Just like with the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Cult Pens teamed up with Diamine to produce an ink to commemorate the Coronation of King Charles III. As before this was to be a shimmer ink and sold in the regal looking 50ml bottles.

I was provided with a decent sample of this ink by Cult Pens though Nick Stewart.

Initial Impressions

A London Bus red with hints of pink and orange. A little on the dry side and the blue shimmer is quite light and a little hard to spot.

Swabbing Impressions

First pass and the ink looks dry and more a dark pink than a regal red. Second pass and we see the colour we would expect. Now we also start to see some of the blue particulate we would expect to see (cotton buds actually seem to reduce the amount of shimmer, as if the glitter sticks to the fibres). The third pass and the colour darkens slightly more, however we can now more clearly see the blue from the particulate. Additionally we see a darker outline to the area, though still a red. The fourth pass actually darkens the ink further.

Writing Impressions

I need to mention this right at the very start of this section, rather than repeat it in every part, but you will note that the shimmer does not appear to be visible on any of the writing samples, indeed in real work use I also find very little is evident and I have been using this in a broad nibbed pen.

On the Midori MD paper the Franklin Christoph needlepoint wrote well with a very small amount of shading. With the OMAS there was a lot less shading than I was expecting, additionally there was a little feathering, though not unusual on this paper with wet nibs. The Franklin Christoph SIG nib struggled at first until the ink started to properly flow, after which the writing was fine, complete with some shading. The Pelikan Pelikano also struggled. I had to top up the converter while doing the above, yet with a wet feed (though dried with a cloth) there was still a little skipping.

I rather like the way the Needlepoint writes on the Black’n’Red Optik paper. The colour is crisp and there is also some shading. With the OMAS pen there is more shading than on Midori MD, though still a little feathering. The SIG nib produced a lot of shading, though looking very closely you will note that in some areas the ink flow is at it’s limit. The Pelikano wrote reasonably enough, however there was a little rail roading.

It does tend to feel that Tomoe River paper produces the best results on these ink tests and we see that here as well. The Franklin-Christoph Needlepoint produced clear, crisp writing with a little shading. The OMAS also produced nice shading, and here there was no feathering due to the nature of the finish of the paper. The SIG nib wrote in a similar manner to the OMAS, though with more shading, and the Pelikan also generally behaved, though there was a little rail roading on some down strokes.

With the ‘splodge’ you can see a decent variation of the shading and if you look closely at the darker areas, the slight velvet effect is actually the shimmer coming though.

Shading and Sheen

There is a reasonable range of shading with this ink, however that is more when swabbed, not when writing. Still there is enough to add character.

This is not a sheening ink.

Flow and Consistency

The ink flows relatively well and moves back and forth in a converter with little issue. I do note when shaking the bottle to mix the particulate with the ink you do see frothing as a result and perhaps this is caused by something that results in the two dryer nibs struggling a little, especially on the Midori MD paper.

Drying Times

Now I would suggest this ink has an ‘average’ drying time, however on a couple of occasions when I have been using this ink in the real world, my writing has been smudged (both times when I was signing in to a meeting). I was surprised by this.

Packaging

Diamine have packaged Coronation in the same 50ml bottles they use for their advent calendar inks. It is smart looking, and the old world style does lend itself to a royal celebration. The same bottle was used for the Cult Pens/Diamine Diamond Jubilee ink last year.

Swab Comparisons

I have no comparable shimmer ink swabs to compare with, so the only comparison cards below are from ‘normal’ inks.

Starting with a pair of Diamine inks. The 150th Anniversary ink from 2014 (still readily available) is a little darker. The Matador is very close and might be a source of the base ink.

Here we have three similar inks by other makers. All are close, though when taking shading in to account the Pelikan Edelstein Garnet is the closest.

Cost

At present Coronation is £12 for a 50ml bottle. This is the same price as Platinum Jubilee and Pumpkin, though looking at other Cult Pens Diamine shimmer exclusives it appears we are paying £3 for fancy bottle over the more normal straight one, as used with the present Autumn Tones range. Still this is not an expensive ink in the slightest.

Views

I know this ink has received mixed views. I think people were expecting a purple, except that was used for the Platinum Jubilee celebration ink. Additionally the shimmer element is light, sinks very quickly to the bottom of the bottle and it barely visible in writing. At first a number of us actually thought it was pink, not blue. I actually rather like Coronation and have been using the ink in my Writing Equipment Society/Onoto collaboration Platinum Jubilee Magna Classic. It works well with the tuned broad nib in that pen, though very little shimmer is ever seen. Perhaps fortunately as I’ve been using this pen to sign in to meetings.

Tools Used

• The Well Appointed Desk Col-o-ring ink testing cards.
• Midori MD A5 paper (cream page writing sample).
• Black’n’Red Optik A5 paper (white page writing sample).
• Rhodia Dotpad No. 16 (drying tests).
• GoodINKPressions A5 Tomoe River 68 gsm paper (white paper, this ink blot test at bottom).

Pens Used

• Pure Pens glass dip pen with the tip slightly smoothed (used the writing on the ink test cards).
• Franklin-Christoph 451 CDLI with a Mike Masuyama Needlepoint steel nib.
• OMAS 360 GM with a broad 18k gold nib.
• Franklin-Christoph 19 ‘1911’ with a broad SIG steel nib.
• Pelikan Pelikano with a starter/A steel nib (also used for the drying test and writing in the pocket book).
• Letter opener for the ink smear on the Tomoe River paper.