Diamine Inkvent 2024: Day 1 — Baltic Breeze
Inkvent is here!
Welcome everyone! The first day of Inkvent 2024 is finally here! And with day one we’re off to a strong start: Baltic Breeze.
The color/properties:
Baltic Breeze is a shimmering ink. The base color is a light, almost pastel blue with light grey and pink undertones. The ink has some light shading, and while there’s not a lot of tonal variation, there’s still a noticeable, crisp cut between its light and dark tones where the ink pools. The particulates are rose gold and complement both the shading and the pink undertones, as they’re not overly concentrated and are mostly visible within the shaded areas of the ink.
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Rhodia
Leuchtturm
How did it perform?
Baltic Breeze has a slightly dry flow, but despite that I didn’t experience any clogs, skips, or hard starting. The lubrication was okay with both the fine and medium nibs, but it was noticeably lacking with the broad nib. The shimmer distribution was good and mostly consistent. I didn’t have to agitate the pen much while writing to keep it going, but there were definitely some parts of the writing sample where more shimmer would come out than normal.
As far as cleaning goes, the ink washed out easily enough, but there was a ring of shimmer left over on the inside of the barrel. It scrubbed out easily with a cotton swab, but it did require me to remove the piston assembly from the pen.
Ink splat
Ink droplets
My personal thoughts…
You know, I opened the first door and the first thing I read was “Balto Breeze.” No way! I said, what a reference! It wasn’t long before I realized that reality wasn’t quite so awesome and it was actually “Baltic Breeze.” Not that either name makes sense, really, but hey, it’s fine. I’m not sure what they’re going for thematically here either, but still, the ink is appropriately wintry, and the rose shimmer on the pale blue looks fantastic. I had a lot of fun with this one and I’d say we’re off to a strong start.
Written in a Leuchtturm1917 notebook
More Images/Info:
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