Pelikan Royal Blue [full size photo] – This is an interesting blue / gray ink from Pelikan. To me this is not your traditional “Royal Blue” ink. With it’s slightly muted and silvery gray hues, it stands out amongst the rest of my Royal Blue inks. For reference this the the first Pelikan ink I have used (aside from a cartridge in a Pelikano). I have to tell you, its a very smooth ink. It flows very nicely. For the review I used a “Think!” pen called the “Iceland” with a Medium nib. [As a side note, I will be reviewing the Think! Iceland fountain pen very soon.]
The Think! fountain pen, had no issues with the Pelikan Royal Blue ink. The ink produced great shading in some of the other pens I tested it in. The medium nib in the Think! pen showed shading as well. In each of the pens I tested it in, the ink remained very well behaved – no signs of feathering, no bleedthrough, with a very tiny bit of showthrough. Dry times on the ink were rather quick ~2 seconds or so until it was dry. In the q-tip sample I was surprised at the depth of the shading, very pretty. The silvery gray also adds something to the ink. Its a nice touch.
I used the ink at work for a number of days, and I had received great input from those I questioned about the color. This is a great go-to ink for the office. Not too bright, not boring like a blue ballpoint. Just right, even for my traditionally bold/bright tastes. Two thumbs up from me. I can’t wait to hunt some more Pelikan ink samples for future testing.
This ink, as well as many other inks and pens can be purchased from – my friends at Pear Tree Pens.
Matt is a Systems Development Director for a multinational franchise. Matt has lived and worked in Hawaii, Chicago, South Florida and currently resides outside of Atlanta. He enjoys his hobbies including Technology, Gadgets/EDC, Fountain Pens, Wetshaving, Clocks, Antiques & Coffee. He even roasts his own coffee weekly.
[…] I didn't take much time to ink the Think Iceland Fountain Pen up… I really liked the blue accents in the acrylic, so I picked a nice Royal Blue ink from Pelikan. The pen started immediately. That's right, the first down stoke produced a nice fluid and smooth line. After some testing on various paper, I found this pen to be extremely smooth. The pen and ink combo was very well matched everything behaved very well. Ink stayed put, no scratchiness on the nib. The pen was able to produce some decent shading even with the M nib. For more on the ink, here is a link to my Pelikan Royal Blue Ink Review. […]