Diamine Autumn Oak
Ink Review #11
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Overview
The color/properties:
Autumn Oak is a pale orange. Like the name would suggest, it shades with an abundance of autumnal tones and hues. The color variation can range from a bright orange to a deep red, to even a light brown, but what makes this ink so spectacular is how it appears after it pools. A lot of inks will shade with a soft gradient or a crisp cut between their differing tones, but not Autumn Oak. Sure, those traits are possible, but there’s so much more. Depending on what pen and paper you’re going to be writing with, the shading can appear wavy, spotty, or just dark around the edges. There are many possibilities.
Ink splat
Ink droplets
Performance on paper:
This ink had excellent performance on paper: there was no feathering, and no bleeding on any of the test papers at all. Dry times, though slightly inconsistent, were above average. Most of the tests showed dry times across the test nibs to fall within 15 seconds, even with the larger nibs (though occasionally the odd nib would take up to 20-25 on some papers). Notably, on Kokuyo all the large nibs except for the architect were dry in 10 seconds. Water resistance was unfortunately poor. There were small traces left, but it was light, cloudy, and unreadable. If you spill water on this one, it’s going to be a bad time.
Water resistance
Chromatography
Performance in the pen:
For the most part, Diamine Autumn Oak performed well. The ink provided a nice and consistent medium flow, and all the nibs felt nicely lubricated while writing. Despite what initially felt like ideal performance, I did experience a few hard starts with the broad nib. The issue was most notable on the Midori and Kokuyo papers, but anything around 15 or so seconds off the page caused some trouble. Still, once the nib got going the flow felt normal and I didn’t notice any feeling of dryness so your mileage may vary. I don’t expect this ink to have any trouble in most pens.
Value/cost per ml:
At the time of writing Diamine Autumn Oak sells for $17 for an 80ml bottle from most US retailers, making this ink $0.21 per ml.
The bottle/packaging:
Autumn Oak comes in the standard Diamine bottle with a gold cap and an orange label that generally represents the color inside. The glass could be crisper, but the bottle is inoffensive and unassuming, if not slightly akin to artistic supplies. I think it does well to capture Diamine as the long-standing and historic ink maker they are. Functionally, the bottle is fine. It’s wide at the bottom, making it stable for filling. The opening isn’t the widest though and I do find it more comfortable to syringe-fill the pen rather than from the bottle.
Score: 66/70
Price per ml: 8.5/10
Performance in a pen: 9/10
Performance on paper: 10/10
Color saturation: 6/10
Sheening: 0/10
Shading: 8/10
Dry time: 8.5/10
Water resistance: 1/10
Ease of cleaning: 10/10
Bottle form: 2/5
Bottle function: 3/5
*Only 70 of the 100 available points are required for an outstanding score.My personal thoughts...
Do you love autumn? Have you ever wanted to write with autumn leaves instead of raking them into a pile? Do you just want the perfect ink to complement the season? If any of those are true, then this ink is for you.
I think it would be incredibly difficult to overstate how well this ink evokes the sensation of autumn, and up to this point, I haven’t found any inks that do it better. It’s been in my seasonal rotation for years, and I don’t think I’ll ever take it out. Diamine Autumn Oak is as essential to the season for me as pumpkins and Halloween. If there’s a quintessential autumn ink, this would be the one. It’s autumnal perfection.
Written on Black n’ Red Oxford Optik paper using a Taccia Covenant with a Zoom Nib
More images/info:
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 68gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook
A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook
A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook