Pelikan Edelstein Garnet, "Ink of the Year 2014"

[lapis]

1. Foreplay

 

To start off with, here is a copy taken from Pelikan:

 

And here is a shot taken from Wikipedia:

 

That is exactly the colour I had had in mind for a "garnet", what I had expected and/or hoped for in an ink with that name, plus, really very close to what I now see on paper. Hard to describe... a dark red with a touch or orange but also a half a touch of blue. I'm not at all sure if that is actually possible, but let's just take it from here.

 

2. First impressions

I was fascinated by this ink. Yes, because it is a further issue of an ink to this Edelstein edition, and yes, because it is, after all, yet another "Ink of the Year", but mainly because the colour name "garnet" has always been appealing to me. It is maybe only to be overridden by their "Amber" but it (Garnet) still means something special to me. I'd say that Garnet is, to my eyes -- completely in contrast to other gems, like Sapphire, Onyx, Ruby, Topaz (which can of course vary in colour here and there to no small degree) -- an even more manifold coloured gem maybe because there are so many variants of those silicates, which are, again, by no means any rare inorganic compounds. Whew!

 

Here is a scan using my on a HP Officejet 6700 Premium, 600 dpi:

 

To check out whether or not my direct scans here have any validity, I also first off included a copy of the photo taken directly from a Canon G15 camera:

 

I'd say that the direct scans have a half a touch less orange and a quarter of a touch more blue than the real McCoy (that being chosen for the M1000 B-nib version only). For the other pens used so far, the story may be different, but from here on, I'll stick to the direct scans.

 

3. About the Packaging

 

The bottle is beautiful, but still not as practical as a MB shoe. The lid is perfect, just like MB's newer lids (both companies' older lid designs were less well made, and harder to open and close.)

Just for the sake of comparison, I'd say that the new bottles of Caran d'Ache and Graf von Faber-Castell (along with Iroshizuku, of course) are just as massive and heavy... but those last three are built deeper and taller (properties which e.g. my M1000 doesn't mind at all)....

 

What I find to be not good at all is the box. For me, it's almost impossible to whip out the two pieces of sponge residing over the bottle's shoulders in order to get a hold of the bottle or even just the neck. The only way I can get a bottle out of the box is to turn everything upside down so that the bottle can fall out. Now I know why some of you never keep the ink boxes. (But, I do because of sunlight and all that.)

 

4. A fast look at ink properties here

■ Flow: Very good. IMO wetter than a few other Edelstein inks, maybe even just as wet as their Tanzanite. In any case a lot wetter than the 4001 series. AFAIK that is half the reason why Pelikan calls it an "Extra soft ink". See below under "Notes".

■ Lubrication: Also good.

■ Saturation: High. Not at all a bad property for this type of colour.

■ Shading: Not bad, better than some other Edelstein inks, but still not as high as for Amber.

■ Bleeding: Yes, some, depending on the paper. Much less so on the Artoz 90 g/m² (see the third and fourth scans above) or better yet on the 100 g/m² equivalent of it or on GraF it 90g Sketch 41lb or CF Velouté. See below.

■ Feathering: Yes and no, again practically to the same degree as that seen in bleeding. See below.

■ Drying time: 40-50 s on Rhodia, with my M1000 (B-nib).

 

Now that is a long time to dry but then again, this ink is very wet, and I love that feature!

■ Maintenance: I find that this ink is easy to maintain. Washing and cleaning seems to be no problem. I also see no nib creeping. I have only used this ink for a few days now but I would still wash and dry the pen at least every few weeks after use, even for a refill of the same ink. MB says 3 months for their IG. Let's say you write almost all day, every day with it... then I'd say clean it after every 2-3-4 fillings.

■ Waterproofness: As expected, not very waterproof. Actually even less water resistant than several other Edelstein inks. 10 to 60 seconds will almost completely wash it out of a piece of Rhodia:

 

Since you probably can't read that, it says "I have just been soaked in water for 10 seconds... 60 seconds... 5 minutes".

In comparison with other Edelstein inks, it is more water-soluble than Amber, less water-soluble than Mandarin, and almost as insoluble as Topaz and the 4001 Blue-Black. That's not bad at all, considering that those last two are much darker in the first place. It also goes to show that there appear to be such big differences even among the members of the Edelstein family itself.

 

5. Various papers

Six papers, all under an M1000 (B-nib):

 

As you can see, there definitely is some feathering, at least on that HP copy paper.

