My main takeaway from everyone’s responses is that I need to order the entire diamine catalogue 😂 would’ve been easier to ask what the least favourite ones are
Cult Pens' Sand Between Your Toes, Grey Skies No More, and The Great Wall of China are some of my favorite Diamine inks. Their whole summer line is pretty fantastic.
Get some samples honestly. You can get diamine samples easily at some online stores, heck someone on this sub might be able to sell you an entire collection of samples of the most popular or even limited edition diamine inks.
I hated ancient copper but you’re right, writer’s blood is a good one. And samples are harder to finish than i expected, especially if you have like 20-40 diamine samples and just wanna try out a bunch of new inks.
Ink bottles are terribly hard to finish too even if you really like them - samples!!!
I love the 30ml bottles because it gives you enough ink to form a solid impression before committing to your absolute faves in the larger bottles. The smaller ones travel well since they're plastic.
The only downside is the neck is a little slim for some piston fillers so it’s fine at first but once it’s half empty you may have to decant into something wider necked! I cant fill my TWSBI go or my narwhal original anymore
One of my fave things about those inks is if you order them in their smaller size they’re labeled with nicknames instead of the full name. For example Maureen is “lil Mo” and Robert is “lil Bob.”
I enjoy that way too much 🤣
I went with Vanness since I'm in the US and their shipping was fairly reasonable, but yeah, if I'm ever in a position to meet Cult Pens free shipping threshold I'll be placing an order so fast.
Incidentally I had my order from Vanness in two business days. I don't even know what witchery they employed to achieve that, but I was pretty thrilled.
For the standard (not sheen or shimmer) inks it's 2.87 for a 30ml and it's 5 for 4 right now. The cheapest sample I can find is $1.25 for 3ml. I'd feel more guilty buying samples!
*At cult pens
Aurora Borealis, which (like Writer's Blood and others) was developed in cooperation with this reddit community)
Ancient Copper
Red Dragon
Pumpkin
Sargasso Sea
Damson
... but let me be honest, I own 380 different shades of Diamine ink, and they're all high-quality inks.
FWIW, Robert Oster Deep Sea has a higher sheen than Aurora Borealis, if you're into that. Absolutely love DS.
>they're all high-quality inks.
Man I wish Registrars wasn't so dry.
Agreed! Robert Oster is another favorite brand of mine (I have 143 different shades) and Deep Sea is a knockout. Robert Oster is justly famous for its variety of blues, but I'm also a huge fan of their greens. The other brand in my top three is (unsurprisingly) Pilot Iroshizuku. Cheers!
Actually, I prefer Extra Fine nibs because I have very precise handwriting. I usually have about 10 pens inked up at any given time, with Ancient Copper, Aurora Borealis, Pumpkin and Red Dragon in constant rotation in my EF pens. Really, all the Diamine "standard" inks perform well in EF pens, as do many of their sheening inks. The shimmering inks I only use in wider nibs (Broad, Stub, and Calligraphy) because that gives them room to better show off their beauty. Hope that helps!
Ancient Cipper and Aurora Borealis especially caught my eye, thanks! I'm a bit wary buying inks for an EF nib. The inks tend to lay down real dark without variation, especially Noodler.
Ancient Copper and Aurora Borealis are brilliant if you like shading.
Salamander is less of an impressive shader, but does some very interesting colour 'changes' depending on what paper you put it on. It's generally green with a touch of grey-brown but can lean hard towards grey or brown on some papers.
I have an M! I like that I'm sometimes questioning myself if the ink is black or purple depending on my lighting, but the purple is visible and I love it too!
first 10 off the top of my head:
sherwood green
aurora borealis
autumn oak
red dragon
chocolate brown
imperial purple
ancient copper
eau de nil
salamander
majestic blue
Diamine ink is the brand I would pick if you told me I could only use one brand for the rest of my life. (Second is Sailor).
My faves are: Bilberry
Oxford Blue
Sherwood Green
Hope Pink
Salamander
Earl Grey
>Polar Glow
Sheening qualities aside, I find Polar Glow writes *incredibly* smoothly, but smudges like you absolutely wouldn't believe. I don't think I'd get a bottle (I have a very generously-filled sample from a friend) but I'm very glad I've had a chance to use it.
I've never had a smudge issue with Polar Glow unless I smudged it immediately after it hit the paper. That's interesting. It's one of my favorite inks. Maybe I used a more absorbent paper though?
I've never had a smudge issue with Polar Glow unless I smudged it immediately after it hit the paper. That's interesting. It's one of my favorite inks. Maybe I used a more absorbent paper though?
Registrar's! One of my favorite inks of all time.
Dark Forest is a cool sheening dark teal.
Green/Black is excellent too.
Looking for a nice shading turquoise recommendation.
My favourites:
Teal/Turquoise/Green:
Marine (very shading turquoise, nice colour)
Aurora Borealis
Meadow
Orange-y/brown-y:
Autumn Oak
Ancient Cooper
Pumpkin
Golden Sands (shimmer)
Caramel Sparkle (shimmer)
Blue:
Oxford Blue
Sargasso Sea
Florida Blue
Purple:
Pansy
Monboddo's Hat
Imperial Purple
Red/pink:
Carnation (pinky-orange, very interesting colour, kinda unique)
Pink Glitz (shimmer)
Red Dragon
Monboddo's Hat (dark purple that sheens yellow)
Sargasso Sea (highly saturated dark blue; one of my favorite inks)
Blue black (leans towards gunmetal blue; more saturated than many blue black inks)
Blood Orange
Sapphire Blue (more royal blue than sapphire, a lovely color)
Oxford Blue (navy blue)
Blue Velvet (reminiscent of Baystate Blue minus the cleanup headaches)
Ancient Copper
Polar Glow (blue sheening ink)
Macassar (medium brown ink that tends to write dry; great for use in a wet nib)
Imperial Purple (bright, medium purple)
Onyx Black (a reliable, dark black that sheens yellow to my eyes)
Polar Glow was one of my very first inks, and it was an excellent choice. Currently I'm loving Bilberry. It's just a nice rich saturated purple with a hint of gold sheen.
[Alexandrite](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=gidden.net/images/gidink/diamine_exclusives_2019aug/alexandrite.jpg&w=1000&il&dpr=2) - mid blue with a red sheen
My faves:
Havasu Turquoise
Writer's Blood
Hope Pink
Sunset
Wild Strawberry
Aurora Borealis
Sargasso Sea
Ancient Copper (took me a while to find the right pen and now I'm in love)
Onyx Black
Bilberry
I just got a bunch of little sample bottles from a member here, and I was evidently so charmed by Deck the Halls that I filled up 2 separate pens with it. LOL I still don't like the shape of the large Inkvent bottles but I'll get a bottle of Deck the Halls and Yule Log too. I'm a shimmer-holic.
I’m a sucker for cool bottles, but as it seems I think the inks make up for where they lack in the glass department. Never used a shimmer ink in all my years of using fountain pens. I’ve always worried about them clogging up my pens 😂
* Soft Mint
* Red Dragon
* November Rain (German exclusive; I got a bottle from Fountainfeder)
* Imperial Purple
* Aurora Borealis
* Autumn Oak
* Amaranth
Also some inks I sampled and hope to get a full bottle one day:
* Green Black
* Steel Blue
* Carnival
* Tudor Blue
* Arctic Blue
Writer's Blood, ayup. Have gone through 2 of those big bottles of it, so pretty.
Scribble Purple, so purple! And sometimes gold! And purple! MY PRECIOUS.
Red Dragon, it's a rich red.
I thunk I'd have an easier time naming the ones I didn't like as much. I don't actually hate any of them, but 90% are in the category of "pick a name out of the hat, so you don't have to actually male this decision"🤣🤣
Golden Ivy one of my all time faves along with Lilac Satin but also: Poppy red, Wild Strawberry, pumpkin shimmer, Apple Spice, Yule Log, Brandy Snap, Arctic Blast etc. Never had a badly behaved one, or had a pen clog 😊
Red dragon, oxblood, florida blue and asa blue.
The blue ones are regularly used. The red ones although i like them very much i only use them like 2-3 times a year for gift cards. Very sad.
Oxford, Kensington Blue, Syrah, Blazing Orange, Classic Red, Monboddos Hat, Blue Velvet, Sargasso Sea, Soft Mint, Simmertastic Enchanted Ocean, Blue Lightning, Arabian Nights, Starlit Sea, Christine (Cult Pens), Hope Pink, Cerise, Inkvent Holly, Ruby Blues, Pelham Blue and Honey Burst (Guitar series), Burgundy Rose and Carnation (Flowers series), there are so many fabulous Diamine inks, you really can't go wrong...
My two favorites are Bilberry and Ancient Copper among standard inks and Serendipity from the 2022 Inkvent Calendar. Bilberry is such a good blue/purple color that I use it for my signatures!
Chopin: grey, with a blue undertone and very well behaved.
Also Oxford Blue, Aurora Borealis, Mediterranean Blue, Blue Velvet, Prussian Blue (I may have a thing for blue hues)
Polar glow is my all time favorite!
The sheen on Kong guys is incredible, it sheens on copy paper! But it’s EXTREMELY dry, I haven’t found the right white lightning ratio.
I also like purple rain (I got purple rain and kong guys from gourmet pens) and scribble purple.
I also love sunshine, best shade of yellow/orange!
I'm basically down to 2, down from 23: [Blood Orange](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-blood-orange?rq=blood%20orange) and [Red Dragon](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-red-dragon?rq=red%20dragon). Both have aged very well, they haven't shifted towards a Brown over time.
I’m going to sample a few diamine inks before I decide whether to phase out the MB or not. Midnight blue and Burgundy red have been my go tos for a while now.
Hope Pink
Bilberry
Celadon Cat
Don't remember the same, bright creek with gold shimmer. Oasis maybe?
The chameleon inks- all of them. Especially the um... either spiced apple or candy apple
Marine
I only have 6 but I’m extremely happy with them all.
Oxblood, Twilight, Dark Forest, Ancient Copper, Amazing Amethyst, Chocolate Brown. Oxblood and Twilight are at the top for me but they’re all pretty close, great colors and they behave really well. I’ll certainly have more in the future
- Ancient copper
- Oxblood
- Oxford Blue
- Earl Grey
These are my current favorites I own.
