KWZ Exclusive for epiora.pl Błękit Warty Poznania – this pen was a very expensive birthday gift and my first M800 Pelikan. I bought it at a local pen store that no longer exists. The ink is even more special – it’s my first KWZ ink, gifted to me from the store that it was exclusively made for. I had purchase my M600 Glauco Cambon there just before they were closing for the day on the last day of the USK Symposium in Poznan. The name means Poznan Warta Blue – and it’s tied to the unique blue of the city and the Warta river. It’s a gorgeous blue and it reminds of Poznan, the store, the lovely seller and the nice symposium volunteers that saw me in the store and helped me out with my purchase.
Pelikan M400 White Tortoise – M nib – Sailor Ink Studio 767 – This is the green I was looking for! I purchased this ink last month at Choosing Keeping in London, and it’s the perfect bright and cheerful green that I was looking for, with some great shading to boot. The Pelikan Tortoise pens are gorgeous, and this one is a particularly nice one.
Pelikan M805 Ocean Swirl – F nib – Montblanc Maya Blue – I have been priced out of Montblanc inks (there’s only so much I’m willing to pay for ink) but this ink was heavily discounted at the Montblanc boutique in Heathrow. It’s a lovely bright turquoise with great shading, and it works well coupled with this pen.
Pelikan M600 Art Collection Glauco Cambon – F nib – Pilot Iroshizuku Ajisai – this is the pen that I purchased at Epiora in Poznan, and while I saw it online and loved the concept, I never thought that I’d buy it because of the price. Seeing it in person changed my mind because no photos can do this pen justice – the pattern on it glows! It’s beyond vibrant, and the pen body itself feels different than other Pelikans – heavier and cooler to the touch. The ink is also a Choosing Keeping purchase, and I love the colour very much.
Currently inked part 3
Pelikan M620 Place De La Concorde – M nib – Sailor Ink Studio 162 – this is one of my rarer Pelikans, one that I bought a year or two after the series had been complete and no longer for sale. If ever there was a series of pens that I wish that I owned it was the Pelikan M620 City series, and for years I searched for an Athens pen before giving up – it was just too expensive.
The Pelikans left to right – Place de la Concorde, Glauco Cambon, Ocean Swirl, White Tortoise, Blue O Blue, Pearl
Apart from my inked Pelikans, I’m also taking three uninked Pelikans with me – one to fill with the ink that we’ll be getting, and the others just to share.
Pelikan Flock – left to right – Stresemann, M215 Rectangle (uninked), vintage M400 Tortoise (uninked), Stormtrooper (uninked)Left to right: Parker 61 Plum, M205 Petrol Marbled, Radius 1934 Settimo Cielo, Platinum Preppy
Are you going to a Pelikan Hub? If so, what pens did you bring with you?
Writing at Large 