Ink Comparison: Red Diamine

Thanks to the assistance of the Daughter/Director, this is the first of a series of comparisons of red inks - and I have to admit, the colours, compared with their names, were quite a surprise to me! Diamine produce glorious inks, and I have another red for comparison here from Pelikan Edelstein.
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Mike

[@Floofypan]

I've been looking at pretty much all your Diamine standard ink comparison videos, and I find that I really like being able to see all the differently coloured inks on the same page! I'm currently searching up ALL the colours of inks for my note-taking, purple, yellow, pink, blue and green are down, though I might pick up a new purple or blue since I saw some that caught my eye (the Sapphire blues, Bilberry and Majestic Purple are a few to name) now I'm off to find me some reds. Pelikan's Edelstein Star Ruby is so gorgeous! I'm in love with it! But the price makes me shiver... It's 80 MYR for that gorgeous 50 ml bottle as opposed to Diamine's 16.90 MYR for a standard colored ink 30 ml bottle . I'll have to stick with Diamine until then 🥲 Thanks for the ink comparison videos! I love them!

[@writerlywitterings]

Thanks so much for that, Floof. I'm really glad that they do seem to be helping a lot of people (and I'm like you, I love Star Ruby!)

[@imsathyasekar]

I ran into your channel at a perfect time. Hunting for a bright, brilliant red ink. These videos help a lot

[@writerlywitterings]

Very glad to hear that they help, Sathya! I had fun with the reds - there were some glorious colours in there!

[@andyprozeller4735]

Fantastic review! I already have so many ink bottles but you’ve convinced me that I need more! Grrrrrrrr!

[@writerlywitterings]

Ah ... mission accomplished! Sorry, Andy - but there are some gorgeous colours there!

[@martinmcconigley5583]

That Star Ruby is wonderful. Great comparisons - these videos are so very helpful. Ordering a few of your books as a thank you.

[@writerlywitterings]

It looks far better on the page than it does on film, I reckon! A truly glorious red, and highly recommended!

[@simonmichaeltanner]

Star Ruby was beautiful, very tempting... I usually use MB Corn Poppy Red for editing, which is as red as red can get, bright and vibrant. But I can see that Edelstein haunting my thoughts until I end up buying a bottle...

[@writerlywitterings]

The Edelstein is truly lovely, but apparently it's available in limited quantities for this year only, so you had best be quick!

[@christianberghorn6483]

Gosh, this video came up in my feed because I love pens and inks. I was wondering why there's so much Michael Jecks stuff around and then I found out that it's actually Michael Jecks reviewing inks! It's been a while that I read one, but I have to say: I absolutely love your books.

[@writerlywitterings]

Christian, many thanks for the comments! Inks are my escape from work (sometimes - other times they're my tools of choice when working!). I'm really glad you like my reviews, and even happier that you like my books! Thanks so much!

[@BossPenguin]

Again, you are very welcome! Personally, I also love the Star Ruby and got myself a few spare bottles since it is limited to this year. Such a fun and useful color! As a more or less pure editing ink I really like Montblanc Corn Poppy Red, a very brilliant true red (like fresh blood), and for business writing Diamine Oxblood (dried blood). Also, I somehow never realized that you have a Patreon account. Subscribed! Thank you for the review. Cheers!

[@writerlywitterings]

It's limited to this year? I'm really surprised, it's a lovely colour. Perhaps they'll be persuaded to extend the lifecycle for this one! And ah - Oxblood ... one of my first Diamine inks, since it seemed so suitable for a "medieval murderer"! However, as you'll see in a video soon, I found another slightly more bloody ink that appealed marginally more than even Oxblood - but you'll have to wait for that!

[@BossPenguin]

Sadly, yes. Star Ruby is ink of the year, which means stock will go down quite quickly after that. I usually buy a few bottles of the inks I really like, like the ink in question. I did the same with Montblanc James Purdey and Sons - my favourite brown ink and also limited to this year. Great! I adore bloody inks, especially in an all black pen! Looking forward to that video.

[@gregwilkins7649]

Thanks for the comparison. I've been looking lately at getting a very very dark red. The Cult pens Diamine deep dark red might do.

[@writerlywitterings]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gregwilkins7649]

@@writerlywitterings This was the first of your videos I've watched. Curious if you have mixed any inks before?

[@Richard_Barnes]

2020 isolation video - Yes! I’m #121 on the ‘like-ometer’ 😂😀👍🏻 Thx Mike. Always an interesting watch.