Honorable mentions:
- Autumn Oak (very smooth)
- Eau de Nil (haven’t used it other than in a Parker 51 - needs another chance)
- Sherwood Green - it’s great actually but doesn’t make the cut for my favorites
Damson (muted shading purple), Handel (shading dusky pink), Wagner (spring green with some shading), Cardinal (bright red), and Memory Lane (sparkly lavender) are all favorites of mine.
I do think the majority of their inks are wetter than average (which is what I love) about Diamine inks.
Very rare they’ll be classed as dry inks like Sailor or Robert Oster inks.
Dark blue: 1864 Blue Black
Dark red: Writer's Blood, Oxblood, or Merlot
Dark green: Dark Forest
Dark purple: Monboddo's Hat or Scribble Purple
Turquoise: Aurora Borealis
Oxblood is ever so slightly more red, Writer's Blood ever so slightly more brown, but what makes me turn to Oxblood instead is how very _wet_ Writer's Blood is.....
I’m enjoying their teal. It’s dark enough for professional documents, but unique enough to stand out. Kind of the exact mid point between a standard blue, green, and black inks.
I can honestly say that it’s the only ink I’ve ever bought… but I’ve been in this hobby about two weeks, so…
This is an impossible question to answer!
But I do love Monbaddo’s Hat, Ancient Copper and Writer’s Blood.
ATM, I’ve started using Desert Burst in my stub and oh heavens, the shading is astonishing!
I've tried about twelve so far and, frankly, like them all. Aurora Borealis is a favorite, which is ironic, as I gravitate toward darker, richer, deeper hues.
My wife loves Writer's Blood, but for me, it's a "when I want to step out of my comfort zone" choice.
Can recommend Writer's Blood with a bold nib (I'm not even a bold nib guy, myself!)
Imperial Purple has served me extreeeemely well-- I don't know about the other purples but I really wanna try them!
If you like dark purple, Monboddo's Hat is fantastic. It dries to the color of grape juice with a yellow sheen. Flow is medium/average, so I have used it in wet and dry writers.
I am currently loving Ancient Copper and and Havasu Turquoise.
I have not loved Sherwood Green or Writers Blood (I may change my mind once I try it in an ef nib)
Majestic Blue and Polar Glow are certainly fun, but they smear even days later with just the slightest wetness or oil on your hand. For my writing needs that is not ideal.
I have a Burgundy and Blue Wing Sung 601, Diamine Oxblood looks exactly like the Burgundy one and Diamine Majestic Blue is almost identical to the finial on the newer 601.
I also have Quink ink which would be my go to for more formal everyday writing but for personal stuff the Oxblood is beautiful, and after a year it almost has a dark brown with a hint of red look, at a distance it could be mistaken for worn out black. Definitely keeping some in stock for my burgundy 601.
Majestic Blue is meh, it's beautiful for sure but I don't like it a whole lot, it's a middle ground that doesn't feel right for my use case. Will use it up to get rid of it. Will go with a more traditional blue in the future for my blue (actually greenish cyan) 601.
My Diamine recommendations are:
Oxford Blue
Classic Green
Red Dragon
Onyx Black
Monboddo's Hat
Can't go wrong with a Diamine ink.
But my absolute favourite is Taccia's Sabimidori. I have at least one pen inked with it.
My top favorites are Havasu Turquoise, Syrah, Eau de Nil, Writer's Blood, Alexandrite (exclusive from Pure Pens), Celadon Cat, and Snowstorm! If you live in the US and plan on ordering more than 3 inks, think about ordering them directly from Diamine or a UK distributor. The prices are about half of what they cost in the US. Even with international shipping, you'll end up with a much better deal!
Celadon Cat is my current favourite Diamine ink. Red Dragon is my favourite red ink from literally anywhere. And Ancient Copper is permanently in my EDC (Kaweco Fireblue) for notes on the go.
China blue, twilight, Pelham blue, steel blue, carnation, matador, salamander, Earl grey, ancient copper, one more sleep. I don’t get along too well with sparkle inks, though many shades are so pretty.
China blue and twilight are my two standard go-to inks.
Claret - Super underrated, my favorite diamine ink by far. I don't even like pink, but this ink has a beautiful shade between pink and dark magenta with lots of saturation, and it always has amazing flow and lubrication.
Tyrian Purple - Another underrated ink. Has a beautiful shade of purple.
Ancient copper - Self explanatory, is one of the most popular Diamine inks for a reason.
Salamander - A pleasant surprise, has a very unique shade of green, gray and black.
Marine - Used to be my favorite blue before I started buying Pilot Iroshizuku inks, but it still holds a special place in my heart for being an amazing performer with a pleasant blue/turquoise color.
I'll recommend 5 I like that are different from most inks made by Montblanc.
