Ink Review #1168: Diamine Monaco Red

Let’s take a look at Diamine Monaco Red today. Diamine has so many different reds, but I’ve never played with Monaco Red. I purchased my bottle of ink from Cult Pens a few years ago.

The color:

Monaco Red is a dark unsaturated red.

Swabs:

In large swabs on Tomoe River paper the ink has a little bit of shading and a little bit of black sheen.

Writing samples:

Let's take a look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly papers: Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 20 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: low shading, tiny black sheen, and no shimmer. The sheen is only visible in large swabs on Tomoe River Paper.

On Staples 24 lb copy paper there was some feathering in most nib sizes and a few dots of bleeding.

Comparison Swabs:

Monaco Red is a bit darker and less saturated than Diamine Matador. Click here to see the Diamine inks together, and click here to see the red inks together.

Longer writing:

I used a Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop in Turquoise with a fine nib on a Taroko Enigma notebook. The ink had an average flow.

Overall, it’s a pretty well behaved ink, but I’m just not in love with it. I just feel like there are a lot better reds out there.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. This page does not contain affiliate links and this post is not sponsored in any way.