Review: Diamine Prussian Blue

In my quest for blue-black inks to replace Parker Quink (which I have used since the 70s) I have been trying a few .
Prussian Blue is a classic color, developed in Germany sometime in the 1700s (thus the name); it is an Iron compound (Iron Ferrycianide) which was easy to make with the 1970s chemistry kits that I had.
/// RGB color should be [0,49,83] /////
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Diamine has made an ink to resemble this color; I got a small bottle to test it as it looked good on the screen
This is a very nice ink, I like the gray-blue tone that develops over a few days. It is a great color when the content matters, very subdued color that doesn't take away from what you write.
I think there is some real prussian blue pigment in there, as the ink goes in blue and becomes gray blue after a day or three depending on the paper. I have jotted in a few papers and depending on the quality of it it becomes more or less blue.

It behaves very nicely in a modern pen (Bexley Flat Top) which was a healthy ink flow; dries relatively quick in my notebooks (so far) with the obvious exception of glossy paper which takes a minute or so.

My hand written review follows:
Attachment 32223
https://www.techniquetuesday.com/mm5...ayon-Small.gif Watercolor crayon @technique tuesday

Thank you for the review. Does it fade after a few days? Or does the color darken?

I will wait a few months to make that assessment.
HOWEVER from what I have seen this is very dependent on the paper.
I use a Black n' Red notebook for my everyday note taking and in that one the color looks as the one I posted (which is 2 weeks old)
In copier paper it tends to be darker over time; which coincides with the properties of prussian blue and acidity
Years ago I did a lot of work on cyanotypes and the more acid the paper the more permanent the color is, and the darker it becomes over time.

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Originally Posted by Lady Onogaro

Thank you for the review. Does it fade after a few days? Or does the color darken?

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Update. It's been over 2 months since I wrote that hand written review.
Color seems to have stayed without fading; however notes I made 1 months and now 2 months after review seem darker.
I don;t know if that is due to the ink being used consistently on the same pen or if the ink darkens with age?
caveats: The bottle is too small to get the nib in, so I'm reloading a cartridge using a syringe and I haven't cleaned the pen or the cartridge since I started using this ink
I was doodling some in my notebook (Added some Lamy purple and some black ink for comparison)
Diamine Prussian Gradient
Attachment 32952

Looks like some of the vintage blue-blacks, but without the greenish cast you see with some of them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lady Onogaro

Thank you for the review. Does it fade after a few days? Or does the color darken?

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After more than 1 year....
Color remains about the same, it darkens a small bit and doen't change afterwards in the Black n Red Notebooks that i used for everyday

The more reviews I see of this ink the more I want it. Thank you for your thorough review.

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca88...a9f0837106.jpg
David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine in Kung Fu by Ptero Pterodactylus on DeviantArt

(Montblanc 342 - EF ..... Diamine Prussian Blue, Cretacolor White Chalk Nr.1)

Prussian blue -- someone mentioned that Pelikan Blue-Black 4001 fades to a Prussian bluish after a while, sometimes. Well, that would be fine with me, if it looks anything like this ink!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by calamus

Prussian blue -- someone mentioned that Pelikan Blue-Black 4001 fades to a Prussian bluish after a while, sometimes. Well, that would be fine with me, if it looks anything like this ink!

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When I reviewed it I compared it with Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite, which is the ink that AzJon compared Pelikan Blue-Black with on your question thread. Prussian Blue is greener/greyer than most traditional blue-black inks.

A few inks for which I have made samples at the back of one of my notebooks
(caveat: accuracy of color during scanning may not be perfect)

Prussian blue is more gray than Parker but less green it looks more like a washed out blue jean

Attachment 46464

I guess I'd have to see it in real life to see the greenish cast; I just don't see it in the scans. Then again, it's amazing how even in real life I can have trouble picking up some nuances of color.

Wait -- I can see the green in the first writing sample at the top of the page.

Sigh. I wish it were easier to show ink color. Even IRL it depends on the paper you use and the lighting you look at it under, and when it comes to scans and photos -- fageddaboudit

Quote:

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Originally Posted by calamus

I guess I'd have to see it in real life to see the greenish cast; I just don't see it in the scans. Then again, it's amazing how even in real life I can have trouble picking up some nuances of color.

Wait -- I can see the green in the first writing sample at the top of the page.

Sigh. I wish it were easier to show ink color. Even IRL it depends on the paper you use and the lighting you look at it under, and when it comes to scans and photos -- fageddaboudit

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Agreed!
You can order the sampler kits from BirminghamPen or GouletPen and try a few colors

Quote:

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Originally Posted by calamus

I guess I'd have to see it in real life to see the greenish cast; I just don't see it in the scans. Then again, it's amazing how even in real life I can have trouble picking up some nuances of color.

Wait -- I can see the green in the first writing sample at the top of the page.

Sigh. I wish it were easier to show ink color. Even IRL it depends on the paper you use and the lighting you look at it under, and when it comes to scans and photos -- fageddaboudit

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FWIW, I own a bottle of Prussian Blue and I’ve never seen a greenish cast to it.


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