MontBlanc
Royal Blue, Blue-black, Black, Emerald Green, Ruby Red, Turquoise, Bordeaux, Sepia, Racing Green
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Well, this ink comes in one of the best bottles available.
Generally I have found the colour density of Montblanc inks too light for my liking. For example, Turquoise and green appear as either light tones or washed-out.
In 2007 Montblanc issued a new colour, Violet, and that colour I find has a deep rich tone, and I am quite enjoying using it. |
Stylophiles, one my favorite Internet sites includes information on fountain pen inks. Back in Nov/Dec 1998, Mike Stevens provided his comments on Montblanc ink. He pulled no punches when he says "The bad news, the ink is, at best mediocre. It gives you nothing that you can't get better, and cheaper, from other inks, and that's in the best case scenario!" But to balance his view he goes on to say that "In fact, the bottles are so good, after testing the inks, I dumped the remainder down the drain, and refilled the bottles with some of my favorite 'real' inks!"
On colour comparison, Mike Stevens' views are as follows:
- Green - "With a broad nib the green looks pretty good. It's a little more blue than the Waterman Emerald, which is what I usually use as a comparison for green ink."
- Red - "The red is, frankly, terrible, not quite as washed out as the Waterman, but not really a true red, when compared to the Waterman Vespucci red. It has more orange to it, but it's overall very light in color saturation, so it comes across as a pink, rather than a brick red."
- Blue and Black - "...not as bad as the red, in terms of color..." ... "Waterman and Aurora both offer much better blue inks..."
I have bought my share of Montblanc inks:
- Burgundy - I used this colour quite a bit for a while, but then moved to brands where the tone is a little richer.
- Black - slightly less saturated than the blacks that I prefer.
- Violet - a dark rich tone of ink.
- Racing Green - this is basically a black ink with a tinge of green. You can hardly see the green, but it is there. Flow was good but in the end I tend to lean towards a true dark black.
