EFNIR: Lamy Benitoite

[LizEF]

Extra Fine Nib Ink Review: Lamy Benitoite

This is review #118 in my series.  Here's the YouTube video:

Post-recording notes: Sorry for the background noise in a significant portion of the video - I have no idea what it was, and it went on far too long for me to wait until whoever finished whatever...

The color is a bit darker than the zoom and the scan.  The screenshot is about the right darkness, but doesn't show shading as well as I can see it, which I think is making the color look off.  The copy paper might have the most accurate color...

Cleaning was challenging.  It likes to cling and found its way into hard-to-reach places.  In the end, I used both pen flush and swabs, so expect to spend a bit more time with this ink.

And here is a screen of the final result, for those not interested in the video:

Scan of Completed Review:

Zoomed in photo:

Absorbent Paper Closeup (top is puzzle paper like thick newsprint, bottom is old 20lb copy paper):

Images also available on Instagram: @zilxodarap

Previous Review: Lamy Vibrant Pink.

Want to influence the inky sequence?  Take the "next ink" poll.

Need to catch up on The Adventures of Quin and Makhabesh?  Find the whole story here.

Hope you enjoy.  Comments appreciated!

[A Smug Dill]

Thanks for the review!

 

Colour-wise, I found Lamy Benitoite almost indistinguishable from Pelikan 4001 Blue/Black,‡ including after a long soak (on the same page comparing the two side by side); so much so that I thought they may actually be formulated identically. It wasn't until I applied bleach that I could see there is in fact a difference.

 

I'd only filled my Lamy 2000 blue Bauhaus pen once, with Lamy Benitoite — which is kinda a perfect colour match — and, even though the single fill was never either fully consumed nor dried out inside the pen (which wrote without hard-starts up to when I decided to empty and clean the pen), it did make the piston mechanism very stiff, and I ended up disassembling the pen to service it, which wasn't something I expected to have to do.

 

So, on account of that, I'd recommend Pelikan 4001 Blue/Black over Lamy Benitoite, even if one doesn't mind paying more per millilitre for Lamy's premium ink product line over Pelikan's no-frills range.

 

 

‡ Lamy Benitoite appears paler on that scanned page, primarily because the two pens use differ in ‘wetness’, in spite of being of the same model; and perhaps also because the ink marks made with Pelikan 4001 Blue/Black has had time to cure overnight. Written with a dip pen on a couple of different types of paper in preparation for comparison testing with soaking and bleaching, I couldn't tell the difference visually between the two inks.

 

 

Edited July 30, 2021 by A Smug Dill

[mizgeorge]

Thank you as always @LizEF - great review. 

 

This is an ink I don't have, and had never felt was a gap. I was expecting to see it was dry and poorly lubricated.

 

Now I find myself rather wanting to try it...

[LizEF]

25 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

Thanks for the review!  ...

You're very welcome - thanks for the ink!   And thanks for the additional insight.  Of course, I didn't know it would be hard to clean out until after I'd done my recording.  Pilot was a good choice for these as a Q-Tip will fit, with a little encouragement, down into the converter to wipe stuff away.  I'd say this ink warrants an easy-to-clean pen.  And I didn't realize it had some permanence to it, so thanks for that report!

[A Smug Dill]

2 minutes ago, LizEF said:

And I didn't realize it had some permanence to it, so thanks for that report!

 

It's the only colour in the Lamy T53 Crystal Ink product line that is marketed as being ‘document-proof’, whatever that means. (Does it defend well against documents domestic and foreign, or stop handwritten stuff done with the ink from becoming documents?)

[LizEF]

6 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

Thank you as always @LizEF - great review.

You're very welcome!  And thank you!

 

6 minutes ago, mizgeorge said:

This is an ink I don't have, and had never felt was a gap. I was expecting to see it was dry and poorly lubricated.

 

Now I find myself rather wanting to try it...

I'm not sure it looks different enough from all my other blue-blacks to warrant buying a bottle, but I'll enjoy the color while it lasts.  Fortunately, I have everything I need for deep cleaning, so I'm not terribly worried about that, but it's something to consider - I'll be keeping it away from my Waterman Laureat, for example.   I have Goldspot's exclusive Kaweco Sport (a dark transparent blue) - that might be a good match - if I can ever convince myself to stop filling it with Robert Oster Bronze....  

[LizEF]

Just now, A Smug Dill said:

It's the only colour in the Lamy T53 Crystal Ink product line that is marketed as being ‘document-proof’, whatever that means. (Does it defend well against documents domestic and foreign, or stop handwritten stuff done with the ink from becoming documents?)

Before I even got to your parenthetical, I was envisioning a sheaf of papers smacking at the ink bottle....

[yazeh]

Great job @LizEF.  I really like this colour. It's sober and delightful....

