Lamy Blue

[carpedavid]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/4412911578_4d8fc2146c_b.jpg

 

Lamy Blue was the first fountain pen ink I used, as it came in the cartridge included with my very first fountain pen – a Lamy Safari. I liked it enough that I purchased a bottle and it remains in my regular rotation. The ink itself is a prototypical blue with moderate shading and saturation. It's the kind of blue most people would think of when thinking of a blue ballpoint pen.

 

Unlike J. Herbin inks, which tend to be quite wet, Lamy Blue is a fairly dry. Perhaps because of this, feathering is almost nonexistent on Moleskine or Rhodia papers. Similarly, bleed-through isn't an issue and show-through is minimal at worst.

 

When testing the drying time for this review, I found that the ink took longer to dry than I remember. It's still within the range of what I consider acceptable for daily use, but I found it surprising. On Moleskine paper, it took 3 to 5 seconds to dry completely. On Rhodia paper, it took upwards of 10 seconds.

 

Lamy Blue comes in a 50ml bottle that isn't the most fashionable but is certainly one of the most functional ink bottles I've seen. It has a well at the bottom that allows for drawing up the very last drops in the bottle, and it also comes with a built-in roll of blotting paper.

 

Review materials: For the wide strokes, I used a Lamy 1.1mm steel calligraphy nib in a Lamy Safari. For the narrow strokes, I used a steel EF nib in a Lamy Safari.

[bluemagister]

Very nice!

[Leftytoo]

Looks to be similar in shade to Pelikan Royal Blue.

[Ed Ronax]

Nice review, thanks.

[Philips]

Thank you for your review. I use Lamy Blue quite a lot as well. Their 50ml bottle is very practical, somebody has actually thought it through. The cartridge of blotting paper surrounding the ink well is also useful, the parts easily separable for recyling as well.

[kv3x]

Wow! Very cool! Thanks for sharing the review.

[Garageboy]

It looks a tad more purple under warm lighting

[bwnewton]

Thanks for this solid review.

 

I use a lot of bottled Lamy Blue. It's a superb everyday ink. It looks richer on Ampad's Gold Fibre Planning Pad paper--a great combo. It behaves extremely well in Moleskine Cahiers, too.

[carpedavid]

  On 3/13/2010 at 1:44 AM, bwnewton said:

It behaves extremely well in Moleskine Cahiers, too.

 

Indeed, this ink performs admirably on Moleskine Cahiers.

 

In fact, I use cahiers at work to record my daily notes, and their thin paper makes them much more sensitive to wet inks. I should probably start mentioning ink compatibility with them in my subsequent reviews.

 

Dave

[bwnewton]

  On 3/14/2010 at 2:09 PM, carpedavid said:

  On 3/13/2010 at 1:44 AM, bwnewton said:

It behaves extremely well in Moleskine Cahiers, too.

 

Indeed, this ink performs admirably on Moleskine Cahiers.

 

In fact, I use cahiers at work to record my daily notes, and their thin paper makes them much more sensitive to wet inks. I should probably start mentioning ink compatibility with them in my subsequent reviews.

 

Dave

 

Believe it or not, I've been able to use Lamy Blue to underline on the thin pages of my Bible! It's not the thinnest Bible paper, but pretty thin. I can't underline with any other fountain pen ink that I have with the same success as Lamy Blue.

[chkuo]

Nice! This is a review that brings a smile for sure.

[nstlgia70]

  On 3/7/2010 at 4:25 AM, carpedavid said:

 

Lamy Blue was the first fountain pen ink I used, as it came in the cartridge included with my very first fountain pen – a Lamy Safari. I liked it enough that I purchased a bottle and it remains in my regular rotation. The ink itself is a prototypical blue with moderate shading and saturation. It's the kind of blue most people would think of when thinking of a blue ballpoint pen.

 

 

 

 

This blue has quite some purple tone to it. I personally do not like it because of this, and although it is subjective, I suspect there may be others who will be disappointed too. This ink also has no water-resistance quality.

