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Ink Shoot-Out : Pelikan Edelstein Topaz vs Pilot Iroshizuku kon-peki Iroshizuku kon-peki has long been my only cerulean blue ink, and I've been very fond of it. Recently, I obtained a bottle of Pelikan Edelstein Topaz and - lo-and-behold - this turned out to also be a nice cerulean blue. A great opportunity to put these inks into close comparison, and find out which of them I like the most. Here comes... the Ink Shoot-Out. A brutal fight where champion inks do battle for four rounds, to determine who is the winner. In the left corner - the challenger: Pelikan Edelstein Topaz. In the right corner - my current favorite: Pilot Iroshizuku kon-peki. Which champion will remain standing at the end of the fight ? Let's find out... Round 1 - First Impressions Both inks make a wonderful first impression. I really like their color... a fine cerulean sky-blue. These inks give me a relaxed, vacation-like feeling. They remind me of the sunny day sky-blue in late spring, with me relaxing on a tropical beach soothed by the sound of crashing ocean waves. There are some differences though: Topaz is more of a morning-sky color, while kon-peki is more of an afternoon sky-blue. Topaz is definitely a shade lighter than kon-peki, which is most obvious in written text, not so much in the ink-swabs. For me, topaz is a fresher color, which appeals to me more.Both inks shade nicely, but the shading on topaz is less prominent, and - in my opinion - more aesthetically pleasingkon-peki is a wetter and more saturated inkBoth Edelstein en Iroshizuku are the top-of-the line inks of their respective brands. And both live up to their reputation: these are seriously fine-looking inks. But for me personally, I like the morning sky-blue of Topaz better. There is no obvious win by knock-out in this round, but I will yield this round to Topaz on points. Round 2 - Writing Sample The writing sample was done on a Rhodia N°16 Notepad with 80 gsm paper. Both inks behaved superbly, with no feathering and no show-through or bleed-through. You will find that the Edelstein ink is on the dry side - this is especially noticeable with the EF nib. The iroshizuku ink had no problem with the finer nib. With broader nibs, both inks wrote just fine with a nice ink-flow. It is well-known in this community that Edelstein inks are a bit dry. I won't hold this against topaz - just use an F nib or broader, and you won't have a problem. In my opinion, both inks are evenly matched, so this round ends in a draw. Round 3 - Ink Properties Both inks have similar drying times in the 15-20 second range on the Rhodia paper. Topaz needed a tad longer to dry completely. Both inks also did fine on the smudge test, where I draw a wet Q-tip cotton swab across the text line. There is some smearing, but the text remains perfectly legible. For the droplet test, I drippled water onto the grid, and let it sit there for 15 minutes, after which I removed the water droplets with a paper towel. As you can see, these are not water-resistant inks. But if you look closely, you'll notice that kon-peki leaves a bit more ink on the paper (and with some luck, you'll be able to reconstruct the written word). The chromatographies show that both are true blue inks, that are very water-soluble (in the chromatography the dyes migrate with the water to the top of the picture, the bottom part illustrates what remains on the paper after a good soak). You also notice that kon-peki appears to stick better to the paper. The difference between these heavy-weight champions is minimal. Again - no knock-out, but this round definitely goes to the Japanese champion - on points. Round 4 - The Fun Factor Welcome to the final round. Here I give you a purely personal impression of both inks, where I judge which of them I like most when doing some fun stuff like doodling and drawing. Here I must admit that I like Edelstein Topaz a lot better than Iroshizuku kon-peki. The more subtle shading on Topaz made for more interesting effects when drawing. And I definitely like the color of Topaz a lot better - a late morning sky-blue, while kon-peki is a deeper afternoon sky-blue. This is of course a purely personal judgment, but I'm quite convinced that - in the future - I will will reach faster for the bottle of Topaz, and that my kon-peki will be used less often. For me, this round definitely goes to the German champion. No knock-out, but a definite advantage on points. The Verdict Both inks find a proud place in my collection, and both are very well-behaving inks with a lovely sky-blue color. But counting the points, I find that Pelikan Edelstein Topaz is the clear winner over Pilot Iroshizuku kon-peki. As far as I'm concerned, Topaz has convincingly won this shoot-out on points, and is my new reigning champion !

