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Diving Swallow Tattoo
Diving Swallow Tattoo: clean, queer-friendly ink with skilled artists in Oakland.
4.2
Retail Store
$$$
Diving Swallow Tattoo: clean, queer-friendly ink with skilled artists in Oakland.
Diving Swallow Tattoo in Oakland's 264 14th St is a clean, welcoming body art shop with a friendly, inclusive vibe. Customers praise artists Wolf, Jazz, and Elle for precise line work and shading. The studio is described as queer-friendly and COVID-conscious, with thoughtful touches like a Diet Coke during sessions. Reviews also note a mixed experience regarding piercing services and follow-up.
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Personalized tattoo artwork created in collaboration with our skilled artists to match your vision and style.
Professional tattooing services using high-quality equipment in a sterile, comfortable studio setting.
Safe and precise piercing services with aftercare guidance for various body parts.
One-on-one sessions to discuss design ideas, placement, and pricing before your appointment.
Follow-up appointments to refine and enhance healed tattoos for lasting vibrancy.
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Overall rating
Jessy Sandler
Very friendly vibe in this shop. Got about halfway through a piece with Wolf and I can’t wait for the next session, they are amazingly talented. One of the co-owners even grabbed me a Diet Coke while I was getting tattooed which was super sweet. Highly recommend this shop.
Britany Madoski
I have had work done by three artists at Diving Swallow (Wolf, Jazz, and Elle), and each experience has been great. The shop is clean, queer-friendly, and very comfortable. I love all of my tattoos and can’t recommend them enough.
Darcy Metzler
Had an amazing experience with Elle Webb for my 1st tattoo. She was very organized and thorough, COVID conscious, and she did amazing line work and shading for my kelp seaweed tattoo with a crescent moon. She walked me through the steps of all the process and for me I was surprised it didn’t really hurt too much! Highly recommend the shop and Elle!
Sadie Carter
I visited the shop to get my septum done. Right away the environment was dope and the people were friendly. The owner and I had talked a little bit about the history of the store and I asked if I could get my septum done. Unfortunately, the piercer was out due to "emotional and personal problems", so they suggested I leave my contact information, and they would call as soon as the piercer was back or once they've hired a temp. This was a few months ago -- I think back in October, if I remember correctly -- and I've yet to receive a phone call from them. I'm tempted to go back and try to better my experience, but I just don't think they take their guests seriously enough.
L. K. (miaooo)
I got a tattoo from Grace in May 2017. I flew in from Japan to get my tattoo, and was driving out from Sacramento for all the appointments. At the time, I was happy with the experience. As it was my first medium piece (some flash from her book), I didn't have other experiences to compare it to. Since then, I've been to other studios in other countries and I feel I got treated better. Grace was a bit gruff when taking my booking via email, the initial consultation, and even during the appointment. I have to admit, this was likely in part because I was on a tight schedule and only in the US for a limited time. On the day I was to be tattooed, I came at my appointment time but she was still working with her prior client so she recommended I get a good meal at a cafe down the road so I would be nourished before the appointment. The cafe turned out to be closed so I wandered the neighborhood for about an hour instead, one which I at least am familiar with from my college days. Otherwise I would have been more annoyed. After being tattooed, I returned a few weeks later (and just days before my flight back to Japan) to see if a touch up was possible. She was much more friendly and chill. Grace had one look and could tell it was too soon, that the tattoo was still healing. My final interaction was fine, but I don't know about everything before that. I probably won't ever be back again to the US for a long time due to financial constraints. I had thought I would get a tattoo from Grace again should I have the chance, but now I don't know. Coming from so far away just to get a tattoo, I had high expectations. Still, I think Grace is very talented and I love all of Grace's work. And of course, I love the piece she did on me!
