$15 ink vs $30 ink | Pelikan 4001 vs Edelstein Ink Review

This review is long overdued, but here is it: to answer the question, is the premium over the Edelstein line of ink worth the quality and prestige over the commonly seen 4001 line of inks from Pelikan? In this review, we will be looking at a couple of bottles from both lines, and you will be able to make your own judgment on whether to go for the budget 4001 or the premium Edelstein inks.

The packaging

We can already start to see where our money is going right from the first impression: the 4001 ink bottle has this vintage vibe to it - no fuss, just a simple glass bottle with a rather dull looking cap, whereas the Edelstein liquid comes in a rectangular crystal cut bottle with a sturdy angular cut cap. Instead of the glued paper label on the 4001, you get a printed stylized Edelstein word, plus the name of the ink also printed with a similar color on the bottom corner of the bottle. It is really a show piece of anyone's desk and I would proudly put more than just a few of these Edelstein bottles on my shelves anyday of the week.

4001

Royal Blue

It is an unassuming blue: not too special, does not stand out from even the blues from ballpoints, but it will get the job done. This one performs really well on photocopy paper and when you just want a normal looking blue to get by, this is a default choice for me at least.

Dark Green

This one is a weird one, since pure green inks are not the most popular for daily writing, but somehow it’s often sold in mainstream bookstores in Vietnam. Pelikan Dark Green has this vibrant hue to it, it’s not really “dark” in a way but high in saturation - and out of all the ink colors in the 4001 series, this one stains the most. If you somehow managed to get it on a shirt sleeve, it might take a few washes to take most of it off.

Edelstein

Sapphire

This is the second bottle of Pelikan Edelstein I’d bought, after finishing a whole bottle of Onyx and I can confidently praise them - and Sapphire is also an interesting one at that: coming out of the pen it will be a tad purple-ish blue, and will completely turn blue when dried out.

Smoky Quartz (2017)

To be honest, this one has not been a brown that I reach out often, since the ink pool you see here and the writing in finer nibs do not seem to line up, color-wise at least: the saturation is not the best, it turns into a bit of a pale yellowy brown that is a bit hard to read under low lighting. I still love the pool while drawing with Smoky Quartz, but I would not recommend it as a daily writer.

Aquamarine (2016)

This is probably one of the most popular Edelstein colors of all times, since it’s also part of the “Tiffany blue” trend kind of deal and in recent years, aquamarine/teal-ish themed items have been the craze. The shading and saturation is pretty much perfect for daily use in my cases, not too bring and illegible, but not too boring to the point of being ignored all the time. The thing with Pelikan inks is that they run a tad drier compare to others, and it takes a good amount of ink to show their inner beauty; from the photos taken, you can see that they perform the best with broader nibs - coincidentally, it’s how their fountain pen nibs are tuned.

Conclusion

Pelikan has always been a fan favorite among fountain pen enthusiasts, and for good reasons: they have been making awesome pens since the last century, and keeping the innovation going for well over a hundred years - their inks are also proof of what Pelikan is capable of: affordable everyday use items, as well as glorious looking bottles of writing fluid worthy of anyone’s working desks. I hope this article might be of help to you, in choosing the right color of ink to put in your favorite writing instruments, as well as looking at some of Pelikan’s gorgeous ink colors available out there.