Diamine Golden Sands: Ink Review
Hi there! Madigan here. For Monday Matchup this week, I chose Diamine Golden Sands, from Diamine's Shimmertastic collection is not opaque like calligraphy gold ink, but it is certainly above and beyond anything else out there.
Supplies Used:
- LAMY AL-star with medium steel nib (also EF and B nib)
- Rhodia No. 16 dotpad, 80g white paper
- Tomoé River white paper
- Moleskine notebook
Smear Test (Dry Time):
- Slow– This ink dried very slowly. Diamine ink tends to run a bit wet, but this one seemed particularly so. Additionally, to really see the shimmer, you'll want to use a lot of ink extending the dry time further. If you are writing in a notebook, you'll want to set it aside before turning the page.
Drip Test (Water Resistance):
- Low– Because the underlying ink is a yellow tone, the ink very quickly dissipates when water is applied. You can see that it virtually disappears in the drip test!
Saturation:
- Low– You can definitely see a difference between the first and third swipe of the swab. That probably has to do with the suspended particles of sparkle in the ink as much as with the ink itself. You see a lot more shimmer when more ink is applied.
Ease of Cleaning:
- Medium– The light color of the underlying ink makes it disappear rapidly, but because the ink has that additional shimmer added to it, you may want to take a little bit of time to clear that away on the feed. Just use a toothbrush on the fins and it should come away quickly.
Shading:
- High-This ink has lovely shading, even with a LAMY nib! It sparkles most where the ink is the darkest.
Flow:
- Medium– This ink flows well! From the LAMY to the Ahab, it was a steady writer with minimal issues.
Packaging and Aesthetics:
- 50ml glass bottle with special box and label. 2ml ink samples also available.
- The bottle has a similarly sized opening to that of the normal Diamine bottles. It would work well even if the ink were low.
- Thin but deep. I really like the label and box. They are very festive!
This is the best golden ink we've seen in a long time for fountain pens! Bright, sparkly, and a great shader, this ink would serve well for letters or fun art projects. It's definitely not a work appropriate choice, but it'd be perfect for writing Christmas cards.
Golden Sands is available at Goulet Pens in a 50ml bottle or a 2ml ink sample. Don't miss out on this glamorous golden ink!