As I blotted the ink with a paper towel, the water absorbed more of the water and the lines got darker but all is fine. I wrote with the ink, then purposefully spilled some water on it. On my Rhodia, Clairefontaine and other good papers there is no bleeding. I found the ink has good flow and on a few of the papers I have tested, the dry time is good. It is taller than it is wide, and that is good for filling the pen. But this ink has much punch, and I could see getting into it very easily. I have tended to stay away from grey inks as they always have seemed too light on the paper. The Permanent grey, Montblanc says is to represent the longevity and solidity of the Meisterstück writing instruments. Unfortunately, I only had the change to try this ink in July 2016 and I was warned that it is limited in production. This is the Meisterstück 90 Years Anniversary ink that will be available for a limited time. So here we have classic ink made in Austria and the bottle made in Italy. There are no affiliate links in this review.Montblanc Permanent Grey comes in the small 35 ml round bottles that they use for their limited edition line of inks. I was not compensated for this review and everything here is my own honest opinion. Please let me know which inks you'd like to review next via the comments, Twitter, Instagram, or contact me directly.įor blog updated you can follow Twitter, subscribe via email, or like my Facebook page. I've listed all my inks and all my pens in their respective pages. It is a lovely colour and I think it has better performance than many modern Montblanc inks so if you find a bottle at a reasonable price, jump on it!Īgain, many many thanks to Nicholas for making this review happen! This ink is very difficult to get so naturally the price is high. But of course I’m completely ignoring scarcity. AU$150 is a much more reasonable upper price. It’s well worth having but not at that price. This is a very tasteful ink which doesn’t step too far into a muddy colour. While I would find a way to save up and justify the costs I can’t honestly say that the value is there for that price (likewise with Lamy Dark Lilac being at a similar price now and that’s my top 5 ink!). The M120 is a smooth finer nib and the M20/M400 has some very pleasant feedback. They are decently wet pens but not gushers by any means. The Pelikan M120 Iconic Blue with steel medium writes closer to a western Fine nib and the Pelikan M200 Café Crème with M400 gold medium writes closer to a western broad (such is Pelikan I’ve always had great nibs (one with a baby’s bottom - easily fixed) but their stated sizes rarely match reality!). It’s definitely a bit brighter and more saturated but it’s not a terrible alternative. On Tomoe River I’d choose Diamine Evergreen. Herbin Vert Empire: has also lost a lot of brightness and saturation and is now also too blue (but the ink is less flat and more interesting!) andīungubox Dandyism: is still much too dark but is less blue. It’s not too dissimilar with hue and saturation though (both a tad higher) ĭiamine Epinard: is much darker and more saturated but a comparable hue ĭiamine Salamander: has lost a lot of saturation and brightness on Tomoe River and is now only similar in hue Noodler’s Colorado Spruce: is quite a bit bluer leaning now and is still too dark and also too saturated ĭiamine Classic Green: is closer again but little a bit brighter. Noodler’s Luck of the Draw: has lost quite a lot of saturation but is a similar brightness level now and hue ĭiamine Evergreen: is a lot closer on Tomoe River only a little yellower, more highly saturated and brighter
There is no ink smearing and the ink is a delight to use on this paper. On Tomoe River, the ink is a little less saturated (especially where the ink pools), brighter and more yellow.