Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite

Pelikan make some of my favourite pens – my favourite size in their range is the M600 and my very favourite out of their pens is the M600 Ruby Red limited edition fountain pen. Pelikan also makes a (relatively) small range of fountain pen inks. These include the original  4001 Ink range, which has been made for over 100 years and the newer, higher end Edelstein range.

The Edelstein range is inspired by various gemstones, Edelstein actually translates to “gemstone” from German. This higher end range sports a beautiful glass bottle that is sturdy and would look at home on any desk. The Edelstein range comprises 9 permanent inks and every year, a limited edition ink is also released into this range, usually with a matching M205 sized fountain pen. Some of the limited edition inks have been made permanent (such as Aquamarine, a turquoise/teal colour) while others have sadly remained limited editions (Amethyst).

Tanzanite is the blue-black ink within the range. As a disclaimer, if you’re a gemstone enthusiast and expect the inks to match the stone its named after, you will likely be disappointed. This ink doesn’t have the violet tinge that Tanzanites typically have. It might have been nice to have this and I think the colour would’ve been more interesting but that’s personal preference and doesn’t detract from the ink at all.

The ink is a beautiful blue black that is neutral – by that I mean it seems like a true blue black that doesn’t lean grey, green or purple. There’s a bit of shading with wider nibs and a bit of sheening with wetter nibs, but nothing dramatic and neither is so eye catchng that you wouldn’t be able to use it in a professional setting.

The ink also behaved reasonably well in papers tested – just note that the globules/droplets you can see on some of the writing samples are due to the pen, not the ink misbehaving. It’s a bit too wet for normal photocopy paper and on the odd occasion that I used it on photocopy paper, I saw feathering and bleed through (I forgot to take a photo of this).

I have heard that most of the Edelstein range leans a bit dry. I haven’t experienced this in most of the inks I own in this range (Topaz, Tanzanite and Amethyst) and only Aquamarine runs marginally dry by comparison, but nothing significantly noticeable in German pens. I would probably notice it more in a fine Japanese nib, but I don’t own many of those.

All in all, this is a pretty standard blue black ink. I think the main distinguishing feature is its beautiful ink bottle. You can probably get something that will look and behave similar from Diamine for a fraction of the cost, but it just won’t look as pretty on your desk. I enjoy it all the same.