Ink Review: Lamy Crystal Azurite

By Jessica Coles

This last weekend I had the great privilege of attending the Atlanta pen show for the first time. I had a wonderful time (one that I will recount in another post, very soon), however, I was very impressed with one ink that I picked up during the show.  The ink is Lamy Crystal Azurite. I hadn’t been able to find a bottle at most retailers, but I did come across this ink on the Dromgoole’s table ($16.00 at Dromgoole’s store). One of the many benefits of attending a pen show!

Lamy’s new line, the Crystal inks, are quite a bit of fun.  Even though the line has taken the color names from heavily used semi-precious stones as so many other manufacturers have done previously, I enjoy the names much more than the usual Lamy labels.  Blue-Black, Red, Green… This was a big step for them and I am happy with it.

The packaging for the ink is wonderful and quite secure; plenty of high-density foam and cardboard to hold the bottle in place. The glass bottle and metal lid are beautiful and a pleasant change from the larger bottles from Lamy, although they don’t have the detail of the blotting paper roll underneath.  However, the colored band at the base of the lid is nice – it also matches the color of the ink closely.

 

I wasn’t able to wait until I arrived back home; I swatched Azurite after the show on Sunday night, excited to see my newest purple ink. As the ink dried on the Col-o-ring card, I fell in love.  Look at the beautiful sheen!

One of the questions we always get with purple sheening inks is, how close is it to Lamy Dark Lilac? So here is the comparison shot:

There’s not really a close match here.  Dark Lilac is on one end of the purple spectrum, towards red.  Azurite is on the opposite end, as close to blue as possible without being shut out of purple completely. The word “Blurple” may apply here, but I would count this still solidly in the purple (or more accurately, violet) zone.

I pulled several color samples to show the color of the ink and the sheen quantity. In my opinion, Azurite is closest to Rohrer & Klingner Cassia, although slightly more saturated.

Although these two inks don’t have the same level of sheen, they are quite close in color to Azurite, so I included another shot with Bilberry and Charoite. Monteverde Charoite is a fairly close match to Azurite (and also from Monteverde’s gemstone collection).

I had no trouble with bleeding or feathering (the slight look of feathering here was actually because of pets getting too close) and the ink was of average flow, not too dry or too wet.

Azurite does seem to take a bit longer to dry, but only when used in large amounts such as my scribbling or when I pool the ink.

During ordinary writing, the dry time clocked in around 15 seconds.  But don’t let your cat walk across your writing when trying to show the beautiful sheen! Honestly, my cat doesn’t do well with purple ink.  Her paws look much nicer with turquoise.

I love the new Lamy Crystal Azurite.  I know that many retailers are out of this color at the moment, but the good news is that the Crystal inks are part of Lamy’s permanent line.  So just be patient – it will be available everywhere very soon! If you would like to purchase this from Dromgooles, you may need to contact the store.  The option doesn’t yet seem to be available on their website. Don’t worry – they are all wonderful people.

 

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• Papers: Birmingham Pen Company A5 Slim Notebook ($8.99)
• Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
• Ink: Lamy Crystal Azurite (30ml for $16)

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Disclaimer: All items in this review were purchased by me.  For more information, visit our About page.