Colorvent/Inkvent Recap, The First Five Days!

Last year was the first year with two ink Advent calendars, and I chose to do weekly “five day” updates and pushed daily updates to Instagram stories for those interested in following along in real time. I plan to do the same for 2025! As with last year’s calendars, the Diamine Inkvent Calendar and Colorverse Colorvent calendars are both very different. The Inkvent Calendar is definitely more festive, with colors inspired by the holiday season and named accordingly. The Colorvent Calendar sticks to Colorverse’s general “universe” and “space” themes, so it’s not exactly festive but fans of Colorverse Ink will get exactly what they love about the brand: new colors with a consistent theme in their signature comet-shaped bottle. Each year, Diamine releases ALL of the Inkvent inks as a special line, so you can purchase them later, and last year Colorverse selected the Top 3 and added them to the standard lineup. If you missed out on these and still want to play along, we have one or two remaining Diamine Inkvent Calendars available, but Colorvent has been sold out for some time.

This Year’s Ink Swatching Kit: Glass Pen and Iroful swatch cards

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This year’s Colorvent and Inkvent Swatch Kit: I’m using my Hanabi Glass Studio Glass Dip Pen that I picked up in D.C., along with Iroful Swatch Cards since I love how this paper shows off the ink.

Day One: Colorverse Colorvent Martian Dust and Diamine Inkvent Celestial Skies

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So far, I think Day 1 is my favorite: Diamine Celestial Sky with sheen, shade, and shimmer, and Colorverse Martian Dust, which is a deep burgundy with some gold sheen.

Day Two: Colorverse Colorvent Apollon and Diamine Inkvent “Energy”

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Day 2 featured the first “Super Sheener” as well as a really unique Colorverse Ink, “Apollon”.

Day 3: Diamine Inkvent Carousel (Pigmented) and Colorverse Colorvent Erebus Crater

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One thing I do appreciate about the Diamine Inkvent Calendar is that it allows you to experience all of their inks across the line, including the new pigment inks. This one feels a bit too “paint like” for my taste, and was somewhat hard to clean off my glass pen. Erebus Crater is a gorgeous multi-shader.

Day 4: Colorverse Colorvent Milky Sea Glistening and Diamine Inkvent Smoky Tobacco (Scented)

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Smoky Tobacco is not terrible as far as scented inks go, as those have traditionally been my least favorite. They’re just far too pungent for my taste. Milky Sea is an excellent Colorverse Glistening (Shimmer) ink.

Day 5: Colorverse Colorvent “Void” and Diamine Inkvent Marie Rose

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Ok, so neither one of these would necessarily be considered a holiday ink to me (and certainly not “Void,” but as some have pointed out, it may not be entirely off-topic). :)

I will be adding to this series of posts throughout “Inkvent” season as I unbox more of the calendars. Stay tuned!

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Inkvent and Colorvent 2024: Recapping Days 11-20

I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the reaction to how I’ve handled Inkvent/Colorvent season this year, as everyone seems to enjoy the daily Instagram polls. I personally enjoy seeing which inks people prefer, and the poll results have definitely included some surprises. Without further ado, here are the top three inks from both the Colorverse Colorvent and Diamine Inkvent calendars, respectively. Note that these polls are not at all scientific, and depend entirely on how many people responded to the Instagram stories poll as of the date of this post. If your favorite ink isn’t included here, go vote! (And if you missed the recap of the first 10 days, you can check it out here.)

Top Three Colorverse “Colorvent” Inks from Days 11-20: NGC 2264, PUlsar pulse, and brinicles/milky Way (tie)

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Easily my favorite ink from both Colorvent and Inkvent. This dark green should be a frontrunner to be added to regular Colorverse lineup next year. Poll results were near-unanimous.

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It came as no surprise to me that Pulsar Pulse was a favorite.

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Ok, so the "third place” Colorvent ink was actually a tie between “Brinicles” and “Milky Way” (shown below). I enjoyed both inks so I decided to include both in the top “three”!

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Given the connection people have long drawn between the “Advent Calendar inks” and shimmer, I’m surprised that the Colorvent Calendar hasn’t included more shimmer inks. That said, those that have appeared in the calendar are very good.

Top Three Diamine “Inkvent” Inks from Days 11-20

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Snow Glob surprised me with how popular it was, yet it’s sort of understandable since it’s one of the more “usable” Inkvent inks from this year.

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Winterberry, with it’s deep red hue and pink shimmer, is probably my own favorite from this year’s Diamine shimmer inks.

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Blue inks with red sheen are always popular. No exceptions.

