I’ve been on a bit of a blue kick lately, dabbling with various blues from the dark Oxford Blue to this month’s Sapphire Blue.
I have both Diamine and the J Herbin Sapphire Blues, so it was very hard to choose between them and whilst there is some colour difference there wasn’t enough to make it easy.
In the end I opted for the Diamine because it is a slightly softer blue and I don’t think it always gets the recognition it deserves.
It is a well-behaved ink that flows well in any pen and with a broader nib than my test pen really gets to show off its depth of colour, as you can see from the swab test.
When it comes to the pennies Diamine is excellent value and not only that it is very easy to fill a pen from the bottle (the J Herbin being a shallower bottle presented a little more difficulty) or if you prefer cartridges, they are readily available.
This is a good mid-blue that is very close to the blue of natural sapphires and could be used both at work and out of work and would, I think, also be suitable for artwork.
I like this blue and I am really happy to recommend either the Diamine or the J Herbin to anyone looking for a mid-blue; all I would say is if you can’t decide which one to buy, buy both.
Disclaimer: The ink was purchased with my own funds at retail price. The opinions expressed in this review are my own; and I am not connected with either the retailers or manufacturers in any way.
The Indian Marmalade Company 