InkShift - Pelikan Edelstein Topaz to Ruby Just for the fun of it, I decided to do a project exploring what happens when you move progressively from one ink colour to another. For now, I'm restricting myself to inks from the same manufacturer - mainly to avoid nasty chemical surprises. My hope is that some of these "inkshifts" result in interesting colours that I can use to write/draw with. And besides... it's just fun to watch one ink colour morph into another one. In this experiment, I started with Pelikan Edelstein Topaz and Ruby as base inks. My hope was to find some interesting purples. But no... I'm not impressed with the purples that appeared. I do like some of the blues though. Now I'm wondering if a more vibrant red like "Star Ruby" would have been a better choice... I'm hoping for more of a violet colour to turn up.

InkShift - Pelikan Edelstein Topaz to Star Ruby Just for the fun of it, I decided to do a project exploring what happens when you move progressively from one ink colour to another. For now, I'm restricting myself to inks from the same manufacturer - mainly to avoid nasty chemical surprises. My hope is that some of these "inkshifts" result in interesting colours that I can use to write/draw with. And besides... it's just fun to watch one ink colour morph into another one. This particular combo is a follow-up to the Topaz-to-Ruby InkShift. I had a hunch that the more vibrant Star Ruby might result in more interesting purples. As far as I'm concerned that hunch turned out to be correct. This inkshift produced quite some interesting colours, even a few violets. This morphing project really is great fun... I am thoroughly amusing myself. Below is a side by side with the Topaz-to-Ruby InkShift. What a difference a "star" makes

This box set had the delicious idea to be waiting for me under the Christmas tree! I don’t think I saw a review of the whole set or of all of these here so I thought I’d take a quick shot at it (sorry no lovely splash or real water test). The Gemstone set comes in a cardboard box that closes with a magnet. Fairly common for ink sets; no overwhelming, exclusive package, not much wow… Each ink comes in the standard 30ml bottle and plastic wrapping Now for the inks: (dipped pens, Tomoe River paper. Picture taken around a week after it was made) We’ll (almost) follow the order of the bottles in the box (only bringing Amethyst from right to left, with its fellow cold hues). So we start with Sapphire and Charoite, a dark royal blue and a blue purple. Nice, bright colours, nothing wrong to say about these inks, but just not really my kind of colours. I guess I’ll leave further comments and comparisons to blue and purple lovers. Amethyst is more for me; It’s another purple, but a little more pinkish and lighter than Charoite. It seems to be made of bright pink and bright blue stuff trying to run away from each other at every opportunity. There is definitely something lavender in Amethyst, but unlike other ‘lavender’ inks, it does not fade or lean towards grey. I like it Notes: - I struggled with taking a decent photo of the purples. This is as close as I got to the real thing. - There IS a small difference between Charoite and Amethyst, I swear. But; enough to justify having both in the same set? - I saw photos of Sapphire, Charoite and Amethyst showing sheen. I didn’t hunt for it here and didn’t get any yet. In Olivine there is ‘olive’, but while some ‘olive’ inks shade from neon yellow/green to dark khaki, sometimes looking like actual olive oil or even borderline radioactive, Olivine is a more composed, slightly muted army green. An olive-ish ink without the drama. (even if I do like some drama in my inks. See: FireOpal). Olivine still has nice shading: Erinite is an interesting colour, and I have to say I had fun using it. It’s a bright green, but it feels different, not just another green. It must be a little more yellow or more blue than just green, maybe like a ‘reverse turquoise’ (as in a green with a drop of blue). I don’t know enough inks to claim it’s unique, but whatever it does, it does it well, it’s fresh, and to me it would make a great spring ink. I would probably call Topaz a medium, balanced orange; not overly red or yellow, not too light when writing (disclaimer: dipped. I have not tried it in a pen yet), not too bright or hard on the eyes either. I find it rather nice –a bit subdued - and probably easily usable. I don’t have other oranges to compare with and not a lot more to say about it (paging HalloweenHJB) It’s easy to see why Fireopal is the ink that got the most buzz in this series. I guess my only comment could be that; An ink that goes that much distance (between dark red to bright orange) in just one touch of a nib or brush - no special effect, no dilution, no artsy touch – an ink which has not just a lovely colour but several lovely colours in it and which does THAT SHADING is a winner, a queen in my books. It seems to look fairly similar to Diamine Ancient Copper in some pictures found online, but I don’t have that one. I nicknamed FireOpal ‘Liquid Fire’ I love it. I think it goes straight into my top 5 fave inks. I want to buy litres, gallons, tankers of it. (that was childish) Zoom (did I mention the shading?) Ruby is a deep, slightly dark red, not eye searing. Another rich colour in which you can find some reddish orange and some cherry red. I wouldn’t call this one a pure red, but I’m not one who’ll have lots of red inks, so this one may be my main if not only red for a while. Garnet is in that sweet Yama Budo/Magenta/ grapey/ fuchsia spot – or whatever that colour is actually called. It’s slightly reddish than YB. The comparison below will make more sense than words. I think I still prefer Yama Budo but Garnet is certainly very nice. I’m not a connoisseur of black inks, and can only compare Onyx to the few blacks I have. It’s the blackest of my blacks, and still looks pretty ‘neutral’ (as in not overly blue or purple) when diluted. My new favourite among my very few blacks. To sum up; a really nice set of inks. Nothing wrong to flag in terms of any ink overly fading, being dry or watery. We all love/ dislike different colours, so I'll just note that the set covers quite a broad array; there should be something for everyone in there. I would have loved to get Emerald and Moonstone in that set – instead of having 2 quite similar purples for example. So I will try to get them.

