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Thread: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

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    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    I have decided to review some of my favourite inks. These aren't necessarily in any particular order.

    This one is Diamine Red Dragon.

    Red Dragon is a saturated dark red ink. I think it's an excellent, less pink, alternative for Montblanc Hitchcock, and in fact it's more saturated than Hitchcock.

    I found it had excellent flow through my pens and lubrication was really smooth across the page. It was a pleasure to write with. I didn't experience and hard starts or skipping while I left the uncapped pens on the desk and did my swab tests and ink comparison tests.

    Red Dragon is quite a wet ink and can show through on some cheaper papers.

    • Bearing in mind the paper I use is very smooth, and the nib was a wet stub, this ink took 25-30 secs to dry.
    • It flows wet and lubricates the nib very well. Smooth to write with across the paper.
    • Water test on the review form shows this isn't a waterproof ink.
    • It is currently available in 30ml plastic bottles and 80ml glass bottles.
    • Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.
    • It's a reasonable price.


    Diamine Red Dragon.jpg
    Last edited by Chrissy; March 11th, 2020 at 08:29 AM.

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    Senior Member sgtstretch's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Ooh, I kinda like that!

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    Chrissy (March 10th, 2015)

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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Thank you Chrissy for all your work with the ink reviews, they are very comprenhensive.

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    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Quote Originally Posted by Neo View Post
    Thank you Chrissy for all your work with the ink reviews, they are very comprenhensive.
    Thank you Neo. I hope they help.

    I wish I could have been clever enough to draw a red dragon with it.

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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    I am in search of a muted red and this is a beautiful example. Thank you!
    Check out my blog: http://inlovewithjournals.wordpress.com/


    The perfect place for a writer is in the hideous roar of a city, with men making a new road under his window in competition with a barrel organ, and on the mat a man waiting for the rent. - Henry Vollam Morton

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Not long after starting into pens I did a personal "shoot-out" of reds. This is the red I settled on. It is my go-to, there is always one pen inked with it, and I've not found any reason to look further. Good review of a good ink.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Thanks, Chrissy! I was a latecomer to this offering from Diamine, but once I used it, I fell in love with it.
    Beware of oblique conclusions.

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    Senior Member Lady Onogaro's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    I love this color! Thank you for the review.
    Lady Onogaro

    "Be yourself--everybody else is already taken." --Oscar Wilde

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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    It works for me as well.

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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    This is a nice saturated red.

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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    I have a sample of this, now I can't wait to use it in my dark pen. It looks like a great match!

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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Brava, Chrissy! Looking forward to reading more about your favorite inks.

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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    I have decided to review some of my favourite inks. These aren't necessarily in any particular order.

    This one is Diamine Red Dragon. I think it's a good alternative for Montblanc Hitchcock, and in fact it's more saturated.

    • Water test on the review form shows this isn't a waterproof ink.


    • Bearing in mind the paper I use is very smooth, and the nib was a wet stub, this ink took 16-18 secs to dry.

    • It flows wet and lubricates the nib quite well. I forgot to wipe the nib before I started writing and the first word (Xerox) spread badly.

    • It is currently available in 30ml plastic bottles and 80ml glass bottles.

    • Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.

    • It's a reasonable price.

    Attachment 17100
    Alternative papers used for comparisons. 1) Oxford Ruled, 2) Rhodia Dot Pad, 3)Seven Seas Writer, Tomoe River
    Attachment 17101

    Looks pretty close to Ox blood to me Chrissy.

    Cob

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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Quote Originally Posted by Cob View Post

    Looks pretty close to Ox blood to me Chrissy.

    Cob
    I think it is a happier and friendlier shade than Ox blood. I find Ox blood rather depressing. The sort of ink you use if you are a banker sending a letter to a client telling them you are going to foreclose.

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    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Quote Originally Posted by Cob View Post
    Looks pretty close to Ox blood to me Chrissy.

    Cob
    No it isn't really. It's much brighter and more red. It seems to look darker than it really is on the alternative papers.

    If you've seen Monaco Red, I would say it's somewhere between that and Oxblood.

    I will compare the colour shades on the alternative papers with those on the review form to see if they are the same.

    Edit: I checked them both, and I don't think I had done the contrast adjustment on the additional papers. I have done it now. and uploaded it again
    Last edited by Chrissy; March 11th, 2015 at 04:43 PM.

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    I agree. When I did my "dark red with gravitas" personal shoot-out, with about 15 reds, Oxblood was both depressing and morbidly ugly. I chalked it up to too much brown in it, which made it seem like dirt mixed with blood. Ick. Red Dragon gives me seriosity and depth without gore.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Senior Member Jeph's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    I agree. When I did my "dark red with gravitas" personal shoot-out, with about 15 reds, Oxblood was both depressing and morbidly ugly. I chalked it up to too much brown in it, which made it seem like dirt mixed with blood. Ick. Red Dragon gives me seriosity and depth without gore.
    I think that describes the ink perfectly. It is my favorite red also, even though it does not get along well with my Franklin-Christoph needlepoint. I works wonderfully in everything else.

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    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Could comparing Red Dragon and Oxblood be almost like comparing the difference between the colour of arterial blood and old dried up blood?

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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    Could comparing Red Dragon and Oxblood be almost like comparing the difference between the colour of arterial blood and old dried up blood?
    Not bad, not bad.

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    Default Re: Ink Review: Diamine Red Dragon

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    I agree. When I did my "dark red with gravitas" personal shoot-out, with about 15 reds, Oxblood was both depressing and morbidly ugly. I chalked it up to too much brown in it, which made it seem like dirt mixed with blood. Ick. Red Dragon gives me seriosity and depth without gore.
    Depth and gore you say ? Sold me on Oxblood

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