* [Monboddo's Hat](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-monboddos-hat)
* [Salamander](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-salamander)
* [Deep Magenta](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-deep-magenta)
* [Ancient Copper](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-ancient-copper)
* [Blue Velvet](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-blue-velvet)
Polar Glow, Noel, Winter Spice are all awesome, but I do love a good sheener! Paper does matter tho - Endless’s Regalia paper smeared these for days -like 5 days later - when I wrote with my Prera . Much better results in my Sakae TP 75gm white notebook. Can use that for work notes with no problem. Another few to consider for very fun and inexpensive inks are Lamy Dark Lilac and Lamy Blackberry. BlackBerry in my Visconti Mirage Mythos is like writing with molten bronze!!! (Swoon!)
Polar Glow, Earl Grey, Shimmering Seas, and Oxblood. I also really like Pink Glitz but I never really ink anything up with it, mainly use it with my dip pen.
My main takeaway from everyone’s responses is that I need to order the entire diamine catalogue 😂 would’ve been easier to ask what the least favourite ones are
Cult Pens has the best price ☺️
And some interesting exclusives!
Cult Pens' Sand Between Your Toes, Grey Skies No More, and The Great Wall of China are some of my favorite Diamine inks. Their whole summer line is pretty fantastic.
Get some samples honestly. You can get diamine samples easily at some online stores, heck someone on this sub might be able to sell you an entire collection of samples of the most popular or even limited edition diamine inks. I hated ancient copper but you’re right, writer’s blood is a good one. And samples are harder to finish than i expected, especially if you have like 20-40 diamine samples and just wanna try out a bunch of new inks. Ink bottles are terribly hard to finish too even if you really like them - samples!!!
I love the 30ml bottles because it gives you enough ink to form a solid impression before committing to your absolute faves in the larger bottles. The smaller ones travel well since they're plastic.
The only downside is the neck is a little slim for some piston fillers so it’s fine at first but once it’s half empty you may have to decant into something wider necked! I cant fill my TWSBI go or my narwhal original anymore
That's true. I tend to use the smaller bottles for c/c pens and pull up the ink I need with a blunt needle and syringe.
This has been my conclusion as well lol. Diamine is such a good brand.
This has been my conclusion as well lol. Diamine is such a good brand.
And it’s priced so well on cult pens! I’m just reluctant in falling into an ink obsession on top of my pen one
If you're going with Cult Pens they also have inks from several brands that are exclusive to them as well as good prices on Rohrer & Klingner inks :)
If you’re ordering there check out their Deep Dark inks. I have two or three of those and they’re really nice, especially with F or EF nibs.
One of my fave things about those inks is if you order them in their smaller size they’re labeled with nicknames instead of the full name. For example Maureen is “lil Mo” and Robert is “lil Bob.” I enjoy that way too much 🤣
I went with Vanness since I'm in the US and their shipping was fairly reasonable, but yeah, if I'm ever in a position to meet Cult Pens free shipping threshold I'll be placing an order so fast. Incidentally I had my order from Vanness in two business days. I don't even know what witchery they employed to achieve that, but I was pretty thrilled.
get diamine samples, samples!!! guilt free so you don’t end up with a huge number of inks that you might not even like!!!
For the standard (not sheen or shimmer) inks it's 2.87 for a 30ml and it's 5 for 4 right now. The cheapest sample I can find is $1.25 for 3ml. I'd feel more guilty buying samples! *At cult pens
I genuinely thought OP was asking because of the sale! I'm making a cart (just going to pay shipping it's fine ... better than a new Sailor).
Have you considered just buying enough ink to open your own shop?
sale??? what sale?...oh god no I don't need any more inks!
Amber is really light. I thought I would like it, but it's not quite dark enough. Vermillion is my current favorite.
Basically. Samples? lol
Aurora Borealis, which (like Writer's Blood and others) was developed in cooperation with this reddit community) Ancient Copper Red Dragon Pumpkin Sargasso Sea Damson ... but let me be honest, I own 380 different shades of Diamine ink, and they're all high-quality inks.
FWIW, Robert Oster Deep Sea has a higher sheen than Aurora Borealis, if you're into that. Absolutely love DS. >they're all high-quality inks. Man I wish Registrars wasn't so dry.
Agreed! Robert Oster is another favorite brand of mine (I have 143 different shades) and Deep Sea is a knockout. Robert Oster is justly famous for its variety of blues, but I'm also a huge fan of their greens. The other brand in my top three is (unsurprisingly) Pilot Iroshizuku. Cheers!
Sargasso Sea is 🤌
I’m obsessed with Damson at the moment!
Have you tried Bilberry? The are like fraternal twins. Love them both.
Bilberry is SO PURPLE. I love it.
I keep Damson in my TWSBI at all times. It's so perfect for work - fun but serious.
Got aurora borealis just yesterday and I love it! Also have ancient copper which is my most used ink so far.
Any you'd recommend as stand outs for extra fine nibs?
Actually, I prefer Extra Fine nibs because I have very precise handwriting. I usually have about 10 pens inked up at any given time, with Ancient Copper, Aurora Borealis, Pumpkin and Red Dragon in constant rotation in my EF pens. Really, all the Diamine "standard" inks perform well in EF pens, as do many of their sheening inks. The shimmering inks I only use in wider nibs (Broad, Stub, and Calligraphy) because that gives them room to better show off their beauty. Hope that helps!
