Swan Illusion, a Montblanc limited edition from the Patron of Arts series. It's brownish, grayish, greenish. I don't know what to think of this ink. It is intriguing and boring at the same time. It can be used for office note taking, no one would take offense. If you are going to use it for personal correspondence, first make sure the recipient appreciates this color.
As any Montblanc ink, it is well-behaved, quite dry, and expensive. Exactly what you would expect. Shading is very heavy, too much for my liking in the Parker. With an EF nib the shading in this ink is a lot more attractive. Drying time is average, water resistance poor. No feathering or show through.
To compare the color to another isn’t so easy. At first it reminded me of Cacao du Brésil but that ink is way darker. Lie de Thé comes closest but is less grayish and leans more towards yellow/green.
Next time I encounter a swan I will pay more attention, I never realized they had this color. The color doesn’t fit summer, I think I will get it again in November, on a calm morning with some fog, little sunlight and no wind.
