Diamine Claret Fountain Pen Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Spring is in the air, and it's time for some bright and cheerful colors to get me out of the winter fog. I've recently been trying to step outside of my comfort zone in terms of ink colors. Diamine Claret is the first ink as part of this experiment. I normally go for blue, green, and purple inks that feature lots of saturation, shading, and bright character. On occasion, I also enjoy dark inks that are in the blue or blue-green shade. So, reds and pinks are really outside of my normal preference.

Magenta is always a tricky color for me to nail down. Is it pink, purple, or red? The answer is...yes. Depending on the color of the light in your environment, this ink can look more red or pink. In other cases where the ink has pooled, you can detect a hint of purple. It has a lot of character, and I've been surprised by how much it grew on me after writing a few lines. The color is red enough and dark enough to make it easy for me to use on a regular basis, and it has all the pop and saturation that I crave in my inks.

Diamine Claret is really well-behaved, which is something I've come to expect from any Diamine ink. It flows well, has plenty of lubrication while writing, and has a little bit of shading that pops out between the red and pink hues. On top of that, this ink dries really fast. In my tests, it was normally smudge-proof within 10 seconds. That time went up a few seconds for marks that had more ink pooled up, but it was always dry in 15 seconds. This isn't the fastest drying ink out there, but it's pretty respectable. Fast-drying inks isn't something that I look for, but I know that it's really important to many people and many different situations. This is a decent option if you want a magenta ink that dries quickly.

I chose think ink due to the bright color swatch on Goldspot's website. I figured that even if it wasn't a preferred color, it should still be loud and proud of what it is. Claret definitely delivers in this regard, but also provides some extra delight in the moderate shading that comes with it. I have some trouble identifying and/or naming specific colors in the pink and purple range, but I can easily tell that there is a nice amount of variation between different shades when writing with this ink. It's just enough to let you know that this isn't a wide gel pen — this is a nibbed pen that provides those beautiful little variances and pools of darker ink that collect in some strokes but not others. The more I've used this ink, the more I've come to appreciate and even love it. While it's not a preferred color by nature, it's quickly ascending the ranks of my favorite inks to use.

As the inaugural ink my experiment to push myself to use inks that are outside of my usual preferences, Diamine Claret is a strong and promising start. If you'd also like to try it out and add some spring-time colors to your life, you can pick it up in bottled or cartridge format. Bottles are available in 30ml or 80ml sizes, and the cartridges come in an 18-pack. I went with the 30ml bottle, and that came in at just $8. I'm pleasantly surprised by this cheery ink and look forward to trying more!

(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on March 22, 2023 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Diamine, Ink Reviews.

Yamamoto Paper Paper Tasting Memo Box Giveaway

I picked up this Paper Tasting Memo Box from Yamamoto Paper at the 2022 San Francisco Pen Show, and it’s time to get this into one of your hands. The five different paper types in this box are:

Yamamoto Bank Paper Takasago Premium
Passpied Cream
Ok Fools
Sun Sun Kent
Soliste

You can read more about these paper types, and many more, on this page, but really, just enter to win below and test them all out!

Posted on March 21, 2023 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Giveaways, Yamamoto.

Pairings Party: Onoto Scholar Highland, Ferris Wheel Press Central Park Greens

We stationery lovers love picking out perfect product matches. Whether that is a wooden pencil paired with a textured paper, or a fountain pen inked with a complimentary color, we all spend way too much time and effort getting things just right. It’s our nature, and we love it!

One thing I am going to start doing is sharing some of the pairings I make, especially when testing new fountain pens and inks. I have plenty of both that come across my desk, and do consider how products work together, even if it is mostly aesthetic.

I went matchy-matchy with this pairing of the Onoto Scholar Highland Fountain Pen, inked with Ferris Wheel Press Central Park Greens. The greens of both work well together, with the ink color bringing out the subtle shades of green in the acrylic pen barrel.

This is my first experience with the Onoto Scholar, from the classic British pen maker. Onoto’s original run as a manufacturer ran from 1905 to 1958, with the Onoto we know today re-launching in 2005, restoring these British-made pens back to their former glory.

Modern Onoto pens are classically-styled, and feature amazing craftsmanship at many different price points. Up until the release of the Scholar, there wasn’t a dedicated introduction product lineup to the brand. To jump into an Onoto at a base-level would cost you somewhere in the $400-$500 range, but the Scholar brought that down to a more reasonable $270 price point, while keeping the high quality they are known for. Yes, that is still pricey, but is a far better solution for those wanting to test out the brand for the first time.

That’s what I’m doing with the Scholar, and it has been great in every way. This gold trim model (silver trim is also available) features a uniquely-patterend green and grey polished acrylic barrel and cap material, with a polished black grip section and top finial. The Fine Steel two-tone gold-plated Onoto #7 nib is rock-solid, with a firm feel and a smooth line. It works perfectly with the overall size and feel of the pen, which checks in at a mid-range 25 grams in total. It uses a cartridge/converter filling system.

Onoto Scholar Nib — *This is a Fine nib, and was a wet writer out of the box.*

As a fan of classic designs for modern times, I would be remiss if I didn’t call out the beauty of the Onoto chevron clip. That, in conjunction with one of the best logos in the business on the top finial, completes this British design wonderfully.

To match the Highland, I went with another first-time test in Central Park Greens. Despite being around for years, this is my first Ferris Wheel Press experience. This is a standard ink, with good flow, average shading, no sheen, and a moderate dry time. The green ink leans slightly yellow, but is more than legible on most pages. In short, it is an excellent writing ink, and a great choice for putting words on the page.

The Onoto Scholar comes in many classic solid barrel colors including the vintage-styled Mandarin, and Rosso-both of which harken back to classic fountain pen barrel colors found in the early 1900’s. Along with Highland, Onoto has done a fantastic job bridging design philosophies of old and new, and now price points as well.

As for Ferris Wheel Press, the choice is endless. I will say, as great as the ink is, and as beautiful as the bottles are, they are some of the least functional from a pen filling perspective. Syringes or pipettes may be required for wider-barreled pens, and a more solid bottle base maybe be required, less you end up with an inky mess on your hands-or counter top.

This pairing was a party, and a fun way to look at two products together-especially when both products are new to me. I’ll be looking for ways to work in more pairings posts into future reviews.

(Vanness Pens loaned this product to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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