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Chrissy
April 25th, 2017, 05:59 AM
Today I’m reviewing a sample of Diamine Imperial Blue

Diamine Imperial Blue was first produced in 2005 as a limited edition to mark the 25th Anniversary of the formation of the Writing Equipment Society. The first batch had a special 25th Anniversary silver label as well as the usual Diamine label. At the end of 2006 the ink went on general sale, but was still labelled "WES" for "Writing Equipment Society". It is now part of the Diamine standard ink range and is called Imperial Blue.

I found it a nicely flowing ink that was neither wet nor dry. It’s lubrication felt slightly drier than some other inks I’ve reviewed recently, but it was still good enough while I was writing with both of the pens I used.
I didn’t see any spread or feathering on most of the papers I tried it with.
With broader nibs it looks considerably more saturated than it did with finer nibs.
It showed through on some of the papers I experimented with. See the pictures.

I found it behaved very well. I didn’t experience any clogging problems with it. Clean-up was slightly more difficult than some because it’s a blue-violet ink, but it still washed off hands with soap and water.

It was quite water resistant


This isn't sold as a waterproof ink, but shows good water resistance.
Bearing in mind the review form paper I use is thick with a quite shiny surface at 100gsm, and I used a M nib, this ink dried quickly after just 10-12 seconds.
No smear after dry.
It has good flow. I saw no skips or hard starts while I did swabs and dry time tests.
It is currently available in 80ml glass bottles or 30ml plastic bottles.
Diamine (http://www.diamineinks.co.uk/listings.aspx?brandid=3) sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.
It's a reasonable price.


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sgtstretch
April 25th, 2017, 07:38 AM
How does this compare to Majestic Blue?

Chrissy
April 25th, 2017, 08:38 AM
It's a lighter blue and contains more purple. I will do a swab comparison :)

31875

jacksterp
April 25th, 2017, 08:23 PM
How does this compare to Majestic Blue?

Majestic Blue also sheens like crazy. Really a very stunning ink.

The Good Captain
April 26th, 2017, 01:43 AM
One of my first Diamine blue inks and I still use it, now and again. Very pleasant in cartridges too.

penwash
November 5th, 2023, 11:17 AM
I am reviving an old thread, but with the intention to complement Chrissy's excellent review of this ink with this sketch which shows how this ink look when used as a wash medium.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53311421748_73db19ec22_c.jpg

** In person, the sketch exhibited slightly more purple undertone than this photo suggests.

dneal
November 5th, 2023, 02:43 PM
The color in what appears to be the ink window is a nice shade of amethyst.

Chrissy
November 6th, 2023, 04:48 AM
The color in what appears to be the ink window is a nice shade of amethyst.
Yes it is. I see exactly what you mean. :)

Chrissy
November 6th, 2023, 04:52 AM
I am reviving an old thread, but with the intention to complement Chrissy's excellent review of this ink with this sketch which shows how this ink look when used as a wash medium.

** In person, the sketch exhibited slightly more purple undertone than this photo suggests.
You're welcome. :) Please don't hesitate to add any of your fantastic sketches to any of my ink reviews. :) I'm now thinking did I unnecessarily buy P.I. aji sai??