Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz

[mmg122]

Mike...thanks for this outstanding review!! Your brown comparison chart is very impressive.

 

Mary

[KKay]

Great review. I loved the brown comparisons you showed. For some reason I like the Smoky Quartz in the broad nib photos the best. I normally like reddish browns the best. I wasn't a fan of Doyou, it is a darker brown then I normally enjoy. ( I love almost all of the Sailor inks I've tried too.) This Smoky Quartz has possibilities though. I will probably end up getting a sample. So far I only have Jade for the Edelstein line.

[Pravda]

Thanks for the excellent review looking forward to trying it when it comes my way

[ca49reber]

Thank you for such a comprehensive review. I was planning to buy this ink before reading this & am even more excited abt it now. I may have to buy an extra bottle.

Last night found this was available at Anderson's & 2 bottles are on their way to me.

[gylyf]

Wonderful review! Not really my color, but I do find the Waterman Charleston writing sample particularly nice.

[Jan2016]

That was a lot of work! Thank you very much.

For a nice chromo see:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/320111-pelikan-edelstein-smoky-quartz-compact-review/?p=3806922

 

it shows grey, greenish, blue, yellow and red

[lapis]

Jan, I believe it. I haven't yet done a chomo of this ink as I usually do that in order to convince myself (and maybe others) that two different inks may in fact be one and the same (i.e. have practically the same composition). Or to show how different two inks which look the same may be completely different as regards their composition. "Black" was always an exciting candidate here. Whew

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the review AND the comparison page.

This is definitely in the range of brown inks I like (I don't care for the ones that lean red).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[The Good Captain]

1. Introduction

Pelikan Edelstein "Inks of the Year" are limited editions and issued each year, usually starting around the 1st of March but this year it was a little later, at least here in Germany. The new series began in 2012 with Turmaline (plum), and last year (2016), it was Aquamarine. This year (2017), it's Smoky Quartz. Here's a picture from the company itself:

 

To paraphrase what I wrote last year about Aquamarine, I originally had to ask (at least myself) what "Smoky Quartz" would look like as a gem. When I think of quartz (in German -- where the word first came from -- "Quarz"), I first think of silicon dioxide which is, if I may say so, nothing other than sand. But it also has to do with a good crystal structure of that mineral, ending up as we all know being used in the watch industry. Also, there are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are actually semi-precious gemstones. So it can't be all that bad as an idea to name a new ink. A quick look via Wiki shows that smoky quartz is a somewhat grey variety ranging in clarity from almost complete transparency or translucency to a brownish-gray crystal that is almost opaque. A very dark brown to black opaque variety is known as morion which is BTW the German, Danish, Spanish and Polish synonym for smoky quartz, which looks in fact like this (taken from Wiki and elsewhere along those lines):

Smoky quartz as a mineral. The first image shows the morion variety, often used for jewelry.

 

Well that's enough about the background here and if you want to know more about the ink, take a look at Jan2016's review here on this forum, or here.

 

2. First impressions

Here's a word or two with a few pens on 80 g/m² Rhodia paper, as well as a drop on the kitchen towel, and finally a swab or three:

 

... In a Safari with a B-nib:

 

... Sheaffer NN, italic F-nib:

 

... Waterman Charleston, B-nib:

 

... Pelikano, M-nib:

 

... Lamy Joy, 1.5-mm-nib:

 

(Taken from the newspaper Tagesspiegel, 11 March 2017)

 

As you can see, it appears to be almost a homogeneous mix of two dyes, in any case a much less complex combination than that seen in many other brown inks.

 

As a last impression (for those of you in need), single, double and triple swabs (each new swab for each new wavy line below was anointed once with 100 µl):

 

3. Packaging

Here's a picture of the box and bottle:

 

And what the inner box looks like with the bottle and the two foam blocks:

 

The 50-ml Edelstein bottle remains unchanged. It is different from the 30 and 62.5-ml bottles of the 4001 series and has the usual, very sturdy Edelstein cap. The only thing I still don't like about the package here is the inclusion of two medium-soft rubber foam blocks resting on the shoulders of the bottle under the two box side flaps. Sure, the bottle can most easily be taken out of the box by first pulling up the back flap of the inner box and the trying to pinch out the foam blocks in order to get a hold of the bottle by the cap. And/or, by completely removing and disassembling the whole inner box. Again, enough said....

 

4. Physical properties

■ Wetness/flow: Very good, one of the wettest Edelstein inks I've used, similar to their Tanzanite and Aquamarine. All Edelstein inks (although they themselves have some variety as regards wetness/flow) are wetter than their older 4001 counterparts. For an explanation here, see point 7 below.

■ Lubrication: Also good.

■ Saturation: High. About as high as most of the other Edelstein inks.

■ Shading: Hardly any seen at all.

■ Sheen: Ditto.

