Smoky Quartz - Pelikan Edelstein Ink Of The Year 2017

[visvamitra]

Pelikan Edelstein line is great proof of Pelikan's marketing team efficiency. Beautifully packaged inks bear promise of amazing writing experience. The line is popular all around the world and concurs with the likes of Pilot Iroshizuku or Graf von Faber-Castell.

Packaging and bottle

 

The packaging is impressive.

The outer cardboard box is, more or less, standard. It’s not overisized and made from cardboard. The front panel has a slightly slanted extra facet with a colored panel that corresponds to the ink color inside. Care was also taken to keep ink secure in the box – the pair of styrofoam pads rest between the neck of the bottle and the box.

The bottle itself is really, really nice. The glass is thick, heavy and rectangular but with slightly concave sides. The lettering fits the design. I believe Caran d’Ache Chromatics inks bottles are more interesting, Iroshizuku probably nicer but Edelstein offers great and solid cap.

The inks can be bought in 13 colors, seven standard.

1. Aventurine
2. Jade
3. Mandarin
4. Onyx
5. Sapphire
6. Ruby
7. Topaz

And 6 LE inks of the year

1. Turmaline Ink of the Year 2012
2. Amber Ink of the Year 2013
3. Garnet Ink of the Year 2014
4. Amethyst Ink of the Year 2015
5. Aquamarine Ink of the Year 2016
6. Smoky Quartz Ink of the Year 2017

I have mixed feelings about Edelstein as a line. The inks aren't bad. But they're not as good as the price tag would suggest. On the other hand Pelikan does a great job communicating with pen enthusiasts and engaging them in activities (Pelikan Hub, creating the color of the ink of the year).

My feelings, though, change nothing - each year I'm eager to try their new ink.

This year Pelikan has finally offered brown ink. The color was created and voted by Pelikan-fans. The hue can be described as warm and nicely saturated brown. Happily the color is quite unique. It's not one of generic red-browns that are omnipresent on the market. This one has some personality.

Color perception is always subjective. Physical properties less so. Let's examine them.

Flow: the Ink feels dryish. In wetter pens it won’t be an issue but in drier ones, especially those equipped with fine / extra-fine nib the flow may be a little disappointing. It’s ok but if you like, say, J. Herbin Eclat de Saphire, Smokey Quartz is nowhere near in terms of flow. It’s average.

 

Saturation: level of saturation is satisfying for my needs. The ink doesn’t look oversaturated, it remains fully legible in alli light conditions.

 

Lubrication: average at best. If your benchmark for lubrication is Sailor, Smoky Quartz may disappoint you. In wet pens it won’t be an issue. In dry nibs, you’ll feel that there’s no free riding on the paper.

 

Drying time: rather reasonable. 15-20 seconds on Rhodia, 10 – 15 seconds on absorbent paper.

 

Clogging issues: None experienced. The ink may dry in the nib but only after few minutes. You can leave the pen uncapped for 2-3 minutes and everything should be fine. I’ve tried it in Wing Sung 658 and hard starts were experienced only after leaving the pen uncapped for 4 minutes.

 

Feathering: practically none. Maybe some barely perceptible feathering on Moleskine.

 

Bleedthrough: experienced only on Moleskine (crappiest paper ever)

 

Water resistance: this ink is water resistant. The color washes off but the text remains fully legible even after soaking paper for two hours.

Sheen: none seen on papers that I used.

Ink Splash

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

Software ID

Color range

Maruman, Wing Sung 698, fine nib

Maruman, Przemysław Marciński PERUN - custom pen with JoWo 1.1 nib

Leuchtturm 1917, Przemysław Marciński PERUN - custom pen with JoWo 1.1 nib

Rhodia, Wing Sung 698, fine nib

Moleskine, Wing Sung 698, fine nib

Bleedthrough on Moleskine

Water resistance

Mini-comparison

[visvamitra]

Be sure to check Lapis and Jan2016 reviews of this ink to get different perspective

[Carrau]

Thanks for the nice review, and for the links to Lapis and Jan2016 reviews. I think I'll bite on this one, having been looking for a darker, less red brown. J Herbin Cacao du Bresil and Caroube de Chypre were mildly interesting to me, but I like this much better.

[lapis]

Excellent! Good coverage of its properties. Whatever ones's feelings, one should still buy it as long as it's still there!

 

IMO

[visvamitra]

Yes, this one is pretty interesting.

[ca49reber]

I have just finished writing 2 fills of this ink in my M800 F & I hate changing to a different ink. Finally found a perfect ink for a perfect pen.

[Jan2016]

Great review! (as always... :-))

[visvamitra]

Thank you. I wonder how much interest will this ink have in the community. Personally I think it's best IotY since Amber.

[lgsoltek]

Still waiting for mine... which should have arrived last week but still hasn't!

[oldrifleman]

Love this color! I have been using it for a couple of weeks and it has become one of my go to colors, especially on broad nibs.

[visvamitra]

Yes, it's nice color and it does shine in broad and wet nibs.

[Quadratus]

This new Edelstein ink is, for me, a huge success. I write a lot in brown ink as I find them more "interesting" than plain black or standard blues. Brown inks, provided they are deep and earthy, are very satisfying to use. This new Edelstein is comparable only to the Diamine "Chocolate Brown" for depth of colour and shading. Close runners-up are Delta Sepia brown and Iroshizuku Tsukushi.

 

One question I can't find an answer to is whether Pelikan are bringing it out only as a bottled ink or will there also be cartridges? Does anyone know the answer?

[inkstainedruth]

I just got a sample of Smoky Quartz but haven't had a chance to try it yet. I'll admit that I was kinda expecting something a little more sepia or grey-toned. But this still looks nice.

Thanks for the review.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[aurore]

I have never quite understood why people praise this ink. However this is a kind of an ink that works perfectly with the same brand pens. In my Pelikans it worked always great - regardless in EF or BB. And considering any brand harmonizes the inks with their own pens it is a very good ink.

 

In non-Pelikan pens (unless they were very wet) though it often felt dryish, sometimes caused skipping and railroading, the lubrication was quite poor and overall it felt unpleasant to use, it still worked, never caused clogging and always was easy to clean, however in general there was nothing premium about this ink at all. This said my main concern about (almost) any Edelstein incl. this one is an extremely poor fade resistance, sunlight turns a written text into nothing very quickly.

Edited January 5, 2019 by aurore