Pelikan 4001 Turquoise

[Sandy1]

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Fidelity

At time of writing, the Pelikan site does not depict this ink, so the fidelity of the ink I used cannot be determined.

Wiki 'turquoise colour' LINK

 

Figure 1.

Swabs & Swatch

Paper: HPJ1124.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/aa93ca02.jpg

Figure 2.

NIB-ism ✑

Paper: HPJ1124.

Depicts nibs' down-stroke line-width and pens' relative wetness.

Distance between feint vertical pencil lines is 25mm.

Thumbnail:

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/th_19c47096.jpg

L → R: 503, M200, Prelude, TWSBI, NPS, 1911m.

 

Figure 3.

Paper base tints:

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN%20Stuff%20-%202011/Ink%20Review%20-%20Private%20Reserve%20Chocolate/86f3378c.jpg

L → R: HPJ1124, Rhodia, G Lalo, Royal, Staples.

 

 

WRITTEN SAMPLES - Moby Dick

Ruling: 8mm.

 

Figure 4.

Paper: HPJ1124.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/20e8bfbb.jpg

Figure 5.

Paper: Rhodia.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/31cd2ee8.jpg

Figure 6.

Paper: G. Lalo.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/65787e1d.jpg

Figure 7.

Paper: Royal.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/07af2541.jpg

Figure 8.

Paper: Staples.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/cc3419f4.jpg

 

Figure 9.

Grocery List

Paper: Pulp.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/fce997ce.jpg

 

 

OTHER STUFF

 

Figure 10.

Smear/Dry Times & Wet Tests.

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/1299e5f0.jpg

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

 

Type:

• Dye-based fountain pen ink.

Presentation:

• Bottle.

Availability:

• Available when Topic posted.

Daily writer?

• Quite possible.

A go-to ink?

• When a soft Blue-leaning Turquoise is desired.

USE

 

Business:

(From the office of Ms Blue-Black.)

• Suitable for general business use when one chooses a calmly energetic veneer, without gravitas or outright frivolity; nothing dour.
• Perhaps best for lateral communication and informal downward notes, especially when open dialogue is desirable.
• A fair pick for personal work product, with good readability and a smooth pace. (To mark-up notes written in P4T, I'd reach no farther than Pelikan's own 4001 Brown.)
• Will do well for mark-up or editing of Black-printed text, including marginalia, and dedicated forms use - especially those that require little if any text. e.g. Tick boxes ☑
• Not enough zap for error correction or grading.

Illustrations / Graphics:

• Perhaps too Blue to be used as a definitive Turquoise, so perhaps more of a transitional colour from Blue to Aqua.
• Line quality supports use for taut lines and tiny labels, though shading potential may need to be suppressed.
• Rather short dry times should enable rapid reworking.
• As a watercolour, it has little water resistance, and the colour appears to be quite uniform, so depending on paper used may be suitable for washes, but reworking with a wet brush may leave a pale artefact.

Students:

• A possible choice for general notes, though water resistance is negligible, so when/if anything worth keeping was written, it should be safeguarded.
• A reasonable choice for assignments, but may be proscribed as not meeting a requirement for Blue or Black ink.

Personal:

• Definitely.
• This is one of my 'bridging' inks, spanning the region between Blue and Turquoise.
• Not quite so lively as to be used for invitations to a beach party, but a definite departure from my usual Blue to Blue-Black inks. Perhaps for letters written on Tuesday evening that look forward to the week-end, or that try to recollect the fun stuff from the one prior.
• I would not use this ink for pro forma personal business writing, though for business letters conveying compliments or special thanks, P4T seems just the thing. (Not all my business letters are written with Lamy Green or Diamine Indigo!)
• There is enough visual weight and solidity to the ink that I do not hesitate to use a somewhat dry nib - even one which is a bit narrow. A moderately wide nib does nicely, without becoming clunky or congested on the page at typical densities. I'm not convinced that P4T is so wonderful that I would use a nib over 1.0mm, but that's just me. * waiting for GP to chime-in *
  

PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

 

Flow Rate:

• A bit dry.
• Wetter than Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue.

Nib Dry-out:

• Not noticed.

Start-up:

• Immediate.
• With confidence.

Lubricity:

• Quite good.
• Greater than Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue.
• Use of a narrow nib on the hard textured G Lalo was OK.

Nib Creep:

• Not seen.

Staining (pen):

• Not seen after three days.

