Ink Review #957: Diamine Hope Pink

We are going to tackle another reader request today, Diamine Hope Pink. This ink is available in 80ml and 30ml bottles. I purchased my bottle of ink from Cult Pens.

The color:

Hope Pink is a bright summery pink. I don’t know if this one is supposed to match the Breast Cancer Awareness pink (and thus the name of Hope Pink), but it seems there are 2 main pinks used, and this one matches the darker pink.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper there is just the barest hint of gold sheen.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 15 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low-there’s a little bit of bleeding on Leuchtturm.

Other properties: low shading, tiny sheen, and no shimmer. The sheen is only visible in huge swabs on Tomoe River paper, but not in writing.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was some feathering but no bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Hope Pink is just slightly cooler in tone than Diamine Cerise, and a little bit lighter than Sailor Ink Studio 431. Click here to see the Diamine inks together, and click here to see the pink inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Franklin-Christoph 45L in Italian Ice with a medium nib on a Lochby A5 blank Refill-Tomoe River 68gsm. The ink had a slightly dry flow.

Overall, it’s a good standard pink, especially for the price, but I prefer Diamine Cerise over Hope Pink. Both are similar but Hope Pink is just a little bit cooler toned.

Disclaimer: I purchased this product myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.

Ink Review #956: Diamine Tyrian Purple

I love getting emails from readers, especially when they contain ink requests. One recent request was Diamine Tyrian Purple, an ink that’s been in my desk for a while, just waiting for its own review. I purchased my bottle of ink from Cult Pens.

The color:

Tyrian Purple is a medium unsaturated magenta purple. I love this color for autumn and winter.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink looks more saturated and darker.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low-there’s a little bit of bleeding on Leuchtturm.

Other properties: low shading, no sheen, and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was some feathering but no bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Tyrian Purple is less red than Platinum Lavender Black and Monteverde Blueberry Muffin but more red than Robert Oster Berry d’Arche and KWZ Brown Pink. Click here to see the Diamine inks together, and click here to see the purple inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Platinum 3776 Nice with a broad architect nib on a Lochby A5 blank Refill-Tomoe River 68gsm. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, I love the color of this ink. I do wish it had a bit more shading, but it’s a great ink for autumn and super affordable too!

Disclaimer: I purchased this product myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.

Ink Review #955: Robert Oster Carolina Blue

When I attended the San Francisco Pen Show earlier this year, I got to meet Jonathon Brooks who owns Carolina Pen Company, and pick up a bottle of his exclusive Robert Oster ink, Carolina Blue.

The color:

Carolina Blue is a medium-dark blue with just a little bit of red sheen.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper there is just a little bit of sheen.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: medium shading, low sheen, and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was some feathering but no bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Carolina Blue is just a little bit lighter than Robert Oster Blue Sea, and a little bit darker than PenBBS #42 Yunnan Blue. Click here to see the Robert Oster inks together, and click here to see the blue inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a TWSBI Eco Transparent Blue with a medium nib on a Lochby A5 blank Refill-Tomoe River 68gsm. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, I enjoyed this ink. Robert Oster does a great job on his blue inks, but this one is pretty similar to Robert Oster Blue Sea so if you can’t get your hands on this one, give Blue Sea a try.

Disclaimer: I purchased this product myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.

Ink Review #954: Diamine Christine

I get more requests for reviews of sheening inks than anything else, so today we are going to take a look at Diamine Christine. This ink is exclusive to Cult Pens’ Iridescink line. A local pen friend was very kind and provided a sample for this review. This ink is available in the large 80ml bottle as well as the smaller 30ml “Little Chris” bottle.

The color:

Christine is a dark teal with plenty of sheen.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper there is a ton of dark pink/red sheen.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low-there was just a bit of bleeding in the flex nib.

Other properties: low shading, high sheen, and no shimmer.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was feathering in every nib size and just a little bit of bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Christine is less green than Diamine Smoke on the Water but more green than Blackstone Sydney Harbour Blue. Click here to see the Diamine inks together, and click here to see the teal inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pilot Custom 74 Teal with a broad nib on a Lochby A5 blank Refill-Tomoe River 68gsm. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, I enjoyed this ink. It’s a great color and has some interesting sheen, but like most other sheening inks it is prone to a little bit of smearing. Not the worst smearing, but not the best either.

Disclaimer: This ink was provided by a pen friend for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.

Diamine Cult Pens Deep Dark Inks

Cult Pens has their own exclusive Diamine ink collections including the Deep Dark collection: Deep Dark Brown, Deep Dark Red, Deep Dark Orange, Deep Dark Green, Deep Dark Blue and Deep Dark Purple. All six inks are available in both 80ml and 30ml bottles. I purchased the 30ml bottles from Cult Pens.

Swabs:

Left to right: Deep Dark Brown, Deep Dark Red, Deep Dark Orange, Deep Dark Green, Deep Dark Blue and Deep Dark Purple

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: Low-there was a little bit of feathering in the flex nib.

