BlueBlack x Diamine - Night View of Seoul
서울밤의야경 (Night View of Seoul) is the eighth ink in the ten-ink Seoul City set from BlueBlack in Korea. This is the third shimmer ink in the set, and along with a bit of sheen, shimmer is an important part of what makes this attractive ink special. BlueBlack worked with Diamine for the inks, and Diamine shimmers are generally worry-free in flow. That’s been my experience here, too.
Night View of Seoul is a rich and luxurious bronze black. I’m not a big fan of standard blacks, but this is definitely not a standard black! My first thoughts went to Robert Oster Motor Oil, and there are similarities, but as the swatch comparison image shows, they’re not a match. Night View in Seoul is more of a bronze in light areas. The gold sheen and silver shimmer blend beautifully here with the base colors and really help define this ink. None overwhelms the others. The balance of the three is just right.
Like previously reviewed, ink seven in the set (The Blue House), this is a viscous ink in flow. The luxuriousness of Night View of Seoul’s colors is mirrored in the writing experience. It’s beautifully smooth on the page. Strokes are sharp without any feathering. Drying was longer than average on some papers, but not a big problem. A nice sheen stroke edge is common on coated papers. This is a beautiful writing ink.
Night View of Seoul is classic and restrained with just enough glamour. I like it much more than I expected. It’s beautiful and a pleasure to use. Two more inks in the Seoul City set remain, but I can already strongly recommend it. You can get it at BlueBlack in Seoul or on their website.
Keep scrolling down for writing samples, stroke edge sheen, ink swatch card and ink comparisons, the bottle, and the entire set.