Ink Review: Diamine Celadon Cat (selected by r/fountainpens)

[Chrissy]

Today I'm reviewing Diamine Celadon Cat ink. This is a Diamine ink colour chosen by the r/fountainpens community on Reddit. Unusually for this year it is one of two inks chosen.

It’s an unsaturated celadon green ink that leans blue. A really unusual colour. Less green than Kyo No Oto Urahairo and less blue than Kyo No Oto Hisoku. Somewhere in between.

My wet cotton bud swabs show an almost marbled surface.

It didn’t suffer from any hard starts or non-starts when I put the uncapped pen down to do swab tests, dry times and water resistance.

It flowed very well and wrote smoothly across the paper using my different nibs with my Lamy Joy and I enjoyed writing with it.

I saw plenty of nice shading and it dried quickly on most of the papers I used. There was some slight show through on Rhodia Dot Pad but I could still have written on the reverse of all of the papers I used.



Flow Rate: Very good. Wet in wider nibs.
Lubrication: Very smooth.
Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.
Start-up: Immediate.
Saturation: Unsaturated ink.
Shading Potential: Plenty of shading seen.
Show-Through/Bleedthrough: Occasional show through.
Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: None seen.
Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen.
Staining (pen): Very easy clean-up with water.
Staining (hands): Very easy clean-up with water.
Clogging: Not seen.
Water resistance: Neither waterproof nor water resistant.
Availability: Available in 30ml plastic or 80ml glass bottles from Diamine Inks.

7639076356

[mizgeorge]

Gorgeous ink - thank you Chrissy!

[PithyProlix]

Thank you for showing us this ink - I've been looking forward to seeing!

Wowsa!

[LizEF]

Thank you, Chrissy! Not my color, but the shading is really nice, and lubrication always appreciated. Love how you found two comparison colors that really do look like they'd mix into this one! :)

[Yazeh]

Great review @Chrissy, :thumb:
All we were missing was a cute Celadon Cat sketch ;)

[Chrissy]

Gorgeous ink - thank you Chrissy!
I thought you might like something like this. :) You're welcome. :)

[Chrissy]

Thank you for showing us this ink - I've been looking forward to seeing!

Wowsa!
You're welcome. :) It's available from 17th April.

[Chrissy]

Thank you, Chrissy! Not my color, but the shading is really nice, and lubrication always appreciated. Love how you found two comparison colors that really do look like they'd mix into this one! :)
You're welcome. :) I thought about that mixture myself. LOL

[Chrissy]

Great review @Chrissy, :thumb:
All we were missing was a cute Celadon Cat sketch ;)
You're welcome. :) Not today. I've been in bed with Covid or flu for a week.:( Still have Sailor's Warning to do.

[Yazeh]

Great review @Chrissy, :thumb:
All we were missing was a cute Celadon Cat sketch ;)
You're welcome. :) Not today. I've been in bed with Covid or flu for a week.:( Still have Sailor's Warning to do.

Oh, sorry to hear that. Get well soon :)

[LizEF]

I've been in bed with Covid or flu for a week.:(

:( Sorry to hear it! Hope you're feeling better soon, and without lingering side-effects!

[TSherbs]

Thanks, Chrissy, for the review. I hope that you begin to feel better!

ps: this color really not my bag. Also, I had never seen the word "celadon" before, so I looked it up at etymonline.com (my favorite etymology site). This is what they have:
celadon (n.)
"pale grayish-green color," 1768, from French Céladon, name of a character in the once-popular romance of "l'Astrée" by Honoré d'Urfé" (1610); an insipidly sentimental lover who wore bright green clothes, he is named in turn after Celadon (Greek Keladon), a character in Ovid's "Metamorphoses," whose name is said to mean "sounding with din or clamor." The mineral celadonite (1868) is so called for its color.

good stuff!

[mizgeorge]

Get well soon Chrissy 😚

[Chrissy]

Thanks, Chrissy, for the review. I hope that you begin to feel better!

ps: this color really not my bag. Also, I had never seen the word "celadon" before, so I looked it up at etymonline.com (my favorite etymology site). This is what they have:
celadon (n.)
"pale grayish-green color," 1768, from French Céladon, name of a character in the once-popular romance of "l'Astrée" by Honoré d'Urfé" (1610); an insipidly sentimental lover who wore bright green clothes, he is named in turn after Celadon (Greek Keladon), a character in Ovid's "Metamorphoses," whose name is said to mean "sounding with din or clamor." The mineral celadonite (1868) is so called for its color.

good stuff!
You're welcome. :)

Thank you all for your well wishes. :)

I have to keep taking paracetamol based drugs every 4 hours and use Night Nurse to knock myself out at night in order to get some sleep. My brain has been a bit of a fog as a result. I intended to link to something about celadon but forgot so I'm very grateful for the information. :)

[penwash]

Amazing, Chrissy!
You reviewed this ink even before it's available.

On the subreddit, I actually voted for this color and was glad that it survived the multiple voting rounds (against other creatively named colors).

Because:
1. I am a sucker for dusky colored inks.
2. I love the look of celadon-glazed ceramics and pottery.
3. How can you say no to a name like Celadon Cat.

And treated with your usual comprehensive ink review, now I'm officially getting a bottle (or at least a sample).
And a bit bummed because I can't order it until April 17th :D

I think you should post this review on the subreddit -- after you feel better, that is :)

[Chrissy]

Amazing, Chrissy!
You reviewed this ink even before it's available.

On the subreddit, I actually voted for this color and was glad that it survived the multiple voting rounds (against other creatively named colors).

Because:
1. I am a sucker for dusky colored inks.
2. I love the look of celadon-glazed ceramics and pottery.
3. How can you say no to a name like Celadon Cat.

And treated with your usual comprehensive ink review, now I'm officially getting a bottle (or at least a sample).
And a bit bummed because I can't order it until April 17th :D

I think you should post this review on the subreddit -- after you feel better, that is :)
Thank you Will, and you are welcome. :) I have posted it on r/fountainpens and have always done so for their selected inks. I felt it only fair as they choose the colour. It became quite a popular topic yesterday. :) It's a shame I can't work out how to change the image or add another image because I have now answered the question of what it's like next to J Herbin Vert de Gris and am going to change the review sheet on here to show it. :)

[JulieParadise]

Thank you for showing this ink! I have read about it somewhere a while ago (on Nick Stewart's blog, maybe? -- yes, here it is: nickstewart.ink/2022/12/19/diamine-reddit-ink-project-2022-vote-for-your-favourites (https://nickstewart.ink/2022/12/19/diamine-reddit-ink-project-2022-vote-for-your-favourites/)), but since I do not follow reddit, I have lost track of this project and am happy to be reminded by your review of this beautiful ink. Such greyish and somewhat weird colours are favourites of mine, so I'll look forward to getting a bottle once it is available. :dance3:

[Chrissy]

Thank you for showing this ink! I have read about it somewhere a while ago (on Nick Stewart's blog, maybe? -- yes, here it is: nickstewart.ink/2022/12/19/diamine-reddit-ink-project-2022-vote-for-your-favourites (https://nickstewart.ink/2022/12/19/diamine-reddit-ink-project-2022-vote-for-your-favourites/)), but since I do not follow reddit, I have lost track of this project and am happy to be reminded by your review of this beautiful ink. Such greyish and somewhat weird colours are favourites of mine, so I'll look forward to getting a bottle once it is available. :dance3:
You're welcome. :) These dusky pale colours are becoming more popular. :)