Diamine Inkvent 2025: Day 3 — Carousel
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*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Day 3!
Inkvent Day 3! Today we have Carousel.
The Color and Properties
Diamine Carousel is a pigment ink — it contains solid pigment particulates to give the ink water and fade resistance. The base color is a bright and vibrant red with orange undertones. There’s some shading, especially when writing in print, but when writing in cursive or with finer nibs, the shading generally presents itself as a soft gradient or a solid red. You may notice there is a minor golden sheen in the ink splat and droplets below, and that also presents itself in writing, but rather than typical sheening inks, it looks more like a dull luster over the letters (very similar to Iroshizuku Momiji).
Ink splat
Ink droplets
Performance | Cleaning
Rhodia
Leuchtturm
Carousel has a surprisingly wet flow, and the lubrication is just as surprisingly good. In fact, the overall experience was much more pleasant than expected. Still, it had a minor tendency to dry out quickly in the nib. I didn’t find it that annoying, and it was never difficult to get started again, but it’s worth noting. And despite that, I never experienced any outright clogs during writing.
The ink doesn’t seem to be that harsh to the paper, but there were some minor traces of bleed-through on the Leuchtturm1917 page. It was very minor, however, and this ink should still be fine with most paper/pen combinations. I didn’t test them formally, but the dry times also seem to be exceptionally quick (drying consistently within 10 seconds for the 3 nibs I used).
I was very fearful of the cleaning experience, but I was shocked at how quickly the ink washed out of the barrel of the pen. Almost immediately. I couldn’t believe it. There was still some residue visible on the inside of the barrel and along the threads where the nib units connect to the pen, but both scrubbed off easily with a cotton swab (of course, this required me to disassemble the pen to do).
With that said, the syringe I used to fill the pen was completely destroyed.
The nib units, unfortunately, didn’t clean as easily as the barrel of the pen. I tried flushing and soaking the nib units over a few nights with basic water, and color would come out, but in reality, it did next to nothing. Beyond that, I tried to use some soapy water to help loosen any stuck pigment in the nib unit. It was more effective, but there was still plenty of pigment stuck between the tines and under the nib.
Getting the ink clean from the nib units without disassembly required the help of a toothbrush and a thin brass shim to help unclog the tines and get in between the nib and feed of the pen. The nibs are clean now, but based on my experience, I don’t recommend using this ink unless you are absolutely prepared for what you’re getting into as far as cleaning goes.
Writing Samples
Written on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper (white, 7mm ruling) with a medium nib.
Written on Midori MD paper (cream, 7mm ruling), with a medium nib.
My personal thoughts…
When I learned there would be pigment inks, I was ready to say no to the 2025 Inkvent calendar. I didn’t want anything to do with that. But here we are, and I’m conflicted because I didn’t entirely hate it? Yeah! It was alright. Would I choose it for myself? Probably not — it’s too much of a cleaning hassle for me. But I could see how someone might. It’s a decent red, and because it’s a pigment ink, it looks solid. I was surprised by how much I was enjoying the look of it. I would even go as far as to recommend it. Just know that the cleaning experience isn’t going to be pretty. This is the kind of ink that is best used with a pen that was dedicated to it (and preferably one with a great cap seal). It’s really not bad, and more importantly, Carousel may have convinced me to try some of the pigment inks in Diamine’s recent Forever lineup.
Written in a 52 gsm Tomoe River notebook with a medium nib.
More Images/Info:
Featured in the photography and writing samples:
Diamine Carousel
TWSBI Diamond 580AL Silver — Amazon
Traveler’s Company “Have a Nice Trip” brass clip — Endless Pens | Amazon
Traveler’s Company “Let’s Go on a Road Trip” brass clip
Nanami Paper Tomoe River Cafe Note B6 Slim - Ruled
Midori MD A6 lined notebook — Amazon
Current text: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens — Amazon
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Tools and materials used in the writing samples:
A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 3 nib units including a Fine, Medium, and Broad. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same wetness.
A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad
A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook