Next Blue Ink For My Pelikan?

[AMlines]

I've recently acquired the Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue and find that it expectedly behaves well with my M205 (Fine and Medium). However, the shade is a little boring, and tests indicate that the ink does not do well with moisture/water.

 

Where could I go from here? In your experience which other Royal blue or blue inks do well with the M205 pens but look more interesting than the 4001 RB?

 

I am not looking for heavy shading or a beautiful ink, but one which looks more interesting when I use it to write a lot of notes.

 

Thanks!

[aurore]

Well, almost any ink will work well in Pelikan pens. Just check the online swabs and ink reviews here.

Ink prices quite depend on your location. Among premium inks I would suggest Visconti blue and GvFC Cobalt Blue.

[carlos.q]

Montblanc Permanent Blue is fully waterproof and will not feather. However, you should flush your Pelikan M205 every other fill as this ink will slowly but surely leave a deposit that will darken the pen's ink window. This residue can be cleaned but it's a bit of a hassle.

 

Don't ask me how I know...

[The Good Captain]

No ink is really boring - it's just the so-called 'experts' that are always after new thrills with shimmer & shading, that give the tradionalists a bad name.

Then, they moan on here about drying times, smearing, lack of sheen, 'the wrong paper' etc etc.

Shame people don't really consider the words they write...

...or should have.

[LizEF]

I really like the look of Lamy Blue-Black from my Pelikan m405 - shades gloriously. (But shading is my thing.) Some other interesting blues are:

• Colorverse Ham #65
• Herbin Bleu des Profondeurs (if you want a nice dark blue)
• De Atramentis Steel Blue (closer to turquoise, but not quite there)
• good old Pilot Blue-Black
• Waterman Mysterious Blue (for something safe and light shading)
• or Waterman Inspired Blue (for a lighter note with some sheen)
• Robert Oster Midnight Sapphire (if it's still around)
• Caran d' Ache Magnetic Blue (if you've got too much money and want the cool bottle)
• Robert Oster Blue Denim (for something with a little green in it)
• And my favorite: Akkerman #09 Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indigo (obviously my favorite because I can now spell that without looking it up )

I think any of those will play nicely with your Pelikan.

[Runnin_Ute]

Edelstein Sapphire is nice. I will report back on the newest blue once it arrives. Levenger Cobalt Blue.

Eclat de Saphir is nice too if you like blurples.

[corniche]

If you like "Blurples"; the following are some good choices, too:

 

1. Quink Permanent Blue

 

2. Mont Blanc Royal Blue

 

3. Binder Blurple, (50/50 blend of Waterman Florida Blue and Waterman Purple).

 

All three are easy to flush.

 

 

Visconti Blue and PR American Blue are also very appealing blues, but take some effort to flush.

 

 

Sean

[A Smug Dill]

As always when someone asks about blues, I have to suggest Sailor seiboku pigment ink, especially if someone is looking for extraordinary water resistance in an ink, unless it's been somehow contraindicated (e.g. "I don't use Japanese inks or products for personal reasons"). There is no reason I can think of why it wouldn't play well with a Pelikan M20x. How it apparently flows will be influenced by your choice of nib width, but if I've used seiboku with a variety of Japanese Fine and Western EF nibs with no issue, so "too dry" is unlikely to be a problem you'd encounter. It sheens subtly even with such fine nibs, and even the sheen will survive a 60-minute soak in a bath of water; the ink is almost completely waterproof in my testing. Everyone has different habits and practises "pen hygiene" differently, but I'll assume you'll do what is sufficient, which is not letting the ink dry inside the nib, feed or ink reservoir before using up a full fill of ink and/or flushing the pen clean. In my experience, the caps on the Pelikan M20x are quite effective in sealing the nib and feed and preventing ink evaporation, so I don't see why it would be a problem for a pen in regular and/or frequent use, especially since the Pelikan M20x is not exactly an expensive or ultra-rare limited edition pen that demands being "babied".

[lapis]

In any ol' order: MB Royal Blue, MB Permanent Blue, Monteverde Horizon Blue.... As our good Cap'n says, no inks are really boring... but Pelikan's Royal Blue is relatively boring....

[sansenri]

Alternatives to Royal blue have been mentioned.

MB royal blue is usually my choice when I want a blue ink similar to 4001 but slightly more vivid and with less fading issues. Good alternatives are also Aurora blue and Visconti blue.