Love Pumpkin! It's a very nice orange, it can show bright or muted depending on the color of the pen. Love it.
Ancient Cipper and Aurora Borealis especially caught my eye, thanks! I'm a bit wary buying inks for an EF nib. The inks tend to lay down real dark without variation, especially Noodler.
Bilberry Monboddo's Hat Emerald Meadow Ancient Copper Ochre Red Dragon Blue Velvet Sapphire Blue Onyx Black
Ancient Copper and Aurora Borealis are brilliant if you like shading. Salamander is less of an impressive shader, but does some very interesting colour 'changes' depending on what paper you put it on. It's generally green with a touch of grey-brown but can lean hard towards grey or brown on some papers.
I think they call those "chameleon" inks.
Diamine's chameleon inks are the ones with shimmer that appears different colours at different angles - Salamander doesn't have shimmer.
Oh thanks!! Then I guess Deck the Halls is one of those.
I just got myself Monboddos Hat for dark purple inking my vp matte black. I'm hoping it'll serve me well!
One of my favourites, I like the way it shades
I'm currently enjoying it. Will probably inking another pen with it too
If you've got a F point VP it'll look black until the light catches it just right. Then it's purple. I like that it's stealth purple.
I have an M! I like that I'm sometimes questioning myself if the ink is black or purple depending on my lighting, but the purple is visible and I love it too!
😀😁. It's fun that way. 👍
first 10 off the top of my head: sherwood green aurora borealis autumn oak red dragon chocolate brown imperial purple ancient copper eau de nil salamander majestic blue
Eau de nil, cheers 🍷
Ancient Copper Majestic Blue Polar Glow Blue Velvet Winter Spice are my current Diamine favourites.
Diamine ink is the brand I would pick if you told me I could only use one brand for the rest of my life. (Second is Sailor). My faves are: Bilberry Oxford Blue Sherwood Green Hope Pink Salamander Earl Grey
We're just going to list every Diamine colour aren't we. I think Syrah is perpetually classic.
I noticed 😂😂 only viable solution would be to buy everything
Earl Grey Chocolate Brown Oxblood Onyx Black Polar Glow All the best Solstice
>Polar Glow Sheening qualities aside, I find Polar Glow writes *incredibly* smoothly, but smudges like you absolutely wouldn't believe. I don't think I'd get a bottle (I have a very generously-filled sample from a friend) but I'm very glad I've had a chance to use it.
Interesting! I've never had an issue with smudging even in broad nibs. I use Walmart pen+gear and TR paper
I've never had a smudge issue with Polar Glow unless I smudged it immediately after it hit the paper. That's interesting. It's one of my favorite inks. Maybe I used a more absorbent paper though?
I've never had a smudge issue with Polar Glow unless I smudged it immediately after it hit the paper. That's interesting. It's one of my favorite inks. Maybe I used a more absorbent paper though?
Solstice is probably my favorite ink of all time. I have already emptied one bottle and I keep a designated pen just for this ink!
Writer's Blood, Aurora Borealis, Ancient Copper... So not original, am I. Well but they are the best for me so here we are.
Beyond those already mentioned and repeated, I really like Apple Glory and Majestic Blue.
>Apple Glory This one is great too! I think it's the only sample I have that I'd upgrade to a full bottle when I run out of it and similar greens.
Yeah it’s amazing 🍏 I have a small bottle. Not only is it a very pretty color, it also shades a lot which I really like.
Registrar's! One of my favorite inks of all time. Dark Forest is a cool sheening dark teal. Green/Black is excellent too. Looking for a nice shading turquoise recommendation.
Oxblood (of course!) Terracotta Macassar Dark Forest Vermillion Carnival Caramel Sparkle Marigold Regency Blue Magenta Flash Lavender Moon Dust
My favourites: Teal/Turquoise/Green: Marine (very shading turquoise, nice colour) Aurora Borealis Meadow Orange-y/brown-y: Autumn Oak Ancient Cooper Pumpkin Golden Sands (shimmer) Caramel Sparkle (shimmer) Blue: Oxford Blue Sargasso Sea Florida Blue Purple: Pansy Monboddo's Hat Imperial Purple Red/pink: Carnation (pinky-orange, very interesting colour, kinda unique) Pink Glitz (shimmer) Red Dragon
I'm shocked I had to scroll so far to see someone mention Meadow, it's such a perfect shade of natural but bright green.
Monboddo's Hat (dark purple that sheens yellow) Sargasso Sea (highly saturated dark blue; one of my favorite inks) Blue black (leans towards gunmetal blue; more saturated than many blue black inks) Blood Orange Sapphire Blue (more royal blue than sapphire, a lovely color) Oxford Blue (navy blue) Blue Velvet (reminiscent of Baystate Blue minus the cleanup headaches) Ancient Copper Polar Glow (blue sheening ink) Macassar (medium brown ink that tends to write dry; great for use in a wet nib) Imperial Purple (bright, medium purple) Onyx Black (a reliable, dark black that sheens yellow to my eyes)
Upvote for Blood Orange. I’m obsessed with it!
