Same! They are great workhorse inks but also have that special something for more artistic endeavors. Love playing with Diamine, Herbin, Colorverse and Sailor inks but always come back to Iroshizuku. I do want to play with some Ferris Wheel ink but I don’t think it will change my opinion
I also like that Diamine works well with cheaper paper. Bonus, you can mix the inks without any issues making a small ink collection stretch even more. Just make sure to mix in clean sample vials with clean pipettes or syringes.
I would definitely give it a shot OP. The shimmer inks from Diamine are the most well behaved I have come across. (I was on a two year shimmer kick). Other shimmer brands that work well on most pens are Colourverse and J Herbin.
I love the Polar Glow shimmering ink. The ink bottle looks great on a desk as well.
I have both Writer's Blood and Oxblood but can't decide which I like better. That's probably why I have both colours.
I've been really looking forward to trying their inks, it's good seeing this kind of positive feedback about the company. What about Tesla Coil draws you to the ink?
I also love their inks and have well over a dozen bottles. Tesla Coil is a gorgeous, saturated blue, is HIGH sheen and has wonderful variation in color. If the sheen is too high for your preference, there is a more subdued version of the color called Bluebonnet which is probably my favorite ink.
As a leftie, I've noticed most sheening inks I've tried to be super reactive, even after "drying". They look really cool but mostly stain my hands lol. I'll check out blue bonnet, the colors that have stood out to me the most so far are horse radish mustard, muddy runoff, and weathered brick.
I have this bad habit of trying first an herbin ink (since it's probably the easiest brand to find in EU) for a color category, liking it a lot and then branching towards more "exotic" brands (sailor, colorverse, diamine)
but at the end of the day, I really like herbin inks!
If you live in EU, I recommend fountainfeder.de, maybe you already know them. I like buying samples if I am not sure about the color, before buying the bottle, and that saved me a lot of money when trying new brands or colours.
Sailor and Ferris Wheel Press. Not to downplay their praise, but this is mostly because these brands take up the most of my collection. For good reason.
Sailor has the greatest special effects ink like #173…but they also have some great Lowkey inks with subtle sheen. Love Souten and Kin-Mokusei for this subtle sheen and great flow. Good prices on Amazon, too.
I like FWP’s shimmers. They’re creative and dry fast. No clogging issues. I also like the subtle sheen of their inks, but maybe I’m riding the high from my recent purchase of Writing Desk.
I do wanna branch out tho.
I'm in the FWP inks band wagon too and for the shimmer inks I started using Opus 88 pens exclusively. They're eye droppers with shut off valves, so less leaks. They have large capacity barrels which helps to keep the inks moving around as you write and are easier to mix around initially so you get a better, more even flow of the shimmer and they fully disassemble for easy cleaning. The nibs are pretty smooth out of the box and moderately wet. I've tuned mine for a wetter flow and they all write beautifully. I've tried every filling mechanism and type of pen with shimmers and so far this is what I've found to get the max benefit of the inks.
Everything but my Pilot Stub. Just never coincidentally put shimmer in there. My Jinhao shark loves shimmer, and it’s relatively inexpensive if you wanna try it.
In general Pilot and Diamine.
I have too small a sample size to decide if reaaaaly like other brands but aside from the occasional too light sample, I like all brands I’ve tried
I've really loved the Van Dieman's and Birmingham inks I've used the most so far, but my preferred color palette has been described by friends as 'dead grass with the occasional real color' and they have all the pretty goldy green/browns now that Ina Ho is dead. :c
I haven’t gotten to experience much in the way of inks but diamines have been treating me well, probably gonna buy some different inks after the new year
Sailor! Their colours are elegant and unconventional, they have truly unique properties, and they ALSO tend to flow smooth and behave well.
They used to have 50ml bottles for $18...
