re-review : Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite

[namrehsnoom]

Re-review : Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite

 

In 2011 Pelikan introduced the Edelstein series of high-end inks, available in a variety of colours. The theme of the Edelstein concept is the gemstone – each ink corresponds to the beautiful colour of a gem. The Edelstein line of inks is presented in 50 ml high-value bottles, that are truly beautiful, and worthy of a place on your desk.

 

A short while ago, @LizEF did an excellent EF-nib review of Tanzanite, a standard colour in the Edelstein line of inks. I then realised that I hadn’t used this blue-black for a really long time. I did a review of it back in 2016, when I was just starting out with the hobby. Since then, I have used lots of other inks, giving me a broader spectrum for comparison. So I got to wondering: will I still appreciate this blue-black as much as I used to? To find out, a re-review is in order…

So, here we are again – getting close and comfy with Tanzanite, the blue-black ink of the Edelstein line. My first impressions after all these years: this looks really nice: well-saturated, beautiful colour with lots of character, and – oh my – lots and lots of red sheen that substantially enhances the inks loveliness.

 

For such a saturated ink, Tanzanite still exhibits some aesthetically pleasing shading, which I can even see when using an EF nib. The ink lays down a wet line, which looks fairly purple but then dries to a true blue-black. Well… more of a blue-leaning blue-black. To my eye, the blue dominates and that is a good thing: Pelikan really nailed it with this Tanzanite. And for the cherry on the cake: there is that strong red sheen that easily appears on many of the papers in my test set, and that definitely lifts this ink above the crowd.

 

To show you the impact of saturation on the ink’s look & feel on paper, I made some scribbles where I really saturated portions of a piece of 52 gsm Tomoe River paper with ink. This gives you a good idea of what the ink is capable of in terms of colour range. Tanzanite has a medium colour span, ranging from a well-saturated blue to a much darker blue-black. The light-to-dark ratio is just right, with really great aesthetics. You get prominent but well-balanced shading, that looks absolutely gorgeous. And – with hard-surface paper – that red sheen easily surfaces in those parts of your writing where the ink pooled a bit. 

 

The chromatography shows the complex nature of this Edelstein ink. There are the expected grey and dark blue component dyes, but I also see yellow-green and maybe a hint of rose. From the bottom part of the chroma, you can see that the grey component firmly attaches to the paper. The result is an ink with fairly good water resistance. Most of that lovely blue washes away, but what remains on the paper can still be read without too much trouble. Not bad.

 

Technically, the ink has the typical Edelstein feel: well lubricated, good saturation. It looks pleasing on both white and cream paper, and can handle even lower-quality paper well. With Moleskine, there is only a tiny amount of feathering. Just don’t expect to use the backside of cheap paper: there will be lots of see-through and bleed-through. Tanzanite’s red sheen appears almost effortlessly on most hard-surface paper, and looks absolutely great – it adds an extra dimension to your writing, and makes it look interesting without even trying. 

Below you’ll find photos of the writing samples on loads of different paper types. This should give you a good feel for the ink. On each scrap of paper I show you:

• An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip
• 1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturation
• An ink scribble made with an M-nib Safari fountain pen
• The name of the paper used, written with a B-nib Safari
• A small text sample, written with the M-nib Safari
• Title of the quote, with an Edison Collier 1.1 stub
• Drying times of the ink on the paper, with the M-nib Lamy Safari

 

I’ve also added a scan of some writing samples to give you another view on the ink. Scanned images and photos often capture different aspects of the ink’s colour & contrast. That’s why I present them both. In this case, both photo and scan capture the colour well. 

 

Below you also find some blow-ups on coated paper that really show you the ink’s shading & sheen capabilities. I also added a zoomed-in pic on Moleskine paper to illustrate the tiny amount of feathering that you can expect.

 

Writing with different nib sizes
The picture below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing. The top samples were written with a Lamy Safari, which is typically a dry pen. I also added a few visiting pens. I personally like the ink best with the finer nibs and the dry pens. With the wet-writing Edison 1.1 combo, a bit too much ink accumulates on the paper, and the red sheen becomes a lot more prominent (not visible in the photo, but if you look at an angle, that red sheen is all over the place – especially in the dark and saturated parts). 

 

Related inks
To show off related inks, I use my nine-grid format, with the currently reviewed ink at the center. This format shows the name of related inks, a saturation sample, a 1-2-3 swab and a water resistance test – all in a very compact format. Tanzanite absolutely delivers: it doesn’t deviate to other colours than blue/black, and – to my eye – leans more to the blue than the black side. The result is a serious writing ink, with still a bit of playfulness that exhibits itself through shading & sheen.

 

Inkxperiment – blue moon rising
I’ve put myself a challenge to try to produce interesting drawings using only the ink I’m reviewing.  I find this to be a fun extension of the hobby, and have found these single-ink drawings ideal for experimenting with different techniques. And creating these monochrome paintings is simply fun, and a couple of hours well spent. 

