INK REVIEW: Landolt-Arbenz Konigsblau (Royal Blue)

I travelled to Switzerland last month for a family visit (my wife is Swiss) and, while there, visited the Landolt-Arbenz pen shop on the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. This venerable shop has been in business since 1882 (by Swiss standards, almost a newcomer!). I got to try out several pens, but didn't purchase any. What I did get were several bottles of ink: Montblanc Toffee Brown, Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black, Pelikan 4001 Turquoise, and Landolt-Arbenz Konigsblau. The last is their house brand ink, and manufactured in Italy.

Here's my review of the ink. It's great stuff!

First, the bottle.



The review.

Cool looking bottle, but won't it be difficult to fill from when only half full or less? Nice color blue as well.

nortac said:

Cool looking bottle, but won't it be difficult to fill from when only half full or less? Nice color blue as well.

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Aside from looking nice, the bottle is actually pretty impractical. By the time it's half full, there's no way you can cover a nib and feed to fill from it. But that's where a syringe comes in handy.

Nice Royal Blue shade of blue. Nice performance. Horrible bottle design. T

hanks for the review of unknown (to many of us) commodity.

Nice color and review. This is a new one on me.

The realityis that there are very few really practical ink bottles that allow filling to the very last drop, but too many only work till the bottle is half empty. For converters, it is easy to get that last drop with a syringe, but the eral problem is to try to fill a piston/lever/button filler where the nib doesn't unscrew from the section.

strop said:

Nice color and review. This is a new one on me.

The realityis that there are very few really practical ink bottles that allow filling to the very last drop, but too many only work till the bottle is half empty. For converters, it is easy to get that last drop with a syringe, but the eral problem is to try to fill a piston/lever/button filler where the nib doesn't unscrew from the section.

Click to expand...

That's why I have several empty vintage Sheaffer Skrip bottles that I've picked up at flea markets and antique shops. That little built-in glass inkwell is perfect for getting the last few drops.


(not my photo)

Agreed. they work very well. The other bottles that work well are Levenger, though I wish the insert wasn't just plastic, but recognize the cost would be much higher if glass, and Akkerman (I think) because I've yet to get that far into a bottle. Iroshizuki and Sailor better than most as well.

The Montblanc "shoe" bottle is pretty efficient and cool-looking.