Forty-nine New Inks for the Holidays
aka. my thoughts on the Diamine Inkvent Black Edition and Colorverse Colorvent 2024.
Colorvent is upside down so inks didn’t fall out.
I’ve been enamored of the Diamine Inkvent ever since it came out in 2019. Since then I have always pre-ordered it as a birthday gift to myself (pre-orders usually come out in late August). Looking back over the five years of 25 bespoke inks per year, I think the Green edition is my favorite. When I peer at my shelf of inks I pick up an inkvent ink it tends to be from that 2022 Green edition. I always looked forward to popping open the calendar day (usually the night before so I wouldn’t accidentally get spoiled on Instagram) and seeing what ink Diamine has come up with. It had become a tradition for me.
This year, the Colorverse Colorvent was a total surprise and it seemed to come out of nowhere. There I was, scrolling through Instagram when suddenly I see a post from Atlas Stationers announcing it. I waffled about getting it for about 48 hours and then decided to go for it. I’m really glad that I did. Colorverse is one of my favorite brands. The price tag, at first, seemed intense. At $180 it was $60 more than the Inkvent at $120. However, I have the Colorverse Standard Model limited edition which was over $200 at full price (if I remember right) and it has the same number of 15 mL ink bottles. Another driver of my decision was that Colorverse wasn’t planning on releasing all of the inks, so if I wanted these limited editions I had to buy them now.
Both calendars arrived in October and sat on my shelf just waiting to be opened. I ultimately caved Thanksgiving weekend with the excuse that there were 49 doors to open so it didn’t matter if I started early. Honestly, that number was a little overwhelming, but I swatched each one in the little notebook I had made for the purpose. It is a tradition I’d like to keep going.
The Presentation
Since the first Inkvent in 2019, the box has remained the same, but with the color changed to match the edition color for that year (blue, red, green, purple, and black). The black box this year really popped and I was intrigued about how they would be creative with the color black for the final ink. After all, the final ink always matched the edition color before. Essentially, each day a new ink is revealed with 24 12mL bottles and then a final 30 mL bottle. No frills, pretty simple.
For the Colorverse Colorvent, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The photo from the retailers was just a large rectangular box with some of Colorverse’s signature space designs on it. The description was not very detailed, only noting that there would be 24 15 mL exclusive bottles inside. When I brought it into the house I was impressed by the heft. Since the bottles are glass, as opposed to plastic for Diamine, this calendar felt substantial. When I started opening the calendar doors, I got another surprise. On the inside of each door Colorverse had a brief explanation of what object or space concept had inspired them. I really liked this little touch, because it shows the story behind each ink. I wish Diamine did this as well, since some of their colors are a little out there. What was also a nice touch was that the label on each bottle had a slightly different design in addition to matching the color of the ink within.
The Inks
Now the important part. I considered for a while how I wanted to approach sharing my thoughts. After all, there are 49 inks - no way am I going to be able to put them all through their paces and post this in a timely manner. So, I decided to summarize my top 5 for both the Inkvent and Colorvent. Note these are my favorites at the moment, my top favorites from past Inkvents have certainly changed over time.
All swatches were done on Iroful paper with a Sailor hocorro fude dip nib.
Diamine Inkvent Black Ed.
Day 2: Wilted Rose
This ink is such a lovely pink and I adore the name. It has an antique feel to it and it looks great on the page. At first I wondered if it was close to other pinks, but I am pleased to see that it isn’t similar to other inks in my collection. I inked it up pretty much immediately and it had good flow and shading.
Day 10: Chilly Nights
When I itinitally saw this one I was immediately enamored in a way I wasn’t with previous “star bright” (aka mega-shimmer) inks. The base color really spoke to me. I ran through a fill in my Kaweco fireblue and they did not get along at first ink. One of the issues with mega-shimmers is how easy they can clog the feed. This ink gummed up my pen twice, but after I probably rinsed out half the shimmer and added a drop of white lightning I didn’t have any further issues. This is definitely one to keep a brass shim on hand for though. Without light reflecting off the shimmer it just looks dark-blue, but when the silver catches the light it makes quite the statement.
Day 15: Sleigh Ride
I was kinda ‘meh’ about this one when I first swatched it, it looked kind of boring and uninteresting. However, once it was in a pen I was pleasantly surprised by this “extreme sheen” ink. The base color is an orange-red with green sheen. The sheen is so intense that it somehow makes the ink look matte red-brown until it catches the light and turns metallic green. It is a tone of fun to write with. I think I scribbled through a fill in just a few days in a broad nib.
Day 24: Salted Caramel
I have a soft spot for browns in this color range. It just clicked as soon as I swatched it. I currently have it inked up in a Kaweco Sport with a medium nib and it is just as charming as I expected. It is a medium brown with coppery shimmer. A great sparkly brown that is kind of in-between several of the other browns that Diamine has come out with previously.
Day 25: Good Tidings
I was really curious about what Diamine would do for the final ink for the black edition. The previous four all have had sheen and shimmer, so I was expecting something similar. What we got was a black ink with a bright green sheen. It looks pretty cool at first glance. My opinion may change when I put it in a pen, but I am excited to give this one ago.
I think the only major miss in this set was the Lemon and Lime ink - it’s neon green with shimmer. It would work great in a wide stub nib as a highlighter ink… but not much else. It’s searingly bright. Everything else looks worth at least one try.
Other ink from this year I’ve tried so far: Mint Twist (very fun and will probably move up and down the list of favorites, I’ve been enjoying this shade of green and the matching shimmer just makes for a great combo), Potpourri (a soft purple, a little dry, but with some white lightning and better flow it’s been pretty pleasant), Vibe (an extreme sheen blue leaning teal. It does indeed have a vibe (lol)).
Colorverse Colorvent 2024
Day 6: Kilonova
While it wasn’t the first ink that I put in a pen after starting the Colorvent (that honor went to day one’s Supergiant), but it was the second. I put it into my Kaweco liliput fireblue and went through an entire fill. The only reason I didn’t ink it up again was that there are so many new inks to try at the moment. I have said this before, but it bears repeating - Colorverse makes great, well-behaved sheening blues. Kilonova is no exception. It’s a shade darker than Colorverse Quasar and with a bronze sheen that is more pronounced. Really like this one.
Day 8: Blue Moon
Soft blues are a category that I really enjoy. I wrote through a fill of this one in my Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo and will definitely be revisiting it. At first I worried it was similar to some of my other Colorverse light blues, but on comparison it’s quite different.
Day 16: Eclipse Silence
At first glance Eclipse Silence is simply a solid black ink, but when it is on a coated paper and catches the light, the sheen really elevates it. It’s a sibling to Colorverse Sunspot (the sheen) and Colorverse Black Hole (Eclipse Silence is a little darker and with a different undertone). I am delighted by this twist on a black. It has great flow and is moderately wet leading to smooth writing. I had it in a B nib, but I think I’ll go for something thinner on the next inking.
Day 19: Milky Way
This ink was made for flex nibs. It is absolutely gorgeous. Colorverse has some great purples, and this one is no exception. It is a dark purple with blue shimmer. In the flex nib it pooled at the bottom of letters creating a sort of two-tone effect. I haven’t tried this in a regular nib yet, but I imagine it won’t give me any more trouble than any other Colorverse shimmer (which is the same amount as most shimmer inks).
Day 24: Christmas Star
It is really hard to do a good yellow. They can be too pale and unreadable, too bright, or lean too brown or orange. This is a yellow done right. It’s so pretty with its dark yellow base and gold shimmer. I’ve currently got this one in a M CSI nib and it has been working beautifully. A very fun final ink from this set.
