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Chrissy
July 29th, 2016, 12:47 PM
My latest ink sample from Diamine is Diamine Claret

Diamine Claret is an ancient ink from Diamine. It's been around for a long time. Bearing in mind Diamine celebrated their 150th anniversary last year, when they first manufactured this ink, real claret was used to make it. However, there are now many rules about what inks can be made from, so Diamine have had to recreate it from available dyes, to try to get as close as they could to the original colour. So if any of you used it many years ago, you may have noticed a change. :)

The colour really surprised me, as I expected Claret to be a darker red. I looked at my pen wondering if it wasn't properly clean when I filled it, but I knew it was. I'm fastidious about that.
This ink is a full blown raspberry pink shade that leans blue. Not that I'm suggesting it's any the worse for that. It's reasonably saturated, and exhibits plenty of shading.

It wrote straight away without any hard starts or skipping with both of my pens on several different papers. The flow is very good and so is it's lubrication at the nib. Although the flow feels slightly dryer than some of the inks I've recently tried, in that I couldn't see wet ink glistening on the line above the one I was writing, it didn't feel particularly dry. The dry time was quite quick and there were no smears after it was dry.

It has no water resistance at all. The red inky water spread very quickly.

I didn't really have any inks that were the same colour to compare it against. The ones I have are either brighter, with even more blue, leaning more towards purple, or darker leaning more red. So it was an interesting colour to try out.


This isn't sold as a waterproof ink,and shows no noticeable water resistance.


Bearing in mind the review template is on thick paper with a shiny surface, and I used a Lamy M nib and a Lamy 1.1mm nib this ink took 16-17 secs to dry. No smear when dry.


It exhibited good flow and lubrication and I found it well behaved to write with. I saw no skips or hard starts while I did my swabs and dry time tests.


It exhibited some show through and bleed through on cheap paper.


It is currently available in 80ml glass bottles or 30ml plastic bottles


Diamine (http://www.diamineinks.co.uk/listings.aspx?catid=14) sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.


It's a reasonable price.


26028

fqgouvea
July 29th, 2016, 02:20 PM
Interesting. With the 1.1 Lamy nib, you seem to get a darker border framing the pink!


Fernando Gouvêa -- fqgouvea@roadrunner.com

Chrissy
July 29th, 2016, 03:23 PM
Interesting. With the 1.1 Lamy nib, you seem to get a darker border framing the pink!


Fernando Gouvêa -- fqgouvea@roadrunner.com

Yes i've noticed that with many red inks, especially Diamine ones. :)

migo984
July 29th, 2016, 03:32 PM
I like a few Diamine reds but this one was really horrible. It was so washed out, much paler than this review, blotchy at times & feathered on Grahilo paper, which has never happened with any of my other inks. It was a poor performer in a number of pens. Claret-coloured it definitely isn't. Perhaps it was a dud batch, but I really didn't want to try it again.

To me it is as bad as Noodler's Ruby. Down the drain it went I'm afraid.

Chrissy
July 30th, 2016, 10:26 AM
Someone on FPN mentioned that his ink was pale and washed out. That must have been a different batch to mine as my sample is definitely not pale or washed-out.

Here is a test I did on Rhodia paper:

26077

KKay
July 30th, 2016, 04:49 PM
I have tried this ink before, and liked it very much. I thought it was going on the wish list, until I tried Iroshizuku Yama-budo. I liked that one better. Chrissy, I liked the Claret much better on the dot pad, from your photographs. Nice work, as always!

Chrissy
July 30th, 2016, 04:57 PM
I have tried this ink before, and liked it very much. I thought it was going on the wish list, until I tried Iroshizuku Yama-budo. I liked that one better. Chrissy, I liked the Claret much better on the dot pad, from your photographs. Nice work, as always!

You're welcome. :) P.I. Yama budo is a nice colour too. :) I always forget to use that one. :crazy_pilot:

migo984
July 30th, 2016, 06:02 PM
Someone on FPN mentioned that his ink was pale and washed out. That must have been a different batch to mine as my sample is definitely not pale or washed-out.

Here is a test I did on Rhodia paper:

26077

The very washed out appearance in my Parker OM, which always lays down a generous line, was a reason for me to dislike it but not chuck it. I think I was more concerned about the behaviour (blotching & feathering), & possible batch variances. Unpredictable behaviour and QC issues are reasons I'm wary of some inks.

ian1964
July 30th, 2016, 09:53 PM
Chrissy, I love your reviews and have bought many as a consequence. This ink is lovely, I really like it but (unless my computer screen is deceiving me) it looks a lot like Pelikan Amethyst to me. Incidentally, Pelikan Amethyst is my current favourite and I have stocked up for the day I can't buy any more.

Chrissy
July 31st, 2016, 01:49 AM
Chrissy, I love your reviews and have bought many as a consequence. This ink is lovely, I really like it but (unless my computer screen is deceiving me) it looks a lot like Pelikan Amethyst to me. Incidentally, Pelikan Amethyst is my current favourite and I have stocked up for the day I can't buy any more.

Thank you for your kind words.

On my screen, side by side, it looks really close to the actual ink on paper. From memory I think Amethyst is more purple and slightly less bright than Diamine Claret

Blue Note
August 2nd, 2016, 11:13 AM
Interesting. With the 1.1 Lamy nib, you seem to get a darker border framing the pink!


Fernando Gouvêa -- fqgouvea@roadrunner.com

Yes i've noticed that with many red inks, especially Diamine ones. :)

Great review, Chrissy. Beautiful shading with the Lamy 1.1.

Chrissy
August 2nd, 2016, 03:58 PM
Great review, Chrissy. Beautiful shading with the Lamy 1.1.

You're welcome. :)

titrisol
March 28th, 2023, 04:56 PM
Very nice and fun ink, I got it recently
Nice purple/pink ink, as bright as I expected and gives a nice touch to notes

PS, it cleans really easy from pens

DrPenfection
March 29th, 2023, 11:59 AM
Very nice review, Chrissy. I had forgotten about this ink. I have it in my ink shelf somewhere and will have to get it out and try it again.

Chrissy
March 29th, 2023, 02:49 PM
Very nice review, Chrissy. I had forgotten about this ink. I have it in my ink shelf somewhere and will have to get it out and try it again.
You're welcome. :) Enjoy having another try with it. :)