Tom’s Studio is a relatively new British stationery brand. I am almost certain their inks are made by Diamine, as the ink bottles for Tom’s Studio are the same as for Diamine Shimmertastics. Tom’s Studio inks currently retail for $20/50ml bottle in the US. I assume they are cheaper in the UK/Europe, but I can’t currently find that price. I bought my bottle in person from Tiny Turns Paperie.
Juniper is a dark purple-black. Business purple, if you will. Comparable inks I’ve tried include:
- Sailor Shikiori Shigure (more expensive in the US, cheaper in Asia)
- Diamine Scribble Purple (cheaper, more sheen)
- Dominant Industry Tanzanite (more blue undertones)
I tried Juniper in my TWSBI Diamond 580 M on Maruman loose leaf paper first, and the results were almost black. It got a little dry, I think because the feed can have a tough time keeping up with how fast I write and Maruman loose leaf isn’t very slick. You can also tell that the lines aren’t very crisp.
I prefer to see the color better, so I tried it in a Platinum Preppy M. Results were more to my liking on Maruman loose leaf, it’s a little lighter.
Kokuyo Campus is a little less toothy of a paper, so results continued to be brighter.
On Iroful you can see some gold sheen and it really brings out the purple. Additionally, the lines are much bigger. It dries a little slower on Iroful, so I smudged it a bit.
I bought a bottle without knowing how dark the ink would look for my use cases. The ink doesn’t smear or feather and is well-behaved, if not crisp. Dry time was less than I expected on most paper. I think I’ll try Juniper in an AL-Star next. I don’t think I’d buy another bottle, but I’ll use this ink once in a while, especially if I’m writing on Iroful.