Lamy T53 Crystal Ink Benitoite

[A Smug Dill]

(My computer crashed and wiped out a couple of collages I was working on in GIMP before I saved them. Not going to bother redoing them, sorry.)

 

 

 

Feathering: Not observed on Rhodia DotPad 80g/m² paper

Show-through: Almost nil on Rhodia DotPad 80g/m² paper; only the ring from the wet rim of the mouth of the ink bottle can be seen from the verso side

Bleed-through: Not observed on Rhodia DotPad 80g/m² paper

 

Drying time: A tad longer than 15 seconds for moderately dry writing; wetting writing can take longer than 20 seconds. Interestingly, with this ink the marks that take longest to dry are where pen strokes intersect (e.g. in the minuscule 't'), and not the heavy dots (e.g. in the minuscules 'i' and 'j').

Water resistance: Very good, although the ink is not waterproof, and there is a bit of run-off of colour into the beadlets of water deposited on top of dried ink marks

 

Shading: See close-up image above.

Sheen: This ink can exhibit dark red sheen, but at least on Rhodia DotPad 80g/m² paper it takes very wet ink marks

 

Other observations: I found this ink to be very similar in colour and behaviour on the page with Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black, including its reaction to water (but I haven't tested the two inks for lightfastness, as it is of little concern to me generally). It took application of bleach for me to see any real difference, and conclude that they're not actually the same ink. Given Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black is much cheaper, I think that is a perfectly acceptable substitute; and I sorta regret having bought two surplus bottles of this (before testing it against Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black). Also, I've found this ink to be a little stubborn to clean out of my Lamy 2000, although not terribly so; and it made the piston action rather stiff after several months (with a single fill of Lamy Benitoite being the only ink ever in that pen), so I had to disassemble the pen to service it once I dumped all the thickened (but still liquid) Benitoite ink from its reservoir.

 

[lapis]

Nice review of a "nice" ink from their Crystal series. One of the few I really do like there. Reminds me a bit -- like you said -- of Pelikan's 4001 b-b, but also of fuyu syogun. That being the case can only substantiate my recommending it (and/or all three).

[AmandaW]

Thankyou for the review. It caused me to check where I had put my bottle of Pelikan 4001 Blue Black and the welfare of the contents. I had forgotten I had it and now feel I've gained a new ink!

[yazeh]

Great review @A Smug Dill. Glad, I stuck with Pelikan Blue Black!

[mizgeorge]

Thank you @A Smug Dill - another excellent review.

 

It's nice to know that I was right in not bothering to replace mine. It was the only ink in this range I ever had any time for, but I found it very inclined to dry out in every pen I used it in, and I'm certainly not prepared to pay double the price of the Pelikan 4001 for the privilege. 

 

 

[LizEF]

Thanks for the review, @A Smug Dill!  I love the color of this one - not that it should be a surprise. Now I'm going to have to run compare its swatch with Pelikan's swatch...  Reviewing my notes, this ink was a pain to clean up, but the Pelikan was easy.  The Lamy lubricated better.  And, I like the color of the Pelikan better, so.... Pelikan for the win!

 

Sorry for your computer crash - we've all suffered that frustration once or twice!

[PithyProlix]

Thanks for the excellent and useful review. Benitoite is the only Lamy ink that I was interested in but, now, if it is similar to Pelikan 4001 Blue Black, then not so much . There's a vintage bottle of the Pelikan on its way to me now that was thrown in with a pen I purchased. I wasn't intending to open it but now... 

 

EDIT: It's Konigsblau that's set to arrive today, not Blue Black. I guess my forgetful mind was being hopeful. No matter - a 2 fl. oz. bottle of 4001 Blue Black can be had for less than ~$5 USD here. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by PithyProlix
doh!

[amberleadavis]

Another great review!

[arcfide]

I personally really like the Benitoite, but I do find that in really broad nibs it requires a really wet pen or some other tweaking to it to get what I consider the best out of it. I definitely should pick up a current bottle of 4001 Blue Black and see how they compare! I do find that if you have a big, smooth nib that even begins to think about baby's bottom (like my two B and BB L2K's) that this ink has a tendency to encourage a hard start after the nib sits for a bit. Otherwise it flows well enough, if more on the dry side. 

[namrehsnoom]

Great review… I also like the blue-grey colour of this one. Thanks for the tip of having a look at Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black as an alternative. I think I have some 4001 BB cartridges somewhere that I can try to get an impression.