(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
Every year, Lamy introduces new colors for their Safari and AL Star pens, along with corresponding ink colors. And, every year, they eventually sell out. In the case of Lamy Petrol, the rate at which the pens, ink bottles, and ink cartridges sold out was phenomenal. At this point, it's difficult to find a retailer that sells the ink, and there's slim pickings when it comes to the pen. Earlier this year, the Pacific Blue edition AL Star and ink and it had a similar effect. All that to say that people really love the Lamy special editions.
If you're in the market to pick up some Petrol ink from the used market or for samples, here's what you can expect. If you're familiar with Lamy Blue-Black, Petrol is nothing like it. Petrol is described as a dark teal, but it's really more of a teal-black. Unlike Lamy Blue-Black, Petrol actually lives up to the "teal-black" name I've given it. Saturation is dark and luscious, and there's not much shading at all. Light that falls on this ink hardly escapes. The light that does escape does so through the fairly high amount of sheen, which casts a red shade in the certain light. Overall, it's a fascinating ink and one that I wish Lamy would keep in stock.
Like all other Lamy inks, this one is well-behaved and predictable. I haven't had any issues with show-through, bleeding, feathering, or skipping. It's a balanced ink when it comes to lubrication and flow, and it suits any nib with similar results due to the dark saturation. As someone who enjoys lighter inks that shade profusely, Petrol is a bit out of my comfort zone...but in a very good way.
Dry time for Petrol can be a bit long. I've measured anywhere from 15 to 35 seconds using a fine nib. Results aren't much better in a smaller nib, and they're understandably worse in larger, wetter nibs. If quick-drying inks are your thing, this one won't hit the spot.
Like I mentioned a bit earlier, there's not much shading with this ink when writing. The only time I've noticed shading is when doing swabs. Even then, it's fairly mild. The surprise feature, however, is the sheen that pops off the page. It's really easy to see the red sheen when there's indirect light on the paper. Sheen always fascinates me because it makes the ink appear wet and also gives the illusion of a different color in the right light. It's a fun effect, and Petrol has gobs of it.
As far as color and darkness, I don't really have anything close that I can compare to. Both Franklin Christoph's Midnight Emerald and Oster's River of Fire are notably teal. Midnight Emerald is fairly dark, but it's very easy to distinguish the green and blue. Petrol, on the other hand, is incredibly easy to mistake as black.
Overall, Petrol is a pretty ink with some awesome sheen. I just wish it resembled the color of the pen more, which is the same color lightened up a bit. When I think of dark teal, I think of Midnight Emerald. With Petrol, we get a black with a bit of teal mixed in that sometimes pops up above the black surface.
(Goldspot provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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