Introducing Lamy Benitoite

[a_v_l]

For a long time now I haven't been planning to buy any new inks. I already have too many and some are impatiently waiting their turn. Yet every time I'm tempted and, even worse, I succumb to the temptation. The latest instance was at a local stationer's, where I came across the new Lamy Crystal Inks. Two of them appealed too much to me to be ignored, so now I have too many blues and greys in my collection. On the positive side, I am able to compare inks and improve the matches between pens, inks and paper sorts.

Lamy Benitoite has an interesting colour and despite its similarities with other inks I think I'm going to use it a lot. I'm a bit worried that my Lamy 2000 with the medium nib (for which the Benitoite was intended) didn't have a consistent flow with it, unlike with other inks, but the Sheaffer Balance II behaved impeccably with Benitoite. I'll see what I can do about this. As always, I remain optimistic.

45884

The scan came out quite true. On my computer screen, the colours come very close to what I see on paper.

[azkid]

I am also a sucker for that sort of dark and dusky blue. Between that and the shading I'm really tempted. I. Must. Resist.... Too. Many. Inks....

[a_v_l]

Waterproofness is not among my priorities concerning inks for the fundamental reason that paper, the carrier of even the most waterproof ink, tends to be quite fragile itself. Nevertheless, having read somewhere that the Benitoite is waterproof, I let the tap run over the sheet for over a minute. The results were encouraging: Benitoite showed considerable resistance but so did the other inks, with the exception of Blau Permanent. As for the 60g paper, it would have disintegrated hadn't I been extremely careful handling it.

45895

[countrydirt]

Thank you for putting another blue ink on my radar.

[manoeuver]

great review!
I like that ink.

[Pterodactylus]

As I also got this ink now and would like to add 2 additional samples:

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/259fb5e6-8a21-42f5-a528-43fbc5b86e8d/dew9rsy-580a9acc-0703-4a06-9107-74e70aa278fc.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJ IUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQz NzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZT BkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6 W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzI1OWZiNWU2LThhMjEtNDJmNS1hNT I4LTQzZmJjNWI4NmU4ZFwvZGV3OXJzeS01ODBhOWFjYy0wNzAz LTRhMDYtOTEwNy03NGU3MGFhMjc4ZmMuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIj pbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.nkZZ8Pzk 6HfASbTsXug2DRkD2MPp5aEgLFD7TPgbj0E (https://www.deviantart.com/ptero-pterodactylus/art/Quote-Mark-Twain-900730114)
Quote Mark Twain (https://www.deviantart.com/ptero-pterodactylus/art/Quote-Mark-Twain-900730114) by Ptero Pterodactylus (https://www.deviantart.com/ptero-pterodactylus) on DeviantArt

(Montblanc 149 - Calligraphy ….. Lamy Crystal Benitoite)

And as a bonus my newest drawing with this ink:

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/259fb5e6-8a21-42f5-a528-43fbc5b86e8d/dew9rt2-495d4f1e-d3c6-4525-84b0-02a6e246f105.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJ IUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQz NzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZT BkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6 W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzI1OWZiNWU2LThhMjEtNDJmNS1hNT I4LTQzZmJjNWI4NmU4ZFwvZGV3OXJ0Mi00OTVkNGYxZS1kM2M2 LTQ1MjUtODRiMC0wMmE2ZTI0NmYxMDUuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIj pbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.TRb2RujY aYVL-5aewynU7yVY7Guk-9ZzmZ1rEsjHt5M (https://www.deviantart.com/ptero-pterodactylus/art/Partial-Figure-Drawing-900730118)
Partial Figure Drawing (https://www.deviantart.com/ptero-pterodactylus/art/Partial-Figure-Drawing-900730118) by Ptero Pterodactylus (https://www.deviantart.com/ptero-pterodactylus) on DeviantArt

(Montblanc 149 Calligraphy ….. Lamy Crystal Benitoite, White and Blue chalk pencil)

The ink is a beautiful blue-black with high shading potential using the right pen.

[jeffj]

Thanks for the review. On my list.

[whorne]

I would like to try this ink in my Lamy 2K with fine nib. Do you all anticipate a flow issue with it? Thanks for any and all advice.

[Pterodactylus]

I would like to try this ink in my Lamy 2K with fine nib. Do you all anticipate a flow issue with it? Thanks for any and all advice.

The flow is good in my MB 149, no issues there, also when flexing it, imo a really well behaving ink.
I noticed once a bit of a hard start after some unused days, but nothing severe or what I would be concerned.
At the end it’s a document proof (dokumentenecht) labeled ink with possible effects of water proof inks.

[whorne]

Thanks for the info!

[BoBo Olson]

Shades very nicely here.