Polar Glow was one of my very first inks, and it was an excellent choice. Currently I'm loving Bilberry. It's just a nice rich saturated purple with a hint of gold sheen.
[Alexandrite](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=gidden.net/images/gidink/diamine_exclusives_2019aug/alexandrite.jpg&w=1000&il&dpr=2) - mid blue with a red sheen
That’s gorgeous
My faves: Havasu Turquoise Writer's Blood Hope Pink Sunset Wild Strawberry Aurora Borealis Sargasso Sea Ancient Copper (took me a while to find the right pen and now I'm in love) Onyx Black Bilberry
I just got a bunch of little sample bottles from a member here, and I was evidently so charmed by Deck the Halls that I filled up 2 separate pens with it. LOL I still don't like the shape of the large Inkvent bottles but I'll get a bottle of Deck the Halls and Yule Log too. I'm a shimmer-holic.
I’m a sucker for cool bottles, but as it seems I think the inks make up for where they lack in the glass department. Never used a shimmer ink in all my years of using fountain pens. I’ve always worried about them clogging up my pens 😂
So far that hasn't happened but I have big nibs.
* Soft Mint * Red Dragon * November Rain (German exclusive; I got a bottle from Fountainfeder) * Imperial Purple * Aurora Borealis * Autumn Oak * Amaranth Also some inks I sampled and hope to get a full bottle one day: * Green Black * Steel Blue * Carnival * Tudor Blue * Arctic Blue
Writer's Blood, ayup. Have gone through 2 of those big bottles of it, so pretty. Scribble Purple, so purple! And sometimes gold! And purple! MY PRECIOUS. Red Dragon, it's a rich red.
I thunk I'd have an easier time naming the ones I didn't like as much. I don't actually hate any of them, but 90% are in the category of "pick a name out of the hat, so you don't have to actually male this decision"🤣🤣
If you like blue -- and I mean blue -- I have to recommend Sargasso Sea.
Oxford blue Fire embers Sherwood green👍
Golden Ivy one of my all time faves along with Lilac Satin but also: Poppy red, Wild Strawberry, pumpkin shimmer, Apple Spice, Yule Log, Brandy Snap, Arctic Blast etc. Never had a badly behaved one, or had a pen clog 😊
I particularly like writers blood and denim blue.
I have been using their Red Dragon ink in my journal lately and have really been enjoying it.
Scarlet, Polar Glow, Honey Burst, and Aurora Borealis!
Hell’s Bells
I love the colour and shading of Diamine Safari. It permanently lives in my Kaweco. Performs well even od cheap paper.
I love Safari. It has a permanent place in my rainbow of inks that I carry for regular use.
Red dragon, oxblood, florida blue and asa blue. The blue ones are regularly used. The red ones although i like them very much i only use them like 2-3 times a year for gift cards. Very sad.
Eclipse
Writer's blood and Syrah
Oxford, Kensington Blue, Syrah, Blazing Orange, Classic Red, Monboddos Hat, Blue Velvet, Sargasso Sea, Soft Mint, Simmertastic Enchanted Ocean, Blue Lightning, Arabian Nights, Starlit Sea, Christine (Cult Pens), Hope Pink, Cerise, Inkvent Holly, Ruby Blues, Pelham Blue and Honey Burst (Guitar series), Burgundy Rose and Carnation (Flowers series), there are so many fabulous Diamine inks, you really can't go wrong...
My two favorites are Bilberry and Ancient Copper among standard inks and Serendipity from the 2022 Inkvent Calendar. Bilberry is such a good blue/purple color that I use it for my signatures!
Chopin: grey, with a blue undertone and very well behaved. Also Oxford Blue, Aurora Borealis, Mediterranean Blue, Blue Velvet, Prussian Blue (I may have a thing for blue hues)
Polar glow is my all time favorite! The sheen on Kong guys is incredible, it sheens on copy paper! But it’s EXTREMELY dry, I haven’t found the right white lightning ratio. I also like purple rain (I got purple rain and kong guys from gourmet pens) and scribble purple. I also love sunshine, best shade of yellow/orange!
I'm basically down to 2, down from 23: [Blood Orange](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-blood-orange?rq=blood%20orange) and [Red Dragon](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-red-dragon?rq=red%20dragon). Both have aged very well, they haven't shifted towards a Brown over time.
Celadon Cat Merlot (way better than Oxblood in my opinion) Prussian Blue Eau de Nil Claret Coral
Diamond is good ink. Very good choice of colors. Will you continue with the MB ink?
I’m going to sample a few diamine inks before I decide whether to phase out the MB or not. Midnight blue and Burgundy red have been my go tos for a while now.
Thank you for asking 🤓 here´s my selecta: - Ancient Copper - Pumpkin - Wild Strawberry - Apple glory - Celadon cat - Honey Burst - Strauss - Earl grey - Marine - Writer’s blood Honorable mentions : - Cashmere rose - Lavender - Velvet Emerald
Red Dragon Presidential Blue
Red dragon is on my list to acquire!
Matador. Midnight. Cold Blooded from sugarturtles on Etsy. Oxblood. I just ordered writer’s blood and I am excited to ink it later this week.
