Diamine Inkvent Calendar
/SPOILER ALERT!!! Don’t scroll down if you want your Inkvent Calendar to stay a surprise!!!
For the last few years I’ve been hoping that someone would come out with an ink advent calendar, and it’s finally happened! Earlier this year Diamine announced their 2019 Inkvent Calendar and I immediately pre-ordered it from Pen Chalet (they still have some in stock!) Diamine is one of my favorite ink brands-their ink is well-behaved, affordable and available in a million colors (well, 208 colors that I know of). I had mixed feelings about reviewing the calendar since I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s surprise, but I took a poll on Instagram stories and 87% voted for a review so let’s take a look!
Size
The calendar is rather large at 10 1/4 x 13 1/2 inches. There are 25 different windows, one for each day leading up to Christmas.
Bottles
It includes 24-7ml bottles as well as one 30ml bottle for Christmas day. I love the 7ml size. Enough to play with but not a full-size bottle.
The 25 inks include 1 black, 1 blue-black, 1 grey, 4 brown, 5 red, 1 orange, 1 yellow, 3 green, 1 teal, 5 blue and 2 purple. It is a bit blue and red heavy.
Day 1 is Blue Peppermint, a pale blue with a bit of green and blue shimmer. It’s a bit lighter than Robert Oster Morning Shine but less green than Diamine Spearmint Diva.
Day 2 is Candy Cane, a bright vibrant red. It’s similar to Robert Oster Rubine and Montblanc Legend of Zodiacs.
Day 3 is Snow Storm, a cool toned grey with silver shimmer. It’s cooler than Diamine Moon Dust, and much lighter than J Herbin Stormy Grey.
Day 4 is Polar Glow, a medium blue with lots of red sheen. It’s similar to both Diamine Jalur Gemilang and A Night in Jodhpur.
Day 5 is Triple Chocolate, a medium Brown. It’s similar to Pilot Iroshizuku Tsukushi.
Day 6 is Ho Ho Ho. It’s similar to Diamine Tulip.
Day 7 is Mistletoe, a medium green, darker than Sailor Ink Studio 967.
Day 8 is Gold Star. It’s a warm yellow with gold shimmer. It’s darker than De Atramentis Amber Yellow Gold, and much lighter than Robert Oster Heart of Gold.
Day 9 is Nutcracker, a darker brown with a red undertone. It’s less red than Robert Oster Aussie Brown.
Day 10 is Winter Miracle, a dark purple with gold sheen and blue shimmer. It’s darker than both J Herbin Amethyste de L’oural and Diamine Purple Pazzazz.
Day 11 is Elf, a medium green that’s a bit warmer than Sailor Ink Studio 960.
Day 12 is Noel, a dark red with medium gold sheen. It’s a bit more vibrant than Robert Oster Burgundy.
Day 13 is Mulled Wine, a medium red, almost a maroon. It’s more vibrant than Robert Oster Australian Shiraz and Sailor Jentle Oku-yama.
Day 14 is Jack Frost, a medium blue with blue shimmer and pink sheen. it’s different from Robert Oster Blue Moon and Diamine Arctic Blue, both of which have silver shimmer and are a brighter blue.
Day 15 is Festive Cheer, a medium blue with some sheen. It’s more of a dark cornflower, lighter than Colorverse Quasar, but darker than Diamine Majestic Blue.
Day 16 is Seasons Greetings, a dark teal with black sheen. It’s darker than Diamine Smoke on the Water.
Day 17 is a medium vibrant Red, similar to Robert Oster Red Candy.
Day 18 is Holly, a dark green with dark red sheen. It’s close to Diamine November Rain.
Day 19 is Gingerbread, a golden brown similar to Taccia Tuchi Golden Wheat.
Day 20 is Midnight Hour, a bright blue black with black sheen. It’s more vibrant than both Nemosine Pleiades Blue Black and Robert Oster Blue Black.
Day 21 is Fire Embers, a bright red-orange. It’s close to Monteverde Motivation.
Day 22 is Solstice, a dark black with green shimmer (which didn’t show up at all in the photo unfortunately). The base color is similar to Noodler’s Black Bat.
Day 23 is roasted chestnut, a red brown. It’s more red than Stipula Sepia.
Day 24 is Purple Bow, slightly warmer than Diamine Purple Rain. It has some high coppery sheen.
Day 25 is Happy Holidays, a bright blue with lots of pink sheen, similar to Diamine Maureen.
Out of the 25 inks, six have sheen, four have shimmer, and two have sheen and shimmer. I love that a shimmery grey, yellow and black are included-what I would consider to be holiday neutrals of silver, gold and black.
Overall, I love this! The idea is great, the colors are varied, there’s a good mix of basic inks as well as sheen and shimmer, and different from Diamine’s currently available inks. The bottle size is good, and it’s a great way to try a bunch of new colors. It would be a great gift for a pen friend!
Disclaimer: I purchased this product myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. There are affiliate links on this page, but this post is not sponsored in any way.