The one color among the much-anticipated Pelikan Edelstein inks that I very much wanted was Jade, which looked to me from the various pictures to be a soft yellow-tinged green that was different yet acceptable in polite company. I was thrilled to find that the color lived up to my expectations, it's a beautitful soft green with distinctly yellow overtones.
Jade is a very well-behaved ink, so polite and gentle you almost forget it's there. No ink creep on the nib, no skipping, flows very well, and while it almost made my Lamy Al-Star EF into a very wet writer the ink flow never quite reached that point. Just a bit wet, but not too much that it became annoying and messy. Drying time was average, neither incredibly short or long.
But the color is the main attraction for me. Jade is as close to a darker, more visible version of J. Herbin's Diabolo Menthe as I've seen; the latter is a touch more blue, but for me it's way too pale to use as an everyday writing ink. The above picture shows the two colors side by side, as well as the bottles. Jade is quite to my liking, and will definitely get a lot of play in my fountain pen rotation.
Finally, the bottle is a tie with Pilot Namiki's Iroshizuku as being one of the most elegant designs in glass. The picture above compares Edelstein's Jade on the right with J. Herbin's Diabolo Menthe on the left, showing off the Edelstein bottle's rectangular shape and larger bottle mouth. All four sides of the rectangle are slightly concave and give a nice, tapering look and feel to the thick glass, while the printing raised--also giving the bottle a distinctive feel and look.
The Edelstein Jade ink is a very pleasant surprise, with nothing usual or boring about either the color or the marketing design. I'm looking forward to trying the other colors I purchased, Topaz (a deep blue) and Mandarin (clear orange).
Very cool, can't wait for mine to arrive! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI have to admit to being so seduced by the bottle that I am going to buy one even if I don't like any of the colors! I'll reserve judgment until I see one up close, but for now, Iroshizuku bottles still have the edge.
ReplyDeleteThat you even have a bottle while everyone else is looking for one . . . well, I guess living in New York City has its advantages (even if they can't make a good picante sauce there).
Thanks for the review. Good to know Edelstein Ink is well-behaved. Did you observe any shading?
ReplyDeleteOops. Posted my comment too soon. Your sample says you observed shading but my monitor isn't able to reproduce it. The color looks completely even so I wondered if the shading is intermittent or fairly consistent from letter to letter.
ReplyDeleteInk as bling? Jack/Y-town
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I missed this! Thanks for a freat review - especially the comparison is great!
ReplyDeleteInkophile, there is a small amount of shading but I was also using an extra fine point and I don't tend to get a lot of color variance with that nib. My Parker Latitude with a medium point gives a lot of shading on the Edelstein Topaz, and it's become a wet noodle to boot. :)
ReplyDeleteIf only ink were bling, Jack. :)
Like everybody else, I'm really into this bottle! Not quite as elegant as Iroshizuku, but definitely more fun :)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there's an online forum for people who are obsessed with small containers and bottles... I'll bet most of FPN would be over there in a heartbeat.
Nonsense, Diane...ink is bling! (Especially this stuff, which I like to think of as "cubicle bling"!)
ReplyDeleteTried that Mandarin orange yet? That was the first one I tried and it's pretty sweet stuff! Honestly, it makes me think I'm writing with Tang everytime I use it! :-)
Ryan, gotta admit "cubicle bling" is a great advertising phrase. Jack/Y-town
ReplyDelete