And now the backside story:

 

Those cut-outs (on the backsides) are in the same order as those of the front sides. I didn't find that range of bleeding surprising at all.

GraF it Clairefontaine

Rhodia HP

Leuchtturm Moleskine

 

6. Ink Comparisons

Here's a small list of 11 inks in comparison. Glass dip pen by Herbin and 1x, 2x, and 2x swabbings.

 

FWIW, 5 others which did come to mind were De A's Dokumententinte Magenta, D's Damson, R&K's Fernambuk, D's Red Dragon and D's Monaco Red but these were then disqualified.

 

7. Availability

This Pelikan U. S. site says that the recommended retail price is $ 20 (for each Edelstein ink, whether it is an "Ink of the Year" or not).

Pelikan being Pelikan means that you can get it all over the world (like MB, Waterman, Parker etc.).

Many of you may feel that the price is too high. I don't go along with that and here's a very tiny table indicating the prices of a few inks, at least here in Germany, today, at the beginning of March, 2014 (including our 19% sales tax).

 

So, whether or not you're all that hot about this ink, you'll still have to admit that these Edelstein inks are in the mid-priced field, slightly more than double that of the least expensive ink, but still less than half the price of the most expensive one.

 

8. Notes

On the backside of the box, at the bottom and to the right, it says "Extra soft ink". That means -- after a talk to Pelikan here in Hanover -- the following: A. in comparison to the 4001 ink predecessors, these new Edelstein inks have a better flow and lubrication. B. they have been designed to be more maintenance-free and thus more "FP-friendly". I couldn't agree more with this statement!

Important: don't forget that this and every other Pelikan Edelstein "Ink of the Year" is only "issued" from Pelikan for that one year. It is and/or will be not issued at any later date. If, of course, you find a store where they still have an oldie, then do get it today, because you're in luck.

 

9. Summary

■ Similar colour to N's Red Fox and H's 1670 Hematite, maybe even a shot of D's Poppy Red. It has been described by Pelikan itself as a "dark red". Still, I find that it has a bit of orange in it, making it IMO a somewhat "brighter" dark red.

■ Box and bottle are actually beautiful but it's hard to unpack the bottle out of the box. Also, the bottle isn't all that practical to get out the last few drops.

■ The bottle lid is outstanding, just like those of MB's new shoes, as well as CdA's and Graf von Faber-Castell's new series.

■ Many of you might be dispirited by that fact that the Edelstein ink prices are rather high. One ml of these costs a tick more than twice as much as one ml of the older 4001 inks. Nonetheless, it costs "only" half as much as Iroshizuku or, above all, the new CdAs.

■ It has all the properties I have always been looking for. It more than fulfils my expectations. Varied characters, bright but not too bright, orangy but not too orangy, bluish but not too bluish (if possible), good flow and good maintenance. What more do I want??

■ All in all this is IMO a great ink. I find it "better" i.e. at least more interesting than a few other Edelstein inks. Regarding the colour itself, it's different from any of the other 10 Edelstein offers. IMO the name "Garnet" fits nicely to the gem itself, just like the name "Amber" does.

 

Mike

[Tas]

Wow.

Thank you. Excellent work.

Liking it, especially with the dip pen . . .

[migo984]

Great review Mike. I love that colour. Another one for my "to buy" list

[conib]

Thank you so much Mike for posting this review!

 

It's a beautiful color -- and is there a darker outline on the letters on the Rhodia? Very kewl. I will be ordering a sample, thanks to your review.

 

A couple of questions:

 

DId you see any nib crud build-up?

 

Do you happen to have any DIamine Ancient Copper to compare?

 

-- Constance

[lapis]

Hi Constance!

 

Good questions....

A. The colour of the Rhodia paper for all scans used here is the "yellow variety".

B. No. I see practically no crud build-up, at least on the glass nib, then on the M1000 and finally only a bit on the Lamy Joy 1.5 mm. The last two are, yes, metal nibs of increasing width. Don't forget that that ink dye colour which forms the most crud is usually red (IMO).

C. As a matter of fact, yes, I myself had even thought of Ancient Copper as a possibility (yeah, yeah) but then rebuked same since I had thought that that would be too dark and brown. At least with the glass dip pen that seem to hold true, although for the swabs, there is somewhat more similarity:

 

Mike

[ztt2]

That looks great. I'm a sucker for anything LE...

[Horseknitter]

Great review, helpful and honest. Thanks for doing this as I have been waiting before ordering for such a review as yours. I'm in!

[jmccarty3]

Thanks for the timely review. I like orangey reds, so this is not going to replace Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki for me.

