Shimmer and Sparkle
Green shimmer pooling at the bottom of a bottle of Ferris Wheel Press Emerald Gardens.
Shimmer inks have fascinated since I first got into the hobby. My first bottle was Diamine Blue Pearl and I’ve been collecting ever since. Shimmer inks speak to the kid who loved glitter gel pens and was always bummed when they ran dry too quickly. Luckily, I have so much shimmer ink (plus some Wearingeul shimmer potions) that I could probably refill every other day for at least a decade if not longer. Other things I love about shimmer is how it adds dimension to ink, either in an “in your face” way or a subtle way. Inks like Diamine Arctic Blast (bright blue, red sheen, blue shimmer) and Diamine Winter Miracle (purple, green sheen, blue shimmer) are some good examples of shimmer inks that are loud with both shimmer color, base color, and sheen. I’m really enjoying the matching shimmer in the ink trend like Ferris Wheel Press Crystal Blue Legacy (dark blue, blue shimmer) or Wearingeul Othello (warm gray, silver shimmer). When looking at them straight on, you can’t even see the shimmer, but when you tilt the page and it catch the light? It’s a whole other story.
L to R: Diamine Arctic Blast, Diamine Winter Miracle, Ferris Wheel Press Lapis Lullabies, and Wearingeul Othello.
I would say shimmer inks are an advanced ink and can be challenging to use when you are new. I almost swore them off because I struggled to get them to work in my favorite Kaweco pens. Dry feeds and shimmer do not make for good friends. It’s also really important to shake the bottle enough to distribute the shimmer in the ink (then get it up quickly enough into the pen before it settles again). Also, sometimes the pen needs a little roll or shake to get the shimmer showing up in writing again.
In the early days I learned how to mod my feeds to increase the flow, which is great for when I am consistently using inks that need flow… but if I get a wet ink in there I now have ink spilling out too quickly for the paper leading to smearing. So I went on a search for ways I could change the ink flow without permanently modifying the pen. I do not have any vintage pens, so I wasn’t worrying about clogging up parts that are difficult to access or replace.
One I started out with was the dish soap trick. Taking an insanely tiny amount of dish soap (I would use a sewing needle) put some in the ink cartridge or converter and it changes the chemical composition enough to make ink flow more smoothly. I did this for a little while, and when it worked it worked. When it didn’t? Feathery ink messes all over the page and having to dump the converter. So I went back to searching.
That is when I discovered one of the best products I have ever bought in this hobby.
That product is Vanness Pens White Lightning Ink Additive. I’ve mentioned this product before, but it is seriously something I use all of the time and one bottle is going to last me ages. I even accidentally spilled 1/3 of the bottle once (don’t do that, it’s very hard to clean up). This works well with helping dry inks write less scratchy and shimmer inks to not clog. The reason the bottle is going to last me forever is that it takes extremely tiny amounts to work. Just like with the soap, I take the end of a sewing needle and touch it to the outside of the built in eyedropper. I then dip that in one of my refilled cartridges and away we go. That tiny amount is usually all it takes. Basically, most inks that would normally cause me a world of frustration are now favorites. Even with already wet shimmers like Wearingeul inks, I still add just a little to keep the ink flowing.
A word of warning when using any ink solution - don’t add it to the bottle. I don’t even add it to sample vials. I just put my little tiny amount in each cartridge or converter individually. If I screw up .75 mL that fit in a short international cartridge it’s not that big of a deal, but I would be pretty heartbroken if I miscalculated and turned a full bottle into a feathering ink mess (which is what happens if you add too much additive).
I have noticed recently that there are several other companies starting to make ink additives like Birmingham Pens (although that seems to be more of ink lightening additive) and Van Dieman’s, but I haven’t tried any of those. If you have, please share your experience in the comments because I am curious about them.
As far as cleaning goes, I usually flush my shimmer inks just like I do all of my other inks. Shimmer might linger in the next fill, but that usually doesn’t bother me. If I want to do a thorough clean I take the nib and feed off and that rinsing that usually takes care of 99% of shimmer particles still clinging to the channels.
If you’ve got any favorite tips and tricks for using shimmer ink in a fountain pen, please share in the comments! You can also throw out the name of your favorite shimmer ink. I have too many to name, but the first ones that come to mind are Wearingeul Othello, Diamine Best Wishes (black-green, red sheen, green shimmer), Ferris Wheel Press Lapis Lullabies, and Colorverse Rising Reflections (yellow, blue shimmer).
Challenging inks to photograph with the light I was working with… Diamine Best Wishes is a pretty intense sheen on top of being sparkly.
Currently Inked
Diamine Candlelight - Kaweco Macchiato 1.5 - Will be enjoying this ink all month as a header color. I’m really enjoying seeing the shading this ink has. Every time I’m tempted by another yellow ink, I need to remember I have this beauty in my collection already.
Wearingeul Hades - Kaweco liliput fireblue 14K M ‘journaler’ - I’m glad that I grabbed a sample of this one because I definitely don’t need a whole bottle. It’s very pretty, a deep black base with a blue shimmer, but it is almost identical to Diamine Solstice which I still have plenty of from the blue Inkvent calendar. This one really got me with the name because I like reading Greek Mythology.
Ferris Wheel Press Emerald Gardens - Kaweco liliput copper 14K M ‘selvedge’ - This was the ink that actually inspired today’s post. Ferris Wheel Press has some epic shimmer inks. Most of their lineup has shimmer. Due to the amount of shimmer that is in the bottles it is very easy to clog up a pen if it gets left laying around for too long. White lightning helps with this problem. This is also one of those inks that has the double shimmer. It’s a vibrant summer green with green shimmer that can also be blue depending on the angle. They’ve been putting out quite a few of these “chromashimmers” lately and they are super fun to try.
Wearingeul Othello - Kaweco Art Sport Terrazzo M stub - I cannot say enough good things about this ink. I love it from the base ink that goes down a gray-green to the warm gray it ends up. The silver shimmer just gives it a little extra.
Wearingeul Macbeth - Kaweco Art Sport Tiger’s Eye 14K B - Another ink I’m glad I grabbed a sample. I haven’t been able to figure out exactly which ink in my collection it reminds me of, but I’ve got the cool grays pretty well covered (one of my favorites is Robert Oster x Atlas Polar Vortex). If you are looking for a nice shading blue-grey though, this is worth checking out.
This week ended up being quite a few refills, basically all except Diamine Candlelight and Wearingeul Hades. I’ve been poking around with my Wearingeul inks a bit this week and I think I’m going to do a fill of each one over the next few weeks, just because I’ve forgotten what some of them look like. I’m looking forward to giving Wearingeul x Endless Black Cat another try.