review: diamine twilight

I've talked about Diamine inks before, so let's hop right in.

Standard Diamine inks come in one of two bottles: a 30 ml plastic one, and an 80 ml glass bottle. I think they're a good way to split the difference when it comes to bottle sizes, and I find them equally useful.

Diamine Twilight is a navy blue color.

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On this Kokuyo MIO paper, it was a little bit water resistant, though much of the pigment lifted quite easily.

It didn't have the fastest dry time, either. It was almost there by the 30 second mark, but took nearly 45 seconds to dry completely.

In both the fine and broad nibs, there's a touch of shading.

On Tomoe River paper, you can see some red sheen. This was a wet pen, so this ink went down almost black.

I rustled through my binder full of swabs, and let me tell you: I have a lot of blue-black inks swabbed, yet all of them were slightly different. I think the closest I got was Herbin Vert de Gris, but it's more gray. Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris might be a decent alternative, though it doesn't have that slight green tint that Twilight has. Who knew that blue-blacks could have so much variety?

I had this ink in my TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with a broad nib. That nib ended up being not as broad as I liked, so I swapped it with a 1.1 mm stub—and it immediately became a gusher (like, "has bleedthrough on Tomoe River paper" gusher). Blotting under the nib helped a lot, though. I don't know if this was an issue with the ink or if I had some sort of air pocket in the nib assembly. I still really enjoyed it, because I love wet pens, though it certainly limited my use cases.

This is a great, no-nonsense ink. It does take a little while to dry, but it has a bit of sheen to add a touch of interest to the color.

Where to buy

• The Goulet Pen Company: 30 ml bottle / sample
• JetPens: 30 ml, 80 ml bottle
• Vanness: bottle + sample