Ink Flight #97 Reveal, February 2025

To celebrate InCoWriMo (international correspondence writing month), we packed February's Ink Flight with all the supplies you need (except a stamp and a pen) to elevate your snail mail game. Let's start with the ink, which is from a brand that's been around since the stationery's heyday.

For its 160th anniversary, Diamine introduces a collection of 6 ink colors inspired by its history. In 1925, the company moved to a new factory in Liverpool, England, on the corner of Tariff and Athol Street. It was perfectly situated near a canal for easy access to trade. To complete the 7 colors, we included an exclusive ink that's wicked fun.

February 2025 Ink Flight Box #97 Color Selection

Diamine Wax Seal
A bright, red ink reminiscent of a wax-dipped bottle of wine. Actually, it reminds me of that one viral video of the Maker's Mark employee that dips way too much of the liquor bottle into the hot wax.

Diamine Canalside
This lush, dark green has a touch of black sheen. You might be already wanting to write with a bright, spring green. But, this green is gorgeous!

Diamine Port of Call
A medium-toned, muted Aegean blue ink with shading. My Lamy 2000 in medium point shows the shading nicely. 

Diamine Tariff Teal
No extra charge for this rich, dark sheening teal ink. I contemplated not including this ink because I'm sick of hearing about tariffs. But, I'm not going to let that get in the way of me enjoying this deep teal green color.

Diamine Rosewood
An earthy, warm brown ink that shades nicely. I put this in my Pilot Custom 823 Amber and it did not disappoint.

Diamine Athol Violet
This blueish-purple ink has a rich, vibrant appearance. You can call it Grimace purple, if you'd like. 

Diamine Deadly Nightshade
Exclusive to Cult Pens, this vicious sheening ink has a plum purple base with a sickly green shimmer. This one scared me with how intense the sheen appeared in swatching. I cautiously put it in a Lamy Safari 1.1mm stub nib with good results.

Tasting notes: 
These inks demonstrate why Diamine continues to be one of the best ink makers in the world. Sure, the world has changed significantly since the golden age of fountain pens. People today write with more than just legal blue or black ink, for example. This set of anniversary colors show that Diamine can make a collection of intriguing colors that have depth, shading, and sheen - characteristics that most fountain pen enthusiasts can appreciate.

Box Extras: Dearest Nicky Inkwell Stationery Set, Letterpress PDX Fountain Pen Stationery

As promised at the start of this post, this month's box contains excellent, fountain pen-themed stationery to use for InCoWriMo letters.

Hailing from Canada, the Dearest Nicky Stationery Sets contain 12 sheets of Tomoe River (52gsm Sanzen) letter writing paper, 6 kraft envelopes, 6 matching address labels, and 6 matching envelope seals. You can write 6 days worth of letters in just this pack alone.

Then, for letter number 7, you can add an elegant, vintage-inspired touch to your correspondence. Printed on antique letterpress equipment in Portland, Oregon, the Letterpress PDX fountain pen stationery card & envelope feature artwork from the original patent application “J. C. Wahl Fountain Pen Assembling Filed Sept. 13, 1924."

This month's stickers made me smile and I hope they added some puppy pizzaz to your writing. Add some whimsy and fun with the Studious Shiba stickers by STICKII, these adorable pup illustrations will inspire you to study hard while keeping it cute.

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If you're interested in joining our next Ink Flight box, go here to see if we have available spots open for next month's shipment. If we don't, please email us so we can add you to our wait list.

Also, it might be possible we have previous Ink Flight boxes available to purchase without committing to a subscription. 

If you'd like to check out the contents of previous Ink Flight boxes, check out the archive here.