Pelikan Ink of the Year: Edelstein Apricot Achat

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

Pelikan announced Apricot Achat as their Ink of the Year for 2025 back in February and then announced their matching pen in June. Most folks, including me, waited on purchasing the ink, in hopes that it would be included in last weekend’s Pelikan Hub. Unfortunately, not every hub got Apricot Achat for their attendees. Some hubs (like mine) were lucky enough to get the ink, while others got a seemingly random assortment of inks, which may or may not have included Apricot. I thought I’d do a mini review of this ink so you can decide whether or not it’s worth adding to your collection.

Pelikan Edelstein Apricot Achat swatched on Col-O-Ring with a Kakimori stainless steel dip nib.

In the past, most of the Edelstein inks, including the Ink of the Year, had black caps. That changed starting with Moonstone (2020), which had a silver cap. In 2021, Pelikan released its first shimmer ink, Golden Beryl, which was a gold colored ink with golden shimmer. That ink had a gold cap. The following two years, both Apatite and Rose Quartz had silver caps and neither were shimmer inks. Last year, Golden Lapis was a blue ink with gold shimmer, and again a gold cap. When the official photos of Apricot Achat were released with a gold cap, some thought it would be a shimmer ink, but it is not. Anyone else figure out the logic? Me neither.

One of the official pictures from the Apricot Achat press release.

Star Ruby (IOTY 2019) and regular Edelstein inks, like Onyx, had black caps. Silver caps and no shimmer for Moonstone, Apatite, and Rose Quartz, but gold caps and shimmer for Golden Beryl and Golden Lapis, but no shimmer for Apricot Achat.

I had to pillage the nibs from a few pens in order to get writing samples. After swapping the nib, I primed the nib a bit and then made a few scribbles on some scratch paper (where I discovered one of the nibs wasn’t fully cleaned, eek!) before making the “official” writing sample.

Writing samples with the Pelikan M200 Apricot Achat with nibs ranging from Extra Fine to Double Broad, and also Italic Broad.

The Apricot Achat is quite legible, even with the Extra Fine nib. I suspect that it would be lighter in some of the drier pens/nibs out there, like the Lamy steel nib, finer Sailor nibs, etc. Pelikans are fairly wet writers, so Pelikan compensates for that by making their inks on the drier side. Some of their inks are much drier than others, especially those in the 4001 series, as well as lighter colored inks like this one. I don’t think I would enjoy using this ink in a drier pen.

Decided to use the different nib sizes to write another page of Meditations. Each nib is used for four lines, starting with Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad, Double Broad, and Italic Broad.

It’s really hard to tell the difference between Double Broad and Broad when the letters barely fit between the lines.

I didn’t have as many inks in this color as I thought I did. Most of the inks that were “similar” were much more saturated, or were more orange (and not peachy/apricot-y enough) or too yellow/red/etc.

Inks similar to Apricot Achat: Colorverse Space Needle (a touch too red/pink), Troublemaker x Flax Pen to Paper Momo Mochi, and Sailor 2023 Pen Show Ink (a bit too bright).

At $38 MSRP for a 50ml bottle, Pelikan Edelstein Apricot Achat is definitely on the pricier side, but if you really like the color, you can often find it for less at vendors like Dromgoole’s.

(Disclaimer: I purchased the Pelikan M200 Apricot Achat and the Maruman Mnemosyne notebook (from different vendors), and received the ink as part of the Pelikan Hub.)

Inked Up for the 2025 Pelikan Hub

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

This article is coming out on the day when folks around the world are/will be gathering as part of the 2025 Pelikan Hub! This is my fourth time as the Hubmaster for the Palo Alto Pelikan Hub and even though it’s not a requirement to own a Pelikan in order to attend a hub, what kind of Hubmaster would I be if I didn’t ink up some birds for folks to try, right?

I try to pick out at least one from each of the main models in a variety of colors and nib sizes, when possible. I don’t own any vintage Pelikans, so the ones I have are modern (1980s onward). I also don’t have any M100x because I can’t write with the nibs because they are too long (not big hands + steep writing angle = can’t use long-nibbed pens). And here’s a not-so-short primer on Pelikan fountain pens if you’re not familiar with the models and numbering.

