Diamine x Niche Pens Alexandrite — Ink Review #154

 Diamine x Niche Pens Alexandrite

 

Ink Review # 154

 

Originally posted on FPN: Oct 21, 2024

 

Ink: Alexandrite

Brand: Diamine x Niche Pens

Country: United Kingdom

Availability: 30 ml shimmering bottles; 30 ml / 80 ml non-shimmering bottles.

Pens Used: Lamy Safari (reverse EF, EF / F / M / B / Stub 1.1), Noodler's Nib Creaper.

Description

Many thanks to @JungleJim for the sample. This was a part of a blind test on FPGeeks.

 

Ink is made by Diamine for Niche Pens, aka Pure Pens UK. It comes in both shimmering and non-shimmering versions. This sample was the non-shimmering version.

 

It's a gorgeous, saturated teal / turquoise, with beautiful shading and a red sheen on most papers. The writing experience is so exquisite that it makes you forget about the world.

 

Dry times are about 25 seconds on Rhodia, so this ink is not suitable for lefty over-writers. I left the ink for a long time in the pen. Surprisingly, cleaning needed quite a bit of flushing but was easy.

 

While there is some water resistance, you don't want this ink anywhere close to sweaty palms or pools. The amount of dye that washes out is impressive.

 

Ink is best used with Japanese paper, where the shading and sheening are most prominent. Copy paper is not for this ink, and with Rhodia the sheen is present mostly with the wettest pen.

 

The wetter the pen, the more prominent the sheen. The drier the pen, the more the sheen becomes shading.

 

The sheen was very subtle with EF and F nibs on Midori and Tomoe River 68 gsm, obvious with M and B nibs, disappeared with the stub, and became prominent with the semi-flex Nib Creaper.

 

On Iroful paper, the shading appears as sheen; with the flex nib, the sheening was massive.

 

Chroma

Writing Samples (scan)

Rhodia

Midori

Tomoe River 68 gsm

Iroful

Hammermill 20 lb

Photo

Papers are Midori, Tomoe River 68 gsm, and Iroful. Nibs are B, Stub, and semi-flex.

Comparison

Water Test

Left side: 10 seconds under running water. Sample was written with a glass nib, so the amount of ink is more than with a normal nib. Sample was left one hour under a fan.

 

While there is some resistance to water, you really don't want this ink anywhere near water.

Artwork

Piegon Loft

Inktober challenge :loft

I had some fun imagining a pigeon loft. 

Sailor Kiwa-guro, Diamine x Niche Pens Alexandrite, and Noodler's Polar Brown.

 

Ink Characteristics

Pens used: Lamy Safari (reverse EF, EF / F / M / B / Stub 1.1), Noodler's Nib Creaper.

What I liked: Writing experience, artwork, and cleaning. I also liked how you could have both shading and sheen.

What I did not like: Long dry times, and close to water it can be messy.

What some might not like: Long dry times and copy paper.

Shading: Gorgeous.

Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper.

Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper.

Flow Rate: Wet.

Lubrication: Excellent.

Nib Dry-out: Did not notice.

Start-up: Great.

Saturation: Saturated.

Shading Potential: Yes.

Sheen: Yes.

Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: A tiny bit on copy paper.

Nib Creep / Crud: Did not notice.

Staining (pen): Not at all.

Clogging: Did not notice.

Cleaning: Quite easy.

Water resistance: Non-existent.

Availability: 30 ml shimmering bottles; 30 ml / 80 ml non-shimmering bottles.

 

Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples, or any other comments. The more the merrier. 😊

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Noodler's — Polar Green — Ink Review #5

Image
  Noodler's — Polar Green   Ink Review # 5   Originally posted on FPN:  Jul 10, 2020   Ink:  Polar Green Series:  Polar Series Type:  Bulletproof Brand:  Noodler's Country:  USA Availability:  3 oz, 90 ml bottles.  Pens Used:  Kanwrite ultra-flex, Jinhao 450 M, Pilot Metro F, Nameless Pocket EF fountain pen.   Description The flow is not as wet as 54 Massachusetts or Polar Blue. It’s viscous and reminds me of Kung Te-Cheng or Polar Black.  This ink is paper and pen specific.  The ink can stain transparent sections or body, but it can be cleaned with a combination of elbow-grease and pen flush.  The woolly-line effect happens with a wet, flexed Kanwrite. When wet, the color is emerald green and then it dries to a dark-ish green.  Personally, I really like it with a Kanwrite ultra-flex on Midori. I find the combination gives a vintage look. It’s a sage color on Tomoe River but one would need a blotte...
Read more

Jacques Herbin — Couleurs de Paris Bistro Parisien — Ink Review #266

Image
Jacques Herbin — Bistro Parisien   Ink Review # 266   Ink:  Bistro Parisien Series:  Couleurs de Paris (Colors of Paris) Brand:  Jacques Herbin Country:  France Availability:  10 ml, 30 ml bottles.  Pens Used:  Osmiroid Copperplate EEF flex, Lamy Safari (EF, F, M, B, 1.1) Description This is one of three new inks added to the  Couleurs de Paris  collection.  It’s a tribute to the Parisian bistros. I got my sample from Fountainfeder in Germany.  With a dry pen it’s a lovely, luminous red, with a wet pen it is a lovely red-black with gorgeous shading. It has no water resistance. It made my Osmiroid nib sing; however, with Lamy nibs the lubrication was slightly below-average to excellent, depending on the nib size. This ink has become one of my favorites for artwork and sketching. The range of tones I can extract from it is endless. Chroma Writing Samples photos LED and sunlight Translations from other languages are provided ...
Read more

Zerkon No. 76 — Crushed into Dust — Ink Review #270

Image
  Zerkon — n° 76 - Crushed into Dust - 碾作尘   Ink Review # 270   Ink:  #76 Crushed into Dust - 碾作尘 Brand:  Zerkon Country:  China Availability:  5 ml sample vials, 50 ml bottles. Pens Used:  Jinhao Centennial (EEF Mahjon flex, fude) Kaweco (EF/F/M/B/ stub 1.1) Description The ink’s name is inspired by Lu You’s (1125–1210) famous poem  卜算子 · 咏梅  — “Ode to the Plum Blossom.” Beside the broken bridge, beyond the relay station, Lonely she blooms. At dusk she grieves; then come wind and rain. Heedless of envious flowers, with no desire to compete, Her blooms ravaged and trampled in mud, ground to dust, only her fragrance lingers unchanged. After browsing through their ink catalogue, I chose this one which looked most promising as a chromo-shading ink. It came in a classic ink vial filled to the rim with no identification. The ink has a dry flow. When wet, it’s a green-grey and then it transforms into a dusky purple. The ink disliked the Majohn...
Read more