Pelikan Edelstein Golden Lapis
Ink Review #75
*Please note that the scan is the accurate representation of this color.
Overview
The color/properties:
Edelstein Golden Lapis is a vibrant bright blue shimmering ink that contains bright golden particulates that heavily contrast the base blue color. The ink shades heavily with a crisp cut where the ink pools to a much deeper, darker blue, but the shimmer tends to collect in the same areas where the ink shades, often drowning it out. I also noticed the occasional light purple/red sheen around the edges of where the ink shades. With a wet enough nib this ink could display a heavier sheen, but I also noticed that where the ink was laid down heavily enough it drowned out and dried over the shimmer, rendering it nearly imperceptible.
Ink Splat
Ink Droplets
Performance on paper:
Golden Lapis is mostly well-behaved. There was the usual light bleeding on Kokuyo paper with all of the nib sizes, but there were some microscopic specs of bleed-through on the Leuchtturm paper as well. The ink should still be fine on most fountain pen-friendly papers, but wet-writing pens may push some to their limit. The dry times were slightly above average, with most of the nibs drying within 10-15 seconds. Water exposure causes a lot of blue clouding, but there were some traces of writing left over with varied legibility.
Water resistance
Chromatography
Performance in the pen:
I was surprised when I first inked a pen with Golden Lapis — it’s a really slick ink. The ink has a medium flow, but the lubrication is excellent. I really enjoyed writing with it. There were a lot of unfortunate hard starts and clogs with the fine and extra fine nibs, but otherwise, the performance with the other larger nibs was flawless. There was a good and consistent distribution of shimmer, with minimal need to agitate the pen while writing. Cleaning was also great. A lot of shimmering inks tend to leave a haze around the inside of the barrel after being washed out. Golden Lapis? None. Crystal Clear. It was wonderful. The color itself washes out easily enough as well. For its higher saturation, I would suggest a good soak when flushing it out, but overall, the cleaning experience was excellent for a shimmering ink.
Performance in a pen: 7/10
Performance on paper: 8/10
Color saturation: 8/10
Sheening: 3/10
Shading: 6/10
Dry time: 8/10
Water resistance: 3/10
Ease of cleaning: 8/10
Shimmer: Gold, Medium
My personal thoughts...
Having had great experiences with the previous shimmering Edelstein ink, Golden Beryl, I had high expectations for Golden Lapis. Thus far, I haven’t been disappointed by it — it’s great! Sure, it clogs a little bit with finer nibs, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary, and it still performs better than most, especially in the cleaning department. This is the kind of experience that I hope for whenever I buy a shimmering ink. Something painless. I’ll admit, there are a lot of good shimmering inks available these days, but still few that are this great.
Of course, I feel that Edelstein has an iffy track record making inks that don’t always convey their intended subject, so what about Golden Lapis? I suppose it could depend on the specific rock you’re looking at, but honestly, it’s pretty dead-on.
Written in a Leuchtturm1917 notebook with a Conklin Endura Deco Crest (fine)
More images/info:
Tools and materials used in the writing samples:
A TWSBI Diamond 580 with 5 nib units including an EF, F, M, B, and 1.1mm stub, All nibs are tuned to perform at the same wetness.
A Rhodia No16 A5 DotPad
A Leuchtturm1917 A5 Notebook
A Midori MD A5 Notebook
A 68gsm A5 Tomoe River Notebook
A Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Spiral Notebook
A Kokuyo Campus A5 Notebook