This year’s flock in a Franklin-Chrisoph 12-pen Covered Pen Tray (left to right):

• M100 White with Black, aka Stormtrooper
• M200 2025 Pen of the Year, Apricot Achat
• M215 Lozenge
• M400 Blue Souveran
• M400 White Tortoiseshell
• M600 Red Tortoiseshell
• M600 Glauco Cambon
• M620 Grand Place
• M640 Sahara
• M805 Blue Dunes
• M800 Green Demonstrator
• M815 Metal Striped Blue

Let’s go through the picks:

M100 Stormtrooper - I hadn’t inked this up ever since I bought it second hand a couple years ago and honestly, it kinda disappeared amongst all the other birds. Time to remedy that! I’m glad it had an EF nib, even though that’s not my usual jam, because it’s nice to have some diversity for myself and for folks wanting to try the different nibs sizes. And a Stormtrooper pen demands red ink (pew pew!) and Jacques Herbin Moulin Rouge fits the bill perfectly!

M200 Apricot Achat - Assuming the pen of the year shows up in time for the hub (it doesn’t always), the current year’s pen will always be in rotation for the hub. I picked a broad nib to show off the Apricot Achat ink, which is on the lighter side.

M215 Lozenge - The “1”in the model number signifies that there’s metal on the barrel - and this one is in the form of diamonds. This also has an Extra Fine nib, and I picked a fun pink ink (Pelikan 4001 Pink) to counteract the “seriousness” of this classy black pen.

M400 Blue Souveran - Not the flashiest of Pelikans but I will always have a soft spot for this pen because it was my very first Pelikan which I bought from Peyton Street Pens at the SF Pen Show in 2017 (my first show!). I stuck with a classic for this pairing - Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue.

M400 White Tortoiseshell - There’s something about the olive greens and browns in the barrel of this pen that just gets me, so I ink up this one quite often. I decided not to use a shimmer this time (though Pelikans have handled shimmer pretty well in my experience), and went for a slightly dry ink like Colorverse Taepyeong Seongdae. The pen/ink combo works well because the drier ink tames the Pelikan’s wetter nib.

M600 Red Tortoiseshell - As someone who is generally not into red, I notice when a red pen catches my eye. I love the shades of orange, red, and black in the barrel. Picking an ink for this pen is easy and hard for the same reason - lots of colors to try and match. I picked a fairly true red, Laban Ares Red, instead of one that leans a bit more orange. The Masuyama Medium Cursive Italic makes any ink look good.

M600 Glauco Cambon - After seeing the M600 Art Collection Rudi Rother in person at the Dallas Pen Show last month, I knew I had to ink up the Glauco Cambon, which was the first release of the Art Collection series. Despite the M600 name, it is actually heavier than the usual M600 because of the brass barrel which is engraved/guilloched and lacquered. The varying shades of yellow, orange, and green really pop in good lighting. Photos just don’t do it justice. I opted to match the orange parts of the barrel, and chose Diamine Amber.

M620 Grand Place - One of my more recent acquisitions, this is a pen that I have drooled over for many years. I finally managed to get this one (pen friends are the best), so inking it up for the Hub was a no-brainer. So many shades of brown (and blue) in this pen to choose from, but I ended up picking Taccia Tsuchi which pairs quite nicely.

M640 Sahara - I picked the 640 because it is a different shape from the other pens in that it has a slightly bulbous/curvy shape to the barrel which tapes down to the grip. I got this one second hand with a CI grind on it so I’m not sure who did the grind. I used up the last of my Diamine Golden Brown sample to ink it up, so guess it’s time to get a bottle, right?

M805 Blue Dunes - I have the hardest time refusing blue pens, especially when it has something interesting going on, like these blue and black swirls. This is my only M8xx pen that has an Extra Fine nib on it, too. Thought I’d pair it with a blue that I get to see at a lot of pen shows - Franklin-Christoph Blue 72.

M800 Green Demonstrator - This is the re-release of the Green Demonstrator, and I swapped in a factory Italic Broad (nib says “IB”) to show off the bright green ink that I picked - Papier Plume Marina Green (from the 2019 SF Pen Show).

M815 Metal Striped Blue - This was probably my most anticipated pen for me. I already have this in Black, but in Blue, it was a must-have. I don’t know why I picked Fine, because I seem to only have Fine or Broads (and the lone EF in the Dunes) in this size. I picked a rich, darker blue for this pen - Stilo e Stile’s Praetorian Blu.