■ Feathering: None seen, even on a piece of newspaper.

■ Bleeding: None seen (see below).

■ Drying time: 20-25 s, again, fairly long since very wet. Note that the thickness and wetness of these writings apparently have no or little effect on their time to dry. Charleston B-nib (a very wet pen) on Rhodia 80 g/m² paper:

 

■ Waterproofness: Almost as good as Pelikan's 4001 Blue-Black where today's formulations are considered to contain at least some iron-gall. This Edelstein (like all other current Edelstein inks) is not an iron-gall ink. As you can see, after exactly 60 seconds of holding out a bath in water, a lot of the dye has been washed out but I can still read everything with no effort; interestingly (at least to me), that bath was not only completely survived, it has also turned the blackish brown into a brownish black:

 

A few drops of water also do no apparent harm if you look at a piece of writing, even although it does show that at least a certain brown component of this ink is very water-soluble....

 

 

5. Various papers

Actually, there is no feathering to be seen anywhere on any of the papers I have tried here, with the possible exception of the cheapest (and lousiest) copy papers. No data to show.

 

First off, here are eight different types of paper, all written on using that Charleston (with a B-nib):

 

And here, the reverse sides of the same eight in the original left-to-right order, i.e.

Artoz Clairefontaine DOTGRID.CO GraFit

Hieronymus Leuchtturm Moleskine Rhodia

 

Also, only little or no bleeding was seen; as usual some on Leuchtturm 1917, and – as always – even some more on Moleskine.

I don't see any sheen here at all. That may be my fault because I almost never see any real sheen (apart from that of other members' images which I occasionally see on my screen). Maybe that is due to my non-flex pens, the degree of direct sunlight, and/or the angle in which their camera is aimed toward the paper. Nonetheless, I find the color of this ink a nice shiny blackish brown. Something like the gem in the image up top. A shiny brown, but a warm shiny brown.

 

6. Ink Comparisons

This was a bit difficult. Some of the inks which came to mind and I tried out (which are not listed here) do have a corresponding intensity and maybe even darkness but are too red (e.g. Montbanc's Carlo Collodi, Herbin's Café des Îles, Pelikan's 4001 Brown), too yellow (Noodler's Golden Brown, De Atramentis' Van Dyck Brown, Barock's Terra di Siena), too green (Diamine's Golden Brown, Rohrer & Klingner's Sepia or Document Brown), or too black (Sailor Doyou). A few which might come into question here are Diamine's Dark Brown, Chocolate Brown, or Raw Sienna but unfortunately I don't have any of these on hand (or on the shelf, har, har).

The pen used here is a glass dip pen made by Herbin.

 

7. Note (taken from an earlier review)

On the back of the box, it says "Extra soft ink". Again, as a repeat for those uninformed, that means that in comparison to the 4001 ink predecessors, these new Edelstein issues have a better flow and better lubrication. By "lubrication" here, they mean not only on the paper but also on the inside the barrel around the piston. At the same time, this extra-softness was designed to yield an even more maintenance-free and thus more "FP-friendlier" ink. Since I have all Pelikan 4001 and Edelstein inks, I must say that I'll go along with that!

 

8. Availability

Since this is a "Pelikan" ink, it should be available all over the world. One of the gripes I've often encountered here on the forum is that while the "normal" or "standard" 4001 Pelikan inks are relatively inexpensive, the Edelstein series are said to cost too much. Sure, they're dirt cheap here, while Sailor and Iroshis aren't, and in Japan, it's of course the other way around. Considering again a short list of prices, here is a list I posted recently to outline the same type of comparisons. Edelsteins aren't all that expensive (in this country), and cost "only" just over twice as much as any of the inks in the Pelikan 4001 line. These are current German list prices in Euros including our sales tax of 19%:

----------------------------------------------------

Ink List Price Bottle Price/ml

----------------------------------------------------

Hieronymus 48.20 50 ml 0.96

Vuitton 36.00 50 ml 0.72

Caran d'Ache (new) 29.50 50 ml 0.59

Montblanc (LEs) 16.00 30 ml 0.53

Iroshizuku 24.90 50 ml 0.50

Caran d'Ache (old) 13.95 30 ml 0.47

Kaweco 10.99 30 ml 0.37

Montegrappa 14.00 42 ml 0.33

Graf von F-C (new) 25.00 75 ml 0.33

Pelikan Edelstein 15.90 50 ml 0.32

Montblanc (regulars) 18.00 60 ml 0.30

Herbin 8.70 30 ml 0.29

Online 3.95 15 ml 0.26

Akkerman (60 ml) 15.00 60 ml 0.25

Graf von F-C (old) 13.75 62.5 ml 0.22

Standardgraph 6.45 30 ml 0.21

Stipula (Calamo) 14.00 70 ml 0.20

Lamy T52 8.50 50 ml 0.17

Waterman 7.90 50 ml 0.16

L'Artisan Pastellier 6.50 40 ml 0.16

Pelikan 4001 4.40 30 ml 0.15

Rohrer & Klingner 6.50 50 ml 0.13

Parker Quink 6.00 57 ml 0.11

Akkerman (150 ml) 16.50 150 ml 0.11

Seitz-Kreuznach 8.99 100 ml 0.09

----------------------------------------------------

 

9. Conclusion

 

Up to here I've kept this rather objective (I think) because brown isn't one of my favorite colors, so that I can't say right off the cuff that I love or hate this hue.

