Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite
Ink Review #54
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Overview
The color/properties:
Tanzanite is a shadowy blue-black ink with heavy grey undertones. In some lighting conditions (and depending on the paper you use), it could even be perceived as a blue-grey over a blue-black. It shades with a crisp cut between lighter and darker tones where the ink pools. I noticed a dull black sheen in the ink splat and droplets, but I don’t expect that any sheen would come through in normal writing circumstances.
Ink Splat
Ink Droplets
Performance on paper:
Tanzanite should perform well on most fountain pen-friendly papers. There was minor bleeding on the Kokuyo paper with the larger nibs, and no detectible feathering or bleed-through on the other test pages. The dry times had seemingly no linearity between the nib sizes and how long the ink took to dry and were overall below average. The water resistance, on the other hand, was above average: when exposed to water, there was minimal clouding and the remains were crisp, dark, and legible.
Water resistance
Chromatography
Performance in the pen:
Tanzanite has a very dry flow. While this ink performed surprisingly well with the needlepoint, fine, and extra fine, I encountered consistent skipping with medium, broad, and stub nib (especially on the Midori paper, which overall, this ink didn’t seem to agree with). Strangely, the flow was notably higher with the architect nib, and while there isn’t a lot of lubrication to this ink, the writing experience was significantly more comfortable and enjoyable with the higher flow. I suggest using this ink with a wetter pen to get the best experience. Tanzanite cleaned out of the test nibs and pen easily, only needing a single flush and soak to run the water clear.
Value/cost per ml:
At the time of writing, Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite sells for (roughly) $30 for a 50ml bottle from US retailers, making this ink $0.60 per ml.
The bottle/packaging:
Tanzanite comes in an elegant glass bottle with excellent clarity and a black cap with soft facets that make it easier to grip. The name of the ink is printed on the bottle in a blue color that generally represents the ink inside. The bottle is stable, and the opening is large enough to fill from without issue. As the ink level goes down, however, it will still be much easier to fill via a syringe or pipette.
Score: 65.5/70
Price per ml: 5/10
Performance in a pen: 6.5/10
Performance on paper: 9/10
Color saturation: 6/10
Sheening: 1/10
Shading: 7/10
Dry time: 6/10
Water resistance: 7.5/10
Ease of cleaning: 9/10
Bottle form: 5/5
Bottle function: 3.5/5
*Only 70 of the 100 available points are required for an outstanding score.My personal thoughts...
When I first got this ink, I promptly filled up a pen and wrote a few pages as I usually do. I had a great experience. I loved the moody blue-black color! It was like writing with smoke. Overall it seemed to work well. I was surprised see that Tanzanite had such poor performance during my tests. In retrospect, I had only ever used this ink in wetter-tuned pens, and after my experience making the tests for this review, that seems to be the best way to enjoy this ink. I wanted to be able to recommend this ink outright, but unfortunately, the spotty performance outweighs my previously good experiences with it.
As far as the color goes, it wasn’t until I started working on this review that I realized this ink doesn’t look that much like the mineral it’s named after. It doesn’t match the deep violet blue in all the images I’ve seen. I did some extra research and concluded that perhaps this ink could be closer to the color of raw, unpolished Tanzanite. The ink lacks the purple tonality of the mineral, but it seems to be a closer match.
It’s still not a great color match
Written in a Leuchtturm1917 notebook with a Pilot Custom 67 (medium)
More images/info:
Tools and materials used in the writing samples:
A TWSBI Diamond 580 AL with 7 nib units including a Needlepoint grind, EF, F, M, B, 1.1mm stub, and an Architect grind. All nibs are tuned to perform at the same medium wetness.
A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad
A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook
A 68gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook
A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook
A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook