Diamine Ancient Copper ink is a wonderful unique ink, in the unusual category of brown-red. Some consider Diamine Ancient Copper in the brown ink family, others in the red ink family, but the truly inspired will categorize Diamine Ancient Copper in a category of its own, brown-red. Pen Chalet carries over 20 Diamine ink colors and the Ancient Copper is a fantastic color with lots of great characteristics. Diamine Ancient Copper ink is easy to clean out of your pen, has great flow, and is reasonably priced for a UK manufactured unique colored ink.
Please note the following regarding Diamine Ancient Copper ink, which you may find helpful:
Testing Factors
We used a J. Herbin glass dip pen, with an extra fine sized tip on Rhodia Bloc N. 18 paper.
Bottle Sizes
Pen Chalet carries both the Diamine 80 ml. glass bottle and the Diamine 30 ml. plastic bottle. The larger glass bottle is beautiful uniquely shaped and can be placed on any of its sides to obtain those last few drops of ink. Although the smaller plastic bottle has a small opening, its functional as a travel ink or sampling various colors due to its size and cost.
Cost
Diamine ink is reasonably priced for an imported UK ink. The 80 ml. bottle retails for $15 with the smaller 30 ml. plastic bottle retailing for $7.00.
Dry Time
Using the extra-fine tip glass dip pen, the dry time was a reasonable 7-10 seconds. Not fast drying, but quick enough to use as an everyday ink.
Bleed Through
There was minimal bleeding using Diamine Ancient Copper ink with the wettest lines only and barely showed up on the first strokes after first dipping the glass pen. Under normal fountain pen use, there will not be much bleeding at all.
Feathering
We experienced no feathering using the glass dip pen with Rhodia Bloc N. 18 paper. This fountain pen ink produced clear, distinct lines.
Water Test
After letting our ink sample dry for approximately 3 minutes we ran a soaking wet cotton swab over the sample, which produced quite a bit of color smearing and feathering. This ink is not waterproof or even very water resistant.
Shading
One of the nice qualities of Diamine Ancient Copper ink is its shading. The wetter the line, the more dark brown the ink will look. The lighter, dryer lines produce more of a reddish hue. This shading combination is a wonderful ink variation that we love.
Conclusion about the Diamine Ancient Copper Ink
Diamine Ancient Copper ink is a good value, super unique color, with wonderful shading and reasonable dry time. Its available in small sample sized bottles or a large 80 ml bottle, with a color that is dark enough for everyday use, but unique enough to set you apart or for use in journaling, letter writing, etc.