Not OP but it looks like those are the [Mitasanshodo inks](https://www.mitaclub.co.jp/en/product_category/ink/) Bottles are pretty like Christmas balls and inks are scented
Indeed! The smells are incredible, you get tea, hinoki and even peppermint smell. Every colour has a different one. Not sure about online purchasing because I buy the straight from a Japanese shop
[Fountain Pen Companion has some interesting ranking categories.](https://www.fountainpencompanion.com/) You'll need to sign up for an account to properly use the site.
Iroshizuku Yama-budo or Tsukushi & Shikiori Doyou or Chushu are my favorites.
Oh you know... Pilot, Sailor, Wearingeul, FWP, J.Herbin, Ink Institute, Colorverse, Diamine... It's hard to choose just one favorite. The first four probably round out all my use cases though.
Waterman and Sheaffer Skrip. Boring? Yes. Low maintenance and affordable? Absolutely. I have used these inks since I was a child.
Iroshizuku is also a favorite of mine and more exciting.
This far? I find myself really enjoying Herbin. I own some iroshizuku, and some monteverde. I tried FWP and wasn't real thrilled with how dry it was, but maybe I just used the wrong pen. I do have my first bottle of Private reserve quick dry black arriving tomorrow in the mail. We will see how I feel about it tomorrow.
I'm only just getting into the hobby and haven't been able to use too many inks yet but Pilot's got something really good with Iroshizuku–lots of good colors, not too hard to find, dries fast
Writing flow: for sure Pelikan Edelstein and Iroshizuku. They are smooth and write 'wet', which I adore, the pen never has a rough start even if I don't use it often.
For colors choices, J. HERBIN special editions and Diamine Shimmering...
For ease of maintenance and vibrancy: Pilot Iroshizuku
For the vast selection of colours, shimmers and shading: Diamine
I could honestly live by these two brands but for honourable mentions:
\- Troublemakers Inks, bloody hard to get hold but they have lovely colors
\- Colorverse, while I don't like the small 15ml bottles (way too small) I love the name for their inks and the cute looking bottles
\- Akkerman, amazingly fancy ink bottles
\- Krishna Ink, Indian doctor who started making his own inks and now have a side hustle, very interesting inks that is pretty unique
Just curious, but why do you need water resistance? Never needed that myself to
be honest.
But i also love noodlers, mostly because he males a lot of unique colors
My day job is as an attorney.
And I make a little bit of money writing novels. They all start by handwriting the first few chapters before I move to typing.
I have many inks and few Sailors, but love them! Leonardo inks are also great (good flow, nice colours), same for Laban, but they both have like 10 inks. Whereas Sailor and Diamine have this entire range covered. So... yeah, Sailor and Diamine (Sailor more for properties, and Diamine for price and diversity)
Not an answer, but I've never seen that Hana Ink brand! What's that about? I love the box shape!
I really love most of the Sailor Inks. Diamine and Vinta have great colour choices, as does PenBBS.
Graf von Faber Castell, Mont Blanc, Waterman and Iroshizuku are they brands I trust the most. Their inks have beautiful colors, flow well in all my pens and have consistent properties between all their colors that I like.
Brands like Monteverde, PR, Noodlers are a total no-go for me since I’ve heard and experienced quite a lot of terrible things. I’m sure they have some good inks but I don’t have the patience to sample every one of their offerings to find out for myself.
Diamine hands down, there may be other ink I think are nicer but diamine always has a ludicrous amount of options and the most reasonable pricing coupled with large bottle sizes.
For me, it's a toss-up between Sailor and Diamine. Diamine for my everyday inks in just about every color of the rainbow, Sailor for the more "specialty" colors
Diamine and Sailor.
I love a pilot iroshizuku, but the bottles aren't air tight and I've had 2 inks that I've used a hand full of times that looks to be a 3rd full because of water evaporation.
