Pelikan Edelstein Aquamarine

[lapis]

1. Introduction

For those who don't already know, these Pelikan Edelstein "Inks of the Year" are limited editions and issued each year, starting usually (often rather exactly) around the 1st of March. They started off in 2012 with turmaline (plum), then amber, garnet, (dark red), and amethyst. Those all being in fact gems, the question then arose what an "aquamarine" would look like as a gem. Of course it would have some blue in it but that blue shown here:

               

(taken from: http://www.pelikan.com/pulse/__v147/vfs-public/exclusive/products/edelstein-ink/color-drop-aquamarine.png)

 

in the above-mentioned URL didn't look very much like a jewel IYAM, although the liquid in the bottle IMO in fact sure did:

 

(taken from: http://www.pelikan.com/pulse/__v147/vfs-public/exclusive/products/edelstein-ink/edelstein-ink-aquamarine-detail.jpg)

 

Now let's get on with the show and see what this ink looks like on paper....

 

2. First impressions

Here's a line or two using swabs (for those of you who do like them), a shot on the kitchen towel alongside a smear with a pipette on paper and then a word or two with three pens. The (writing) paper so far is 80 g/m² Rhodia:

 

 

 

3. About the Packaging

Here's a picture of the box and bottle:

 

The bottle is unchanged, different from the 30 and 62.5-ml bottles of the 4001 series and has the usual, very sturdy Edelstein cap. The only thing I don't like about the package here is the inclusion of two medium-soft rubber foam blocks resting on the shoulders of the bottle under the two box side flaps. They are IMO hard to remove in order to get a hold of the bottle. What are they good for? Oh well, as if it were only that....

 

4. Physical properties

■ Wetness/flow: Very good, one of the wettest Pelikan inks I know of, in the same league as their Tanzanite.

■ Lubrication: Also good.

■ Saturation: High. At least as high as most of the other Edelstein inks. Maybe even more so.

■ Shading: Not bad. A flex nib would of course do the trick better.

■ Sheen: see below.

■ Feathering: None seen.

■ Bleeding: None seen (see below).

■ Drying time: 10-12 s, again, exactly the same as with Tanzanite on the Rhodia paper used above. Note that the thickness and wetness of these writings apparently have no effect on their time to dry: top line = Pelikano, M nib, medium dry writer, lower line = Sheaffer Crest, B nib, very wet writer.

 

■ Waterproofness: Almost as good as Pelikan's 4001 Blue-Black which is now understood to contain at least some iron-gall. No, this Edelstein Aquamarine (like all other current Edelsteins) is not an iron-gall ink. Sure, after exactly 60 seconds of holding out a bath in water, a lot of the dye has been washed out but I can still read everything with no effort:

 

 

 

A few drops of water also appear to wreak no real calamity...

 

5. Different papers

Actually, there is no unusual difference to be seen on any of these papers apart from the very little (if any) feathering. Some papers show that, some don't, meaning IMO that if a good paper doesn't show any feathering, then the ink can be described as "more than okay". Bleeding is exactly the same.

 

First off, here are four different types of paper, all written on using that Pelikano with an M nib:

 

And here, the reverse sides of the same four types of paper in the original left-to-right order seen above, i.e.

Clairefontaine | Rhodia

Leuchtturm 1917 | Moleskine

 

All in all, little bleeding, some on Leuchtturm, and – as always – most on Moleskine.

Sheen here is in fact present – the way I see it – but as usual very strongly dependent on your camera and the angle from which the light bashes onto the paper. As an example, a shot of that "pipette-smear" (on that completely un-special type of paper) shown up above:

 

6. Ink Comparisons

Today, I found this to be a tough test because this colour is IMO not a turquoise, not a teal, maybe something in between. Of course, the name itself which Pelikan gave it reflects something Caribbean (and/or East-Australian -- a vicinity of which I have as yet no inks -- but this ink is very intensive, very dark. Right off the cuff, I thought of ku-jaku, so that at least some part of a peacock certainly came to mind. Here's a small list, first as a scan an then as a photo. I'm sure we'll nail down a few more later. Diamine's Steel Blue and Marine also look like possible candidates but I unfortunately don't have those two on hand (or on the shelf, har, har).

Scan:

 

Photo:

 

 

7. Note (pinched from an earlier review)

On the box's backside, I read "Extra soft ink". That means the following: A. In comparison to the 4001 ink predecessors, these new Edelstein issues have a better flow and lubrication -- by "lubrication" here, they in Hanover mean not only on the paper but also in the barrel, around the piston, and B. These Edelstein inks have been designed to be even more maintenance-free and thus more "FP-friendly". I couldn't agree more with this statement!

 

8. Availability

Being a "Pelikan" ink, it should be available all over the world. To quote visvamitra in the latest reviews on Pelikan inks of the 4001 series, " You may find it interesting that Pelikan 4001 are the only inks that can be bought practically in every B&M store in Poland." Now that's a nice thing to say but also a great thing to be able to say. Sure wish I had a dime for every post asking "where and when can I buy a bottle of XYZ?", and all that. Again, Germany is Germany, the U.S. is the U.S., and Japan is Japan etc., so prices vary. Considering again a short list of prices, here is a list I posted recently to outline the same type of comparisons. Edelsteins aren't all that expensive (in this country), and cost "only" just over twice as much as any of the inks in the Pelikan 4001 line, which are all a real bargain anyhow. These are German list prices in Euros including our sales tax of 19%:

----------------------------------------------------

Ink                   List Price   Bottle   Price/ml

----------------------------------------------------

Hieronymus            48.20        50 ml        0.96

Vuitton               36.00        50 ml        0.72

Caran d'Ache (new)    29.50        50 ml        0.59

Iroshizuku            24.90        50 ml        0.50

Caran d'Ache (old)    13.95        30 ml        0.47

Montegrappa           14.00        42 ml        0.33

Graf von F-C (new)    25.00        75 ml        0.33

Pelikan Edelstein     14.90        50 ml        0.30

Herbin                 8.70        30 ml        0.29

Akkerman (60 ml)      15.00        60 ml        0.25

Montblanc (regulars)  14.50        60 ml        0.24

Graf von F-C (old)    13.75        62.5         0.22

Stipula (Calamo)      14.00        70 ml        0.20

Lamy T52               8.50        50 ml        0.17

Waterman               7.90        50 ml        0.16

L'Artisan Pastellier   6.02        40 ml        0.15

Pelikan 4001           4.30        30 ml        0.14

Rohrer & Klingner      6.50        50 ml        0.13

Parker Quink           6.00        57 ml        0.11

Akkerman (150 ml)     16.50       150 ml        0.11

Seitz-Kreuznach        8.99       100 ml        0.09

----------------------------------------------------

 

9. Conclusion

■ I love this colour for three special reasons. It is very dark, very wet, and has an absolutely unique colour bordering in somewhere between a turquoise (which I sometimes like) and a teal (which I usually don't like) but all that is my cup of tea so you'll have to decide yourself.

■ Over and above that, I see a fantastic property occasionally encountered elsewhere... upon writing, before and/or while drying, it reveals the same dark, more bluish tinge you see in the wet ink itself (for example when filling your pen)... whereas after having dried out on paper, it attains a slightly greener touch. Invigorating, I must say.

■ It is really well behaved, writes well, dries quite quickly and is water resistant.

■ This ink should be available all over the world and that for IMO a reasonable price. At least here in Europe and likely in North America, I'd say that it is less expensive than any Iroshizuku or Sailor contenders.

■ Don't forget that this is a Pelikan "Ink of the Year" (as always, since 2012, continually in the Edelstein field) and thus a Limited Edition ink. Aquamarine should now be available – as usual likely for a good year – but when they're gone, they're gone for good.

 

Mike

[Uncial]

How did you get your GVFC to look so dark? Mine is very light, much lighter than the Edelstein.

[visvamitra]

Excellent review!