After inking up these Pelikans, I found a few lesser known Pelikans in the “to-be-inked” pile and thought, what the heck, let’s ink them up too!

Lesser known Pelikans:

• P40 Pura , Bordeaux
• Style, Neon Green
• Ineo, Ocean Blue
• Piña Colada, Rosé

P40 Pura, Bordeaux - I usually pick Medium nibs when I get a pen/model that I’m not familiar with, but I decided to get a Broad for a change. It is a smooth writer that lays down a nice amount of ink. I picked Diamine Red Dragon because it matches and also because I hadn’t used this classic ink in a long time. Such a great reminder that we often have great stuff in our possession already (not that it’ll stop me from getting more inks, lol).

Style - Neon Green - I liked to call this my TRON pen, even though I’ve never watched the movies. The black portions of the pen have a slightly rubbery feeling to them (I wonder if it will eventually end up feeling sticky/tacky), and the green is a slick plastic, similar to Lamy Safaris or LEGO. I unironically picked Visconti Wheatfield Under Thunderclouds because (1) it’s the closest match I have and (2) now they both have the same distributor (Coles of London).

Ineo, Ocean Blue - I was shocked at the price when I saw it earlier this year. $30-35 for a metal fountain pen is pretty good, especially when it has the Pelikan name on it! This slim, snap cap pen also fits in my PLOTTER pen sleeve (though I don’t store it in there since there is no clip - I’m a little paranoid). The slightly teardrop shape of the cap reminds me of the Lamy Ideos. Robert Oster Sydney flows well in the Ineo’s Medium nib.

Piña Colada, Rosé - This metallic pen reminds me a bit of the Lamy Al-Star (both have “interesting” clips, both have metal barrels, both have triangular grips), but this one is available for ~$15 which is quite the bargain. The Piña Colada’s grip is rubbery as opposed to plastic like the Lamy, so again, I wonder about whether that will become tacky/gummy over time. Hopefully it’ll be a long time before that happens (if ever). I picked Oblation Papers’ Rose City Rose for this Rosé’s Medium nib. ==nib size== Writing samples with similar nib sizes across different models.

I’ve got 16 Pelikans inked up - 12 piston fillers and 4 cartridge/converter pens - so I can’t wait to get to the Hub so folks can try out the pens, and so I can start writing them dry! Gonna take me a while, so wish me luck!

Happy Hub! And happy writing!

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Pelikan Pelikano Magic Ocean Fountain Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Pelikan is a brand that does a good job meeting the needs of pen addicts at every experience level. The Pelikano has a reliable reputation as Pelikan's student pen--perfect for schoolkids, beginners, or gifts for the fountain pen curious. And now, perfect for mermaids.

The Pelikano Magic Ocean Fountain Pen is made from molded resin. The body is in a pearlescent blue with a fish-scale texture all over. The body tapers toward the end and has an open ink window in the side. The cap snaps to close, though it's a tough snap. Very secure. The cap is silvery metal with a unique clip design that hugs the lower cap and wraps over the top. The clip is functional, but it's extremely tight against the cap and isn't very flexible. It serves more as a roll-stop than a clip. The top finial does have the classic Pelikan logo.

Under the cap, there is a pink rubberized grip section. The grip section is molded to direct your hands to a "proper" grip of the pen (since this is intended for student use,) and the pen is available in both right-handed and left-handed variations. There is a textured target pattern that sits against your finger when you're holding it as intended. It is comfortable for me to hold and write with, as I use a traditional grip, but if you have a more individual way of holding your pen, this might be very annoying.

The nib is a plain stainless steel medium nib, though it writes a very bold line that I would consider more of a broad writer. But it is very smooth and has the perfect balance of wetness in its flow. Because of the light plastic construction, the guided grip, and the smooth writing, I can see why this pen is perfect for those learning handwriting. It's a very comfortable writing experience.

The pen takes standard international cartridges or converters, and it comes with one cartridge of blue ink.

This special edition Pelikano is currently available from Goldspot Pens for $25.60. That's a great deal for a very decent writer with a bit of fantasy flair. I like it now, but if twelve-year-old Sarah received this pen, she'd have absolutely lost her mind. It would have been precious. So I know exactly who I am gifting this to. As soon as I write a scary mermaid story with it.

(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!