I bought a bottle of Mont Blanc Royal Blue and inked up my Pelikan M200 Fine and my Parker Latitude Medium. This is just an initial first impressions review of this ink, since there is only so much that I can say about ink that I have just tried. The flow is very well controlled, balanced, without being too wet in a wet pen like my Latitude, which can't handle some inks like Waterman Green (the flow on the Waterman Green is too generous and feathering becomes a real issue with the Latitude). There is very little feathering with Mont Blanc Royal Blue, even on cheap paper, practically no feathering with the M200 but some slight feathering with the Latitude on certain papers. The ink dries fairly fast, there is some smearing after 3 seconds, but after 5 seconds, there is no smudging or smearing, even with the very wet medium nib on my Latitude. In a quick water test, most of the ink washed off the paper after one minute under the tap. I am also conducting a fade test, but I don't have the results yet.
Colour wise, Mont Blanc Royal Blue has a purple tint to it, not enough to make it purple or violet, but a very noticeable difference when seen beside Waterman's Florida Blue, which has very little red or purple in it. The ink is darker than Parker Quink washable blue, but is somewhat lighter than Waterman Florida blue or Visconti Blue. This ink would not satisfy anyone who is searching for a really dark and saturated blue ink. The colour is easy on the eyes, neither too light nor too vivid, and it is rather understated insomuch as it does not draw attention to itself. The lubrication is very good and my two pens seem to work perfectly well with this ink. As far as the ink's properties are concerned, I don't think that they could be improved upon, good flow, good drying time, and good lubrication, a very well behaved ink. As far as colour and cost per 30ml, it depends on whether or not you like the colour and can see past the price tag. Value wise, this ink is not the cheapest ink available and it must be noted there are many equally good inks available at almost half the price. This ink won't replace some of my other blues like J. Herbin éclat de saphire (more expensive per oz.) or Waterman Florida Blue (less expensive per oz.), but it certainly has its place in my collection.
The bottle is one of the big selling points with this ink, especially if you use a piston or a sac filler. The front of the bottle has a small pool just under the cap, which is partially separated from the bulk of the ink by a curve in the bottle. As the ink in the bottle is used, you tip the bottle forwards refilling the pool with a consistent amount of ink, eliminating the need to tip the bottle while you fill your pen (great for a piston filler which requires both hands to operate). The bottle is rather heavy and large lengthwise for 50ml and the cap with the Mont Blanc logo is very solid screwing in easily and tightly for a good seal.
Overall Conclusions
This ink has good properties overall, a colour which makes it different than the other five or six blue inks that I have, and comes in a bottle which will be convenient for filling my Pelikan M200 and my vintage pens. Unfortunately, this ink does not set itself apart from other good inks like Waterman or Visconti, in anyway which would justify paying the extra money. I bought this ink mostly for the Mont Blanc inkbottle, which I must say is impressive design wise and very well built (heavier than most 50ml bottles, more glass). I would recommend this ink because it is a good ink and the bottle is a nice addition to a desk or inkbottle collection, but there are many better inks for the money, depending on what properties matter most to you (saturation, lubrication, waterfast, etc...).
I have included a quick Q-tip swab of several of my “blue” inks including Mont Blanc Royal Blue for colour comparison purposes. I have tried to keep the colour as correct as possible, but my digital camera seems to remove a slight bit of red, lessening the subtle purple tone in this blue ink. This picture should be fairly close to the actual ink, but is not as saturated as it should be.
http://www.stylo.ca/Images/Produits/5686_LRG.jpg