For this drawing I had no plan or concept in mind. I simply started doodling and painting some lines, and let the process play out itself. The result is a more-or-less abstract town-on-a-sea-platform with a blue moon rising above the horizon. I found Tanzanite a pain to draw with, which is due to its heavily saturated nature. This makes it difficult to control the colour saturation – it’s too easy to oversaturate and drown the painting in blue.

 

I started with an A4 sheet of HP photo paper, drawing some random lines and areas on it with heavily water-diluted ink. I then decided to steer the drawing to an urban setting, by adding the buildings. Finally, I added the top and bottom bands to create some contrast, and make the drawing look a bit more interesting. The result gives you an idea of what can be achieved with Tanzanite as a drawing ink. The composition itself is a failure – random painting is not my thing 😉 – I definitely need to sketch out a concept first.

 

Inkxpired – computational art
I love experimenting with pen/ink/paper and have added another layer as part of the hobby. I’m exploring computational art, inspired by the ink drawings I do during ink reviews. Another fun offshoot of the hobby… and all that starting with a few drops of dye-coloured water on paper.

 

To salvage the original piece, some heavy duty digital wizardry is needed. I started by applying a comic-book filter, that added some grit & contrast to the painting. Next I did a square cut-out and heavily colour-filtered this. I then added a black-background urban-art filter, and finally used a negative filter to obtain the abstract end-result. I do like the final result, which still features the “blue moon rising”, but without all the clutter of the original drawing.

 

Conclusion
After all these years, I still consider Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite to be one of the best blue-blacks around. This is due to several factors. First, it’s a true blue-black that doesn’t lean purple (at least to my eye and compared to other blue-blacks). Second, it is a blue-leaning blue-black and that results in a really nice colour that just nails it. Last but not least: shading & sheen lift the aesthetics of this Edelstein ink, and work their magic to enhance its loveliness. A well-executed ink, that deserves a bottle in your collection.

 

Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Laban Rosa Lilac, F-nib

 

Backside of writing samples on different paper types

 

[LizEF]

Thrilled to have inspired a re-review, @namrehsnoom!  Love the addition of all these extra details.  It's interesting that Tomoe River and especially Iroful really bring out the blue component, as does the photo paper.  And not surprising that the more absorbent papers make the ink darker.  Personally, I prefer those papers which retain the blue-black look.   The inkxperiment is visually interesting, even if the ink wasn't inspiring or cooperative for drawing.  I really like the look after you applied the comic book filter.

 

Glad you still like the ink after all this while - and I agree, this one's well worth adding to anyone's collection!

[yazeh]

It's fun to re-review old inks once again. It gives one a new perspective. Thanks for redoing a review of this ink  @namrehsnoom

 

 I was afraid, that @LizEF would faint in the blue black comparison. It's good to know she's fine  

 

I also found it interesting that I could detect sheen on Rhodia but not Iroful, quite surprising. Unlike you, I actually found your drawing quite intriguing & enjoyable and thought provoking and the computational art, had a steampunk / post-apolyptic feel to it. 

 

WIth all these blue-black, I wonder at one time you might want to do a shootout or a Highnoon  

 

 

 

 

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

I was afraid, that @LizEF would faint in the blue black comparison. It's good to know she's fine  

A little swooning never hurt anyone!

 

2 hours ago, yazeh said:

WIth all these blue-black, I wonder at one time you might want to do a shootout or a Highnoon  

Ask and ye shall receive:

 

[yazeh]

34 minutes ago, LizEF said:

A little swooning never hurt anyone!

Thanks for the link. Glad you had a nice laugh

[Mechanical]

Another terrific ink review from @namrehsnoom.  I have many inks that i like, but I have probably written more pages in blue black compared to any other color.  And, as mentioned in this review of Edelstein Tanzanite, it often does well on lesser papers.

 

Based on what I'm seeing here, I think there may be room in my drawer of blue black inks... for at least one more bottle. :-)

[InesF]

Thank you, @namrehsnoom, for so comprehensively re-reviewing P.E. Tanzanite! 

 

I'm a bit surprised that Tanzanite appears highly saturated for you. Because mine was more on the middle-intensity side (neither pale nor highly saturated) and does show some minor but beautiful sheen only when the pen stood filled for longer time and maybe dried a bit.

 

Nevertheless, your review was an informative read and a pleasure to the eyes!  

[Claes]

Moinchen, Ines!

 

>I'm a bit surprised that Tanzanite appears highly saturated...

 

Just an idea: perhaps the bottles were not shaken/stirred the same amount?

 

MfG
Claes in Lund, Schweden

[Baggins]

I find these super-reviews very interesting. The re-review for was very useful because I didn’t see the 1st one. 
Thank you 😊 

[Sailor Kenshin]

...and now I want some...

 

Thanks, @namrehsnoom.  Inspiring!

[RJS]

I should have another look at this ink. I bought it quite a few years ago, tried it in a couple of pens, didn't really care for it, and haven't tried it again since. I might have unfairly lumped it in with a very similar Diamine ink I didn't like, that I bought at about the same time.