Diamine 150th Anniversary 1864 Blue Black Ink Review

Image via JetPens.com

I was excited when Diamine announced their 150th Anniversary inks, especially because I would be able to add a new blue black ink to my ever growing ink inventory. Blue black inks are my favorite of course, and I couldn't wait to see how it stacks up with the rest of my stash.

Diamine inks are some of the most user friendly inks on the market. They flow well in a wide range of nibs and maintenance is a breeze. They offer up a massive range of colors, and are very well respected in a sometimes crowded market. The 150th Anniversary lineup fits in well with their other offerings, albeit a touch more expensive due to the "Limited" tag.

When I first inked it up I was concerned with how dark the ink was, and that feeling did not pass the more I used it. It is very pretty, but very dark with minimal shading. I prefer lighter, or at least more shaded blue blacks. If you like darker blue black you should give this a shot because, as expected, it performs wonderfully.

Like Montblanc Midnight Blue, I inked it up expecting to love it, but it is just average for my tastes. My current Top 5 Blue Black inks would look something like this:

1. Montblanc JFK
2. Akkerman #10 Diep-Duinwaterblauw
3. Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-kai
4. Sailor Blue Black
5. Sailor Bung Box Blue Black

I could run another five to seven honorable mentions too, as there are a bunch of great blue black inks on the market. What are your favorites?

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Cleaning House Giveaway: Pelikan Classic P205

My pen and ink stash is bursting at the seams, so what better time than now to offer up some of these great products to readers of the blog?

First up is the Pelikan Classic Series P205 from Goldspot Pens I reviewed back in January. It is a reboot of a classic Pelikan design, swapping out the piston filling mechanism for a cartridge/converter fill. This pen come with a steel Broad nib and I will include a handful of Pelikan Edelstein Ink Cartridges in various colors to give you a head start.

Here is how to enter:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Wednesday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You are limited to one entry. This contest is open to US and International readers.

2. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post. The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on. The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.

3. The contest winner will be posted on Thursday, April 2nd. The winner will have one week to email me via the Contact link at the top of the page.

Thanks and good luck!

Three Questions With Andy Welfle

You think you know pencils? Well clearly you have not met Andy Welfle yet. He is the master of his domain at Woodclinched and one of the triumvirate of hosts of the Erasable Podcast. My thanks to Andy for answering Three Questions.

1. What role do analog tools such as pens, pencils, and paper play in your day to day life?

I work at a big tech company in the Bay Area, so I don’t use analog tools as often as I’d like! But I almost always have a running to-do list on paper, some kind of rough outline of a podcast episode in planning, and if I’m at a conference or meeting, a notebook for notes. I always have at least a pencil and a pocket cahier notebook with me.

2. What are your favorite products you are currently using?

I’m right in the middle of a Field Notes Ambition memo pad right now (I celebrated my Staple Day two days ago!). I absolutely love the gilded edges and the graph paper with a title line. I just bought a fresh batch of Palomino Blackwing 602s, so that’s what I’m using right this minute. I absolutely love my Twist Bullet Pencil from MetalShopCT, too. Besides those, I’m enjoying the Rollbahn notebook I have in my bag. When I need to write something in ink (which, I’ll admit, is often), I’m carrying a green Le Pen and a gorgeous Muji wooden ballpoint pen.

3. What post are you the most proud of on your blog?

One of my favorite posts, and what bring a lot of people to my blog, is a remembrance of Yikes! pencils from the mid–1990s I wrote on a whim back in 2010. It turns out there are a lot of people around my age who only half-remembers these pencils with bright colors and funky shapes.

Looking back, they’re pretty terrible in quality, but as a 11 year-old, I didn’t really care about that. They were so cool to look at. They still hold a special place in my memories.