Overall Takeaways from Inkvent/Colorvent, Part II

My personal takeaways from the first ten days hold true: the Colorverse Colorvent calendar contains more inks that I would use as everyday writers, whereas the Diamine Inkvent calendar features inks that are more traditionally “festive” and associated with winter and the holiday season. Given how much I’ve enjoyed the Colorverse inks, I’m strongly considering adding Colorverse to the shop as a standard brand in 2025. The dark green NGC 2264 is my favorite ink so far from both calendars, and it’s not even close. Stay tuned for the final five days and a general wrap up next week!

We have exactly ONE Diamine Inkvent calendar left. It’s not too late to grab samples of all the inks! Even though the inky advent calendars are mostly sold out, we still have plenty of ink available in our shop, including lots of recently added brands! If you’d like to peruse ink in person, we have extended holiday hours Saturday through Monday before taking a long-awaited break for Christmas. Come see us!

New Arrivals: Get Ready for Inkvent/Colorvent with Col-o-ring Books and Swatching Supplies!

Confession: I opened my Colorverse Colorvent Calendar yesterday. Starting December 1, I plan to post each day’s ink from both the Colorvent and the Diamine Inkvent Calendars, just as I did last year. Most of these mini-reviews will probably go to Instagram and to YouTube (you can check out my recap of last year’s Inkvent here), but I’ll definitely do summaries as well. Typically, what I’ve done in the past is swatch each ink on a standard Col-or-ring card (which shows off ink properties like sheen and shading), and then also compare the inks side-by-side on Midori MD Cotton paper, which to me offers excellent color reproduction and is also one of my favorite papers for my personal writing, so I get a sense of how the inks will work in the real world.

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While Colorvent Calendars are sold out, we still have a few Diamine Inkvent Calendars available, in addition to all the gear you can use for working your way through “Inkvent,” such as Col-o-ring Ink Testing Books and dip nibs from Kakimori and Tom’s Studio. Stay tuned as the holiday season kicks off in about two weeks!

This week our brick-and-mortar shop returns to regular hours: Thursday 1-6pm; Friday 1-7pm; and Saturday 10-7pm. We are considering adding additional hours for the holiday shopping season after Thanksgiving. Stay tuned!

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Diving into Diamine Inkvent for the First Time: Days One and Two

2023 marks the first year that I’ve acquired a Diamine Inkvent Calendar and had my stuff together far enough in advance to play along here on the blog. This “project” is pure fun for me and a bit out of my comfort zone for the blog, not being known for ink reviews and also as someone who’s admittedly a bit “boring” in terms of the inks they use on a daily basis. So how’s it going? So far, so good, and as expected about 1/3 of the inks have turned out to be colors that I would use semi-regularly.

Note: In order to allow myself adequate time to photograph and video each ink, I’m currently working about five days ahead. So even though we’re technically only on “Day Two” of Inkvent, I’ve already opened and swatched through Day 5.

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How Does the Diamine Inkvent Calendar Work?

Like a typical Advent calendar. You receive a box that has 25 numbered “doors” punched into it. If you use the calendar as intended, you open one door for each day of Advent. The calendar contains 25 bottles of different inks behind each door: 24 15ml bottles and one 30ml bottle, with the latter intended to be a “special” ink opened on Christmas Day. Diamine claims these inks are all unique for each year’s Inkvent, and they have started releasing the inks in full bottles about six months later.

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What Inks Are In and Inkvent Calendar?

Diamine includes 25 different ink samples featuring “Holiday-themed” inks from across their various lines, including standard ink, Shimmer Inks, and even “Chameleon” inks (shimmer inks that change color depending on the light). This week, Door No. 1 included “Fortune’s Gold,” a gold ink with gold shimmer that leans yellow-green in different light. Door No. 2 contained “Cashmere Rose”, a dusty pink that’s more my style, and will probably end up inked soon as I have several pens getting ready to run dry and will need a refill.

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This year, I plan to use a large Col-o-Ring Folio pad to swatch all 25 inks side by side. Many thanks to my friend Ana over at the Well-Appointed Desk for supplying the large Col-o-Ring!

What Are You Going to Do with All That Ink?

Probably keep the ones I like and give away the ones I won’t use, including most of the Shimmer and Chameleon series. It’s not that I don’t enjoy playing around with these inks - I might use them to jot quick holiday messages to friends and family - but afterwards will probably pass them along since inks containing shimmer or heavy sheen don’t receive much long-term use from me.

How to Follow Along with Inkvent 2023

I won’t be posting regular Inkvent updates here on the blog - there’s simply too much ink to do individual reviews, though I might do a general overview at month’s end. I will, however, be doing daily - or as close to daily as I can manage - posts over on Instagram and YouTube, as well as posting more detailed thoughts on the inks on the Patreon Channel. If you’d like to follow along in person with your own Inkvent Calendar, we still have a few available in the shop. Enjoy the holiday season!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’re looking for gift ideas, check out our 2023 Holiday Gift Guide!