I think the Pelikan range of inks is interesting. I always thought that there were the usual colours they have; Brilliant Black, Royal Blue, Brilliant Brown, Brilliant Red, Brilliant Green, Turquoise and Violet, until I read Michael Richter's article on Pentrace. So I went out hunting for them. I didn't find them all, but I found a handful. I also included Cross Blue-black, because I have learned from many sources that Cross ink is Pelikan ink under a different label, but the Cross Blue-black, which comes in cartridges only, is not the same as Pelikan Blue-black. Unless my bottle of Pelikan Blue-black is old and their current production is different. I also suspect that Faber-Castell inks (black and blue) are the same as Pelikan too, they behave the same, but I'm not definite.

Pelikanos with medium nibs were used to write this review.

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Brilliant Black
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Pelikan Blue-black
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Cross Blue-black
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Brilliant Brown
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Apricot
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Brilliant Red
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Pink
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Lilac
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Violet
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Royal Blue
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Turquoise
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Brilliant Green
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Moss Green
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On Elco Classic Verge Paper (100gm2 - laid)

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On Elco Record Paper (80gm2 - rough surface)

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On generic ink-jet paper

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Water resistance test (page left to dry for 2 hours, then put under running water for 10 minutes)
On the left side of the page, top to bottom; brilliant black, brilliant brown, apricot, brilliant red, pink, lilac, violet, royal blue.
On the right side of the page, top to bottom; turquoise, brilliant green, moss green, Pelikan blue-black, Cross blue-black.
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Brilliant Black, Brilliant Red and both blue-blacks, left a clear legible line. Brilliant Brown and Brilliant Green left faint but legible lines. Violet and turquoise left faint illegible lines. The rest completely disappeared or left a hazey blot.

These are by no means all the Pelikan inks. I always keep my eyes out for more.

Man, Darius, you are amazing. Every time I turn around you're providing great info. or putting up super cool, extensive scans of ink like this. Your scans actually make Brilliant Red look like a good color (it's probably the worst ink on the planet).

Thanks for the scans,

PTR

First of all, thank you for the compliments. As for the Brilliant Red, it does look better on scans than in real life. Althought the colour looks the same. As for the worst ink on the planet, I'm torn between Pelikans Brilliant Red, and MB discontinued Ruby Red. The both look similar anyway.

Fantastic and very useful review.
Thank you very much.
Alejandro

...my vote goes to the pelikan brillant red! (not just because of the color)

Thanks. I'm glad you find these useful.

Wow, you have really raised the bar for doing an ink review. These are wonderful and this is a great resource for FPN. Thank you.

I found the Cross blue-black especially interesting. I had understood that Cross ink was the same as Pelikan. Clearly the Cross blue-black is NOT the same as the Pelikan Blue-Black. I will have to try some of the Cross ink.

Again, thanks, jc

Yes definitely not the same. I bought a Cross pen once, and in the box were two blue-black cartridges. I never thought of using them until one day I was in a hurry and picked one up by mistake instead of a black cartridge. It's a nice colour. Too bad it only comes in cartidges, which are proprietary to Cross pens.

I never encountered the ruby red, but I'm thankful that MB has given us the bordeaux, probably my favorite ink.

I like all the MB inks, except the Ruby Red. It's well behaved though. The Bordeaux is beutiful, as is the Violet, Racing Green and Turquoise.

Darius, Outstanding work. I thank you kindly for your time and effort. I am a fan of Pelikan Blue-Black in my M1000. I have Pelikan brilliant blue on it's way, I can't wait to load up my M805 with Br-Bl.
I have Private Reserve Midnight Blues and Lake placid in rotation for my more formal work stuff.

Again thank you for your wonderful review.

Kind regards

StubNut

You found Pelikan Moss Green -- unbelievable!

I have been mixing my own, using the regular Brilliant Green and Brown. I use Pelikan inks in vintage pens, mixing unusual colours out of the standard ones.

Thank you for your kind words.


I found it in one of the old stationery stored here. The packs look old and dusty. The only problem is that many of the cartridges are half dry. I haven't noticed if that affects the colour of the ink on paper. But I chose the full ones for the review.

Huh! I'd never even heard of the Moss Green. It looks like a lovely color- I wonder why they discontinued it?

Same here. I have been using Pelikan ink for about 33 years, and I never even knew there was a Moss Green. I love that color and usually use J. Herbin Vert Olive. If that Moss Green were available, I would use it regularly.

+1 on loving the moss green.

Was the brilliant brown you used from old carts as well? It looks darker and denser and has less red shading than any bottled brilliant brown I've used over the years.

Great review!

Ryan.

Wonderful review and examples--thank you. I too like the Moss Green, too bad it's unavailable! I am currently using the Brilliant Black and the Green, and they're both quite nice.

All the colours that are not available now, including the Moss Green, were only produced for a short time and in cartridges only, as far as I know. I never heard that they were sold in bottles. There are even more of these unusual colours, which I couldn't find, perhaps they were only sold in Europe. The Brown I used was also from an old stock of cartridges. The current production of Pelikan inks available here is, unfortunately, very limited. Even the Blue-black came from an old bottle.