This week, we’ve got another Van Dieman’s ink for the weekly review and giveaway! Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival fountain pen ink is from their Tassie Seasons ink series. If you haven’t read any of our recent reviews featuring a Van Dieman’s ink (there have been a few recently), you might not know that this is a new Australian brand we added in 2020. The popular ink company offers a wide variety of inks in various ink series. And so far, Pen Chalet customers have been returning rave reviews and buying any Van Dieman’s inks we get in stock as soon as they’re available. Read on for all the details (and for the chance to enter to win the bottle of fountain pen ink used for this week’s ink review).

All About the Ink Maker: Van Dieman’s

Van Dieman’s is an Australian ink company with several ink series offering a wide array of fountain pen inks. We currently carry four different Van Dieman’s ink series at Pen Chalet:

• Van Dieman’s Original Fourteen Colours of Tasmania
• Van Dieman’s Wilderness Series
• Van Dieman’s Midnight Series
• Van Dieman’s Tassie Seasons Series

Van Dieman’s 5th series is the Hollywood Series, which we are considering adding soon, so check back! Van Dieman’s doesn’t offer a full series of shimmering inks as some ink companies do, but they DO include shimmering inks sprinkled in amongst their different ink series. Right now, Pen Chalet carries over 40 ink colors from Van Dieman’s.

This week’s featured ink, Huon Midwinter Festival fountain pen ink, is part of Van Dieman’s Tassie Seasons ink Series.

All About the Ink Series: Van Dieman’s Tassie Seasons Ink Series

This week’s featured ink is from Van Dieman’s Tassie Seasons Ink Series. The different colors in this ink series pull inspiration from Australia’s Tasmania Region seasons.

Tasmania is the only state in Australia that offers a temperate climate. In winter, the region is known for its colorful festivals in the south, highland snow, and days overshadowed by fog. Spring is a kaleidoscope of wildflower color peppered with stunning butterflies and birds. Summer marks the arrival of local produce – often enjoyed at one of the many beaches when summer storms don’t loom. In Autumn, Australia’s only native deciduous tree becomes the star of nature’s show alongside late-season figs and pepperberries. Four inks represent each season for a total of sixteen ink colors, including two shimmering inks (both in the “winter” season).
To learn more about the different Van Dieman’s inks currently available visit PenChalet.com.

All About This Week’s Chosen Ink: Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival Ink

Huon Midwinter Festival fountain pen ink one of the winter inks from the Tassie Seasons ink series, AND one of the two shimmering ink colors included in the line. Huon Midwinter Festival is a nice, soft brown color with a golden shimmer. This dark ink shows up well on paper with medium to high saturation. In the short time we’ve carried them, Van Dieman’s inks have been very popular, and this week’s ink is no exception.

** Don’t stop now. Keep reading for a chance to win the bottle of Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival fountain pen ink used for this week’s review. (Or if you’re still working on adopting patience in your everyday life, go ahead and scroll directly to the bottom of the review where you’ll find the link to enter this week’s giveaway. I’ll allow it).

Read the full Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival fountain pen ink review.

It’s Time: Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival Ink Review

For this week’s ink review, we explored Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival fountain pen ink. We ran it through all the tests to find the different characteristics and traits that you’ll need to know before deciding to add this new ink to your collection. Continue reading to get all the details.

Ink Review Testing Factors:

Each week we list any supplies we used during the review alongside our featured ink. For instance, while reviewing Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival fountain pen ink, we used a J Herbin spiral glass dip pen (with a tip similar to a fine-medium fountain pen nib) on Rhodia dot pad paper. It’s always worth noting that different papers and nib sizes may produce different results.

What Sort of Ink Bottle Does Van Dieman’s Use?

Van Dieman’s ink is 30 ml. and comes in a glass ink bottle. We appreciated the unique, pear-shaped bottle design with the front of the bottle jutting out to make it easy to get to every last drop of beautiful ink. Van Dieman’s packaging is simple but nice, with the ink color clearly labeled.

How Much Does Van Dieman’s Ink Cost?

Van Dieman’s ink is a reasonably priced fountain pen ink for the 30 ml. quantity (and considering that the popular inks are directly imported from Australia). There’s no additional cost for Van Dieman’s shimmering inks. And, possibly even more exciting, you can find discounted pricing at Pen Chalet.

How Did Huon Midwinter Festival Ink Handle the 1 Dip Test?

Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival fountain pen ink performed well during the 1 Dip Test. (This part of the review tests how far one dip can write on paper). Dipping the pen into Huon Midwinter Festival ink one time, we were able to write across the paper on all three writing samples very easily. We used one dip per writing sample. Writing samples included: S, X, and scribble lines (see the photograph of the samples above).

How Fast Does Huon Midwinter Festival Ink Dry?

Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival fountain pen ink had a dry time of approximately 9-10 seconds with medium to high saturation. We thought this was a very reasonable dry time for a medium to high saturation shimmering ink.

Does Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival Ink Bleed Through?

During normal use of Huon Midwinter Festival fountain pen ink, we saw slight bleed through with slightly more bleeding during the heavily saturated cotton swab test, especially at the wettest points.

Was There Any Feathering While Using Huon Midwinter Festival Ink?

During normal use on Rhodia paper, we saw no feathering. We saw almost no additional feathering during the water test.

How Does Huon Midwinter Festival Ink Stand Up to Water?

This week’s ink is not a waterproof fountain pen ink. However, we always include a water test in the review. (For the water test, we let an ink sample dry for about 3 minutes before running a wet cotton swab over the sample). After putting Huon Midwinter Festival ink to the water test, we saw light color smearing, which is very reasonable for a dark ink color. The lines were very clear and legible, with only some very slight distortion and fading after the water test.

Does Huon Midwinter Festival Ink Have Good Shading and Shimmering Traits?

While reviewing Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival ink, we saw some slight possible shading traits when using the ink with a nib that allows ink flow variation like a stub or italic nib. We got fantastic shimmering traits using the dip pen.

Final Conclusion on Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival Ink:

Van Dieman’s inks are reasonably priced, available in a smaller, 30 ml bottle, and made by a prolific Australian ink manufacturer that is relatively new to Pen Chalet.

This week’s featured ink, from Van Dieman’s Tassie Seasons ink series, is a lovely shimmering brown shade with a very reasonable dry time (9-10 seconds). The beautiful golden shimmer sets it apart, while the affordable price and reasonable dry time make it more versatile than you may expect. We’d recommend it for special projects, notes, journaling, etc. It’s easy to use (especially with a dip or brush pen), and you’ll see better application with a larger fountain pen nib.

As is the case with any high sheen or shimmering ink, we suggest you clean your fountain pen periodically (we recommend weekly) to avoid unwanted clogging of the nib and feed. If you don’t already have a good cleaning solution, you can try Pen Chalet’s Fountain Pen Flush for periodic cleanings. Van Dieman’s suggests using Huon Midwinter Festival ink with a dip or brush type pen for the best results. Happy writing from Australia!

Enter to Win Van Dieman’s Huon Midwinter Festival Ink from the Tassie Seasons Ink Series:

Enter to win the actual bottle of Huon Midwinter Festival fountain pen ink that Pen Chalet used in this week’s ink review:

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