I got however, distracted with your quote and was wondering if the noise was a bunch of rowdy aliens  trying to sabotage the dilithium chamber of the Enterprise, which is camouflaged  in your neck of woods (or should I say mountains) ... and then maybe you've somehow come through the same portal as the Sphinxes.... 

I better stop now, otherwise one doesn't know what will find down that rabbit hole

 

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

Great job @LizEF.  I really like this colour. It's sober and delightful....

Thanks!   The color is right up my alley - close to the Akkerman #09 Laan van Nieuw Oost Indigo that's my favorite.

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

I got however, distracted with your quote and was wondering if the noise was a bunch of rowdy aliens  trying to sabotage the dilithium chamber of the Enterprise, which is camouflaged  in your neck of woods (or should I say mountains) ... and then maybe you've somehow come through the same portal as the Sphinxes.... 

Shhh.  It's a secret!

 

(And I thought the quote seemed relevant these days with no one wanting to listen to different viewpoints.)

 

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

I better stop now, otherwise one doesn't know what will find down that rabbit hole

A spare dilithium crystal, of course!

[Tas]

😊

[LizEF]

40 minutes ago, Tas said:

😊

Thanks, Tas.  You'd probably like this one (except maybe for the cleaning part).

[PithyProlix]

Thanks - this is the only Lamy ink I'm interested in and I'm glad for your useful review!

[Tas]

23 hours ago, LizEF said:

Thanks, Tas.  You'd probably like this one (except maybe for the cleaning part).

I should like this but a little voice just keeps saying "Nope, leave it" 🤷‍♂️

 

 . . . Especially as I've just mixed up 1 part Pelikan Royal Blue to 3 parts Pelikan Black, or was it the other way around? I forget. Either way, a fabulous 50ml blue black now living in an old Sailor bottle

 

[LizEF]

8 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

Thanks - this is the only Lamy ink I'm interested in and I'm glad for your useful review!

You're very welcome!

[LizEF]

1 hour ago, Tas said:

I should like this but a little voice just keeps saying "Nope, leave it" 🤷‍♂️

Well, between Souboku and Teeling Mix, it's easy to understand why you don't want another blue-black!

 

1 hour ago, Tas said:

 . . . Especially as I've just mixed up 1 part Pelikan Royal Blue to 3 parts Pelikan Black, or was it the other way around? I forget. Either way, a fabulous 50ml blue black now living in an old Sailor bottle

If you want it done right....

[Sailor Kenshin]

Oooo, my kinda color!  And just when I swore off new inks!

 

Thanks for the review.  The noise only adds to your ambience.  😜

[LizEF]

54 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

And just when I swore off new inks!

Some people never learn!  Resistance is futile!

 

55 minutes ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Thanks for the review.  The noise only adds to your ambience.  😜

You're very welcome!  Ambience, right, that's it.  I'm going to write letters to the airports and national guard folk to see if we can't coordinate better...  Maybe I could hire a private traffic cop to stand outside my house and orchestrate mufflers...

[KLscribbler]

Thank you @LizEF for this great review, and @A Smug Dill for your additional comments. They were very useful. 🙏

Recently, I began slowly and reluctantly mulling over what alternative I would go to if the supply of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black (one of my two favourite blue-blacks for work) runs out some years in the future. This was spurred by the news about the Pelikan company's recent financial difficulties; although I expect they will (hopefully!) be able to persist and survive, it takes me a very long time to settle on an everyday ink I like, so I thought it best to start looking earlier rather than later.

One of my previous concerns about Lamy Benitoite was whether it would be too light in drier nibs, but it doesn't seem light at all in this review    and of course Dill's direct comparison between Benitoite and 4001 Blue-Black was super helpful.

That said, think I'll stick with the 4001, but it is reassuring to know there is an alternative ink with a close colour match and a moderate degree of permanence.

Regarding difficulty of cleaning: is Benitoite more annoying to clean out of pens than the iron gall Platinum Blue-Black?

[A Smug Dill]

29 minutes ago, KLscribbler said:

Regarding difficulty of cleaning: is Benitoite more annoying to clean out of pens than the iron gall Platinum Blue-Black?

 

I wouldn't know, since I'm not about to fill two identical pens with them (or the same pen with both inks serially) for a head-to-head comparison just to find out.

[LizEF]

26 minutes ago, KLscribbler said:

Thank you @LizEF for this great review,

You're very welcome!  And thanks!

 

27 minutes ago, KLscribbler said:

One of my previous concerns about Lamy Benitoite was whether it would be too light in drier nibs, but it doesn't seem light at all in this review  

Yeah, it works quite well in the EF nib.

 

28 minutes ago, KLscribbler said:

Regarding difficulty of cleaning: is Benitoite more annoying to clean out of pens than the iron gall Platinum Blue-Black?

You can find my notes on that in the comments under the video in my review post.  Based on those notes, Platinum BB was easier to clean, but note my comment about how I thought that if it spent longer in the pen, it might be harder - could be that after a longer time, they'd come out even, not sure.