Thursday, June 13, 2013

Lamy Blue Ink Cartridge Review

Most fountain pen lovers should be really familiar with this ink, as it comes with every Lamy Safari/Al-Star/Vista. I never gave it much thoughts initially (mainly because my first Lamy pen had a problematic nibs that too months to break in) but after going through 3 of these, the color actually seems rather easy on the eyes. 

Lamy Blue is a medium-deep (on a broad is much more vibrant and sapphire-like) purple-blue with great flow and very little problem. No bleed through, feathering on most paper and it's rather smooth on the paper for something that flows this well. It withstand some splashes but no soak, faring a little better than J. Herbin in the water-resistance part.
With a fine nib Safari, the shading of Lamy Blue is by no mean remarkable (or noticeable) but every inks shades well with Clairefontaine. Anyway, the color is neutral (as in suitable for everyday use) with a bit of quirk and the unit price is actually pretty good (in bottle form) so I might end up buying a full bottle.

7 comments:

  1. Lamy blue was one of the contenders while I was searching for that perfect blue. By itself, it appeared as sapphire blue, but when I compared it to other blue, it seemed a bit dull. That was my recalling from using one cartridge, so I could be entirely mistaken. As for the perfect blue, I am settling on the Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue, relatively inexpensive but brighter than most other blues.

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    1. I remember it was really vibrant when I used it with the broad nib of Safari (well, duh...)but I will definitely give Pelikan a try once I went through all of my ink samples.

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    2. I do have a bottle of Pelikan and will be happy to send you a sample, once I have a vial....

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    3. Haha, maybe we could do an ink swap in the future (wait, I only have six bottled ink and most of them are a bit standard among the fountain pen users) once I get some empty vials, I am planning a mini haul once the black Lamy Al-Star is stocked in isellpens...

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    4. If my estimate is correct, I probably have enough ink to last a family for generations, so I do not mind sharing some of it. Trying ahead prevents buyer's regret! I do not have a comprehensive list of all my ink, but let me know which ink you are interested and I will see whether I have it.

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    5. Thank you for the kind offer! I am totally blanking out since I don't have any shade name in mind (I just go on the e-tailers and look for swabs and pretty/gimmicky names)...

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    6. I have a lot of R&K, a few Pelikan Edelstein, a handful of De Atramentis, and some J. Herbin. Nothing super fancy though.

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