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.

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 4’s ink is Diamine Tempest. It’s a shimmering ink in an indigo/blue black colour with silver sparkles in it.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Tempest. It was photographed slightly lighter than it appears in real life. The basic colour is a gorgeous and rich Indigo or blue-black, and the shimmer is subdued enough to allow the ink’s shading to show through.

I used a Lamy Safari Terracotta with a fine nib to test this ink out.

I had to draw a ship in a tempest to test out this ink. It’s quite a dark ink, and the shimmer isn’t in your face – it reminds me of last Inkvent’s Diamine Solstice.

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:

This is not a festive or cheery ink, but I still love it. Something about having such a dark and “serious” colour paired with a subtle shimmer really speaks to me, and I’m quite likely to buy a full bottle of Diamine Tempest should I get the opportunity to.

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 3’s ink is Diamine Ash, a standard neutral to slightly warm grey. Another surprising choice in what looks to be a very surprising calendar. I’m really enjoying the diversity of colour in this year’s Inkvent compared to the 2019 one.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Ash. The ink shades beautifully, and goes down with a distinctive green tone that largely vanishes once it dries.

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

I thought an owl sketch would be appropriate for this ink. It shades wonderfully, and it’s definitely not too light a grey to be useful.

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 don’t have an ink in this shade of grey, even though I have a sizeable amount of grey ink bottles. The ink has a green hue to it that largely disappears once it dries, and I wonder if I applied a water wash to it if it would make its reappearance. Something for me to try out once I can use brushes again. As it is, Diamine Ash is an ink that I would consider buying a full bottle of.

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 2’s ink is Diamine Garland. It’s a shimmer and sheen ink, with a green-blue base, red sheen and green sparkles. As I guessed on day 1 of Inkvent, the label colour is meant to evoke the colour of the ink, though it’s far from a faithful reproduction of it.

Shimmer and sheen on the label:

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of it. The ink looks more blue than green here, but in reality it’s more of a green than a blue. If I had to compare the base colour to my Schmincke watercolours, it would be a Prussian green or a cobalt green turquoise.

I used a Lamy Safari Petrol fine nib to test this ink out. Again, cartridge converters for the win.

I felt like sketching a cat, so I drew one lazing about on a yet to be hung garland. The photo doesn’t pick up the crazy amount of red sheen that Diamine Garland has. You can barely notice the shimmer with the sheen being so pronounced.

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 Garland looks a lot like someone took Diamine Holly from 2019’s Inkvent and added a splash of Prussian blue or indigo to it. I think that the shimmer gets a bit lost in this ink because of the strong sheen, and I’m not sure that the colour stands out enough from other inks in this colour range to justify ordering a bottle of it. It is Christmassy colour, and a pretty one, it’s just not one that is as unique as day 1‘s Seize the Night.

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.

The first thing that caught me by surprise is the bottle. The 2019 Inkvent calendar had tiny, tall and circular glass bottles. This year’s Inkvent has plastic bottles that are square and squatter and have wider mouths. That makes them much easier to use, with less of a chance for accidental spills. I like the redesign, even though I would have liked glass bottles better. However, as glass is more expensive, I understand the reasoning for going for plastic this year.

The day 1 ink is “Sieze the Night”. It’s a standard ink in a very non-standard colour. I’m not sure if the label on the bottle is meant to reflect the colour, as it did in the 2019 Inkvent, but if so they did a poor job of it.

The bottle comes wrapped in shrink wrap, likely to prevent leaks, and on the side of the label you can see what kind of ink it is (in this case standard). The plastic wrap is surprisingly difficult to open.

So what’s the colour like? It’s a dusky purple that goes down on the page lighter and brighter than it dries. Seize the Night is a greyish-lavender ink with a good amount of shading and a slight golden sheen if you flood the page with it.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of it. You can see the sheen on the swab, where the ink pooled.

I used my Diplomat Elox Rings with an extra fine nib to test out this ink. A wider nib would have shown more shading, but even with this nib there’s a fair amount of shading going on, particularly on less absorbent paper.

I read an article about villagers in India training the air roots of local trees into bridges across a local river, and decided to do a quick sketch of that scene to test the ink out.

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 wasn’t expecting this ink shade at all in a Christmas themed ink sample set like the Inkvent. That being said, I love it. It’s a unique colour that is dark enough and muted enough to use in the office, but is also interesting and unique. From a distance it reads like a black/brown/grey until you take a closer look and its purple nature is revealed. It flows well, there’s plenty of shading to be had, and there’s a very good chance that I’ll be picking up a bottle of this should Diamine eventually offer them up for sale.