Pelikan blue-black questions...

I recently read that Pelikan blue-black wasn't being imported to the US anymore, I'm wondering if this is indeed true and if so, why it isn't?

The 30+ year old bottle on my shelf (haven't filled a pen from it in at least 20) has thrown a gritty sediment in the bottom of the bottle and the remaining ink had lightened up to a pale blue-gray as of ten years ago, but now evaporation has continued and the remaining liquid is much darker than original. That sort of behavior implies that the formula at that time might have been an iron gall ink? was it ever an IG and is it now?

TIA for any info!

It was originally:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...1575400831.jpg

mine's a bit newer than that bottle ;)

various unconfirmed sources seem to think it's IG lite these days and contains some unlisted chemical that the US Gov. hasn't confirmed the safety of, but the places I found this all seem to be if not cut-and-pasted from one source, at least paraphrased...

If the bottle you have is 30 years old, I would imagine it is IG. Relevant info here: https://thepelikansperch.com/2016/04...e-black-story/

If you check the Vanness website after the Washigton DC pen show, you can usually score a bottle or two of Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black. I think they do some horse-trading with other international vendors during the show. I was able to buy a bottle right after the DC show. I think there were only 2 cases because a couple weeks later they were sold out. You can still see the place-holder on the Vanness website.

Linky: https://vanness1938.com/collections/...kan-blue-black

All the Best.

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Originally Posted by junglejim

If you check the Vanness website after the Washigton DC pen show....

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They will be at the Baltimore-Washington Pen Show February 28 to March 1, 2020.
http://baltimorepenshow.com/information/exhibitorslist/

Pelikan 4001 blue-black has iron gall:
https://www.pelikan.com/pulse/Pulsar...ment-proof-ink

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Originally Posted by carlos.q

Pelikan 4001 blue-black has iron gall:
https://www.pelikan.com/pulse/Pulsar...ment-proof-ink

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Agree. I always knew it to be an iron gall ink too. :)

@OP I hope you decided against using the contents of your bottle in a fountain pen.... :(

[QUOTE=Chrissy;281797]

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Originally Posted by carlos.q

@OP I hope you decided against using the contents of your bottle in a fountain pen.... :(

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Oh yeah, that gunk in the bottom of the bottle will never see the inside of a pen! I might rehydrate it and do a swab just to see what the color is like after having thrown so much precipitate (probably the iron?), but after that it's going down the drain.

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Originally Posted by silverlifter

It was originally:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...1575400831.jpg

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What a gorgeous bottle! I've seen "vintage" ink bottles fetch surprisingly (to me) high prices of late; I suspect you could get a pretty penny for yours if you ever decide to sell it.

I bought a bottle of 4001 Blue-Black on eBay from a dealer in Japan. It was very reasonably priced and had free shipping. It's one of my favorite inks.

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Originally Posted by calamus

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Originally Posted by silverlifter

It was originally:

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What a gorgeous bottle! I've seen "vintage" ink bottles fetch surprisingly (to me) high prices of late; I suspect you could get a pretty penny for yours if you ever decide to sell it.

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Not mine, sadly. A member on FPN found it in a museum in South America and shared it. I just reposted it here as I thought others would find it as fascinating as I did :)

You can buy it from european sellers on eBay and get it shipped.

I have a few bottles that I picked up when I was in Germany last year. I can confirm to the ink being iron-gall. Not sure where this idea that it isn't IG got started, but its very obviously false. Anyone that uses it can see it go down on the page an almost royal blue that quickly becomes a blue-black as it dries.

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Originally Posted by AzJon

You can buy it from european sellers on eBay and get it shipped.

I have a few bottles that I picked up when I was in Germany last year. I can confirm to the ink being iron-gall. Not sure where this idea that it isn't IG got started, but its very obviously false. Anyone that uses it can see it go down on the page an almost royal blue that quickly becomes a blue-black as it dries.

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I remember quite a few years back there was a forum thread (not certain *which* forum) on the formula being changed, at the time there was much speculation around whether the reformulated version retained IG content or not, I've been less active on the forums for quite a while, so hadn't chased down the truth of the matter and was interested to finally know for sure.

for a "banned" item it's very easy to come by, just not on the shelf of any mainstream brick & mortar stationers in my area.

As a side note, there are also plenty of non-iron gall inks that change color very noticeably as they dry, some are even dark blue... :D

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Originally Posted by awa54

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Originally Posted by AzJon

You can buy it from european sellers on eBay and get it shipped.

I have a few bottles that I picked up when I was in Germany last year. I can confirm to the ink being iron-gall. Not sure where this idea that it isn't IG got started, but its very obviously false. Anyone that uses it can see it go down on the page an almost royal blue that quickly becomes a blue-black as it dries.

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I remember quite a few years back there was a forum thread (not certain *which* forum) on the formula being changed, at the time there was much speculation around whether the reformulated version retained IG content or not, I've been less active on the forums for quite a while, so hadn't chased down the truth of the matter and was interested to finally know for sure.

for a "banned" item it's very easy to come by, just not on the shelf of any mainstream brick & mortar stationers in my area.

As a side note, there are also plenty of non-iron gall inks that change color very noticeably as they dry, some are even dark blue... :D

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IIRC, there was talk of reformulation so it could still be imported to the States. Pelikan decided otherwise.

I am aware that other inks change color a bit, but not like this. It's not going from blue to a bit darker blue. It looks like it goes from Pelikan Royal Blue to Tanzanite. Actually, side by side, one would be hard pressed to tell which is the Tanzanite (which goes onto the page dark) and the B/B once on the page.

I suspect that it can be bought VAT free on Amazon.de or even Amazon.co.uk and shipped fairly inexpensively to the US.

Pendimonium sometimes still has it.

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Originally Posted by Chrissy

I suspect that it can be bought VAT free on Amazon.de or even Amazon.co.uk and shipped fairly inexpensively to the US.

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The last two bottles I bought were from Amazon.co.uk

Loads of places this side of the Atlantic sell it so just find the cheapest seller to get it from. Simple!

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Originally Posted by The Good Captain

Loads of places this side of the Atlantic sell it so just find the cheapest seller to get it from. Simple!

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That's what I would do. :)