Welcome to the first post of 25 Days of Dupes 2025. Below you’ll find the inks for days 1-4. If you have a suggestion for a possible dupe for any of these inks, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it to the wrap up post.
View Reminders
- You can click the images to view them larger.
- I swatched each ink with a small (#2) paintbrush and wrote with a F Sailor Compass Hocoro Dip Pen.
- The dilution pages show the sheening inks diluted with water in single-part steps. I started with just the ink, then 1:1 ink to water, then 1:2, etc.
- While I try to edit the images so they look as close to real life as possible, I can’t guarantee that the color you see on your screen will be true to life. However, with all the dupes on the same page, you’ll see how the colors look in relation to each other, which is the main point of these posts.
- I can’t fairly call any ink a perfect color match, as I’m not comparing them scientifically, I’m just using my eyes. Therefore, I won’t be going any further than calling an ink a “near-perfect color match.”
- I’m not attempting to dupe the special properties of the inks — sheen, shimmer, scent — only the base color.
Enjoy, and happy inking!
Jump to a day: Celestial Skies | ⇣ Energy | ⇣ Carousel | ⇣ Smoky Tobacco
Celestial Skies
Classification: Shimmer (Shimmer & Sheen)| Color: Turquoise with pink sheen and gold shimmer
Diamine classifies Celestial Skies as shimmer, but there is more than enough sheen (as visible in the swatch image below) to call it shimmer and sheen. The best way to describe Celestial Skies is as Diamine’s take on the famous J. Herbin Emeraude de Chivor.
Closest Match: Vinta Bisperas
I compared Celestial Skies to:
- Ferris Wheel Press Edwards Gardens – slightly too green
- Colorverse Gravity Wave – slightly too green
- Wearingeul Wayfarer – decent color match in the swatch; writing sample is too light
- Octopus Fluids Dragon – slightly too green and slightly too dark
- Van Dieman’s Odysseus – near-perfect color match; purple shimmer instead of gold
- Vinta Bisperas (Vesper Blue) – basically a dupe, down to the gold shimmer and pink sheen
- Colorverse Blue Dragon Glistening Blue – near-perfect color match; blue shimmer instead of gold — the glistening gold version would likely be a dupe
- J. Herbin Emeraude de Chivor – basically a dupe, but with less shimmer (possibly because my bottle is nearly empty)
Dilution
Likely because it isn’t an “extreme sheen” ink, I only needed to dilute Celestial Skies 1:2 (ink to water) to virtually eliminate the sheen. This did, however, lighten the color. The 1:1 mix kept the color virtually identical while removing most of the sheen.
Jump to a day: ⇡ Celestial Skies | Energy | ⇣ Carousel | ⇣ Smoky Tobacco | ⤒ Back to Top
Energy
Classification: Sheen| Color: Purple with green sheen
Energy is a deep purple ink with a sickly, blackish-green sheen. The sheen is marginally visible in F nib writing samples, but would likely be more visible with broader — or very wet — nibs.
Closest Match: Art – Rohrer & Klingner Cassia; Writing – Lamy Azurite
I compared Energy to:
- Monteverde Charoite – slightly too blue
- Lamy Azurite – slightly too blue in the swatch; very similar in the writing sample
- Rohrer & Klingner Cassia – very similar in the swatch; too pale in the writing sample
- Octopus Fluids Medusa – too pink
Dilution
At 1:2 dilution, Energy has virtually no sheen. However, at 1:4 dilution, it gets some interesting pink double shading that would likely be fun in wet nibs. 1:1 dilution is a good middle ground for those who enjoy a bit of sheen.
Jump to a day: ⇡ Celestial Skies | ⇡ Energy | Carousel | ⇣ Smoky Tobacco | ⤒ Back to Top
Carousel
Classification: Pigment| Color: Red
Carousel is the first of Diamine’s new-to-Inkvent pigment inks. It is a slightly muted red.
Closest Match: Jacques Herbin Moulin Rouge
I compared Carousel to:
- 3 Oysters Dancheong – slightly too dark and slightly too muted
- Diamine Ho Ho Ho – too vibrant
- Octopus Fluids Brilliant Rot – too vibrant and slightly too pink
- Jacques Herbin Moulin Rouge – near-perfect color match; shades a bit darker
- Octopus Fluids Write & Draw Red Koala – slightly too vibrant; it’s a pigment ink, so it has a similar “feel”
- Diamine Poppy Red – too vibrant
- Diamine Matador – too orange and too dark
Jump to a day: ⇡ Celestial Skies | ⇡ Energy | ⇡ Carousel | Smoky Tobacco | ⤒ Back to Top
Smoky Tobacco
Classification: Scented| Color: Brown
Thankfully, it looks like this year the scented ink formula works well — notice the lack of feathering. Unfortunately, the scent of “smoky tobacco” is atrocious. Maybe if you’re a cigar person, you’d appreciate the scent. I do not. That said, the color is nice, it’s an unusual muted, yellowish-brown.
Closest Match: Robert Oster Melon Tea
I compared Smoky Tobacco to:
- Robert Oster Motor Oil – too dark and too green
- Platinum Sepia Black – too muted and slightly too green
- Diamine Tobacco Sunburst – compared for curiosity’s sake since it also has tobacco in the name; too yellow
- Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Guri – not yellow enough; too dark in the writing sample
- Robert Oster Muddy Sand – too light
- Robert Oster Melon Tea – not quite yellow enough in the swatch; very similar in the writing sample
Jump to a day: ⇡ Celestial Skies | ⇡ Energy | ⇡ Carousel | ⇡ Smoky Tobacco | ⤒ Back to Top
What was your favorite color from this week? Did I miss any potential dupes? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.
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