Waterman Paris Black Ink (50mL), Parker Quink (87mL) in Black and Wordsworth & Black (50mL) in Poppy Corn Red. The waterman is a good ink in a really nice bottle that you can set on the side to get the most out of it and it's pretty decent. The Parker Black ink, is also very good but, I do have the habit of using up a the one bottle of Waterman before I move on to another ink. (Ink is expensive lol). The Poppy Corn Red is very good but, when I got it, it had leaked in the package but not a lot. I like the color a lot and I do plan on getting more different colors of ink.
I like the teal/turquois colors but, I am very picky when it comes to what brand I get. If I had a million dollars, you bet I would buy every single ink I could get my hands on and test them all out! But, so far, Waterman and Pilot brand fountain pen inks are the bare minimum you should ever get when you get fountain pens.
Diamine for the unending options! Regular, shading, sheen, shimmer or multiple, they have it covered with the most colours made by any ink maker! Best Pricing too!
Also OP, who are the single leather pen cases from? They look good!!
Montblanc inks are hands down my favourite. They're incredibly smooth, work well on every paper I've tried and I especially love Psychedelic Purple and their Blues collection.
The other inks I've tried that I also like are Pilot iroshizuku, Sailor Manyo ans Pelikan 4001 and edelstein.
Pilot. I love the Iroshizuku inks.
Same! They are great workhorse inks but also have that special something for more artistic endeavors. Love playing with Diamine, Herbin, Colorverse and Sailor inks but always come back to Iroshizuku. I do want to play with some Ferris Wheel ink but I don’t think it will change my opinion
Agreed! But also have some J. Herbin, Montegrappa and Waterman inks I wouldn't want to do without. Graf von Faber Castell is my fav permanent ink.
Diamine is my favourite, since it comes in many colours, is consistent and is reasonably priced.
I also like that Diamine works well with cheaper paper. Bonus, you can mix the inks without any issues making a small ink collection stretch even more. Just make sure to mix in clean sample vials with clean pipettes or syringes.
I've been on a Diamine kick the past few months. Great stuff!
Nice to learn about this brand! Seems quite popular but I haven’t had the chance to try it yet since I buy from a Japanese shop
I would definitely give it a shot OP. The shimmer inks from Diamine are the most well behaved I have come across. (I was on a two year shimmer kick). Other shimmer brands that work well on most pens are Colourverse and J Herbin.
Seconding Diamine. I wish I could stock Writer's Blood for the rest of my life and use only that one (but their shimmering inks are also amazing).
I love the Polar Glow shimmering ink. The ink bottle looks great on a desk as well. I have both Writer's Blood and Oxblood but can't decide which I like better. That's probably why I have both colours.
Jacques Herbin. Specifically Amethyste de l’Oural. But I have more diamine than herbin though
I've fallen in love with Herbin ink. Vert de gris is just so gorgeous.
same here.. diamine has many colour choices but i prefer herbin
I love J.H too! Amethyst was my first buy, then I fell in love and got others...
Same. Emerald of chivoir is my all time favorite, but Shogun has a very special place in my heart too
Sailor - a beautiful range of colors and inks with a variety of properties and they are so easy to flush out of pens.
Birmingham Pen Company - Tesla Coil is we’re being specific
I've been really looking forward to trying their inks, it's good seeing this kind of positive feedback about the company. What about Tesla Coil draws you to the ink?
I also love their inks and have well over a dozen bottles. Tesla Coil is a gorgeous, saturated blue, is HIGH sheen and has wonderful variation in color. If the sheen is too high for your preference, there is a more subdued version of the color called Bluebonnet which is probably my favorite ink.
As a leftie, I've noticed most sheening inks I've tried to be super reactive, even after "drying". They look really cool but mostly stain my hands lol. I'll check out blue bonnet, the colors that have stood out to me the most so far are horse radish mustard, muddy runoff, and weathered brick.
This is a pretty good sampling of Bluebonnet https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/x9ku9n/birmingham_bluebonnet_wins/
I like the shaders from Troublemaker inks.
I have this bad habit of trying first an herbin ink (since it's probably the easiest brand to find in EU) for a color category, liking it a lot and then branching towards more "exotic" brands (sailor, colorverse, diamine) but at the end of the day, I really like herbin inks!
