Diamine Inkvent Calendar 2019/Blue Edition 2020 #22 Solstice

Winter Solstice fell on the 22nd in 2019, so this ink fit perfectly. The black is not the blackest of all blacks, but the silvery greenish shimmer sets it apart from other shimmering inks. It also fit perfectly into my Pilot Custom Heritage 912 FA, of which I have three.*

In April I used this ink in a Pilot Capless (later a Décimo) with a medium italic nib, where it sat for weeks (+ refills) and behaved like any other ink. Shimmer inks are not the monster cloggers they are deemed by many; in a modern pen these are pretty reliable and not dangerous at all. Use them (preferably in broad nibs) and have as much fun as you can!

*All perform well, but all are different. If you spot a little superscript number next to the 912 or the FA: This indicates which of the three pens is used:
— #1 was bought new, it writes a pretty fine line and is reliable all the time.
— #2 was a friend’s and badly abused. I bent the tines back into shape, but it did not feel right so I stubbed the tip a little. It now feels and behaves like a noodly soft vintage nib.
— #3 was swapped, as I did not like my Pilot Custom Heritage 743 FA. The tines were in bad shape, but after bending everything back in place it now writes pretty wet and reliable — in my hand.

Why am I writing this? To tell you to not give up on these FA nibs if they do not write as expected. Two of mine were really badly bent, and now they are all fantastic writers. Gold nibs are much more pliable than you might think!