Clogging:

• Not seen.
• Seems unlikely.

Bleed- Show-Through:

• Staples: LINK
• HPJ1124: From the 1911m.
• Royal: Bleed-through from the M200.

Feathering / Wooly Line:

• Not seen on papers used.

Aroma:

• Slightly inky.

Hand oil sensitivity:

• Not evident.

Clean-Up (pen):

• Very fast and thorough with plain water.
• Another good pick for those who may change inks on-the-fly or in the field.

Mixing:

• No stated prohibitions.

Archival:

• Not claimed.

THE LOOK

 

Presence:

• How was your week-end?

Saturation:

• Medium.
• Possible to achieve a solidly inked line.
• Over-wrote feint lines on Rhodia.

Shading Potential:

• Good, but unpredictable.
• Pleasant enough when it appears.

Line quality:

• Generally quite good, except for the G Lalo, which presented more than its usual challenge, giving a rather choppy result.
• Improved as paper surface became smoother, with the Rhodia exhibiting the best line quality - which gave the narrow CI nib on the Prelude a chance to shine.

Variability:

• Pen+nib combos used:
  • Slightly greater than expected.

  [*]Papers used:

  • Slightly less than expected.

  [*]Malleability:

  • Somewhat high.
  • Changes to both pen and paper can alter the Look to a pleasantly useful degree, without resorting to extremes of either.
  • Shading was elusive, with the wider nibs doing better than narrow nibs.
  • The amount of colour-shift due to paper base-tint was perhaps a bit less than expected, though certainly apparent on the G Lalo.

Hi-Res Scans:

Originals are 60x30mm.

All are thumbnails.

 

503 on HPJ1124:

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/th_0c76e325.jpg

Prelude on Rhodia:

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/th_ae036dd4.jpg

TWSBI on G Lalo:

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/th_ff8fad40.jpg

1911m on Royal:

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/th_623de56e.jpg

OTHER INKS

This Review includes the same Written Sample format and some pen+paper combos common to most of my previous Reviews of Turquoise inks; and the M200+EF for Blue inks. Consequently, ad hoc comparisons through manipulation of browser windows is supported.

Should that functionality not meet your requirements, I welcome your request via PM. Additional scans may be produced, but the likelihood of additional inky work is quite low.

 

Swab Swami

Thumbnail:

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/FPN_2012/Ink%20Review%20-%20Pelikan%204001%20Turquoise/th_a78a1240.jpg

L → R: Omas Turquoise, Sheaffer Skrip Turquoise, Noodler's Turquoise, Lamy Turquoise.

 

PAPERS

 

Lovely papers:

• Smooth crisp whites.

Trip-wire Papers: ☠

• Any that are too coarsely textured and/or non-absorbent.

Copy/Printer Paper:

• A reasonable option, though may be limited by one's tolerance for bleed-through on 'lowest bidder' lightweight stock.
• Should hold its own on dirty whites.

Tinted Papers:

• Possible, though quite dependent on line density/opacity.
• My tendency is to run it on the warm papers, to Ivory; though not much more Brown than a pale Buff / Khaki.
• In the darker tones it is quite elegant on Powder Blue stock.

Is high-end paper 'worth it'?

• Very much a matter of personal preference, though I prefer the hard smooth surfaced papers when using narrow nibs, and when I pursue shading.

ETC.

 

Majik:

• Just not enough wow.

Billets Doux?

• More for chit-chatting than romancing.

Personal Pen & Paper Pick:

• The Prelude on Rhodia.
• The Cursive Italic nib gives a gracile line, and generates a nice bit of shading.
• The paper fully supports both the line-width variation and the shading, and its slightly warm base-tint shifts the colour ever so slightly away from Blue.

Yickity Yackity:

• Always a welcome choice for convivial notes.
• Allows me to use a vast majority of my pens and papers without thinking twice thrice.
  
• I still reach for their Edelstein Topaz.
• Ah kushbaby, perhaps not sufficiently unique, but hard to go wrong with this one.

======

 

NUTS BOLTS & BOILERPLATE

 

Pens

• Written Samples:

A. Waterman 503 BookKeeper [raised white cap jewel] + W3 14CT nib.

LINK

B. Pelikan M200 + g-p steel EF nib.

C. Sheaffer Prelude + two-tone steel Italic M nib.*

D. TWSBI 530 + steel M nib.

E. Notorious Pink Safari + steel B nib.

F. Sailor 1911 + 14K two-tine MS nib.

*

Hand-ground by Pendem♡nium. (OooLaLaa!)

