Graf von Faber-Castell Lapislazuli

[yazeh]

 

Graf von Faber-Castell Lapis lazuli

This was the 3^rd ink, part of 5 ink blind test. 

Thanks @Lithium466 for the sample. 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Fasber-Castell

 

This is a dryish, faded Royal blue, with almost no water resistance. It needs a wet pen and wider nib. 

It’s very well-behaved on copy paper, but the colour is boring and does not capture the depth and the beauty of Lapis Lazuli. I doubt any ink can. 

 

You’re better off, buying a similar ink, with a cheaper packing and less pretentious or buy the cartridge version. The best thing about this ink was using it for washes and cleaning it. With a few flushes and the pen was clean as a whistle. 

  

Chroma:

This is the loveliest thing about it. 

 

 

Writing Samples:

Instead of using a Japanese Ef nib, I reverse wrote with Lamy Ef. Don’t be fooled by the scan, the shading is subtle. 

The letter C refers to the code name, as it was a blind test

 

 

 

 

 

Photo:

 

Comparison:

The R&K ink is Königsblau (royal blue). C is GvFC Lapis lazuli.

 

 

Water test:

Left side 10 seconds under running water. Sample was written with glass nib. So amount of nib is more than a normal nib. 

"Smoking" cats will be submitted to water test 🙀

Art Work:

I really enjoyed doing washes with this ink. It’s such a pleasant colour and easy to work with.  I will post a few other art works in future reviews

 

 

 

 

·      Pens used: Lamy (reverse EF/Ef / F/M/B, BB) 

·      What I liked: Chroma, Drawing with and cleaning.

·      What I did not like: Writing experience. 

·       What some might not like: Dryish ink. It’s a faded royal blue. 

·      Shading: Yes there, is but not so visible as the scan makes you believe. 

·      Ghosting: Very faint on copy paper

·      Bleed through: Only with a wet/wide nib, in my case a heavy-handed flex nib. 

·      Flow Rate: Dryish

·      Lubrication: On the low side. 

·      Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. 

·      Start-up:  Ok

·      Saturation:  Pastel

·      Shading Potential: Meh. 

·      Sheen: No. 

·      Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Only with a primed feed with lots of flex.  

·      Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice.

·      Staining (pen): No. 

·      Clogging: Did not notice.

·      Cleaning: Very easy.

·      Water resistance: Dismal

·      Availability: Cartridges, 75 ml bottles.

 

Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier  

 

 

 

[lapis]

Great! I agree with you all the way. Sort of a "nice" colour, but not really a Lapis Lazuli (IMO). Too light, too faded, too grey. But the direction seems right. I.e. not a "true" blue, not a Royal blue.

BTW I've been having problems getting into FPN lately. Have to wait forever and/or it then says; "Time expired" or something like that.

[yazeh]

53 minutes ago, lapis said:

Great! I agree with you all the way.

 

53 minutes ago, lapis said:

Sort of a "nice" colour, but not really a Lapis Lazuli (IMO). Too light, too faded, too grey. But the direction seems right. I.e. not a "true" blue, not a Royal blue.

You're right on all points. 

53 minutes ago, lapis said:

BTW I've been having problems getting into FPN lately. Have to wait forever and/or it then says; "Time expired" or something like that.

Yep. I've been having that. It was only when I checked the website on the phone I managed to correct the links and discover that I had reposted the same review twice

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Ah!  Vin, avec fromage?  Wish I was there with Kitteh and Mousie.  
 

Although my ink hoard includes many similar colors, like some of your comparisons (Eclat de, Malibu), I now have Lapis in a sopping-wet Nemosine Singularity.  It comes out a summery pale blue, like the early morning sky before humidity drives you indoors.  So I like it, for the season.

 

Have to say, though, Lapis gave me trouble in all the other pens I tried, including a NoNami Clickee, and a Waterman Phileas.  But I love your reviews and sketches.  Thanks.  Please keep them coming, @yazeh!

[LizEF]

Posting on FPN these days is becoming quite an adventure!

 

Thank you so much, @yazeh , for this wonderful review of my favorite color!   (Those bottles do look classy - I have one in Olive Green.)  I wonder what it is about whistles that make them the epitome of clean...   Still, always nice when an ink is easy to clean from the pen!

 

Those quotes!  Especially the first two!

 

And that swatch-kitty.  Klaw and Smoke invite him over to hang out!    But he has to leave his cigar at home!

 

Love Mouse & Kitty in Paris!

 

Thank you for the laughs and smiles that made me forget about the ink color.

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Ah!  Vin, avec fromage?  Wish I was there with Kitteh and Mousie.  

🍷 I know  

2 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Although my ink hoard includes many similar colors, like some of your comparisons (Eclat de, Malibu), I now have Lapis in a sopping-wet Nemosine Singularity.  It comes out a summery pale blue, like the early morning sky before humidity drives you indoors.  So I like it, for the season.

Very evocative  

2 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

Have to say, though, Lapis gave me trouble in all the other pens I tried, including a NoNami Clickee, and a Waterman Phileas.