The other day I was reading the compact review of Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz by member Jan2016... https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/320111-pelikan-edelstein-smoky-quartz-compact-review/ ...and I noticed that one person said that they do not like any of the inks sold by Pelikan. That intrigued me, because (IIRC) every time I have seen Pelikan Edelstein Topaz mentioned on here, the person mentioning it was doing so because they like - or even strongly like- that ink. As far as I can remember, I cannot remember ever seeing such unity of positive opinion about an ink. So, just to satisfy my curiosity, are there any of you reading this who dislike Edelstein Topaz? Or even only feel 'meh' about it? My thanks to you in advance for your replies. Cheers, M.

Ink Review : Pelikan Edelstein Topaz Pen: Pelikan M120 Green-Black Special Edition, F-nib Paper: Rhodia N°16 notepad 80 gsm Review In 2011 Pelikan introduced the Edelstein series of boutique inks, available in a variety of colors. The theme of the Edelstein concept is the gemstone - each color corresponds to the beautiful color of a gem. The inks themselves are presented in 50ml high-value bottles, which are truly beautiful, and worthy of a place on your desk. Here I review the color Topaz - a really nice cerulean blue, which reflects the color of a morning-sky. This truly is a stunning color, similar to iroshizuku kon-peki, albeit a tad lighter in color. I'm in love with this ink - it's a happy color, which gives me a vacation-like feeling. It's a true light-blue ink, which clearly shows in the chromatography. It seems to be a single-component dye. Topaz exhibits some really nice shading - but the shading remains subtle, resulting in a pleasing and highly aesthetic look. Love it ! The ink is - in my opinion - a bit too dry for an EF nib, but looks and writes great in F, M and B. The ink is a bit too exotic for the workplace, but great for journaling and especially so for drawing and doodling - just look at my starry friend in the handwritten review below ... that's a happy topaz fellow ;-) Topaz is a well-behaving ink on a variety of paper - even on cheaper paper like Moleskine or regular notepad paper. The ink is smudge-resistant, but I wouldn't call it water-resistant. With a good soak, almost all of that lovely color disappears, but a perfectly readable residue remains (even after 30 seconds of running tap water). Not really visible in the scan, but you can trust me on this - you will be able to reconstruct your precious writing. Rhodia N°16 notepad 80 gsm - drying time ~20 seconds, no feathering, no show-through nor bleed-throughPaperblanks journal paper - drying time ~10 seconds, no feathering, no show-through and no bleed-through. The color looks really beautiful on this ivory paperGeneric notepad paper 70 gsm - drying time 5-10 seconds, no feathering, some show-through and bleed-throughMoleskine journal - drying time ~5 seconds ! No visible feathering, very prominent show-through and bleed-throughThis ink dries superfast on cheaper paper - that's probably why there is no feathering visible... the ink is just drying too fast for it to spread. Very good behavior on the cheap paper - just use one side only due to the significant show- and bleed-through. And even though it dries superfast, this doesn't seem to affect the writing experience, which remains smooth. The ink is really well lubricated. Conclusion Pelikan Edelstein Topaz is a definite winner. A stunning color, nice shading, and good behavior on a wide range of paper. Suggestion - try this ink on a more yellowish paper... pure loveliness ! If you don't own a bottle, I just have one word of advice: buy one now, you won't regret it. my overall score: A+

This is my blend I've called Faux Edelstein Aquamarine. It is an equal parts blend of Edelstein Sapphire and Edelstein Topaz.

