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 21’s ink is Diamine Brandy Snap, and it’s a rich caramel brown with plenty of shading.

A standard ink, but with a lot of shading:

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Brandy Snap. You can see the shading here.

I used a Platinum 3776 with a music nib to test out Diamine Brandy Snap, and the nib really allows the ink’s shading to show:

I wasn’t up to drawing today, so an uninspired bottle of brandy and pile of brandy snaps is all I could bring myself to draw. You can see the shading in the text below:

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 really like the shading in Diamine Brandy Snap, and its warm, relatively bright colour. Even if you’re not a fan of brown inks, I think that you might like Diamine Brandy Snap, and fans of shading ink will love it.

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 20’s ink is Diamine Pink Ice, and it’s a bright pink ink with pink sparkles – as Elle Woods as an ink can get.

A shimmer ink, with a lot of pink glitter and very little shading:

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Pink Ice. You can see just how much shimmer is going on:

I used a Lamy Studio Terracotta with a fine nib to test out Diamine Pink Ice. Even with a fine nib you can see the shimmer:

I decided to draw a quick icy landscape to test Diamine Pink Ice on Tomoe River paper. There’s very little shading with this ink, and a lot of glitter. A significant amount of glorious pink glitter:

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:

Would I buy a bottle of Diamine Pink Ice? No, it’s a bit much for me. It is, however, a bright and cheerful ink with a lot of glitter and a lot of potential to make you smile as you’re using it. I’m glad that it was included in a calendar that has had a bit of a tendency towards the dark and muted side of 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 19’s ink is Diamine Festive Joy, a saturated purple ink with a hint of sheen and some shading.

It’s a standard ink but there is a bit of a sheen to it, likely because the ink is so saturated.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Festive Joy. You can see a hint of the sheen and some of the shading possible with this ink:

I used a Sailor Pro Gear with a Naginata Togi Cross Emperor nib to test out Diamine Festive Joy. It’s an expressive nib that lays down a lot of ink.

I drew a Christmas tree with ornaments and a few presents to test out this ink 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:

Diamine Festive Joy is a joyful ink in a lovely, rich shade of purple. If you’re in the market for a standard purple ink, Diamine Festive Joy would be a good choice (once it’s available in a full bottle, like the Blue Edition bottles of the Inkvent 2019 inks). In any case, it’s nice to have a bright pop of colour in an Inkvent calendar that has so far leaned heavily on dark or muted inks.

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 18’s ink is Diamine Subzero, a light blue ink with lots of light blue shimmer. It’s bright and festive and VERY shimmery.

No false advertising here:

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Subzero. There’s a bit of shading going on, and a lot shimmer.

I used a Charged Green Lamy AL Star with an extra fine nib to test out Diamine Subzero. I would have used a wider nib to show off the ink’s properties, but I didn’t have one at hand that I felt that I could clean out well enough once I was done with this ink. In the end it didn’t matter much, as there’s so much shimmer going on with this ink you can see it even with a fine nib.

It’s time for the season’s first snowman:

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 you’re looking for a festive ink that will cheer you up, Diamine Subzero would make a good choice. I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to purchase a full bottle of this ink once it comes out, but I did have fun using it. Whether I’ll have fun cleaning it out of my pen remains to be seen, as it’s such a heavily shimmering ink. Also, another blue ink for a blue dominant Inkvent calendar so far.

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 17’s ink is Diamine Thunderbolt. It’s a periwinkle blue ink that is very bright, saturated and beautiful.

It’s a standard ink with a relatively small amount of shading because it is so saturated.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Thunderbolt. Yes, it’s that bright in real life.

I used a Sailor 1911 with a Naginata Togi medium nib to test out Diamine Thunderbolt.

I decided to do a quick sketch of Disneyland Paris’s Big Thunder Mountain rollercoaster, just for fun.

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:

Another blue ink for a very blue skewed Inkvent. I love the colour so much that I will consider buying a bottle of this once Diamine start selling them. As it is, it was fun writing with this ink, and getting to play with such a fantastic nib again. Is it a festive ink? I guess that it’s winter appropriate, and I’m glad that it was included in the calendar, but there are more thematically appropriate inks out 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 16’s ink is Diamine Vintage Copper, a decidedly festive copper ink with shimmer (of course).

It’s a shimmer ink that also has plenty of shading.

Here’s a Col-o-Ring swab of Diamine Vintage Copper. There’s a lot of shading going on and a good amount of shimmer, although the shimmer effect is quite subtle.

I used a Monteverde Giant Sequoia with a 1.1 stub nib to test out Diamine Vintage Copper and the nib size really allows the ink to shine.

Here’s a closer look at the shimmer effect:

I decided to draw a copper kettle to test out Diamine Vintage Copper, and you can see just how much this ink shades 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:

This is an excellent ink for writing seasonal greeting cards and letters. The shading and shimmer give it a lot of character, while the shimmer isn’t “metallic pen” level shimmer, so there’s some sophistication and subtlety to it. While I personally don’t see a need to buy a full bottle of this ink, I can still see its holiday utility and appeal.

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.