Montblanc Archives - BLAKE'S BROADCAST

Montblanc Daniel Defoe Palm Green Fountain Pen Ink Review

September 6, 2014 by Blake

This year’s Montblanc Writer’s Edition celebrates Robinson Crusoe author, Daniel Defoe, with an unfortunately ugly pen. The good news is that the limited edition Daniel Defoe Palm Green ink is beautiful.

Montblanc Daniel Defoe Palm Green Fountain Pen Ink — Notice how much the color of this ink changes from the very wet Geha to the very dry Lamy Stub.

Palm Green is a dark yellowy green ink with great shading. The flow is about average and overall it is a well behaved ink. Dry time is on the longer side (though I was using a wetter pen than normal) and the ink is not waterproof.

I couldn’t find an ink that I had that was quite like it…its like a darker more green Alt Goldgrün.

This is my favorite limited edition ink Montblanc has come out with in the last few years. It’s not cheap at $19 per 35ml bottle but it’s such a nice color I think it’s worth it.

Side note: loved the label on the bottle as well as the packaging

Montblanc Meisterstuck 90 Years Permanent Grey Fountain Pen Ink Review

May 28, 2014 by Blake

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Meisterstück, Montblanc has released a limited edition Meisterstück 149 fountain pen and a permanent grey ink. The ink comes in a retro bottle that reads: “This ink fulfils all the demands made on it by durable, good-working, Fountain Pen”.

I have never been a fan of grey inks in the past but when I saw the bottle in the store I had to try it. The salesman was kind enough to let me dip the new 90th Years 149 fountain pen into a bottle of the Permanent Grey. The ink looked great so I bought a bottle.

The 90 Years Permanent Grey is a beautifully saturated almost black ink. The flow is excellent, especially for a permanent ink. Good saturation and shading. The big downside I see to this ink is the dry time…it’s long….very long. In my tests on Rhodia 80gsm paper it took approximately 75 seconds to fully dry.

(click the picture to enlarge)

To test the ink’s permanence I let the ink dry over night and with a few drops of water the ink remained well intact. I believe most of Montblanc’s permanent inks have an ISO certification but I don’t see any mention of that on the packaging of the 90 Years Permanent Grey.

If you like grey inks, this one is a must have. The price is on the expensive side at $20 for 35ml but I think it’s worth it.

Montblanc Leonardo da Vinci Red Chalk Fountain Pen Ink Review

December 2, 2013 by Blake

The Montblanc Leonardo da Vinci Red Chalk is a limited edition ink that was introduced with the Montblanc da Vinci fountain pen. The 30ml bottle is the same standard ink bottle I have seen with the other inks in the Montblanc “Great Characters” series. The color is a nice reddish brown color that to me looks a bit like a darker version Noodler’s Antietam. I have not see any issues with feathering or bleed through on the papers I have tested the ink with so far. There is a good amount of shading and saturation so I am not sure why it’s called “Red Chalk”. The flow is a little on the dry side but it’s not dry enough to prevent me from using the ink. Dry time is about average and the ink is not waterproof. Overall I really like this ink. I am going to have to try and get another bottle before they sell out.

Montblanc Permanent Blue Ink Review

November 2, 2013 by Blake

Montblanc has released two new permanent inks, Permanent Blue and Permanent Black. Both of these new inks are ISO 14145-2 certified; this is the same standard applied to roller ball refills with permanent ink suitable for documents. Montblanc Mightnight Blue was previously formulated as a permanent ink but I do not believe it held this same ISO certification. The new Midnight Blue is no longer permanent. Interestingly, the Permanent Black costs $28 while the Permanent Blue costs $17 (same as the other MB inks). I went for the Blue because the saleswomen couldn’t explain to me why the black was worth an extra $11 (…if someone knows why please let me know).

The branding on the these new permanent inks is a little bit different. The boxes and labels on the bottles are white instead of the normal black with a color fade. The permanent inks use the same great 60ml Montblanc bottle which has a little hump in the middle making it easy to fill your pen when the bottle is low. Montblanc does an all around superb job with their packaging. There is an expiration date on the box and bottle which is a feature I love.

Permanent Blue is a nice true blue color with some shading. Permanent inks tend to write on the dry side and MB Permanent Blue is no exception. The flow was comparable to the R&K Salix (permanent) ink but noticeably dryer than the Waterman Florida Blue. I saw no feathering in my test and the ink had an average dry time on the Maruman Smooth-To-Write paper. I have tested the ink and it is completely waterproof. I dripped water on the word “Waterproof?” and the result is what you see below. Overall I really like this ink. I am going to see how it behaves in my Pilot VP for a couple of weeks and if I don’t run into any issues with clogging as I have with some other permanent inks, I will use it regularly.