Ink Reviews

• Abraxas
• Akkerman
• Aurora
• Bexley
• Caran d'Ache
• Conway Stewart
• Cross
• Delta
• de Atramentis
• Diamine
• Dupont
• Herbin
• Iroshizuku
• Lamy
• Levenger
• Montegrappa
• Montblanc
• Monteverde
• Noodler
• Omas
• Panache
• Parker
• Pelikan
• Platinum
• Private Reserve
• Rotring
• Rubinato
• Sheaffer
• Stipula
• Visconti
• Yard-O-Led
• Waterman

 

INK REVIEWS

Pelikan

Brilliant Black, Blue, Blue-black, Violet, Brilliant Brown

Pelikan makes a great ink and this is one brand that is worth a try in your sampling of inks. I find that the bottles nicely fit in a briefcase so I have no problem porting them around.

The ink works fine in all my pens.

In addition the regular ink bottle, the company has an 1897 Line which is a squarish bottle with a pen holder surface.

 

Edelstein Line

In 2010 Pelikan issued a new line of ink, Edelstein Ink. Edelstein means gemstone, and that is the marketing theme for this new line of inks. For Pelikan is creates a new line with a price point - about $20 US - that is comparable to other high-end inks.

The ink comes in what appears to be a very stylish bottle that holds 50 ml. There are seven colours:

• Onyx - Black
• Sapphire - Blue
• Topaz - Purple-Blue
• Jade - Light Green
• Aventurine - Green
• Mandarin - Orange
• Ruby - Dark Red

I will be looking for these inks on my upcoming trip to Italy.

Mandarin	Ruby	Jade
Aventurine	Topaz	Sapphire
Onyx

Edelstein - Sapphire

This is the new line of inks by Pelikan. A separate price line ($25 CDN) so I was really expecting something special. The ink came out near the end of summer 2010 and I was fortunate that my local pen store, Vancouver Pen, now stocks the line of ink,

First of all the bottle is stunning. Looks great on the desk, as long as you turn it around the not-so-attractive font they used for Edelstein does not show. Really, a more classic font would go better with the classy appearance of the bottle.

The ink seems to work very well in a variety of pens that I used (Delta 360 Medium, Delta 360 Broad, Mongtegrappa Espressione Broad and Pelikan M800 Broad).

The tone of the ink of very much what I expected. Performance in the various pens was okay, although, I found this ink to be a slower flowing ink than Private Reserver, Waterman or Diamine ink.

Other than slowness of flow, okay ink, but at the price, I am not sure how fast I will be going back to get additional bottles/colours.

 

Brilliant Black - a rich black and a close second to Aurora or Private Reserver Velvet Black.

The black has more saturated colour than say Waterman Black. Good flow, although a little slower than the Waterman black.

 

 

 

 

 

Green

A very usable green in terms of its appearance on the eyes. You can write an entire page of notes, look at it and not be overcome with the colour.

Good flow. Dries in a quick reasonable time frame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Violet is one of my main-stay inks when I want to use a purple ink. Rich tone, sometimes appears to be a bit edgy. It is rich enough to work well with a broad or stub nib. Good flow. We often hear of "staining" and I know my plastic converters have a stain with prolonged use of the violet ink. So I don't use this ink in any of my piston pens.
  
  
• Brilliant Brown has a chestnut brown look. Some users like the highlights are created with this colour. I have found that the ink is fine for limited work but a whole page of meeting notes in this colour doesn't sit well with me! But that is just one opinion. "The colour is, indeed, "brilliant" so that it reminded me more of a golden brown, rather than chestnut. Mayan Gold might be a good description. In fact, it was so gold that I've been mixing it with just a little black (happens to be Parker's) for more contrast." Thanks Mark.
  
  
• Blue - not one of the blues that will stand out and say something and I have found that I rarely use the Pelikan blue!
  
  
• Orange - I have been told about this ink, although I have never seen in sold in any stores, it is a dark orange that has some hints of red and brown in the colour.