I was recently reminded about Diamine Meadow (available in 2ml samples for $1.25 and 80ml bottles for $14.95) 30ml bottles for $7.50 and from my Secret Society of Enablers (you know who you are!). I’m lucky I know so many people who share my love of green. I had a sample of it in my stash from a Goulet Pens Ink Drop so I finally pulled it out to give it a good going over to determine if this was an ink worthy of a full bottle purchase, seeing as I already own many bottles of yellow-green ink. I have to be choosy about how many more lime green inks enter my house for fear of mojito overload.
I filled my Lamy Safari with 1.1mm stub/calligraphy nib and set forth to give this ink a thorough testing.
First, I did my watercolor brush painted lettering, to see the range of color and was pleased with the range of color. Meadow varies from a deep almost kelly green to a light lime depending on how much ink is applied.
Then I started my writing tests. It seemed like the color was coming out much darker than most people had described it. I kept thinking that maybe I had some fugitive color from poor cleaning and the more I wrote the lighter the color became. Yep. Fugitive color.
By the time I was halfway down the page, I am pretty confident I was getting the true color, consistent with both the color in the painted lettering and the swab. Its a bright, happy grassy green with lots of shading and it looks great in the wide 1.1mm nib. It does seem to dry a bit darker than when its wet … almost a little olive-y which is actually quite legible.
I was concerned about overall legibility so I switched out the 1.1mm nib to a F nib just to see for myself and the ink maintained both shading and legibility, at least with the European F nib. A Japanese F nib might lose some of the shading because it would be much finer but I think the color would stay dark enough to be usable unlike Pilot Iroshizuku Chiku-Rin which I sometimes find too light in very fine nibs to be useful.
Overall, I think Diamine Meadow strikes a nice balance between being a bright green and being a usable color. I love the hue of Chiku-Rin but there are instances where its just too light. Caran D’ache Delicate Green is kind of ridiculously expensive for how kelly green it is and Monblanc Daniel DeFoe is a little subdued, not to mention limited edition. So if you’re in the market for a good green ink, Diamine Meadow is a good candidate and a favorite among the green beans. I think its a keeper.
DISCLAIMER: This item was sent to me free of charge by Goulet Pens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Thanks for the cool review! This week I’ve been looking for a cheery green ink, so this is super timely.
(you should probably reread/edit the first sentence of your review; I think you moved some clauses out of place)
I’m really pleased to see a side-by-side comparison of Daniel Defoe and Chiku-Rin. I only own the Montblanc, but I’ve been vacillating for months and months on whether or not to buy the Chiku-Rin. Iroshizuku ink is just so damn expensive. I think these cards have finally settled the debate: I actually don’t need that particular ink.
Yellow/lime greens are my weakness as well – J Herbin Vert Olive is one I keep coming back to, for lack of a better/more cost-effective option. But I’ve got Noodler’s Army Green on order (bless the Goulets for stocking the Karas in olive green with the new army green Leucchturm and the perfect army-olive ink). Hopefully the ink will be visually distinct from the Noodler’s Sequoia I already own, which is more of a dark emerald color.
It looks like Meadow is a pretty near match to the Caran d’Ache – except I like the Meadow better, which is good, because Caran d’Ache is much too rich for my blood.
I got a sample of Sailor Kobe # 19 Minatogawa Lime a few months ago. Since Sailor inks are so expensive stateside, I was recommended that Diamine Meadow might be a good match! I will definitely have to check this ink out soon!