Horizon blue is not a royal blue, it has a touch of turquoise hue in it but a very nice vivid ink.

Sapphires are nice too, leaning more to purple, Diamine, Edelstein and JH my favourites.

For water resistent inks you need to investigate further, to understand what you really need and the characteristics on offer.

Due to its safe formula and easy cleaning Pelikan Royal blue is still a hustle free ink, and I often use it to test pens, use it in vintage pens and I also use it to play around with some mixing...

[nibtip]

Pelikan Royal blue is probably one of the safest inks on the market. I agree it is a bit dull. I know a nibmeister that strictly uses this ink for testing.

Alternative, but more saturated and lubricated: Rohrer und Klingner Royal blue.

My personal favourite at the moment Pilot Blue Black which is more blue than blue black. Water resistance, flow, lubrication, price. Beyond decency.

I agree with the above. Souboukou and Seibokou are fantastic inks. But they are more blue-black and the latter has a teal leaning dominant.

[MHBru]

hmm.. none of my favorites have been mentioned... Iroshizuku has a few really nice blues.. Kon Peki is beautiful and likely my #1 and Asa Gao for something darker with just a hint of purple. Edelstein Saphire is nice too. For lighter blue greys.. Iroshizuku shin kai, Herbin Bleu Nuit and Kyonoto Aonibi. On the darker blue black I just got a large bottle of Akkerman Dutch Masters #8.

 

edited to add a key point... I own more Pelikans than and other brand.

Edited January 24, 2020 by MHBru

[Brandywine]

To say that "the ink does not do well with moisture/water" is a little bit of understatement

as Pelikan Royal Blue is expressively declared to be washable ....

many people like it for exactly this feature, and for its oldfashioned low-budget price.

 

Many people here in Germany have grown fed up with it as Royal Blue is the standard school ink around here;

they just yearn for "something else than blue".

 

Rohrer & Klingner Royal Blue has been mentioned here.

They also have a "Permanent Blue" in store that is the same (low) price
and is resistant to light and water but not really document proof.

It is a bit lighter than Royal Blue but i like it.

[AMlines]

Pelikan Royal blue is probably one of the safest inks on the market. I agree it is a bit dull. I know a nibmeister that strictly uses this ink for testing.

Alternative, but more saturated and lubricated: Rohrer und Klingner Royal blue.

My personal favourite at the moment Pilot Blue Black which is more blue than blue black. Water resistance, flow, lubrication, price. Beyond decency.

I agree with the above. Souboukou and Seibokou are fantastic inks. But they are more blue-black and the latter has a teal leaning dominant.

 

Thanks. I am quite interested in Pilot inks and will check this out.

Have you used Namiki blue? I liked the sample I tried. Not beautiful, but still a hint of shading and a less saturated blue. Did well on drying times too.

[nibtip]

Yes i have tried Namiki blue which is the exact same ink as Pilot blue (different marketing for different countries). I my opinion it shares the same qualities as the sailor blue black. But i didn't like the color. Too pale maybe. I love shading inks and Pilot BB does it acceptably with the right pen.

I also like the lubrication and glide of PBB. It is a no nonsense everyday ink. And filthy cheap 22$ for 350ml shipping included.

[Mercian]

I’ve had good results from Rohrer & Klingner Salix from my M205F.

It’s an iron-gall blue-black, but it remains bluer after curing than other i-g inks do.

It has a good degree of water resistance, so is good for note-taking, although that said it has very little resistance to light, so I wouldn’t use it e.g. for notices that are going to be permanently on display. It can feel very ‘dry’ in some pens, but I have never felt that to be a problem in my M205F.

 

If you are happy to use blue-black then Pelikan 4001 blue-black is cheap and reliable and has a loyal fanbase. Or there’s their Edelstein Tanzanite, which is essentially 4001 bb with an added ingredient to lubricate the pistons in Pelikan pens. That has a loyal following too.

I have also seen loads of recommendations for Pilot ‘Blue-Black’, which always seems to me to look more like a ‘dark blue’ than what I think of when I read the term blue-black.

I cannot say anything about it myself, because I have never been able to try it.

Pilot won’t sell bottles of it here in the UK, only the 12-unit packs of their proprietary cartridges. That really annoys me, because those cannot even be used in the European version of the Pilot Metropolitan (which takes Short International Cartridges), let alone in piston-fillers like the Pilot Custom 92.

