Where to buy: Diamine [Here]

Price: £9.95

Bottle size: 50ml

Colour: Weird mix up of a dusty and vibrant purple

Shading: subtle

Sheening: Nope, but you have silver particulate

Recommend?: This ink caught my eye when I saw the swabs for the first time. Definitely an ink that I’d recommend

I have been fortunate enough to receive samples from Diamine of five of their new generation of Shimmertastic inks. Here are the links to other reviews on the Shimmertastic range if you’re interested (all links open in a new tab). I will add more links as the reviews are posted:

When the first pictures of the new Diamine Shimmertastic inks dropped, I was surprised – very surprised. Because Arabian Nights was one of the inks that grabbed my attention (along with Wine Divine that I thoroughly encourage you to look at if you get the chance), while usually I prefer blue inks, I was drawn to this ink. So when I found this in my mailbox, I was a very happy boy.

Diamine Arabian Nights is a purple ink with silver sparkles to it. If I’m choosing between gold or silver, I usually prefer the former over the latter. Some inks work better with gold, while others work better with silver. This ink is one I think that Diamine could have used either colour for, but when you consider looking up in the night sky, the stars do appear silver; so the decision makes sense.

If you’re looking for a vibrant purple, this sadly won’t be the one for you. Arabian Nights is a little dusty of a purple and nothing like what you get from, say, Lamy Dark Lilac. At first I likened it to Diamine Damson, but upon comparing the two inks I discovered that they’re actually quite difficult. When I first got into the hobby, I ordered a sample of Damson and hated it, however, it’s grown on me. So this is an acquired taste. If you want a vibrant purple with sparkles, you would have to look at Diamine Purple Pazzazz (which has gold sparkles) or the new J Herbin Amethyste De Laurel ink – this time with silver sparkles.

Diamine’s sparkle range behaves very well in my opinion. I’ve never had clogging or flow issues with the ink and they’ve been (as far as inks with particulate go) easy to clean out. Of course, this goes with every ink of this nature, but it does require a tad more maintenance, but so long as you have good fountain pen hygiene, you should be okay to go.

The sparkles lay down heavy – more so than J Herbin inks which I have found to be a little more subtle through experience. I really want to find more practical applications to use Diamine Shimmertastic inks. I don’t think the Diamine line is as innovative as the J Herbin 1670 inks, but what you get is just brilliant. With Christmas coming, these inks will make a fantastic addition to Christmas letters/cards!

If you want an ink without the sparkle, it might be a bit difficult to find. I’m sure there are similar inks out there (such as Diamine Damson) but I can’t really name any that are exact off the top of my head. If you still want to go down the sparkle route, I would highly recommend Wine Divine, or alternatively the two other purple inks (Diamine Purple Pazzazz & J Herbin Amethyste De Laurel). These are a bit more, for lack of a better term, exciting than Arabian Nights: they’re more vibrant and pop off the page. But Arabian Nights certainly doesn’t fall short of expectations or approval and I think this is one that I’ll be getting a full bottle of at a later date!

Disclaimer: These inks were sent to me from Diamine in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation or incentive has been received; all views expressed are my own. I would like to thank Diamine for the opportunity to review these inks.