[@writerlywitterings]

Wow! That means I really ought to have a check up and see how many videos I've actually made! Glad you're still enjoying them, Richard!

[@evybrowning]

A surprising bunch indeed. Impressed by the Merlot I have to say. Really, really, REALLY enjoying these ink reviews - but then I read pencil colour charts over breakfast...........

[@writerlywitterings]

Thanks so much, Evelyn. It's always so reassuring to hear from people who are enjoying the videos! And it's always good to hear from another colour geek!

[@JBFire97]

Agree with your daughter, I like the Merlo. Thank you.

[@writerlywitterings]

Cheers, Paul! I was suprised by her reaction, but it is a glorious colour!

[@HisGraceHisGlory]

If you have more reds coming next week, if you do not already have it, see if you can pick yourself up some J. Herbin Rouge Grenat. A stunning red. A reds red you might say, and my current favorite. Thanks for the video!

[@writerlywitterings]

I have a bunch of other reds ready to broadcast, and Daughter/Director has edited the film ready ... watch this space!

[@sharon888b]

Enjoyed the first installment of the reds. I like darker reds for writing like Diamine Syrah and Diamine Oxblood. Diamine Monaco Red and Diamine Red Dragon are very nice, too. The brighter reds are great for editing. I like Diamine Poppy and Diamine Wild Strawberry. Looking forward to seeing more reds. Maybe you'll choose my favorites.

[@writerlywitterings]

Aha! Trying to tempt me to give away my favourites, are you? It won't work ... it won't, honest. Mainly because my computer has died just now and I can't put up newer videos - but the reds are all recorded, luckily, and edited, so they will continue on Thursdays. And with luck I'll get the computer mended on Wednesday. What a year - first the camera, and now the ruddy computer!

[@carlosespinoza1198]

friend any red / black color you recommend me? red upward stroke and black downward. greetings from Ecuador.

[@writerlywitterings]

Hi, Carlos - I don't know any ink that will be red with one direction and black with another. If you want a good ink with plenty of sheen, I think you have to go for Majestic Blue from Diamine, or Diamine Sargasso Sea. Both give gorgeous shining. In terms of blacks, the only one I've seen with any form of sheen is Iroshizuku's Take-Sumi, but it is so faint as to be invisible. If you want a really dark sheening ink, perhaps try Diamine's Midnight? It is blue, but much darker, and does have some sheen. However, be aware that these all show sheen because I have been using a very broad nib, a 1.1 mm stub on my TWSBI Go, which is naturally a wet writer; also, different paper will show sheen or now. Tomoe River paper, which is what I have used, is very good at showing decent sheen, but you need to try out different papers to see which works best for you. Sorry I can't help more, but hopefully that will give you a point to start from.

[@vlades5190]

Hi, can you pls help me to find ink with genuine carmine colour. this one is my favorite

[@writerlywitterings]

Hi, Vlad - this isn't as easy as you'd think, because there are a number of different varieties of "carmine"! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmine_(color) If you could let me know which of these shades strikes you as the nearest to the shade you are looking for, I'll check that against my swatches and let you know.

[@vlades5190]

@@writerlywitterings wow, i had no idea about that. what i can recall right away is the national flag of Latvia. its described as "carmine"

[@writerlywitterings]

@@vlades5190 Trouble is, if I try to look at that, I'll get a series of alternative shades from different photos at different times of the day. If you tell me which of the Wikipedia shades you want, we're both looking at the same shades and images, so I can match it to the colours in my swatches.

[@vlades5190]

@@writerlywitterings ok. I mean the first, basic shade (RGB 150, 0, 24)

[@writerlywitterings]

@@vlades5190 This is really very difficult, because the various shades of red from the Diamine range can be incredibly close. The ones which appear closest to that shade are Ruby, Crimson and Poppy Red. Matador possibly as well. Each of these colours is very good, with pleasant outlining and shading. I would say that the Poppy Red is more orange in tone, with a very bright appearance and less shading in writing. I would say Matador is similarly orange, but has a darker appearance which would be nearer your ideal than Poppy Red; Ruby seems to have a slightly pinker tone than a genuine crimson, but looks very similar when written on the page; Crimson is slightly darker than Matador, and has a little more of a blue shade. It's really hard to choose, but if I were looking for a darkish carmine of 150,0,24 on the sRGB scale, I'd probably plump for Diamine Crimson. What I would probably recommend would be that you look to buy a sample of Diamine's in their 30ml bottle for you to test and see if it's right. Hope that helps, my friend!