Other inks I’ve tried from this year’s set: Supergiant (I have been regaining my love of red inks and this bright true red fits right in), Aquarius Whispers (This is a bright turquoise with an intense shading. Very fun.), White Hole (I completely dismissed this ink as a miss when I was swatching because it didn’t show much character on the tomoe river paper. On a whim I inked it up in my Esterbrook JR B nib and found I really like it. It is a soft shading blue that is pretty legible on most papers).
Final Thoughts
If they do it again, I will definitely be picking up the 2025 Colorverse Colorvent. Overall, I just had more fun with it and can see myself using all of the colors that I got. It also has that added allure of limited edition inks that won’t necessarily get mass produced. I still think the Diamine Inkvent is fun, but I wonder how long they can carry their Christmas theme, as there are already some stretches. Colorverse stuck to their space and science theming with a few holiday twists, which I think will give them a lot more flexibility with ink inpsirations going forward.
Which calendar did you like best?
Currently Inked
Colorverse Iris Nebula - Kaweco x Galen Leather Sport Carmine 14K BB ‘journaler’ - The header ink for January 2025 is a soft purple-gray with a chroma-shimmer. I haven’t used this one in over a year and it is great to be revisiting it. The nebula inks are seriously so good (a bottle of Cat’s Eye Nebula is on my wishlist).
Diamine Potpourri - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo B ‘imperial’ - I keep spelling the name of this ink wrong, but beyond that I really like the color. It’s kind of a wine purple. I’m honestly surprised that Diamine didn’t make this one a scented ink considering that you put potpourri out because it smells nice.
Ferris Wheel Press Mulberry Majesty - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye M ‘stub’ - This ink was stuck in my head and I decided it needed another inking. This ink is a standard purple with a rose gold shimmer and it’s very elegant. I really like this one and will definitely be revisiting it again.
Diamine Vibe - Kaweco liliput copper 14K M ‘selvedge’ - The red sheen on teal ink is a classic sheen combo and I think that Diamine did a great job executing it here with their new “extreme sheen” property. I think they’ve only really done this sort of color as a regional exclusive in the past, so it will be nice to have one more widely available. Sheen shows up on all sorts of paper, even the crummy paper at my office.
Colorverse Strelka - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K M ‘journaler’ - Doing the swatches for the Inkvent and Colorvent inks made me nostalgic for old favorites so I decided to fill up one of my favorite light blues. Strelka is a light blue without much shading. It’s straightforward and exactly what I want sometimes.
Colorverse Christmas Star - Kaweco Sport Iridescent Pearl M CSI - This ink is really something, bright but not glaring. Shimmer that pops but doesn’t overwhelm. This might give Colorverse Rising Reflections a run for my favorite yellow ink.
Diamine Salted Caramel - Kaweco Sport Burgundy M - I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve wanted to ink up a brown (considering it was one of my favorite ink categories in 2023) and Salted Caramel really scratches that itch. I really love the subtle coppery shimmer.
Ferris Wheel Press Bluebell Brushstrokes - Ferris Wheel Press Carousel M - FWP has done it again with this ink, it’s a deep navy with just a hint of red sheen depending on the paper. Not necessarily unique to their line, but a great standard that could introduce people to the fountain pen hobby and ink properties. There aren’t many sheeners in their lineup (and I think all of them are combined with shimmer) so it is nice to see. I have a soft spot for blues in this range so this is very useable for me.
Forgive the northern Minnesota winter sunlight, but here you can see some of the shimmers and sheens.
If you are doing any post-holiday shopping don’t forget my codes! Anything earned is put towards fountain pen goodies to share and website hosting.
Atlas Stationers (10% off) - DIME10
Ferris Wheel Press (15% off) - JA-DIME
Odyssey Notebooks (10% off) - DIME (they recently restocked their tomoe river paper notebooks with the last of their old stock tomoe river paper - I nabbed one of the moon ones, but I am considering going back for more.)