Thanks for sharing your experience 🙏

2 hours ago, Sailor Kenshin said:

 

 But I love your reviews and sketches.  Thanks.  Please keep them coming, @yazeh!

I'll do my best  and thanks 🙏

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

Posting on FPN these days is becoming quite an adventure!

Sadly sometimes it is. Plus FPN seems to have a dislike of browsers on Mac  

 

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

Thank you so much, @yazeh , for this wonderful review of my favorite color!  

 

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

(Those bottles do look classy - I have one in Olive Green.)  I wonder what it is about whistles that make them the epitome of clean...  

If they are not, they won't make a sound, I guess  

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

Still, always nice when an ink is easy to clean from the pen!

It is always  

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

Those quotes!  Especially the first two!

I think that's the most difficult part of the review, the right quotes  

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

And that swatch-kitty.  Klaw and Smoke invite him over to hang out!    But he has to leave his cigar at home!

Hence getting used in the water test  

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

Love Mouse & Kitty in Paris!

Thanks!

2 hours ago, LizEF said:

 

Thank you for the laughs and smiles that made me forget about the ink color.

I'm glad of being of service  

[Lithium466]

Thank you for the review @yazeh 

No comment on the ink...

[arcfide]

If only the color on the page looked like the color I see on that first photo of the bottle! 

[yazeh]

11 hours ago, Lithium466 said:

Thank you for the review @yazeh 

No comment on the ink...

 

[yazeh]

2 hours ago, arcfide said:

If only the color on the page looked like the color I see on that first photo of the bottle! 

If....

[Lithium466]

3 hours ago, arcfide said:

If only the color on the page looked like the color I see on that first photo of the bottle! 

You mean the one that made me preorder that expensive bottle, because I liked it so much and I couldn't find a review of the ink beforehand? Yeah I was dumb.

[yazeh]

7 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

You mean the one that made me preorder that expensive bottle, because I liked it so much and I couldn't find a review of the ink beforehand? Yeah I was dumb.

No, you weren't. It was false advertising.  

[senzen]

The brand's written sample reminds me of how Blue Velvet comes out in a Vacumatic.

 

 

Seems like an ink in search of a special pen, not an easy proposition given their prices.

[yazeh]

10 hours ago, senzen said:

The brand's written sample reminds me of how Blue Velvet comes out in a Vacumatic.

 

 

Seems like an ink in search of a special pen, not an easy proposition given their prices.

So true

[Lithium466]

11 hours ago, senzen said:

The brand's written sample reminds me of how Blue Velvet comes out in a Vacumatic.

 

 

Seems like an ink in search of a special pen, not an easy proposition given their prices.

 

True.

It's a classic "erasable" blue (and all that entails...the matte aspect when dry, propensity to fade on basic media, etc.) spiced with a hint of pink, which remains when you use an ink eradicator.

 

I think there are a just so many better, cheaper offerings in this colour range ( @LizEF would be the expert here as it's her favourite ink colour) that I really don't see that GvFC ink making sense. What's probably killing it (for me), apart from the exorbitant price I paid for such a boring ink, is probably the name.

 

Name it "Königsblau", everybody would be happy and expectations in phase.
With the current name, the bottle is pretty, the ink is meh. I put it deep in my cooled ink storage with no intention to take it out until I run out of better royal blues...which will likely not happen within whatever time I have left in this world   (it'll probably end up on the table of unwanted inks at the Pelikan hub)

[yazeh]

23 minutes ago, Lithium466 said:

( @LizEF would be the expert here as it's her favourite ink colour) 

She meant it as a joke. It's her least favourite colour

[namrehsnoom]

I don’t really care about ink names: I think the times have gone that you could deduce an ink’s colour from it’s name. It used to be “red, green, blue” , now it’s “jaded rose of Bagdad” or “Faery Twinkelings on a Summer Moon” or some such. But “lapis lazuli” for this colour is just plain wrong. 

 

On the other hand, I quite like the faded look of this ink. I can absolutely see myself using it in a fineliner at work (I am using a Tom’s Studio Lumos refillable fineliner for a couple of weeks now, and am thoroughly enjoying it).

 

Love the French “vin et fromage” artwork. The “moustache” whiskers are a nice touch 😉 

 

On 7/10/2024 at 4:25 PM, lapis said:

…  I've been having problems getting into FPN lately. Have to wait forever and/or it then says; "Time expired" or something like that.

I’ve been largely absent the past couple of months (too hectic at work), so I haven’t noticed any issues yet. But I’m totally ready to get active again, so I hope the site behaves when I try to post.

[Lithium466]

1 hour ago, yazeh said:

She meant it as a joke. It's her least favourite colour

I know, I was adding to the joke 🤭

[lapis]

1 hour ago, namrehsnoom said:

I’ve been largely absent the past couple of months (too hectic at work), so I haven’t noticed any issues yet. But I’m totally ready to get active again, so I hope the site behaves when I try to post.

Me too. I.e., I hope the site behaves for you (and everybody else) 'cuz I really like your numerous comparisons of an ink on various papers, and, especially comparisons of "comparative" inks' colours....