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low-there is some bleeding in the flex nib.

Other properties: low shading, low sheen, and no shimmer. Deep Dark Blue is the only one out of the six that has medium sheen instead of low.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was lots of feathering in every nib size as well as bleeding, so I would not recommend these inks for cheap paper.

Comparison Swabs:

Deep Dark Brown is warmer and darker than Diamine Espresso.

Deep Dark Red is similar to Diamine Mozart from the music collection.

Deep Dark Orange is more vibrant than Sailor Ink Studio 973, but less vibrant than Diamine Blood Orange.

Deep Dark Green is a bit darker and less saturated than Monteverde Jade Noir.

Deep Dark Blue is more saturated than both Sailor Ink Studio 642 and Robert Oster Blue Night.

Deep Dark Purple is similar to Diamine Grape.

The full set inked up.

I used a Lochby Lined Blank A5 notebook (Tomoe River 68gsm). All of the inks had an average flow.

Overall, these inks are pretty standard Diamine inks-well behaved, great colors and affordable. Out of the six, Deep Dark Orange is the most unique, and my favorite from the collection. For $2.50/30ml, you can’t go wrong.

Disclaimer: I purchased these inks myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and is not sponsored in any way.

Diamine Music Inks, Part 2

Yesterday we covered the first half of the Diamine Music Set, so today we are going to look at the other half. At Cult Pens you can either buy the inks in the boxed set, or in individual 30ml bottles. As far as I know, Cult Pens is the only retailer that sells them individually.

Swabs:

Left to right: Wagner, Beethoven, Schubert. Tchaikovsky and Handel.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: Low-there was a little bit of feathering in the flex nib.

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low-there is some bleeding in the flex nib.

Other properties: medium shading, low sheen, and no shimmer. I only saw sheen in the flex nib on Tomoe River paper.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was lots of feathering in every nib size as well as bleeding, so I would not recommend these inks for cheap paper.

Comparison Swabs:

Wagner is a bit darker than Robert Oster Chartreuse and a little less yellow, I like Wagner better though.

Beethoven is not an especially unique color. There are a lot of similar greens out there- Colorverse Shrodinger is a bit warmer, Shin-ryoku is a bit more vibrant.

There are a lot of teals out there similar to Schubert, but I wanted to compare it to other Diamine teals. It’s darker than Steel Blue but lighter than Aurora Borealis.

I swear there are a million blues out there similar to Tchaikovsky, butt two are Diamine Cornflower and Taccia Ao Blue.

Handle is more unique, and my favorite from this set. It is less saturated than both Platinum Lavender Black and Bungubox Sweet Potato Purple. It has just a little bit of green sheen.

The full set inked up.

I used a Lochby Lined Blank A5 notebook (Tomoe River 68gsm). All of the inks had an average flow.

Overall, while I enjoyed all five of these, Handel and Wagner are the two that seem the most unique. I’ve had all five of these inked up for the past few weeks and have been using them daily. I’m in love with Wagner, Schubert and Handel, but Handel is my favorite.

Disclaimer: I purchased these inks myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and is not sponsored in any way.

Diamine Music Inks, Part 1

I’ve had the Diamine Music set for quite some time, but I realized I’ve never reviewed it so it’s time to take care of that. At Cult Pens you can either buy the inks in the boxed set, or in individual 30ml bottles. As far as I know, Cult Pens is the only store that sells them individually. The set includes 10 inks based on different composers, so today we are going to take a look at half of them.

Swabs:

Left to right: Vivaldi, Chopin, Bach, Mozart, and Strauss.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: Low-there was a little bit of feathering in the flex nib.

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low-there is some bleeding in the flex nib.

Other properties: low shading, low sheen, and no shimmer. I only saw sheen in the flex nib on Tomoe River paper.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was lots of feathering in every nib size as well as bleeding, so I would not recommend these inks for cheap paper.

Comparison Swabs:

Vivaldi is similar to 3 Oysters Purple Gray, but is less saturated.

Chopin is an unsaturated neutral, somewhere between blue black and grey. In writing I think it’s closer to blue black. It’s similar to Sailor Jentle Blue Black.

Bach is a warm brown, similar to Robert Oster Golden Brown.

Mozart is a dark red, similar to Robert Oster 1789 Maroon.

Strauss is an unsaturated Red, similar to Organics Studio Mercury Red.

The full set inked up.

I used a Lochby Lined Blank A5 notebook (Tomoe River 68gsm). All of the inks had an average flow.

Overall, I enjoyed using all of these inks. Out of these five I think Vivaldi and Chopin are my favorite.

Disclaimer: I purchased these inks myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and is not sponsored in any way.

Exceed Notebooks

Recently a friend recommended I try the Exceed notebooks from Walmart, so I went down to the closest one to see what I could find. On the left is the Exceed A5 Bullet Journal in black, and on the right is the Hard Cover Dotted Book in white.

