Fountain pen inks reviews and comparisons

  Visiting Paris last month, I couldn't resist visiting the Montblanc flagship store and pick up a bottle of ink. Around the World in 80 Days is a limited edition ink, part of the recent collection about Jules Verne's description of Phileas Fogg's adventure. Nicely packed and in the well-known beautiful bottle. The ink is someone between blue and green, increasingly green in a wetter, broader nib. As such it is suitable for both the office as well as personal notes and correspondence. Personally, I like the ink best in finer nibs. It seems more dark and blue that way.  I have tried the ink on both Tomoe River and Rhodia paper. The ink behaved flawlessly and feels a little bit on the dry side. Drying time is neither slow nor fast, 40 secs on Tomoe River.  On Rhodia paper On Tomoe River (52g) The ink doesn't handle water very well, even after a few days the ink smears easily when some water drops are applied. Careful!  The full characteristics: ...

Following last week’s post of autumn inks, today a selection of fifteen brown inks. Although some of them can easily be used throughout the year, brown inks are most often associated with the fall. Warm inks that give a melancholic feeling. The fantasy  of writing handwritten letters or stories,  overlooking a Scottish lake. The fireplace warming the room. Outside it is wet, cold and foggy. The bright autumn colors are gone. Winter is approaching fast. As any list, this list is incomplete and could easily have been different. Why did I leave out SBRE Brown? Or Herbin’s Cafe des Iles? Let me know what your favorite is!

September. Autumn has started on the northern hemisphere. The evenings are longer, the nights already cold and the days more chilly. Yet, there is still plenty of sunshine and the leaves are starting to turn yellow, brown, and red.  So what ink colors match this early Fall season? I’ve compiled a list of ten suitable colors. Fully aware that any list is arbitrary and unfair to some beautiful colors that I left out. To name a few, Montblanc’s Homage to Victor Hugo , Diamine’s Macassar , Herbin’s Lie de Thé or Cacao du Bresil , and KWZ’s Capuccino . Yes, these are all brown inks. Too early in the season. I guess I will have to write a brown ink special in a few weeks.  The colors that did make it to the list are more colorful, resembling the sunshine and colorful leaves. In random order Yama-guri (Iroshizuki), Oxblood , Autumn oak, Pumpkin, Burnt Sienna (all Diamine), Rosso antico, Red fox , James Purdey & Son single malt (all Montblanc), Habanero (Noodler’s), and SBRE Bro...

This years writers edition of Montblanc is an homage to Victor Hugo, the French poet  novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement.  The ink in the series is a sepia brown and very fitting for the fall I believe. The ink is a bit light, almost yellowish, but still has enough style and class to be used for both personal correspondence as well as note taking in the office. It comes in the familiar 50ml square, ribbed glass bottle.  The ink has a lot of shade and as can be seen in the writing samples below, the color shifts colors, depending on nib. With a larger dip pen the color becomes a deep brown, where the ink swab and medium nib show the ink as much lighter. In the price range you may expect a wonderful ink and Victor Hugo doesn't disappoint. Beautiful shading, no feathering, no show through, excellent lubrication. Some Montblanc inks tend to be a bit dryish while writing, but this ink is very smooth and writes like a dream. Drying time (on Tomoe River paper) is 4...

Encre du Desert by Montblanc is part of the Antoine de Saint Exupéry (Petit Prince) series and a hommage to this aviation pioneer and writer. I didn't know what to expect from this ink but was pleasantly surprised. Labeled as "dark saffron"  the ink is somewhere between brown and purple; depending on nib size and light.  I have used it for several days now, both in a work setting as for some personal communication and I think it's suited for both. Dark and distinctive enough for the office, warm and special enough for personal writings.  The ink is very well behaved and better lubricated than most Montblanc inks. No feathering and beautiful shading. Show-through is significant, even on decent paper (Tomoe River, Rhodia, Clairefontaine). Drying time is a bit longer than average, 50 seconds on Tomoe River paper, the paper used for the review below. Water or fluids will ruin your writing.  Encre du Desert is a subdued, purple color that definitely leans to...

James Purdey & Sons Single Malt scented ink was released in 2018 by Montblanc as part of a series in collaboration with James A. Purdey, a hunting lifestyle brand. The ink surprised me! Single malt scented ink sounded at first like a (overpriced) gimmick and to some extend it is of course. But the color is a deep, beautiful orange-brown with amazing shading. Definitely a fall color which can be used in both a business environment (note taking) as well as for personal writing and correspondence. Be careful though, when opening the bottle or the pen cap the whisky scent is quite strong. It might be frowned upon at 830am when the meeting starts... The scent fades quickly though, within minutes. After 20-30 minutes the smell of the paper itself always wins. The ink behaves like most Montblanc inks I own. Perfect behavior in a broad, wide nib. A bit dry and with a strong dislike for TWSBI pens. The shading is wonderful, no feathering, and no show-through. Drying time is well bel...

Recently released by Montblanc: Ultramarine. A very bright, dark blue. There is no shortage of blue inks in this world, including many by Montblanc itself, which makes the question inevitable; does this ink really add something? The ink can be used in any situation. It's dark enough to be used for business purposes, but pleasant and vibrant enough for personal notes and correspondence as well. I have used it for two days now in many different situations and it didn't bore me for a minute. Most blues do after a few hours to a day at most. In my experience Montblanc inks are excellent and well behaved, but a little bit dry. This causes problems in some pens, like TWSBI's. This Ultramarine ink is wetter and better lubricated than the other Montblanc inks I have. I didn't experience the problems encountered before. The ink doesn't feather, its shading is subtle and beautiful,  show-through is minimal.  Water will quickly ruin your writing.  No surprises the...

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 the...

You can't really go wrong with a decent blue.... without any real competition blue is the most popular fountain pen ink color and fits both personal and professional use. For me, blue ink has always been a little bit dull. I like many blue shades but they bore quickly. After one or two days of blue I really want to go back to a color for note taking that makes people frown...  I know, the available colors go from very light blue to almost black. With sidesteps towards teal, green or violet. But still. Recently I added Montblanc’s Homer Greek blue to my collection. It is a limited edition ink that comes in the well known stylish square bottle (50ml). A beautiful bright color, it is quite dark when wet, a lot lighter when dried up. I kept it in my pen for four days and wrote dozens of pages with it. I cannot deny it, this is one of my favorite blues now. It perfectly fits the time of year (late Spring).  Its behavior as you would expect from a Montblanc ink. Perfect in ...

Red Fox is a Montblanc Limited Edition, based on their Le Petit Prince series. The ink is a dark brown orange, not unlike the fur of a fox. I wasn't sure what to expect of this ink to be honest, reviews are mixed, but in the past week I have been writing a lot with it.  It's great for personal use and at the same time, despite being a dark orange, it's a color that you can easily use in an office environment to take down notes. For longer reads the color remains pleasant. The ink and its color surprised me and I must say, I   really  like this ink. At 35 euro for 50 ml the ink is expensive, but well worth it. It's a high quality ink.  As expected, no feathering, no bleed-through on decent paper,  shading is strong and excellent and the ink behaves extremely well in my Parker Duofold (medium nib). Lubrication is a bit better than most Montblanc inks I know but still, some pens have difficulties with it. TWSBI and Montblanc is not a good combination for...