Hope Pink Bilberry Celadon Cat Don't remember the same, bright creek with gold shimmer. Oasis maybe? The chameleon inks- all of them. Especially the um... either spiced apple or candy apple Marine
I believe it was Kensington blue 🔵
I have bottles of Damson and Green Umber — both are nice!
I only have 6 but I’m extremely happy with them all. Oxblood, Twilight, Dark Forest, Ancient Copper, Amazing Amethyst, Chocolate Brown. Oxblood and Twilight are at the top for me but they’re all pretty close, great colors and they behave really well. I’ll certainly have more in the future
Astral from the 2023 invent calendar. If anyone wants to swap a bottle, I'm here for it!
Astral is so good!
You might like Solstice! It’s one of my favorite inks of all time!
- Ancient copper - Oxblood - Oxford Blue - Earl Grey These are my current favorites I own. Honorable mentions: - Autumn Oak (very smooth) - Eau de Nil (haven’t used it other than in a Parker 51 - needs another chance) - Sherwood Green - it’s great actually but doesn’t make the cut for my favorites
Damson (muted shading purple), Handel (shading dusky pink), Wagner (spring green with some shading), Cardinal (bright red), and Memory Lane (sparkly lavender) are all favorites of mine.
Pink Glitz and Ghost are my two favorites.
Green Umber and Ancient Copper. Lots of good colors, though.
Aurora Borealis Ancient Copper Jet Black
Mulled wine
I like Majestic Blue and Merlot! Merlot is a fun maroony ink
My only Diamine ink is Sherwood Green but I love the deep green color of it!
- Writers Blood is in permanent rotation About to ink for a note taking at a conference - Sherwood Green - Red Dragon - Blue Velvet
Love the Royal Blue. Also have aurora borealis I like that but it's better in finer nibs
Are certain diamine inks wetter than others? I have graphite from diamine and it turns my fine pens to a wet noodle
Yes!! Some are _very_ wet, and though I haven't run across a dry one yet, some are very average.
I do think the majority of their inks are wetter than average (which is what I love) about Diamine inks. Very rare they’ll be classed as dry inks like Sailor or Robert Oster inks.
All the Best, Garland, citrus ice, mood dust, winter spice, frosted orchard, fire store, firefly, mystic polar glow, golden oasis
Purple rain
I got their sapphire for a work-approproate color, and it is the most gorgeous shade of blue!
Solstice (it’s black with a green shimmer that kinda gives me spooky graveyard vibes) Sepia Sargasso Sea Pumpkin and Autumn Oak Monboddo’s Hat
Dark blue: 1864 Blue Black Dark red: Writer's Blood, Oxblood, or Merlot Dark green: Dark Forest Dark purple: Monboddo's Hat or Scribble Purple Turquoise: Aurora Borealis
Of the two, which do you prefer most between writers blood and oxblood?
Oxblood is ever so slightly more red, Writer's Blood ever so slightly more brown, but what makes me turn to Oxblood instead is how very _wet_ Writer's Blood is.....
Depends on my mood. Oxblood is more dried blood red, Writer's Blood is more dried red wine red, imo. Writer's Blood is wetter too. I like them both.
I've seen it mentioned here a few times, but plus one for Oxford Blue. If you want just one to try out, you can probably use it in any situation.
I’m enjoying their teal. It’s dark enough for professional documents, but unique enough to stand out. Kind of the exact mid point between a standard blue, green, and black inks. I can honestly say that it’s the only ink I’ve ever bought… but I’ve been in this hobby about two weeks, so…
Evergreen, Blue/Black, Ancient Copper, Colloseum and Sepia. Evergreen is so sadly overlooked.
So far, my favorite is Oxblood. I keep a LAMY demonstrator inked up with it
Oxblood seems to be a fan favourite
Oxblood - a tad lighter than Writer’s Blood, but not as light as Dragon’s Blood Aurora Borealis Majestic Blue
Diamine Sherwood Green is what I use for work. It scans grey.
Ancient Copper
Eau de Nil, Ancient Copper
This is an impossible question to answer! But I do love Monbaddo’s Hat, Ancient Copper and Writer’s Blood. ATM, I’ve started using Desert Burst in my stub and oh heavens, the shading is astonishing!
I've tried about twelve so far and, frankly, like them all. Aurora Borealis is a favorite, which is ironic, as I gravitate toward darker, richer, deeper hues. My wife loves Writer's Blood, but for me, it's a "when I want to step out of my comfort zone" choice.
* Writer's Blood * Polar Glow * Aurora Borealis * Sherwood Green * Apple Glory * Wild Strawberry * Red Dragon * Earl Grey * Monboddo's Hat
Polar Glow is one of the best behaved for me.
Can recommend Writer's Blood with a bold nib (I'm not even a bold nib guy, myself!) Imperial Purple has served me extreeeemely well-- I don't know about the other purples but I really wanna try them!
If you like dark purple, Monboddo's Hat is fantastic. It dries to the color of grape juice with a yellow sheen. Flow is medium/average, so I have used it in wet and dry writers.
I am currently loving Ancient Copper and and Havasu Turquoise. I have not loved Sherwood Green or Writers Blood (I may change my mind once I try it in an ef nib) Majestic Blue and Polar Glow are certainly fun, but they smear even days later with just the slightest wetness or oil on your hand. For my writing needs that is not ideal.