Was down town and my wife wanted to stop off at my B&M:kiss3:....not me.
She went around buying twittering gismo, sticks one sticks in a good smelling liquid and so on. In I no longer waste money on uberexpensive MB, (and I didn't care for the newest Edelstein ink, I ...with out ever looking in ink reviews, spur of the moment bought three Lamy Crystal inks. And some top class Buelow liquorice.

I tend to forget how Sandy1 could make an ink look ever so different; different nib widths and papers, the reviews here brought it back.

Pterodactylus, made me want to ink a couple pens right away (love that shading) .................can't in I have a vow not to ink more than 7 pens at one time. ...and I have 8 inked.


I've not seen a review of Azurite or Amozonia....can any lead me to them?

[carlos.q]

I tend to forget how Sandy1 could make an ink look ever so different; different nib widths and papers, the reviews here brought it back.


I was very sad when I learned about Sandy1's demise. I remember that before buying an ink I would always check if she had reviewed it and was never disappointed by her very complete reviews. Now all her hard work may be lost forever as a result of the Photobucket fiasco.

[Pterodactylus]

Hi BoBo,

I’m happy to see you participating here recently, good to see your posts again.
I also (usually with rare exceptions) don’t buy the heavily overpriced inks anymore, there are tons of cool inks more reasonable priced on the market.
As longer I write and draw with Benitoite as more I like it.
It is not 100% waterproof but highly water resistant (dokumentenecht), this makes interesting effects in ink washes as it fades and dissolve only a bit and gives it a faded look used in drawings.

Seeing your posts reminds me to ink up my Guider again hosting the wonderful Degussa steel full flex nib you gifted me years ago.
Thanks again for this wonderful nib BoBo.

I was not aware that Sandy1 passed away and I’m really sorry to hear that.
I always enjoyed her conclusive and excessive ink reviews, she was a pro doing that.

[bunnspecial]

FWIW, I'm not sure if this is known definitively but my own testing and the experience/opinions of others points toward this being an iron gall ink...

[Pterodactylus]

FWIW, I'm not sure if this is known definitively but my own testing and the experience/opinions of others points toward this being an iron gall ink...

I can see why you think it is, and I love Iron Gall inks but:

I see not the slightest color change on it while drying.
Even I saw others claiming it, it does not smell like an IG ink to me.
When washed IG inks often leave only the grey IG component (dye is washed out), Benitoite gets lighter but mainly keep it‘s color.
Performance on poor paper is good but not on ESRI level, but this is also no proof as e.g. many of the KWZ IG inks perform really bad on poor paper (for me KWZ was a huge disappointment on this aspect).

All the above is no proof, but here comes the killer argument.
I read that users contacted Lamy and asked if it contains an IG part, and Lamy stated that Benitoite is no IG ink.

[bunnspecial]

FWIW, I'm not sure if this is known definitively but my own testing and the experience/opinions of others points toward this being an iron gall ink...

I can see why you think it is, and I love Iron Gall inks but:

I see not the slightest color change on it while drying.
Even I saw others claiming it, it does not smell like an IG ink to me.
When washed IG inks often leave only the grey IG component (dye is washed out), Benitoite gets lighter but mainly keep it‘s color.
Performance on poor paper is good but not on ESRI level, but this is also no proof as e.g. many of the KWZ IG inks perform really bad on poor paper (for me KWZ was a huge disappointment on this aspect).

All the above is no proof, but here comes the killer argument.
I read that users contacted Lamy and asked if it contains an IG part, and Lamy stated that Benitoite is no IG ink.

There have been quite a few discussions on FPN about it, and I was told although I haven't seen it first hand that Lamy grudgingly admitted it is an IG ink.

Here's a thread where I made some measurements that point to it having some other properties similar to known IG inks, so take these for what it's worth

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/362334-lamy-benitoite-maybe-an-iron-gall-answer/#comment-4467201

[Pterodactylus]

Interesting, but don’t tell anyone that I read something on the dark side. 🤪

I also don’t have a first hand experience regarding claims from Lamy, read it in Reddit where a user said Lamy denied it being an IG ink.
But why should Lamy make a secret out of it (example Lamy blue-black)
In case it has an iG component I would see this positive and not the other way around.

[bunnspecial]

Interesting, but don’t tell anyone that I read something on the dark side. 🤪

I also don’t have a first hand experience regarding claims from Lamy, read it in Reddit where a user said Lamy denied it being an IG ink.
But why should Lamy make a secret out of it (example Lamy blue-black)
In case it has an iG component I would see this positive and not the other way around.

I've read mixed stuff on Reddit also about it, but then, perhaps this is my bias after participating a lot there when FPN was down for a month last year, but I find the level of knowledge there quite different from either here or FPN...and definitely skewed toward a different crowd.

In any case, I consider it a positive as well if it is in fact IG.