Another Edelstein substitute thread... Topaz has recently come to my attention and I really like the wonderful colour of this ink. However I am torn on getting another bottle, I think it is rather expensive. Any ideas on how to find a suitable substitute? About the same colour, same level of wetness or wetter. I would prefer to stay within the Pelikan or Lamy lines (so 4001 or Lamy turquise probably, how does that behave in comparison to the Edelstein Topaz) or R&K (Blumare, Smaragdgrün?) Any ideas appreciated. thanks

Hello, My bottle of Edelstein Topaz has a scent that I've never smelled before in an ink. It's a weird odor that I don't know how to describe other than kind of sweet. Is this normal? I've only had the bottle for about a month and the smell hasn't changed since first testing it, but after buying a bottle of the Edelstein Tanzanite (which does not share this strange fragrance) I thought it might be best to ask before trying the Topaz again (this time in one of my favorite pens). Thank you all for your help! Bahij

I originally posted this review at my blog here with more pictures and better formatting. Please visit and tell me what you think of it. Pelikan Edelstein Topaz Review http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Pn2PtGjAUlA/U6Cze5zniOI/AAAAAAAAAG8/grscdN-97X8/s1600/DSC_0153.JPG Specifications:Manufacturer: PelikanLine: EdelsteinColour: Turquoise MSRP: $25Actual Price: $15-$30Price I paid: $20 from my local storeAmount of Ink: 50 mlCost per ml: 40 ¢/ml at $20; 50 ¢/ml at $25Where to Buy: $19.83* at Amazon, $22.40 at Goulet Pens, $27.50 at Jet Pens, £12.50 from The Writing Desk in the UK, and €13.95 from La Couronne du Comte in Europe. * All prices are the prices at the time of this review's writing on June 17, 2014. Qualities:Bottle: A nice glass bottle; I had no trouble filling pens with larger nibs from it and will reuse the bottle.Sheen: An easily visible red sheenShading: Excellent shading, but it isn't as noticeable as Noodler's Apache Sunset or similar inksWater Resistance: Fairly water resistant; Words are still legibleFeathering: MinimalBleed through: MinimalShow through/ Ghosting: ModerateWetness: Extremely wetLubrication: Very well lubricated; pens instantly feel smoother with this inkStaining: As far as I have seen, this ink does not stain.Cleaning: The ink cleans out of a pen very easily.Safe for Vintage Pens?: Yes, I use this ink in my Parker 45 with the original squeeze converter.Okay on Copier Paper?: Yes, but there is feathering and extreme show through http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8wP-NSmMx_s/U6C0HcvivUI/AAAAAAAAAHw/rJYmVxSWETE/s1600/DSC_0159.JPG Uses for This Ink: Writing Informal Letters - I prefer to use only black for formal letters.Taking notes - how I use Topaz most of the timeCalligraphy - The excellent shading makes it fantastic in dip pens or italic nibs.Journaling - The sheen adds a nice flair to anything you write. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g82D_hIwD7E/U6Cz3KUxY0I/AAAAAAAAAHo/JD00BvTOtbg/s1600/DSC_0157.JPGWriting Sample:Pen: Visconti RembrandtPaper 1: Black 'n' Red notebook paperPaper 2: Copier paper http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8je4GN0d3Yg/U6DG8854ynI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/wdi0MUvaKIc/s1600/SCAN0012.JPG http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j2lkLkcvbts/U6DG9p_eM6I/AAAAAAAAAKA/Z6DZLxFbcWw/s1600/SCAN0013.JPG http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j-AHp_QHHzE/U6DG0kzqb-I/AAAAAAAAAJ0/1hl5-RyPG-g/s1600/SCAN0010.JPG http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SWveAYAB8iw/U6DGx45DkRI/AAAAAAAAAJs/twvXA3wxt2E/s1600/SCAN0011.JPG Score: 10/10- My favorite ink Thanks for reading and please visit my blog for more reviews like it.