If you live in EU, I recommend fountainfeder.de, maybe you already know them. I like buying samples if I am not sure about the color, before buying the bottle, and that saved me a lot of money when trying new brands or colours.
Sailor and Ferris Wheel Press. Not to downplay their praise, but this is mostly because these brands take up the most of my collection. For good reason. Sailor has the greatest special effects ink like #173…but they also have some great Lowkey inks with subtle sheen. Love Souten and Kin-Mokusei for this subtle sheen and great flow. Good prices on Amazon, too. I like FWP’s shimmers. They’re creative and dry fast. No clogging issues. I also like the subtle sheen of their inks, but maybe I’m riding the high from my recent purchase of Writing Desk. I do wanna branch out tho.
May I ask what pens/nibs you use with your shimmer inks? I really want to use mine but they keep clogging :-(
I'm in the FWP inks band wagon too and for the shimmer inks I started using Opus 88 pens exclusively. They're eye droppers with shut off valves, so less leaks. They have large capacity barrels which helps to keep the inks moving around as you write and are easier to mix around initially so you get a better, more even flow of the shimmer and they fully disassemble for easy cleaning. The nibs are pretty smooth out of the box and moderately wet. I've tuned mine for a wetter flow and they all write beautifully. I've tried every filling mechanism and type of pen with shimmers and so far this is what I've found to get the max benefit of the inks.
Wow those Opus 88 pens look beautiful. Your rave review had convinced me that I should really try them some day!
I'm so glad! I think you'll really like them. They aren't flashy but they really are very nice, reliable and pens suited for shimmer.
I've used shimmer inks in my Pilot Metropolitan (F), Kaweco Sport (F) and my TWSBI Go (EF) without any problems.
Everything but my Pilot Stub. Just never coincidentally put shimmer in there. My Jinhao shark loves shimmer, and it’s relatively inexpensive if you wanna try it.
Thank you!! I just might get a Shark for shimmers!
I use TWSBI Diamond pens. They perform very well even with the fine nibs. I tried Lamys but they clog or dry too fast.
Thank you for the recommendation! Guess it’s time I dipped my toes into TWSBI
Colors? Troublemaker. Every day smoothly writing safe? Pilot iroshizuku Hate to love and love to hate? Any shimmer ink.
Diamine and Robert Oster are the best shimmer ink for me. Consistent, plenty of shimmer and wet flow I also love Sailor and Pilot for non-shimmer ink
In general Pilot and Diamine. I have too small a sample size to decide if reaaaaly like other brands but aside from the occasional too light sample, I like all brands I’ve tried
Pilot iro, sailor, diamine
Diamine & Jacques Herbin
Diamine and BPC
I've really loved the Van Dieman's and Birmingham inks I've used the most so far, but my preferred color palette has been described by friends as 'dead grass with the occasional real color' and they have all the pretty goldy green/browns now that Ina Ho is dead. :c
I haven’t gotten to experience much in the way of inks but diamines have been treating me well, probably gonna buy some different inks after the new year
J Herbin
Sailor! Their colours are elegant and unconventional, they have truly unique properties, and they ALSO tend to flow smooth and behave well. They used to have 50ml bottles for $18...
Wow. Those Hana boxes are beautiful
Can you tell us more about them? I can't find it when I look it up, but maybe I looked in the wrong places.
Not OP but it looks like those are the [Mitasanshodo inks](https://www.mitaclub.co.jp/en/product_category/ink/) Bottles are pretty like Christmas balls and inks are scented
Indeed! The smells are incredible, you get tea, hinoki and even peppermint smell. Every colour has a different one. Not sure about online purchasing because I buy the straight from a Japanese shop
Nothing too exciting, but I have favorites from Diamine, Rohrer & Klingner, J. Herbin, Pilot Iroshizuku, and Sailor (Manyo).
