The Pen Addict Podcast: Episode 556 - Pen Sommelier

*My pen of the week: Spoke Pen Model 2 in Lava Crush.*

Myke and I kick off the episode by going through what we are currently using. I took this opportunity to overshare why I make the choices I make when reaching for a pen, ink, pencil, or paper. In short, this is why we are here, 11 years on.

Show Notes & Download Links

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Posted on March 22, 2023 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Podcast.

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: