Ink Review #120: Diamine Oxford Blue

Please excuse my super late post today, it has not been my best week, but I'm super excited to talk about today's ink: Diamine Oxford Blue. I purchased my bottle of ink from Cult Pens. I love that they have really affordable prices on Diamine inks, and I love the 30ml size. Large enough to play with, small enough that you don't have to live with the ink for years. 

The color...

Oxford Blue is a medium blue with some amazing pink sheen.

This ink really doesn't have any shading, but it does have that lovely sheen. Whenever I hear this ink talked about, no one ever mentions the sheen. Why not??? I think this is one undervalued ink. 

Let's look at how the ink behaves on fountain pen friendly paper first, Rhodia, Tomoe River, and Leuchtturm.

Dry time: 30 seconds

Water resistance: Low

Feathering: None

Show through: Medium

Bleeding: None

Other properties: No shading, high sheen. I think the ink doesn't have any shading because it is such a wet ink. The sheer amount of ink that gets laid down doesn't allow for shading to show through.

On Moleskine paper, the ink did have some feathering, especially the flex nib, and a decent amount of bleeding. I wouldn't use this ink on super cheap paper.

Ink swabs for comparison, left to right (top to bottom for RSS): Diamine Majestic Blue, Diamine Oxford Blue, and Akkerman #5 Shocking Blue. Both Majestic Blue and Shocking Blue are a bit brighter than Oxford Blue. Click here to see the Diamine inks together.

Diamine Cult Pens Deep Dark Blue, Diamine Sargasso Sea, and Sailor Jentle Sky High. Click here to see the blue inks together. Deep Dark Blue and Sargasso Sea have more of a copper sheen, and Sky High is a lot lighter than Oxford Blue.

Longer writing:

I used a Pelikan m400 White Tortoise with a 400N vintage nib. The ink is super wet, but didn't really have any flow issues.

I know the photo is slightly blurry, I didn't have my macro camera lens with me, but I wanted to show you the crazy pink sheeny halo this ink has. It's amazing. The ink is wet, has high sheen, and a nice flow, it honestly reminds me of the way Sailor Jentle inks feel and behave. In writing, the ink sometimes looks a bit more Navy than medium blue, but again, I think that comes from how wet the ink is. 

Overall, the ink is nice and wet, and I love the color and the sheen. The dry time is decent, and it's a really affordable ink. I think this one's a winner-give it a try. At $2.55 for 30ml, you really can't lose.

Disclaimer: I purchased this ink myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page.