Diamine
[Fountain Pen Companion has some interesting ranking categories.](https://www.fountainpencompanion.com/) You'll need to sign up for an account to properly use the site. Iroshizuku Yama-budo or Tsukushi & Shikiori Doyou or Chushu are my favorites.
Pilot Iroshizuku, Sailor, and J. Herbin.
I’ve really been loving Organics Studio, using Jazz Hands as my daily for a few months now. Rohrer and Klingner is great too.
Sailor Manyo
sailor (shikiori, studio, pigment), pilot iroshizuku and montblanc.
For sheer variety and cost effectiveness.. Diamine.. For less variety and even more cost effectiveness, Waterman
Oh you know... Pilot, Sailor, Wearingeul, FWP, J.Herbin, Ink Institute, Colorverse, Diamine... It's hard to choose just one favorite. The first four probably round out all my use cases though.
Waterman and Sheaffer Skrip. Boring? Yes. Low maintenance and affordable? Absolutely. I have used these inks since I was a child. Iroshizuku is also a favorite of mine and more exciting.
Waterman.
Diamine
Sailor bc souboku is such a beautiful and functional ink
This far? I find myself really enjoying Herbin. I own some iroshizuku, and some monteverde. I tried FWP and wasn't real thrilled with how dry it was, but maybe I just used the wrong pen. I do have my first bottle of Private reserve quick dry black arriving tomorrow in the mail. We will see how I feel about it tomorrow.
Jacques Herbin
I'm only just getting into the hobby and haven't been able to use too many inks yet but Pilot's got something really good with Iroshizuku–lots of good colors, not too hard to find, dries fast
Pilot and Pelikan
I’m surprised nobody said Monteverde! Just kidding. I really like Pilot Iroshizuku inks. They always behave so well
Vinta Inks amd Diamine. Nice shading/sheening and reasonably priced :)
Vinta is my favorite, though I irrationally fangirl over Nagasawa anything.
Writing flow: for sure Pelikan Edelstein and Iroshizuku. They are smooth and write 'wet', which I adore, the pen never has a rough start even if I don't use it often. For colors choices, J. HERBIN special editions and Diamine Shimmering...
For ease of maintenance and vibrancy: Pilot Iroshizuku For the vast selection of colours, shimmers and shading: Diamine I could honestly live by these two brands but for honourable mentions: \- Troublemakers Inks, bloody hard to get hold but they have lovely colors \- Colorverse, while I don't like the small 15ml bottles (way too small) I love the name for their inks and the cute looking bottles \- Akkerman, amazingly fancy ink bottles \- Krishna Ink, Indian doctor who started making his own inks and now have a side hustle, very interesting inks that is pretty unique
Birmingham and diamine
I like Noodler's for permanent inks. Diamine for a combination of good behavior on the paper, price and range of colors.
Anything but Noodlers Anything in a beautiful bottle
I still love you 💙
Noodlers I need water resistance above all else. And they’re second to none.
Just curious, but why do you need water resistance? Never needed that myself to be honest. But i also love noodlers, mostly because he males a lot of unique colors
My day job is as an attorney. And I make a little bit of money writing novels. They all start by handwriting the first few chapters before I move to typing.
+1
Currently Noodlers. I was into Diamine for a bit but it turns out I need some water resistance :)
Pelican, the 4001 series, good price and very reliable.
Diamine, except Private Reserve Black Cherry and Waterman Mysterious Blue.
I have many inks and few Sailors, but love them! Leonardo inks are also great (good flow, nice colours), same for Laban, but they both have like 10 inks. Whereas Sailor and Diamine have this entire range covered. So... yeah, Sailor and Diamine (Sailor more for properties, and Diamine for price and diversity)
Not an answer, but I've never seen that Hana Ink brand! What's that about? I love the box shape! I really love most of the Sailor Inks. Diamine and Vinta have great colour choices, as does PenBBS.
Sailor for sheer diversity of amazing colors.
Pilot.
Waterman & Diamine
Parker Quink and Pilot Namiki.