[conib]

Thanks Mike! So, it's just as you thought, then -- the Ancient Copper is rather more brown than Garnet. I'm very grateful that you posted the scan of the comparison of the two inks side-by-side -- the result for me is that the two are different enough, and that's good.

 

I just checked my "usual suspects" and it turns out that Edelstein "Garnet" doesn't seem to be released yet here in the US. When did you start seeing it in Germany?

 

-- Constance

[proton007]

Between this, the Diamine Ancient Copper, and Montblanc Red Chalk, I'm finding it very hard to select a single color.

 

Perhaps all three will do.

[sarahfar]

nice color

[random_display_name]

Thanks for the review and all the effort that must have gone into it. When I think of how lazy I feel just cleaning out one darn pen to change inks once and how much of a bother it seems to be sometimes...

 

One thing; the Edelstein Ruby swab looks a bit off to me, like too pink. It could be my monitor, my eyeballs...anyhow, I know what Ruby looks like in front of me so this is not such a big deal. Garnet seems to fill a little gap in the line-up for a different kind of red. I already like it a lot, from what I see here.

 

I especially appreciate the price breakdown! That is like one semester of microeconomics or something. One gripe about the Edelstein line, at least "state-side", is that it is expensive, and that excuses deducting points off a review. I guess each of has our own budget but for me it has been more cost effective to settle on Edelstein Tanzanite, use it all the time in most all my pens, and stop chasing interesting shades by Noodler's thinking gosh it is only $12.50 a bottle after all...!

 

Thank again!

[random_display_name]

Whoops double post

Edited March 12, 2014 by kristiina05101

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Many thanks for another fabulous Review!

 

I really like the colour with its balance of warmth to stability without wandering into Brown territory; and not so 'personal' as some warm inks: more gemütlichkeit in Garnet.

 

Performance is not so amazing, but I don't see Garnet as a Business ink, so one would be able to pick the most suitable paper, rather than deal with 'lowest bidder' offerings.

 

Also very pleased that it will be easier to handle than the tricky Herbin Rouge Hematite, which I was happy enough to use but wasn't replaced.

 

Even though I'm trying to hold back on acquisition of even more Red-centric inks, Garnet is now on my Wish List. I reckon Crown Mill cotton and my English Parker 51 with its Stub 1.1 should be good companions.

 

Bye,

S1

Edited March 12, 2014 by Sandy1

[stilllo]

Wow. Edelstein inks are really quite strange in their naming conventions- Topaz is a bluer blue than Sapphire, Garnet is a redder red than Ruby...... Nomenclature notwithstanding, they're fantastic colours, my two favourites from the line.

[lapis]

Thanks Mike! So, it's just as you thought, then -- the Ancient Copper is rather more brown than Garnet. I'm very grateful that you posted the scan of the comparison of the two inks side-by-side -- the result for me is that the two are different enough, and that's good.

 

I just checked my "usual suspects" and it turns out that Edelstein "Garnet" doesn't seem to be released yet here in the US. When did you start seeing it in Germany?

 

-- Constance

I bought it on the 5th of March. Pelikan -- and my store -- told me that these LE inks always cum in at the beginnung of March... so that in fact turned out to be true for the 3rd year in a row.

 

Crass

[lapis]

On 3/12/2014 at 6:29 AM, proton007 said:

Between this, the Diamine Ancient Copper, and Montblanc Red Chalk, I'm finding it very hard to select a single color.

 

Perhaps all three will do.

Crass! yet another "yeah, yeah" thought!!.... I had in fact (honestly) thought about Red Chalk (Leonardo) but had had in the back of my mind that that was more of a brown... but now that we're at it... why not? To add another fellow candidate, here's Alfred Hitchcock as well...

[Horseknitter]

I really need to quit reading this topic. I'm pretty sure this ink is going to find its way into my mail box.

[ArchiMark]

Excellent and very helpful review, Mike. Thanks for sharing it!

 

Haven't really been interested in red inks before, but from what I see here, it looks intriguing....

 

Might just try it out.....

 

 

Mark

[proton007]

Crass! yet another "yeah, yeah" thought!!.... I had in fact (honestly) thought about Red Chalk (Leonardo) but had had in the back of my mind that that was more of a brown... but now that we're at it... why not? To add another fellow candidate, here's Alfred Hitchcock as well...

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu264/peli46/Garnet_2_MBs-1.jpg?t=1394636631

 

Thanks for the comparison.

 

All 3 it is!