Ink Review: Diamine Kelly Green

[Chrissy]

I've recently reviewed 3 golden or brownish Diamine inks; Amber, Golden Brown and Antique Copper, so now I'm moving onto a couple of greens that I have.

This one is Kelly Green. I know it's a popular bright green, but this is the first time I have ever tried it. It is my understanding that it was named by FPN's Ann Finley

I'm not usually a fan of light green inks, especially when I can't read them easily on paper, but this one was a pleasant surprise in that respect. It is dark enough to read easily, while still being a bright green ink. The best of both worlds. It's noticeably darker and easier to read on paper than Diamine Jade Green (still to review), P.I. Chiku-rin and J.Herbin Apple scented. The P.I. Chiku-rin swab on the review form came from a swab card taken from a sample. I no longer have any.

It's a bright Spring-like green ink. The colour of brand new yellowish-green leaves opening on trees in Spring. It leans more towards the yellow side of the colour spectrum than the blue side, and I like it for that. I found it lovely and smooth to write with, very good flow and lubrication, and saw some shading, particularly with my Pelikan M400 EF nib. It almost becomes more concentrated when using a fine nib as opposed to the more yellow hue that comes across with broader nibs.

It gets a big thumbs up from me.

• This isn't a waterproof ink, but it has reasonable water resistance. The pool of water was left on the test patch for 30 seconds then was blotted off with kitchen roll.
• Bearing in mind the paper I use is thick with a shiny, smooth surface, and I used a Pelikan EF nib plus a Lamy 1.1mm nib, this ink took 16-18 secs to dry.
• It flows very well and lubricates the nib very well. I saw no skips or hard starts despite leaving the pen uncapped while I did all of the swab tests.
• It is currently available in 80ml glass bottles or 30ml plastic bottles
• Diamine sell it directly to end-users on their web-site.
• It's a reasonable price.

Diamine Kelly Green.jpg