Ink Review: Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz

COLOR

Smoky Quartz is a lovely dark brown with a lot of subtle color variation. It leans a bit more 'coffee' rather than 'chocolate' in person. I love how dark it is. It has a decent amount of shading on some papers, but on others it is fairly flat.

For whatever reason I associate brown ink with steampunk aesthetics, which probably explains why I love it so much.

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CHARACTER

There is a decent amount of shading present in this ink, but it's dark enough that you need to get really close to truly appreciate it. From a distance it is not as noticeable. I'd love to see a bit more variation in writing, but on the other hand, it's super legible!

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CONSISTENCY

Smoky Quartz is a very well-behaved ink. It hasn't given me any troubles yet in any of the pens I've tried it in. It has a standard flow - enough to bring out the shading, but not so much that I'm afraid to use it at work on cheaper paper.

In testing, I didn't notice any feathering or bleedthrough on anything but the cheapest of papers.

Nebula, Clairefontaine, and Tomoe River paper

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CONCLUSION

I am a sucker for a good brown ink. This is a true 'woody' brown with little to no sheen, so the brown really gets to show.

DISCLAIMER: Pens and inks purchased by myself. Photos and opinions are my own.