■ Although I'm not really into browns (and never was), this is one I like even if only for one special reason: I see in it a hard-to-describe cluster of color. Is it a brownish black or a blackish brown? Maybe it is like some gems themselves, where the "exact" color you perceive depends a lot on the angle at which you observe it. And of course on the light itself. For this ink, the pens and papers make big differences too. As a possibly overestimated (or is it an underestimated?) example of a nicely complicated ink color (which is, yes, not a brown one), I like to whip out Diamine's Eclipse or even Sailor's Doyou.

■ Quite apart from that, there also appears to be a small degree of color change upon drying, over which time some of the brownness and perhaps a half a tick of the reddishness seem to disappear. This is AFAIK by no means an iron gall ink. Who cares? I see a certain advantage here....

■ ... Because it is really well behaved. Also it writes well, and although it doesn't dry especially quickly and is also not at all waterproof, it is very easy to clean out of your pen and off your hands. Moreover, I find it worthy of note to reiterate that even after a full bath in water -- where a lot of the brown color is lost -- the writing is still clearly readable, again, as if it were an iron-gall ink.

■ If you can't do without any shading or sheen, then you can do without this ink (but if you love the color, then do try to find your luck here. To hang onto the subjectivity here, it may well be that you just don't care for this color because it is too dark and not somewhere more in the golden range.

■ This ink should be available all over the world and that for IMO a reasonable price. At least here in Europe and likely in North America, I'd say that it is less expensive than any Iroshizuku or Sailor contenders.

■ Don't forget that this is a Pelikan "Ink of the Year" (as always, since 2012, continually in the Edelstein field) and thus a Limited Edition ink. Smoky Quartz should now be available – as usual likely for a good year – but when they're gone, they're gone for good.

 

Mike

A fantastic review and I 'obtained' a bottle on Wednesday. Must give it a go...

[lapis]

Sooo.... you obtained a bottle, did you? But what about the ink?

 

Cheers!

[senzen]

What an awesome review. On the first picture, it looks like the child of Yama Guri and Verde Muschiato.

[MHBru]

Great review and thanks for all of that effort. Although not a fan of brown ink reviews like this help me ensure that I am not missing something. Great job and thanks again.

[The Good Captain]

Sooo.... you obtained a bottle, did you? But what about the ink?

 

Cheers!

That happened to be included...

[Inkvisible]

Thank you for this very well-illustrated review. The comparison chart has given me food for thought. I have been considering Yama-guri, but suspect it might be a little dark. Smoky Quartz looks a bit more transparent. I love the slightly grayish cast to this color, while Cacao du Bresil looks much grayer. I don't really like reddish browns.

 

The only brown inks I own are Macassar, which I just use for mixing, and Whaleman's Sepia. Whaleman's Sepia is a great color with a beautiful purple undertone. It can be balky in some pens.

 

Smoky Quartz sounds like a great, free-flowing brown with the cool tone I love.

 

Thanks again for the useful review.

[Chrissy]

Thank you for your review.

I was so shocked to see the cut out box though. I'm always so careful about removing and replacing those foam blocks.

[lapis]

I was so shocked to see the cut out box though. I'm always so careful about removing and replacing those foam blocks.

Sorry, I don't get it. I didn't cut out anything. I just pulled out the inner box (pulling it upwards out of the outer box). The "cut" on the inner box -- up front and to the right of the picture -- was there in the first place and allows you to open it (the whole inner box) in order to get the bottle out of it better, more easily than trying to yank it straight up and then out of the inner box while it (the inner box) is still in the outer box. That was Pelikan's invention... a good idea, although IMO a plain ol' box like Iroshi's or the new GvFC's is simpler and better.

 

Whew!

[ca49reber]

My bottles arrived yesterday. I haven't used them yet but I did take them out of their boxes to make sure that they weren't broken or leaking. The ink is so dark in the bottles that I couldn't see through the ink when holding it up to the light.

[bobje]

Wow, Mike. Thank you for the comprehensive and well-researched review.

[Barkingpig]

Wow, Mike. Thank you for the comprehensive and well-researched review.

 

 

+1

[domzals1]

This is a fantastic review. Thank you!!