Diamine Ancient Copper Review: Why This Ink Stands Out

When it comes to the sheer number of colors available, I don’t think anyone offers more ink colors than Diamine. Several years ago, someone on Reddit mentioned that they had 311 different bottles of Diamine ink and the brand comes out with dozens of new colours every year so the number of colours on the market has surely gone up. Currently Godspot offers over 250 different Diamine inks so no matter what you are looking for, Diamine likely has it available in their lineup and Goldspot probably stocks it. Today though, we are talking about one of the best selling Diamine inks at Goldspot, Ancient Copper.

I own very few of the Goldspot “Best Seller” fountain pen inks but this is one that I do have in my collection. As a newer addition to my ink wall, I am incredibly excited to do this deep dive into a colour that is so loved by the fountain pen community.

When we talk about inks though, one of the most important things is testing how it looks on different papers. An ink will probably look slightly different on every paper and depending on the paper, you may or may not see shading and sheening. I’m not a “paper person”. I tend to use the same 3 papers constantly. I still seem to have collected quite the assortment of papers in my studio so let's take a look at how Ancient Copper looks on 8 different papers from a basic notepad to Tomoe River.

MUJI - Slim Notebook

MUJI sources its papers from a variety of places but these Japanese-made slim notebooks are a constant in my studio so for me it was the first place to swatch test Ancient Copper.

I found that it went down very smoothly with no sheening and some shading. I actually think this is my favourite paper for seeing the shading as on many other papers, the sheening hides any shading. The ink looks very much like dried blood red on this paper vs the dark orangey brown colour I would expect from a colour named Ancient Copper. I love any paper and ink combo that shows shading in writing and this paper delivers. While it isn't dramatic, there are subtle tonal differences and it is significantly darker where you end a letter.

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Endless Regalia

With its 80 gsm paper, the Endless Regalia notebook tends to be my go to for pen testing because I love how smooth it is and the very light coating on it.

I was actually shocked at how much this paper sheened, it sheened nearly as much as Tomoe River but with a much shorter drying time. I really enjoyed the darker red tone Ancient Copper had on the paper and it had the perfect combo of shade & sheen. The shading in the letters is wonderful. In some places the sheening overpowered everything and the letters just sheened but there is some fun shading in some of the letters making it a super fun paper to write on with practically any ink, especially an ink that is “interesting” like Ancient Copper.

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Pelikan Hub Paper

I find this is a love it or hate it paper in the pen world. Some of us are obsessed with it and some of us, me included, despise writing on it due to how coated it is and how it smudges even once it seems dry.

Overall, I was actually really surprised at how the ink looked on this paper. I always think of this paper as one that ink really sheens on but there was almost no sheening to speak of. This paper has some really fun shading in letters making it an incredibly interesting paper & ink combo for writing. Ancient Copper leans very red on this paper but you do have a hint of green sheen something that does make it seem very old copper to me.

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Col-O-Ring

The Col-O-Ring Ink Testing Book's 160 gsm paper makes this the heaviest weight paper on the list. For me this is my go to swatching paper for all of my inks as it tends to fall fairly middle of the pack and strike a good balance between shading and sheening, normally.

I was shocked at how dark the swatch of Ancient Copper was on this paper. Overall, most of the swatch was just sheen. I will also say that this paper & ink combo seemed dry but did smudge hours after the fact (note the smudging). This isn't uncommon with incredibly sheening inks but it can be annoying if you write on anything other than loose leaf. This swatch was very red leaning towards the middle but the edges were very similar in tone to MUJI paper.

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Rhodia Lined

I think most people in the fountain pen world either have one of these notebooks on the go currently or have had one in the past. When it comes to “standard papers” it doesn't get much more standard than the 80gsm Rhodia paper.

Ancient Copper looked very flat on this paper. The ink had a hint of sheening on the border but also very minimal shading unlike the MUJI paper. I’ve heard people describe this as the “vanilla paper” of the pen world and based on how it tends to not really show any special effects but is reasonably priced for a daily writing fountain pen friendly paper. Overall, I think Ancient Copper looked very orange undertoned on this paper.

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Traveler's Journal - Midori (MD) Dot Paper

The Midori (MD) paper is one of my two “go-to” daily writing papers and I love the dark shading I get on it.

This is one of the other paper’s that had minimal sheening. But, it did have a lovely spectrum of shading from quite pale and undersaturated to overly saturated and beautifully dark. In the writing, everything dried to the same red/brown tone but had no feathering to speak of, an issue sometimes with orange & brown inks on MD paper. This swatch somehow reads as both dark red and orange; it doesn't fit with what I imagine Ancient Copper would look like but I don’t mind it.

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Pilot Notepad

This is another one of those papers that I have no information on. I randomly found them in a local pen shop one day and bought 4 of them. They feel like a mix of MD and Pelikan Paper and are always a pleasure to use in videos.

I think the ink was the flattest on this paper and it was so perfectly flat in places that I adored it. Ancient Copper looked very burnt orange on this paper and while I do love the colour it is a very different effect and colour than we see on most of the other papers. In the writing it continued to have the same burnt orange look with no shading or sheening in sight.

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Tomoe River - 52g/m2

This paper has a massive cult following. There seems to always be a conversation about old Tomoe River vs new Tomoe River and people have strong opinions. For this swatch, I used Spring 2024 Tomoe River. It doesn't bleed through like some 2025 (TRP) planners do.

The sheening on this paper is spectacular with Ancient Copper, it is a reminder of why people love it. I love the sort of organic shapes the sheening has in the larger swatch, I just wish that that sheening carried over to the writing samples. I find that when I write on Tomoe River paper it always feels flatish and my letters always are either dark or light with no tonal difference as it dries.

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End Notes

I find this ink leans very blue-red, verging on a brown in most of the swatches, in a few you do get an orange undertone but it is rare. Instead of reminding me of an aged copper penny, it almost always reminds me of dried blood. I think if I was looking for a true copper ink for my collection I would choose something with a bit more of an orange undertone, but this ink is definitely fun if you want a dark moody red for your collection.

The ink dried fairly quickly on any of the papers that I would expect it to (MUJI, MD, & Rhodia) which makes it perfect for someone who writes on the go. If you’re not concerned about drying time, it was definitely more fun on Endless Regalia or Tomoe River. I hope my little experiment inspires you to pick up either Diamine Ancient Copper (or another ink from your collection) and try it on a bunch of different papers, you may enjoy the drama it adds to your page.