Diamond 50 Ink Bottle (Blue)

This sounds crazy, I know. I spent $60.00 on two empty bottles, and I know I'll never regret it. The photo here can express something of how it looks, but the feel of this bottle is extraordinary: heavy, smooth, cool, and fits your hand in a way that makes it a pleasure just to hold. That the bottle is pleasant to hold is, of course, completely unnecessary-- just a delightful extra. The glass is flawless. Not a bubble. Not an...anything. Flawless. Beautiful. The bottle is shaped and weighted in a way that I was unable tip it over, even when I got really pushy with it. Also-- and this would seem a truly stupid thing to do with a glass container, especially when filled with indelible ink-- I set it upside-down on my table, gently batted it from hand-to-hand and watched as it rocked on its rounded lid without falling over. Gently, mind you; only a tiny bit of rocking. I'm not daring anyone to try table-hockey and expect the bottle to remain balanced upside-down on its lid. And this might not work with bottle empty-- but I can't envision a way in which one might need the bottle to perform empty, upside down, and batted about the table. I then laid the bottle on its side, still full of indelible ink, and saw that it does not tend to roll away. While the bottle was still on its side, I pushed it hard enough to get it to roll, and was reminded again that I often do not tighten lids properly. I wiped up the bit of ink that had gathered under the rim of the cap, tightened the cap properly, and rolled it around again. When the lid was tightened, it did not leak. These tipping and rolling tests were not done violently, but rather with the amount of force -- or maybe a little more-- than might happen as a mishap while writing. A four-year-old doing the "tipping test" could surely shoot the bottle off the table and onto a tile floor with unpleasant results. (Although I'm certain that the bottle would not tip while shooting across the table.) I did not fill the bottle completely before filling my pen. I put a little less than half an inch of ink in the bottom, tightened the cap, and turned it upside-down to fill the plastic reservoir. I righted it and was able to fill my pen with what would otherwise have been an insufficient supply of ink to properly cover the nib section while filling. Amazon did an excellent job of packing the shipment. Furthermore, the box created by TWSBI tightly fits a stack of sturdy slices of foam with each square slice cut to an opening in the middle of the right dimensions of the bottle at that layer. To open the package you remove one layer after another of the "foam sandwich". If you were to stack the empty sandwich afterward and slice from the top down, you would find the exact shape of the bottle hollowed out of the inside. Okay, well; I can't describe that very well. But I had read of the strength of the packaging; and indeed, I think I could have thrown the box against the wall or dropped it off the roof without damage to the bottle. (I didn't try that. I might have, but I had already opened both boxes before it occurred to me that it would have been a fun test. Also, I realized that it seems irresponsible to spend $30 on a glass bottle and then try to smash it against a wall.) My rule for reading reviews is "if you can't say anything's wrong, then don't say anything at all". I'm wary of a reviewer who finds a product perfect in every possible way. I generally trust writers who have analyzed the product well enough to have found some deficiency in the way it might be used by someone else, even if not themselves. If everyone is critical in that way, I can get a better idea of how the product might or might not suit my use. Therefore, if I find any way in which this product proves itself imperfect for my use, I will report it in an update to this review. So far, I have used it in every way I intend to use it and several ways in which I will not, and have no complaints. Oops! Outer packaging also by TWSBI, not Amazon. Bottles are shipped directly from TWSBI. 11/14/2011-- addendum to review: I am fortunate that my bottle didn't leak with the colored anodized aluminum band in place, even after my careful tightening. The band provides a second filling system for the TWSBI pens, which don't require dipping into the ink to fill. The colored band has a breathing hole for the TWSBI system. So: to use this for my traditional piston-fill or cartridge pens, I should remove the colored band, (over the sink, now that I have already filled the bottle), keep it in a safe place, and use the bottle without it. I don't have a TWSBI pen yet, but they're inexpensive for fountain pens ($56 and free shipping) and the TWSBI pens use this less messy but proprietary handy-dandy suck-up-the-ink system as well as the submerge-the-pen method, whereas I am limited to the submerge-the-pen method. If I got a TWSBI pen, I could use these beautiful colors; otherwise, plain black, but with the red logo on top.

If you have a Twsbi 580 or any pen with a standard international converter this is a must have. The clear bottle is amazing with the top full of color. It is glass so cleaning is a breeze. It is the only company that sells an inkwell that is sub $40. So amazingly inexpensive. Works like a charm and the ink flows into your 580 / converter with no drips.

Great quality bottle. Use it with all my fountain pens. It looks really nice on the desk.

Twsbi is my favorite fountain pen. So I ordered this and was not disappointed. Great quality. Love the different ways to fill. Gorgeous design. I would highly recommend

There are lots of reviews, and I echo all of them that favor this inkwell. It's a high quality, sturdy design. The seals are perhaps a bit weak, being that they are made of foam not rubber or silicone, but I haven't really had any ink spill either. The one thing that did take a star off for me is that the blue anodized aluminum is not the color I was expecting, but rather a more pale blue. It's still the nicest inkwell I've seen that is readily available.

This is a solid ink bottle, with an insert that makes it easy to fill a pen without spilling, even when the level of ink is low in the bottle. Also this pen has a neat special adaption so that Diamond 540 fountain pens, e.g., TWSBI Diamond 540 Fountain Pen nib F , can load ink like through a snorkel.

High quality, heavy, solid, beautiful to the eye and touch. Refill mechanism with Twsbi fountain pens is flawless and messfree. Makes ink refills a joy. Highly recommend.

Multiple ways to use this ink well for pen filling because of the design. Large heavy base so the well is stable.

Oggetto fantastico. È bellissimo, rifinito in modo maniacale, con entrambi i tappi in alluminio (so che esiste una versione con uno dei due tappi in materiale plastico, comunque di alta qualita). È realmente funzionale, grazie all’inserto che permette di raccogliere l’inchiostro per intingere il pennino e riempire la stilografica. Ciò permette di sfruttare l’inchiostro fino all’ultima goccia. Inoltre se si usa con la stilo TWSBI tipo 580 (e compatibili, penso dalla 530 in poi, NON le Vac) permette di innestare direttamente il caricatore a stantuffo , potendo cosi caricare la penna senza sporcarla). Per capire bene cio vi consiglio di guardare le info sul sito della Twsbi o ancor meglio, su youtube! Inoltre lo ho comprato con una bellissima TWSBI 580 diamond clear, pennino F, che ho prefito alla versione AL, pur sapendo che quest’ultima era piu robusta. La sto usando con un tradizionale Pelikan royal blue, che uso come inchiostro da rodaggio e da confronto, e sono davvero contento. Forse un po’ piu impegnativa della mia Lamy Safari F, ma comunque eccezionale anche da usare tutti i giorni in ufficio!

A great Bottle to use in combination with Twisbi Diamon pens. The refilling is mess free and very simple. The aluminum cap feels really nice and seals well. I can only recommend these for any fountain pen enthusiast.

This ink well feels really well made and goes perfectly with my TWSBI Diamond 580

TWSBIの万年筆を所有しているのであれば、持っていても決して無駄にはならないと思います。たかがビン1つに5,000円も！？と思っていたのですがテレワークをきっかけにテーブル周りを整理して こ洒落た環境にしようと購入しました。使ってみるとこれが便利。ペン先をスポイトの延長ノズルと交換して そのまま注入しているようなイメージです。

Es un ingenioso sistema para cargar la tinta, pero creo que su precio es elevado.