[white_lotus]

Wow. Thank you so much for this review. This really looks like an interesting color, a green that is blue, or a blue that is green. Somewhat similar to Akkerman #24 Zuiderpark Blue-green in that changeability. btw, FPH in NYC, admittedly an expensive market, lists the Edelstein inks at $31.80 (US). Other places may list for less, but Edelstein inks are not cheap, but I'm glad they are getting so good!

[Abner C. Kemp]

I love the color on the box but not the color of the ink. Thanks for the review!!

[GraniteScribbler]

Excellent review. Thank you!

 

I used to have trouble getting those little foam blocks out of the Edelstein boxes, but I found an easy way to do it.

 

After you open the lid of the box, you can grab the inner flap (the wide one with the round cut-outs in the corners). Pull that flap up, and you can lift out the inner layer of the box, the bottle, and the two foam blocks. Once the inner box is out of the outer box, its front panel will swing open to the side, and then everything is easy to pick up.

[carlos.q]

Great review!

On my screen it looks a bit like Sailor Yama-Dori.

[DrDebG]

Great review! Thank you so much!

 

I love the color. It reminds me of Callifolio Omi Osun. I may have to buy a bottle to give it a try. I love the formulation of Amethyst.

[gylyf]

Thanks for the great review! For me, these kinds of blue-greens/green-blues find themselves in some kind of inky uncanny valley, however, and I can't seem to warm up to them.

[sakayume]

Thanks for the review! It looks a bit too similar to Ku-jaku to me, so now I'm leaning towards giving it a skip.

[lapis]

Thanks, everybody. Uncial, that GvF-C up there probably looks so dark -- just like everything else -- because I was using a glass dip pen (from Herbin) with only very little wipe-off (on the inside of the ink bottle neck rim). If I wipe off a lot more, that Deep Sea Green does look a bit lighter, as can be seen below. The Aquamarine and Yama Dori dips (also those below) are less wiped off, just like all of the other inks shown above.

Carlos, good idea (as you always have)... don't know why I didn't think of Yama Dori myself. Thanks, again.

Lotus... that's the nicest thing you could say. "... a green that is blue, or a blue that is green". You put my love of the gem in a nutshell !

 

 

I'm glad that some of you like it as much as I do (no, I'm not selling it....).

Mike

[The Good Captain]

I think I might have to try some of this one day soon.

[lapis]

Yes, I'm afraid you might. But to pay for it you'll have to stay one day off the other bottles....

[The Good Captain]

Yes, I'm afraid you might. But to pay for it you'll have to stay one day off the other bottles....

That is easily arranged, oh great and wonderful seer, you...

...however, the bottle of Bobby's Gin that my wife got me from Holland for my birthday - today - is lovingly being looked at...

...and still looked at...

...and still looked at...................

HUZZAH!

[TheGreatRoe]

Is this ink available yet, or did you get an advance bottle?

[lapis]

On 3/14/2016 at 5:51 PM, The Good Captain said:

That is easily arranged, oh great and wonderful seer, you...

...however, the bottle of Bobby's Gin that my wife got me from Holland for my birthday - today - is lovingly being looked at...

...and still looked at...

...and still looked at...................

HUZZAH!

Well then all best wishes for this, that and, of course, the other.....

 

 

Just for you, my friend!

[lapis]

Is this ink available yet, or did you get an advance bottle?

It's available but some stores are faster than others. It was originally planned (as every year since 2012) to be out on the 1st of March but it may have been a week or so later this year....

 

Mike

[migo984]

The ink is available in the UK from PurePens / Niche Pens, at £12.95 per bottle.

 

http://www.purepens.co.uk/acatalog/Pelikan-Edelstein-Bottled-Ink.html

[TheGreatRoe]

The ink is available in the UK from PurePens / Niche Pens, at £12.95 per bottle.

 

http://www.purepens.co.uk/acatalog/Pelikan-Edelstein-Bottled-Ink.html

 

 

Ooooo. Thanks. Even with the shipping that's cheaper than I could get in the US.

[carlos.q]

I just bought mine from seitz-global.us for a very good price and free shipping over $25.00 so naturally I had to buy a couple of more inks...