• Lines & labels:

Diamine Eau de Nil from a Pilot Penmanship + XF nib.

Papers

• HPJ1124: Hewlett-Packard laser copy/print, 24lb.
• Rhodia: satin finish vellum, 80gsm.
• G. Lalo: Verge de France, natural white, laid, 100gsm.
• Royal: 25% cotton, laser/inkjet copy/print, 'letterhead', 90gsm.
• Staples: house brand multi-use copy/print, USD4/ream, bears FSC logo, 20lb.
• Pulp: Calendar page.

Imaging

• An Epson V600 scanner was used with the bundled Epson s/w at factory default settings to produce low-loss jpg files.
• Figures shown were scanned at 200 dpi & 24 bit colour.
• Hi-Res images linked were scanned at 300 dpi & 24 bit colour.
• No post-capture manipulation of scanner output was done, other than dumb-down by Epson, Photobouquet, IP.Board s/w, and the viewing gear.

Densitometer Readings on HPJ1124

• Red 81
• Grn 182
• Blu 237
• Lum 169

Fine Print

The accuracy and relevance of this Review depends in great part upon consistency and reliability of matériel used.

Ink does not require labelling/notice to indicate (changes in) formulation, non-hazardous ingredients, batch ID, date of manufacture, etc.

As always, YMMV, not only from materials, methods, environment, etc., but also due to differences between the stuff I used and that you may have; and manner of working.

Also, I entrust readers to separate opinion from fact; to evaluate inferences and conclusions as to their merit; and to be amused by whatever tickles your fancy.

 

-30-

Tags: Fountain Pen Ink Review Sandy1 Pelikan Turquoise 4001 Turquoise Aqua Cyan

Edited December 2, 2012 by Sandy1

[wastelanded]

What timing. I've been thinking that I need a 'pick me up' ink, and this one caught my eye at my usual German vendor just this morning. I like it, a more subtle turquoise. You've convinced me to give it a go.

 

Excellent review, as always! :clap1:

 

ETA: Firsties!

Edited December 1, 2012 by wastelanded

[Sandy1]

What timing. I've been thinking that I need a 'pick me up' ink, and this one caught my eye at my usual German vendor just this morning. I like it, a more subtle turquoise. You've convinced me to give it a go.

 

Excellent review, as always! :clap1:

 

ETA: Firsties!

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for your kind words!

 

I looked at the WX for Cramahe: 5℃, overcast & raining. Seems that a Turquoise ink is definitely in order!

 

P4T is quite adaptable, so whatever pen+paper you favour should go well with the ink.

 

I look forward to your impressions of this ink once you've given it a whirl.

 

Bye,

S1

[wastelanded]

Hi,

 

Thanks for your kind words!

 

I looked at the WX for Cramahe: 5℃, overcast & raining. Seems that a Turquoise ink is definitely in order!

 

P4T is quite adaptable, so whatever pen+paper you favour should go well with the ink.

 

I look forward to your impressions of this ink once you've given it a whirl.

 

Bye,

S1

 

Last night I ordered a bottle each of P4T, Black and BlBk, a pack of P4BlBk carts, a tablet of MK 95g A5 paper, and matching envelopes, all for the princely sum of $25 shipped. I shall let you know what I think when I get it.

 

A grim day indeed! But Friday was -12 windchill and snow, so at least the road salt is washed off the car today

[Joker4Eva]

One of my favorite inks, this one! While wet, it looks so brilliant, I wonder why Pelikan didn't decide to call it "Brilliant Turquoise". When dry though, it doesn't look as lively as it does while wet.

There are however, a few things about this ink that irks me. Firstly is it's water-resistance properties, or rather, unfortunately for this ink, it's lack of it. Couldn't actually believe my eyes when I ran a sheet of paper with doodles under the tap for a few minutes. It was as if someone erased everything.

The behavior of this ink also irks me. I won't deny that it flows very well, and never clogs pens, BUT when I accidentally smear it on something that is black, it'll take me forever to find out where the hell that stain originated, and before I find out where, my fingers will always be stained with turquoise.

[Sandy1]

I've always liked ur reviews... very detailed and comprehensive. How would u compare this against Waterman's South Sea blue? That's my favorite Turquoise ink !

 

Hi,

 

I'm glad you like my Reviews!

 

I took a look at WSSBl some time ago, and posted a comparison to P4T.

