Diamine Ancient Copper
Ink Review #151
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
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Overview
The color/properties
Diamine Ancient Copper is a deep brownish-red (you could call it orange). In writing, the color leans a lot more to the orange side, especially before it shades into the darker, more red tone that’s closer to what you might see when you swatch the color. The color shades with a soft cut in both cursive and print writing, and you might even get a crisp black outline around the outside edges of the letters where it shades heavily but not on the light/dark cut inside the letter (I know this sounds confusing but you’ll know what I mean if/when you see it on paper!). There’s a minor green sheen in the ink splats and droplets, but I have yet to observe it in writing.
Ink splat
Ink droplets
Performance on paper:
Ancient copper is well-behaved, although there was some significant bleed-through on the Kokuyo paper (mostly with the larger nib sizes). There’s also a very slight amount of feathering around the edges of the ink droplets. The ink should be fine on most fountain pen-friendly papers, but they may be pushed past their limits with wetter pens.
The ink has slightly below average dry times, with the small nibs taking up to as long as 10-15 seconds to dry, and the large nib sizes falling anywhere between 15 and 30, with no real consistency. I haven’t had an issue with it myself, but the saturated nature of the ink could also make it more prone to smudging from residual hand moisture.
After water exposure, Ancient Copper quickly clouds over, but there’s still some legible remains left over. Still, it’s very messy, and the overall legibility will vary.
Water resistance
Chromatography
Performance in the pen:
Ancient Copper has a medium flow and slightly above average lubrication. It’s not overly slick, but it’s very pleasant while retaining some tactility. I enjoy writing with this one a lot! The ink also held up well during extended writing without any noticeable drops in flow, and I didn’t run into any hard starts, stops, or skips during my tests.
The ink cleans out surprisingly quickly, too. It only took a single soak and flush before the pen and nib units were clean, with no visible traces of color or residue left over in the pen. With that said, if you forget this ink in a pen for too long, it will crust up horribly, but even then, it’s not that much more difficult to clean out in my experience.
The horror. This is what happens when you forget to clean Ancient Copper out for a year. It will crust up. Something to note, however, is that it never crusted up on the nib itself. It was also surprisingly easy to clean. I let the pen sit nib down in a cup of water for an hour, and it wasn’t long before it was clear.
Written on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper (white, 7mm ruling) with a medium nib.
Written on Midori MD paper (cream, 7mm ruling), with an extra fine nib.
Written on Midori MD paper (cream, 7mm ruling) with a medium nib.
Performance in a pen: 10/10
Performance on paper: 8.5/10
Color saturation: 7.5/10
Sheening: 1/10
Shading: 6/10
Dry time: 6.5/10
Water resistance: 2/10
Ease of cleaning: 10/10
Shimmer: None
My Personal Thoughts…
Ancient Copper is another ink that had a lot of buzz around it before there were so many new inks and ink makers on the market. It’s still relatively popular, but I don’t think as much as it should be. Does it look like copper? Not really, but it’s still an excellent ink that fits perfectly in the gap between an orange and a deep red (like Oxblood). This ink was in one of my daily carry pens for nearly a year because I loved the color, but it was also pleasant to write with, functional, and surprisingly easy to clean out. To this day, it’s the only ink I’ll put in that pen. It’s just that good a pair. I have nothing bad to say. Ancient Copper is awesome.
Written on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper with a TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR in “Prussian Blue” (broad nib).
More images/info:
Featured in the photography and writing samples:
Diamine Ancient Copper (Amazon)
Retro51 Tornado “Lincoln Antique Copper”, medium nib
TWSBI ECO “Heat” medium nib
52 gsm B6 Tomoe River notebook insert by Galen Leather
Endless Explorer notebook cover
Traveler’s Company brass clip (Amazon)
Midori MD A6 lined notebook (Amazon) — My write-up on customizing the notebooks here.
Enjoy the Silent Hill theme? Here’s my free Patreon post on making the props!
Current text: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (Amazon)
Tools and materials used in the writing samples:
A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 7 nib units including a Needlepoint grind, EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm stub, and an Architect grind. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same medium wetness.
A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad
A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook
A Midori MD A5 Notebook
A 52gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook
A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook
A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook