Diamine - Aurora Borealis

Diamine Aurora Borealis - ink drop

Diamine Aurora Borealis was originally created and released in 2019 for Reddit’s r/fountainpen community. It’s a very attractive ink, and I think it’s one of their more popular selections. This is an ink you often hear mentioned in people’s lists of favorites.

Teal inks are among my favorites, and Aurora Borealis is a rich, beautiful teal. On some papers, it leans blue, and on others more towards the greens. It's also a fairly nice shading ink with some nib and paper combinations. It doesn’t lighten particularly strongly, but there’s a powerful depth to this ink, which is highlighted in the contrast of mediums and darks the shading displays. Visible on the splatter, a lush, cinnamon pink sheen can be seen surrounding the areas of pooling. This carries over to the edging of written strokes when writing with a juicy nib on coated papers.

Diamine Aurora Borealis - ink swatch and drying

As a writing ink, strokes are clean and crisp, and looked flawless on both Rhodia and Mnemosyne papers. However, results were disappointing on Kokuyo, with significant feather and show through. Surprisingly, compared to Kokuyo, results were better on office copy paper. There was very little feathering, although show through remained an issue. Drying times varied widely. Longest was on Rhodia at 55 seconds, and fastest was office copy paper at only 10 seconds.

I really like Diamine inks. They offer a wide range of colors, and a substantial catalog of shimmer inks. In addition, they are some of the most affordable on the market. I think Aurora Borealis is a real winner. It’s not perfect on every paper, but it’s very good on many, and it’s a very attractive ink. Plus, it’s usable in an office setting. I’d prefer faster drying times when it comes to Rhodia, but it’s usable on office copy, which is a great feature. I definitely recommend you try this one. I think you’ll really like what you find!

October 2020