• Waterman South Seas Blue My Review
  
• Waterman South Sea Blue :: Pelikan 4001 Turquoise My Comparison
  
  • Here's the 'best' sample from that comparison:
  • http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/yy116/Sandy1-1/InkyThoughts2010/Ink%20Review%20-%20Waterman%20South%20Seas%20Blue/INK348.jpg

 

To my eye, WSSBl is a Cyan-leaning Blue, not a Turquoise. In terms of use, WSSBl would more likely suit instances where Blue through Black inks are appropriate.

 

It was suggested that the Waterman 'Inspired Blue', which is supposed to be WSSBl with a new name, is actually slightly different from WSSBl, so I may take a look at WIBl in 2013.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited December 3, 2012 by Sandy1

[Bo Bo Olson]

Joker4Eva

out side a couple of blue black inks and perhaps a black here and there....back in the old days....no one did Writing in the Rain...Gene Kelly had retired.

 

I'm sure lots folks know much more about older inks that were more water resistant, but as far as I can remember back in the day of the silver dime....we either didn't have it out side Blue Black or some black or a permanent parker blue or didn't care.

 

We knew the teacher was not going to accept dog bit, rained on papers. So we kept them covered some how...some folks liked Mammoth belly; others learned to carry the plastic three ring binder so the rain hit the fat side, or under one's shirt...with pockets.

 

This run an ink under water is pure 21st century.

 

This ink is much older than that. I have some cartridges from the early '90s.

[wastelanded]

For myself, water-fastness is way down on the list of requirements for an ink. Shading first, colour, tone, lubricity, these matter. I don't really write anything worth keeping for 500 years, and I don't write in rain or snow or brimstone, so I'm not bothered.

 

I have one IG ink in my hoard, which is the lovely and talented MB Midnight Blue. If I have to sign my name somewhere, it's that (but it's much too lovely and talented for just that). For addressing envelopes, there's a jar of India ink and a Speedball nib in the desk if I feel like kicking it old-school.

 

ETA: If one wanted to use an ink like P4T for addressing envelopes, one could always rub a candle over it once the ink has dried. That would keep it until it got where it was going.

Edited December 4, 2012 by wastelanded

[Sandy1]

One of my favorite inks, this one! While wet, it looks so brilliant, I wonder why Pelikan didn't decide to call it "Brilliant Turquoise". When dry though, it doesn't look as lively as it does while wet.

There are however, a few things about this ink that irks me. Firstly is it's water-resistance properties, or rather, unfortunately for this ink, it's lack of it. Couldn't actually believe my eyes when I ran a sheet of paper with doodles under the tap for a few minutes. It was as if someone erased everything.

The behavior of this ink also irks me. I won't deny that it flows very well, and never clogs pens, BUT when I accidentally smear it on something that is black, it'll take me forever to find out where the hell that stain originated, and before I find out where, my fingers will always be stained with turquoise.

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for sharing your experience with this ink - even though the lack of water resistance was an unpleasant revelation.

 

The lack of water resistance is certainly bothersome to those who do not safeguard what's written, but that property does make it easy to wash the ink from pens and clothes and fingers.

 

As other Members mentioned above, water resistance is not so common amongst FP inks; and to have that property, the selection becomes very narrow indeed. If you do seek a Turquoise with high water resistance, Pelikan Edelstein Topaz does very well. My Review

 

It is pretty difficult for dye-based inks to keep their appearance intact as they become dry.

 

I think that is especially so with Turquoise inks, as one wants a tone that's light enough to be vibrant, yet may also need fair bit of ink so that the paper does not peek through the ink. Consider an ink that is lighter than P4T, has a higher dye-load, and whose colour is a bit more towards Cyan.

 

Papers with a smooth hard [coated] surface and a very white base-tint would also help. Clairefontaine Triomphe comes to mind, as do high-end 'presentation' papers such as the Hewlett-Packard Premium Choice laser 32lb.

 

Bye,

S1

[georges zaslavsky]

looks like a clone of mb diamond blue. thanks for sharing

[Sandy1]

looks like a clone of mb diamond blue. thanks for sharing

Hi,

 

You're welcome!

 

I think the MB Diamond is a fair bit more Blue-leaning.

 

I've received word that there's a package of inks awaiting my return, so hopefully amongst them is a treat from Montblanc. If so, I'll plan to do at least a swab comparison of Diamond to P4T.

 

Bye,

S1