Mystery Black, Royal Blue, Midnight Blue, Lavender Purple, Burgundy Red, Oyster Grey, Toffee Brown, Irish Green
Previous colours: Royal Blue, Blue-black, Black, Emerald Green, Ruby Red, Turquoise, Bordeaux, Sepia, Racing Green
In 2010 Montblanc updated the look of what was a classic ink bottle and issued a new, larger (60 ml vs 50 ml) bottle. I must say that I like the look of the bottle, but the not the new cap. The old cap has a real classic feel and look. The new cap is plastic and it looks like plastic.
This is a relatively expensive ink, up in price from the previous line. Some of the Montblanc colours have not appealed to me, they tend to be too watery while others, like the old Violet, and which is the same as the "new" Lavender Purple are inks that I use on a regular basis.
I must say that the ink comes in very classy packaging.
The bottle sites in a study box that has a canvas pull to slide the inner drawer that holds the bottle of ink.
And for some of the inks this is repackaging in terms of the same in a new bottle.
Some of the ink holds the name previously used, while others have new names and the bottles hold the same ink. There are two new colours: Oyster Grey and Toffee Brown.
In March 2010 when I popped down to my local store (Vancouver Pen) they were sold out of all but the Royal Blue and Oyster Grey but the full range of colours are in stock and I have been trying the Royal Blue, Midnight Blue and Lavender Purple inks.
Here is a good solid brown, with no yellow or other undertones to it. Even when writing with a broad nib, the ink leaves a good solid line of ink on the paper. The brown reminds me of Waterman Havana Brown. I have tried this ink in a number of pens, as it is making it rounds through the collectiion. So far, I can say good things about this ink.
This colour is their blue-black, often a colour tone that I like to use. It is a little flat for my liking. Montlbanc notes this to be a permanent ink with ferro-gallic content. Ferro-gallic ink tyically flows onto the paper with a relatively light shade of colour, and then, with exposure to oxygen, it darken and bonds with the fibers in paper. The downside is that it is somewhat corrosive.
I have been using this ink quite a bit and like the colour. Rather than loading it into pens and sometimes, as many do, leaving it in the pen, I am restricting its use to the pen I am using for the week, then flushing the pen out so no ink remains. The indication from reports on the ink is that it will corrode metal (non-gold)parts of the pen.
I don't see any difference between this colour and the previous Royal Blue. My comments remain, a crisp colour, but a little too much purple to the blue and the colour come across being a little to light in tone for my preferences.
I was at a Doctor's office, he was writing with a Montegrappa NeroUno fountain pen, and in the pen he had it loaded with Montblanc Irish Green. One look at the ink going across the paper as he wrote, and I knew that was a colour I would have to add to my collection. I am enjoying the ink. It is one of my Inks of Note. The green is bold and rich, dark enough to look very good in business or casual writing. Good flow, I have been using it in a few different pens and It writes fine.
Another one of the new 2010 colours. I am still not sure of how I feel about this colour. With some of the very broad nibs, the colour has too much variation. If the nib had a sharp line, like a stub, then it seems to appear more to me. Good flow. I have tested it in a few pens and it performs well.
The new black for 2010, Mystry Black, is almost identical to the previous black.
That being said, it is a good black, once that perhaps I should use more. Nice tone, and reasonable good flow in a variety of pens. I have a bottle of the `new`black and will work it into my rotations of ink to see how its performance ranks in a variety of pens and writing situations.