Edited March 20, 2010 by nstlgia70

[bwnewton]

  On 3/20/2010 at 2:59 PM, nstlgia70 said:

  On 3/7/2010 at 4:25 AM, carpedavid said:

 

Lamy Blue was the first fountain pen ink I used, as it came in the cartridge included with my very first fountain pen – a Lamy Safari. I liked it enough that I purchased a bottle and it remains in my regular rotation. The ink itself is a prototypical blue with moderate shading and saturation. It's the kind of blue most people would think of when thinking of a blue ballpoint pen.

 

 

 

 

This blue has quite some purple tone to it. I personally do not like it because of this, and although it is subjective, I suspect there may be others who will be disappointed too.

 

That's how I felt at first as well. Later, I noticed that it tends to get "bluer" within the day. I didn't care for this ink at first and now it's my number one blue ink when I don't need to worry about water resistance. It just behaves so well on so many qualities of paper. The price is good, too. I use it a lot on Ampad Gold Fibre Planning pads which tend to make ink colors appear richer in my opinion.

[mollzo]

Thanks for the review!!!

 

- Jesus, your handwriting is ART

 

 

I like the shading and the level of intensity in this blue - very subtle!

[amateriat]

Actually, I'm not altogether certain if the bottle of Lamy ink I had up till recently was Blue or Blue-Black; I do know I was somewhat underwhelmed by its writing performance in several pens, while its hue, to my eye, was simply "okay." Of course, I was comparing it to Parker Penman Sapphire, my personal high water-mark for blue-black inks, and the standard against which every other blue-black ink I've come across is judged. (My current accepted b-b is from Pilot.)

 

The review, however, is stellar. And a nice reference to the Fleetwoods as well. Looking forward to more from you!

 

 

- Barrett

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have a sample bottle of this ink and a cart that's currently in my new charcoal Safari 1.1 italic. So far I love the cheery-blue aspect and haven't noticed any purple tones.

[bwnewton]

  On 4/27/2010 at 9:38 PM, Sailor Kenshin said:

I have a sample bottle of this ink and a cart that's currently in my new charcoal Safari 1.1 italic. So far I love the cheery-blue aspect and haven't noticed any purple tones.

 

I notice the purple tones when I'm using an Ampad Gold Fibre Planning Pad.

Edited October 23, 2010 by bwnewton

[Bo Bo Olson]

Put some Lamy cartridges away for 10-20 years, and get a dark well saturated blue.

 

I had an old Parker 45 and had put a some what older Parker washable blue cartridge I'd run into, into it and thought how wishy washy it was. And remembering how 'light' the Lamy 'washable blue' was supposed to be, took the CP-1 out of the blue ink cup.

Boy, that was dark, well saturated and 'lubricated' in a B nib.

It took me a bit to remember the cartridge was half dried out, and came from my early '90's "pre'bump on the clip" Lamy Persona box.

 

Lamy blue like Pelikan Royal Blue are inks designed to be eradicated with a school Pirat ink eradicator. It is too bad you can't get that eradicator in the states, it works well.

Of course I don't need it...but bought it to see if it really worked.

Sure could have used that back in silver dime school days.

We had Pelikan ink in the States back then. It was cheaper than Sheaffer and Parker.

[arthury]

May be because I am using very wet pens (hint: German and name starts with 'P'), I am particularly interested in non-feathering inks. So far, my #1 non-feathering King is the Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Red.

Well, looks like it has found a challenger for that non-feathering crown --- Lamy Blue.

 

I have just tested it on one of my wettest pens and the ink did not feather (even a bit) on all of my papers (Clairefontaine 90g, Moleskin 80g, regular college rule). I tried to introduce deep wet broad strokes with my springy nib and nothing can encourage it to feather. Little shiny beads of ink may appear on my written words when I pressed deeply but no feathering --- I'm thrilled. This is magic to me.

 

The dry time is not as short as the Pelikan 4001 Red but it did not feather. I am impressed. I have found a friend and I think it will be a long-lasting friendship.

Well done, LAMY!

Edited March 29, 2012 by arthury

[bwnewton]

Amen! This is my favorite blue for everyday writing, underlining and marginalia. For writing that doesn't require water resistance, I can't think of a better behaved blue for the money than Lamy Blue. And the bottle is about the most user-friendly on the market IMO.

Edited March 30, 2012 by bwnewton