Ink Review: Diamine Majestic Blue

[Chrissy]

Today I'm reviewing Diamine Majestic Blue

A medium blue ink from the standard range, Diamine Majestic Blue seems to be discussed more frequently than most other Diamine inks.
Many love it's strong blue colour and red sheen, while some report problems like it stains hands and pens. I must admit I haven't written with it for ages and am guilty of letting my half full, old style 80ml bottle, sit around, unused, in a box.
I took it out and examined it carefully. First I tipped it upside down and can report there was no sign of any sludge in the bottom of the bottle. Then I turned it up and removed the cap. No signs of any sludge there either.
I filled my Lamy Al-star converter with it. Then left the pen on my table for a few days. When I went back to the pen, it started writing straight away. No hard start. It didn't skip once, nor did it blob anywhere.
It was neither particularly wet nor dry, and it felt smooth and lubricated on my Xerox smooth Colour/Mono laser 100gsm paper.
It's very attractive red sheen was really obvious, as was it's saturated blue colour.
Please don’t have any concerns about not being able to get Parker Penman Sapphire ink. Diamine Majestic Blue is just as good.

• Flow Rate: Good. Neither particularly wet nor dry in the pen & paper combinations I used.
• Lubrication: Good with all 3 Lamy nibs I used.
• Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.
• Start-up: Immediate.
• Saturation: Very saturated.
• Shading Potential: A little shading seen with the F nib.
• Sheen: Red sheen easily noticeable.
• Show-Through:
  
  • Clairefontaine Crokbook.
  • Hobonichi Techo.
  • Midori.
  • Field Notes.
  • Cheaper generic 80 & 90gsm printer papers & lined pads.
• Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not seen even on Field Notes.
• Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen after over a week in the pen.
• Staining (pen): Not seen after over a week in the pen. No staining remained in the pen or converter after cleaning them out.
• Staining (hands): Two washes with bar soap. More required with liquid soap.
• Clogging: Not seen. Seems unlikely.
• Water resistance: Not sold as waterproof, but shows a little water resistance.
• Availability: Available from Diamine Inks web-site and many other outlets.

Diamine Majestic Blue.jpeg
Diamine Majestic Blue B.jpg

[Marsilius]

Great review, as always. Love this ink. Smears my hands a bit too easily, and has sometimes felt slow to dry if laid on page wet. Great color. Thanks again!

[Chrissy]

Great review, as always. Love this ink. Sears my hands a bit too easily, and has sometimes felt slow to dry if laid on page wet. Great color. Thanks again!

You're welcome. I agree that this ink can sometimes feel slow to dry. It still wasn't dry in my Hobonichi Techo after 30secs. However, once it was dry, I couldn't then smear it by rubbing my fingers across it.

[The Good Captain]

Nice review and you are lucky that it wouldn't smear or smudge when you tried. I would probably still find that the notes I made years ago would still have problems. Personally, I prefer Akkerman's Shocking Blue which is similar - not the same - and with red sheen but it dries far more easily and does not smudge.

[Chrissy]

Nice review and you are lucky that it wouldn't smear or smudge when you tried. I would probably still find that the notes I made years ago would still have problems. Personally, I prefer Akkerman's Shocking Blue which is similar - not the same - and with red sheen but it dries far more easily and does not smudge.

You're welcome. I tried hard to get it to smear/smudge after it was dry. Rubbed it hard with 3 fingers, and with a cotton bud. Then I checked it under a loupe, and it didn't smudge.

[Chrissy]

Here is a photo, as promised, showing the shading and red sheen of Diamine Majestic Blue in my Hobonichi Techo planner:

Diamine Majestic Blue_0008.JPG

[Sammyo]

I love this ink... except for the smudging that others have mentioned.
I had a page of notes from a previous day, during a meeting I noticed I had blue on the base of my hand and the ink had smudged.
Not smeared, it was still perfectly legible, but it was definitely smudged.
The colour and sheen are superb though, I just wish it would stick to the paper better!
It's still definitely one of my favourite blues, despite it's tendency to wander.

[Chrissy]

It's quite weird. I'm going to have another go at smudging what I've written.
Was this on Tomoe River paper by any chance?

[RocketRyan]

Sweaty hands are the culprit in my experience.

[Chrissy]

Sweaty hands are the culprit in my experience.

Whatever it is, I can't smudge anything that I've written with it.

[RocketRyan]

I am a warm hands cold heart kind of person lol, you must be the opposite Chrissy

[Marsilius]

I noticed smearing most on Rhodia smooth papers, but that was what I used mostly. Now I am also using Midori, which really seems to handle many inks quite well, so Majestic Blue seems happy there. Good stuff. I also have this image in my head of Chrissy trying all sorts of mad scientists ways to make Majestic Blue smear, but it is just saying to itself in the pen, "We had better do a good job for Chrissy!"

[Sammyo]

It's quite weird. I'm going to have another go at smudging what I've written.
Was this on Tomoe River paper by any chance?

My experience was with a cream Rhodia Webnotebook, by coincidence this is the same notebook that I had issues with smearing (not smudging) Montblanc Toffee Brown!!!!
I found it is much better in my Maruman Mnemosyne Notebook though!

[Woody]

Thanks Chrissy. One of the most popular Diamine blues. Sterling report once again.

Bill

[GTG]

I bought this ink years back and it has character but there is something about it I don't like. Just personal taste I guess as with all ink

[Chrissy]

Thanks Chrissy. One of the most popular Diamine blues. Sterling report once again.

Bill

You're welcome. I've written several InCoWriMo letters with it already.

[Chrissy]

I bought this ink years back and it has character but there is something about it I don't like. Just personal taste I guess as with all ink

Perhaps you should try swapping it with someone for a different ink?

[Spideysgirl]

This is one of my favorite sheening inks. I filled a Shaeffer school pen as an eye dropper about a month ago and am just now running out.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

[Chrissy]

This is one of my favorite sheening inks. I filled a Shaeffer school pen as an eye dropper about a month ago and am just now running out.

Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk

Since I did this review, I've been using it to write some of my InCoWriMo letters. It's an old ink that has fallen back into favour for me.

[calamus]

I'm a big fan of Diamine inks and I've wanted to try this one, but i live close to the ocean in an area that gets lots of rain and fog (and mold), and paper doesn't do well here. I read an account by someone living in Louisiana, where it is also chronically wet and humid, in which the writer claimed that days after writing with Majestic Blue, the ink still wasn't completely dry and would still smudge on the page. It may be that the amount of moisture in the air plays a role in how the ink behaves when used.