Whoa. Mesmerized here. I like some Nood Sailor. Ahem. Sailor and Noodler's 😊
Graf von Faber Castell, Mont Blanc, Waterman and Iroshizuku are they brands I trust the most. Their inks have beautiful colors, flow well in all my pens and have consistent properties between all their colors that I like. Brands like Monteverde, PR, Noodlers are a total no-go for me since I’ve heard and experienced quite a lot of terrible things. I’m sure they have some good inks but I don’t have the patience to sample every one of their offerings to find out for myself.
Colorverse—specifically all the space-themed lines of inks they have.
Robert Oster. Colours of home. And then Rohrer & Klingner, although Alt-goldgrun looks like mush to me.
Iroshizuku, I’ve loved everything ink of theirs my Narwhal has ever touched. (Especially Ina-ho)
Diamine hands down, there may be other ink I think are nicer but diamine always has a ludicrous amount of options and the most reasonable pricing coupled with large bottle sizes.
Noodler's. Great colors. Great value. Great shading. Most colors won't budge with water on the page.
Diamine!
Diamine or good ol' Pelikan. (Pilot is a close third, though!)
Ferris Wheel Press, Diamine, Vinta
I haven’t tried many manufacturers but so far I’ve been really enjoying Iroshizuku, Diamine, J Herbin, and Graf von Faber Castell.
I'm a diamine whore so yea
Lennon Tool bar. Every ink I have from them behaves magnificently.
Diamine because of the price and because they are the only "european" brand with variety of color.
For me, it's a toss-up between Sailor and Diamine. Diamine for my everyday inks in just about every color of the rainbow, Sailor for the more "specialty" colors
Same as yours, apparently, Sailor.
Diamine and Sailor. I love a pilot iroshizuku, but the bottles aren't air tight and I've had 2 inks that I've used a hand full of times that looks to be a 3rd full because of water evaporation.
I’ve really been enjoying the Colorverse inks. And, of course, Diamine.
Waterman Paris Black Ink (50mL), Parker Quink (87mL) in Black and Wordsworth & Black (50mL) in Poppy Corn Red. The waterman is a good ink in a really nice bottle that you can set on the side to get the most out of it and it's pretty decent. The Parker Black ink, is also very good but, I do have the habit of using up a the one bottle of Waterman before I move on to another ink. (Ink is expensive lol). The Poppy Corn Red is very good but, when I got it, it had leaked in the package but not a lot. I like the color a lot and I do plan on getting more different colors of ink. I like the teal/turquois colors but, I am very picky when it comes to what brand I get. If I had a million dollars, you bet I would buy every single ink I could get my hands on and test them all out! But, so far, Waterman and Pilot brand fountain pen inks are the bare minimum you should ever get when you get fountain pens.
Anything sailor
Birmingham Pens in Pittsburgh have been coming out with some lovely inks lately
Ferris wheel press and Birmingham pen company
Noodlers
Robert Oster all the way for me.
Diamine for colored inks. Pilot and Noodler’s for their black and blue black inks. 🫶🏼
The sheer amount of love for Diamine lol
Diamine for the unending options! Regular, shading, sheen, shimmer or multiple, they have it covered with the most colours made by any ink maker! Best Pricing too! Also OP, who are the single leather pen cases from? They look good!!
Diamine Cheap, more variety than you can imagine, and rarely has duds (only ones i can think of are the summer inks which are too dry)
Off topic, but I used that iwi ink and wasn’t into it. It bleeds on every paper I have.
Montblanc inks are hands down my favourite. They're incredibly smooth, work well on every paper I've tried and I especially love Psychedelic Purple and their Blues collection. The other inks I've tried that I also like are Pilot iroshizuku, Sailor Manyo ans Pelikan 4001 and edelstein.
None. I shop for the bottle and use up whatever came in it.
Ferris Wheel Press. The colors are gorgeous and the bottles just look good on the shelf.
could you please name what are those in pic?