Diamine Sailor's Warning: Fountain Pen Ink Review

Bottle of Ink with swab and color swatch, text reading Sailors Warning

This orangey/coral red Diamine Sailor's Warning shimmering fountain pen ink was chosen by members of the /r/fountainpens reddit subcommunity. It has some purple/pink shimmer, and really does bring to mind the sunset or sunrise over the ocean. It's a unique ink; check out how it performs below.

Writing sample oh white dot grid paper, in Sailors Warning ink

Sailors Warning writing on Tomoe River white paper

Sailors Warning writing on Leuchtturm1917 dot grid paper

Ink Review

Supplies Used:

LAMY AL-star with medium steel nib
Rhodia No. 16 dot pad, 80g white paper
Tomoé River 52 gsm white paper
Leuchtturm1917 80g notebook

Smear Test (Dry Time):

30+ seconds – Even on Rhodia paper, this ink was still a bit wet after 30 seconds. It's a more dry writing ink, but not a quick drying ink.

Drip Test (Water Resistance):

None – While the water swab test did create some lovely dilution of the ink, it's not waterproof at all. Avoid using this ink in anything that would be damaged if it got wet.

Saturation:

Medium/High – It's a pretty concentrated orange/coral color, and with more swabs you get more and more shimmer. The color is warm, and could be used year round.

Ease of Cleaning:

High – Like all shimmering inks, this does take a bit more time and concentrated effort to get all the shimmer particles out of your pen and feed, but the ink itself was easy to clean out of the pen.

Shading:

High – This is a great shader! Even with an EF nib you can see the shading happening. Larger nibs will showcase the shading properties even more.

Flow:

Dry – This is a dry writing ink. It's slightly better in a broad or stub nib, but this is not a gushing ink.

Packaging and Aesthetics:

This comes in the standard Diamine packaging, available in a 50ml glass bottle.

Diamine Sailor's Warning fountain pen ink bottle and swabs

If you're interested in similar colors, check out our Swab Shop where you can compare colors side by side.

Summary:

Overall this is a really strong color. The shimmer is different, and brings out the more coral color of the ink, but it's definitely got an orange base. The only downside is that is is a big dry writing with EF- M nibs, so if you prefer a more wet writing ink, or are using a pen that is a bit stingy on ink flow, this might not be the best ink to use. However, it's a great color and the shimmer and shading is outrageous, so we recommend it!