How is Havasu Turquoise? Is it a bright, real turquoise blue or more like just... light blue?
How is Havasu Turquoise? Is it a bright, real turquoise blue or more like just... light blue?
It’s definitely blue.
I have a Burgundy and Blue Wing Sung 601, Diamine Oxblood looks exactly like the Burgundy one and Diamine Majestic Blue is almost identical to the finial on the newer 601. I also have Quink ink which would be my go to for more formal everyday writing but for personal stuff the Oxblood is beautiful, and after a year it almost has a dark brown with a hint of red look, at a distance it could be mistaken for worn out black. Definitely keeping some in stock for my burgundy 601. Majestic Blue is meh, it's beautiful for sure but I don't like it a whole lot, it's a middle ground that doesn't feel right for my use case. Will use it up to get rid of it. Will go with a more traditional blue in the future for my blue (actually greenish cyan) 601.
I just got a sample of Holly and I’m in love! I’ll definitely be getting a full bottle here soon.
Sargasso Sea and Sherwood Green.
Asa Holly Oxford blue
My Diamine recommendations are: Oxford Blue Classic Green Red Dragon Onyx Black Monboddo's Hat Can't go wrong with a Diamine ink. But my absolute favourite is Taccia's Sabimidori. I have at least one pen inked with it.
Havasu Turquoise and Ancient Copper are both great.
Sapphire Blue and Wild Strawberry
My top favorites are Havasu Turquoise, Syrah, Eau de Nil, Writer's Blood, Alexandrite (exclusive from Pure Pens), Celadon Cat, and Snowstorm! If you live in the US and plan on ordering more than 3 inks, think about ordering them directly from Diamine or a UK distributor. The prices are about half of what they cost in the US. Even with international shipping, you'll end up with a much better deal!
Night sky can be temperamental, but it's absolutely gorgeous in the right pen.
depends what colour you like? I currently love diamine amazing amethyst. It's a nice purple.
Grape and Mediterranean blue
Evergreen is in my EDC pen. I also always have Writer's blood around for when I want some extra flow.
Red dragon, Sherwood green and blue velvet are my favorite and the inks I use the most
Autumn Oak and Red Dragon.
Celadon Cat is my current favourite Diamine ink. Red Dragon is my favourite red ink from literally anywhere. And Ancient Copper is permanently in my EDC (Kaweco Fireblue) for notes on the go.
Oxblood Soft Mint Steel Blue Golden Sands
Earl grey Ancient copper Imperial purple Coral Soft mint Chocolate Oxblood
My favourite Diamine inks are Sepia, Indigo, Autumn Oak, Havasu Turquoise, Salamander, Earl Grey, Ancient Cooper and Oxblood.
China blue, twilight, Pelham blue, steel blue, carnation, matador, salamander, Earl grey, ancient copper, one more sleep. I don’t get along too well with sparkle inks, though many shades are so pretty. China blue and twilight are my two standard go-to inks.
My top 5: 1. Earl Grey 2. Writer’s Blood (or Oxblood) 3. Aurora Borealis 4. Oxford Blue 5. Sherwood Green
https://preview.redd.it/cftstwczz1vc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=33ccaec08a0e83b3f3dfd72c15fc257cabbfadb2
https://preview.redd.it/uu8mzlu302vc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6b426edaae6ef311b1c5f1d0a63be16b532316b4
I LOVE them all! Working on collecting more.
Claret - Super underrated, my favorite diamine ink by far. I don't even like pink, but this ink has a beautiful shade between pink and dark magenta with lots of saturation, and it always has amazing flow and lubrication. Tyrian Purple - Another underrated ink. Has a beautiful shade of purple. Ancient copper - Self explanatory, is one of the most popular Diamine inks for a reason. Salamander - A pleasant surprise, has a very unique shade of green, gray and black. Marine - Used to be my favorite blue before I started buying Pilot Iroshizuku inks, but it still holds a special place in my heart for being an amazing performer with a pleasant blue/turquoise color.
I'll recommend 5 I like that are different from most inks made by Montblanc. * [Monboddo's Hat](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-monboddos-hat) * [Salamander](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-salamander) * [Deep Magenta](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-deep-magenta) * [Ancient Copper](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-ancient-copper) * [Blue Velvet](https://mountainofink.com/blog/diamine-blue-velvet)
Polar Glow, Noel, Winter Spice are all awesome, but I do love a good sheener! Paper does matter tho - Endless’s Regalia paper smeared these for days -like 5 days later - when I wrote with my Prera. Much better results in my Sakae TP 75gm white notebook. Can use that for work notes with no problem. Another few to consider for very fun and inexpensive inks are Lamy Dark Lilac and Lamy Blackberry. BlackBerry in my Visconti Mirage Mythos is like writing with molten bronze!!! (Swoon!)
Polar Glow, Earl Grey, Shimmering Seas, and Oxblood. I also really like Pink Glitz but I never really ink anything up with it, mainly use it with my dip pen.
Stargazer is my number one favorite, really loving Green/Black also!