Hard Cover Dotted Book:

The Hard Cover Dotted Book contains 78 gsm cream heavyweight paper, 2 page markers, 120 sheets, an inner pocket, and measures 5 by 8 1/4 inches. It retails for $6.64.

This paper handled all the fountain pens really well, even the flex nib. No bleeding or feathering, and the show through wasn’t bad either.

All gel pens and highlighters worked well on this paper, no issues there either.

A5 Bullet Journal:

The A5 Bullet Journal contains 100 gsm cream heavyweight paper, 2 page markers, 120 sheets, an inner pocket, and measures 5 3/4 by 8 1/4 inches. This notebook is 3/4 of an inch wider than the dotted journal and has heavier paper but my favorite difference is that the Bullet Journal has an index and page numbers! It retails for $8.64.

Just like the Dotted Notebook the paper handled all fountain pens really well, but because the Bullet Journal has a bit heavier paper, there’s even less show through.

For gel pens and highlighters there was virtually no show through, and zero bleeding and feathering.

I ended up taking the Bullet Journal to my local pen club last weekend, and tested a bunch of my friends’ pen and ink combinations on it. The paper handled everything perfectly until it came to the Noodler’s inks. Apache Sunset had dried completely but when I closed it it made an impression on the opposite page. X-Feather took a solid 5 minutes to dry and like Apache Sunset, bled a bit onto the opposite page. The Duke Fude nib full of Burma Road did feather and bleed just a little bit, but let’s face it that nib is like writing with a paint brush. I was impressed with how well it handled everything else.

Overall, I prefer the Bullet Journal over the Dotted Hardcover just because the pages are a bit wider, has less show through, and page numbers (which I’m obsessed with). It seems very similar to a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook, but is at a much cheaper price point. The only think I don’t like is the cream paper-I wish it was a bit less yellow. If you are in the market for affordable, fountain-pen friendly notebooks this ones are definitely worth a try!

Disclaimer: I purchased these products myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page, and this post is not sponsored in any way.

Ink Review #937: Diamine Philip

We are continuing on with our Diamine theme this week, looking at Diamine Philip today. Philip belongs to Cult Pens’ exclusive Iridescink line. I love that Cult Pens has made this ink available in the standard 80ml bottles as well was the smaller “Little Pip” 30ml bottle. Thanks to a local pen friend for donating a sample for review!

The color:

Philip is a dark, rich purple with lots of sheen.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the sheen is a bronzy gold. Not quite gold, but not quite bronze either, somewhere in the middle of the two.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 50 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: no shading, high sheen, and no shimmer. I didn’t notice any smearing issues from the sheen.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was feathering in every nib size and just a little bit of bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Philip is lighter than Purple Rain, similar to PenBBS 95 Lin Huiyin. It’s cooler toned than Lamy Dark Lilac. Click here to see the Diamine inks together, and click here to see the purple inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Sailor Pro Gear Slim Purple Cosmos with a zoom nib on a Lochby A5 blank Refill-Tomoe River 68gsm. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, besides the long dry time this ink is pretty well behaved. I didn’t have any smearing issues from the sheen, and there is plenty of sheen.

Disclaimer: This ink was provided by a pen friend for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.

Ink Review #936: Diamine Communication Breakdown

I’ve had a lot of requests for Diamine ink reviews lately, so we are going to dedicate this week to Diamine inks, starting with Communication Breakdown. This ink is a German exclusive, and can be found at Fountainfeder or Papier and Stift. Thanks to a local pen friend for donating a sample for review!

The color:

Communication Breakdown is a vibrant red ink with green sheen.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink shows off some of the green sheen.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: Low-there was some bleeding in the flex nib

Other properties: low shading, high sheen, and no shimmer. There could be more shading, but most of it is hidden under the sheen. The sheen is visible in all nib sizes on Tomoe River, as well as flex nibs on Rhodia and Leuchtturm. I wouldn’t quite call it a monster sheener since it doesn’t sheen on multiple nib sizes on paper other than Tomoe River. The sheen does make it a bit smeary on Tomoe River paper.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was feathering in every nib size and just a little bit of bleeding in the larger nib sizes.

Comparison Swabs:

Communication Breakdown is similar to KWZ Maple Red, but with sheen added. Click here to see the Diamine inks together, and click here to see the red inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pelikan M605 White Transparent with a medium nib on a Lochby A5 blank Refill-Tomoe River 68gsm. The ink had a a slightly dry, sticky flow.

Overall, it’s a nice red sheeny ink, but it is a bit smeary on Tomoe River paper and has a bit of a sticky flow which makes it a no for me. I guess I was a bit disappointed by this ink-everyone kept raving about how sheeny it was and no smearing, and I found it to have a little less sheen than expected, and prone to smearing.

Disclaimer: This ink was provided by a pen friend for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links, and this post is not sponsored in any way.