Idiocy!

 

I haven’t yet tried many Royal Blues in my M205 - I am not a massive fan of that colour, and usually enjoy inks that shade and inks that have water-resistance. Most Royal Blues don’t have it.

I may have run Waterman ‘Serenity Blue’ through it once, but that’s another ‘washable blue’ (albeit one that dries to a more-intense colour than 4001 Königsblau does).

I have run Edelstein Sapphire through it, which seems to me to be Königsblau with a hint of 4001 Violet added along with the piston lube. On the right paper I think that Edelstein Sapphire’s hint of violet really makes it ‘sing’, although many people on here have said that they’ve been disappointed by its colour.

 

Another ‘safe’ blue ink that stays more intense than Königsblau is Parker Quink ‘Blue’ (N.b. not the ‘Washable Blue’).

I only recently bought my first bottle of that, and haven’t yet run it through my M205. Some people think that its colour leans a bit to the violet, or ‘blurple’. I don’t think it does (at least, not in comparison to say Diamine ‘Imperial Blue’) but perhaps it is a bit violet if placed in comparison to WSB or Königsblau.

It also isn’t great at resisting water.

 

You haven’t said where you are, so:

The Edelsteins are much more costly than the 4001 inks.
Here in the UK Pilot Blue-Black is Unobtainium, but I believe that it is cheap in the USA.
In the USA 4001 Blue-Black is Unobtainium, but it is cheap throughout Europe.

In the UK R&K Salix is very inexpensive.

Parker Quink is usually inexpensive but, here at least, while the ‘Washable Blue’ is ubiquitous, the ‘Blue’ seems to only be available from online vendors.

 

Good luck with your quest

Edited January 25, 2020 by Mercian

[AMlines]

Yes i have tried Namiki blue which is the exact same ink as Pilot blue (different marketing for different countries). I my opinion it shares the same qualities as the sailor blue black. But i didn't like the color. Too pale maybe. I love shading inks and Pilot BB does it acceptably with the right pen.

I also like the lubrication and glide of PBB. It is a no nonsense everyday ink. And filthy cheap 22$ for 350ml shipping included.

 

Thanks. Just to make sure we are talking about the same ink, is this the one you have in mind -

https://www.gouletpens.com/products/pilot-namiki-blue-black-ink-cartridges?variant=11884755025963

[AMlines]

Well, almost any ink will work well in Pelikan pens. Just check the online swabs and ink reviews here.

Ink prices quite depend on your location. Among premium inks I would suggest Visconti blue and GvFC Cobalt Blue.

 

I see. Then let me turn this around and ask you if there are any inks that I may do well to avoid?

Would you particularly recommend sticking with Pelikan or other European inks?

How about Pilot inks? I am quite interested in some of their inks. Do you know if they also work well with the M205?

[AMlines]

Montblanc Permanent Blue is fully waterproof and will not feather. However, you should flush your Pelikan M205 every other fill as this ink will slowly but surely leave a deposit that will darken the pen's ink window. This residue can be cleaned but it's a bit of a hassle.

 

Don't ask me how I know...

Ha ha. I know how you would know )

Well, I shouldn't have a problem with cleaning the pen, but really at this point I am trying to stay away from the more complicated - even if beautiful - inks.

[AMlines]

I really like the look of Lamy Blue-Black from my Pelikan m405 - shades gloriously. (But shading is my thing.) Some other interesting blues are:

• Colorverse Ham #65
• Herbin Bleu des Profondeurs (if you want a nice dark blue)
• De Atramentis Steel Blue (closer to turquoise, but not quite there)
• good old Pilot Blue-Black
• Waterman Mysterious Blue (for something safe and light shading)
• or Waterman Inspired Blue (for a lighter note with some sheen)
• Robert Oster Midnight Sapphire (if it's still around)
• Caran d' Ache Magnetic Blue (if you've got too much money and want the cool bottle)
• Robert Oster Blue Denim (for something with a little green in it)
• And my favorite: Akkerman #09 Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indigo (obviously my favorite because I can now spell that without looking it up )

I think any of those will play nicely with your Pelikan.

Thanks for the long list! Are any of these difficult inks? Ones that may need the pen to be cleaned more often and/or more thoroughly?