Montblanc Black

[Fabienne]

This is the first in a series of reviews I am going to do on black inks. I started out trying to find out what the blackest ink was and ended up finding out a great many delightful things about a variety of black inks. With each ink review, I am doing a comparison between the reviewed inks for the blackest. The winner will remain to be compared the next time. I start with Montblanc because they are one of the most highly respected names in pens and inks. I was fully expecting a starchy and uninspired black ink with nothing unique about it. Boy, was I wrong. Something like finding out that Swiss banker you were not really wanting to go out with was really a wildcat! So, read on:

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/montblancblack.jpg

[inkstainedruth]

Wow. I never would have guessed that this was supposed to be a black ink, had I not read the header. On my screen this looks to be in the brown/sepia range.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[alexander_k]

A hint of khaki here (and I'm pretty sure my monitor calibration isn't off). Scanner trouble or something else?

[Fabienne]

On Staples lined paper with a TWSBI 540 broad nib...it does have a hint of brown and it is very light. YMMV and I am doing a series taking this ink to three papers (32 lb lazer, common computer paper and the Staples lined tablet). Especially on the Staples tablet, it is very warm indeed. The image was extensively adjusted so it showed as close as possible the exact value (lightness/darkness) and hue (color) of this ink.

[lapis]

Yes there are so many blacks (wish I had a dime for every question or review on blacks). I have that ink too but it looks black on any paper I use. Your scans look more like a sepia or even racing green. No offense meant. Do a grey test/calibration.

 

Mike

[Fabienne]

OK, here you go:

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/montblancblack2.jpg

[lapis]

Fabienne, thanks for the new try but I'm still puzzled. To my eyes on my monitor, the new scan is now darker, less brown, but still too green and gray.

Mike

[Fabienne]

There is only one way to be sure that it is correct. Why don't you let me send you half of the original review? I will cut it in two (I want to keep part of it myself). Then you can see the original and compare it. If you like that idea, send me your address in the private message area and I will get it out to you right away.

 

I am really rather surprised at the way Montblanc turned out, too. It is really a lot lighter than I was expecting, and it is not a middle of the road black at all to me. It's a greenish or yellowish (or greenish yellow) ink. I thought that was one of its charms.

 

So, in any event, if you really want to see the real deal, send me your address and I will get it right out to you.

[lapis]

Fabiene, thanks, will do. It's now late and time for beddie bye.

 

Will come back tamorra.

 

Mike

[mark e]

best looking sepia ink i've seen reviewed in a long time :blink:

 

i have MB black, i dont use it much lately, but i do remember it actually being black---slightly charcoalish maybe, but definitely black---it will not win your "blackest of the black" contest, believe me

 

but i appreciate your enthusiasm, and your review kick-started my sometimes lazy-and-underused imagination in order to conjure up the proper color

[lapis]

As mentioned by marc e above, MB's "black" (in this case the former version in the old shoe, not the Mystery Black in the new shoe) is more of a real black. No green or brown. Not the blackest black (or even one of those) but somewhat more of a charcoal. Expressed more crudely, I might say that it can shed a slight touch of chalkiness, especially on Moleskine.

 

This is at least what my eyes on my monitor see looking at my scan (believe it or not, for me a true replica of the real McCoy)...

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu264/peli46/MBblack.jpg

 

Again, by no means trying to criticize anything, your scans above do IMO still have a hint of sepia. As a reminiscence, here is a scan of a few "browns" I made earlier:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu264/peli46/Carlo18-Pack.jpg

 

In your scans above (to my eyes on my monitor) there is still a faint resemblance tending towards a hint of Grand Canyon, PR's Sepia and Lie de Thé, but with a half a hint of green.

 

Mike

[Fabienne]

OK, the plot thickens. This MB Black is owned by the very Mr. Fabienne. He has had it since 1990-something SO I am sure it is not the New Mystery Black. It is in a shoe bottle BUT it is not new. The bottle does not even say "Black" on it. He had been keeping it in the sun the whole time. I don't know if this would have any effect on it but it is kept on a desk facing the south and that is the strongest exposure. I am not sure if that would have any effect on the color of ink, but I am bringing it up.

 

I will be sending you a sample of the ink with the sample of the writing when I get your address. BTW, I did go through a good deal of tweaking to get the two scans above and to calibrate the monitor later. I think that the second one is closer to the true colors on the page by far and I do think that there is a definite brown/sepia/yellow cast to the ink on Staples cheap paper.

[lapis]

Holy cow! You're right -- your black has to be the old one (nobody said otherwise) because the new one (MYSTERY BLACK) came out in Autumn 2009 (in the new shoe). My oldie has to be from July 2008 because the label on the bottom of the bottle says JUL 2013. The box says "black" (plus that in 7 other languages). The bottle itself does not say "black" anywhere, in confirmation with what you said. But the label on the top of the bottle (consisting of a black background with white lettering) has, at the bottom, to the right, a white circle with a big black dot in it. All other inks of this time had similar labels on the top of the bottle, but with the corresponding ink colour in that white circle. The newer inks have IMO not only better bottles, but they also have better labels. The ink colour is to be seen on the labels on the top and also on the bottom of the bottle.

 

But all that still doesn't convince me that your black has to be less black than our black... :glare:

 

Mike (I still like your review, honestly)

[Fabienne]

Well, the plot is thickening. I will take a photo of the bottle and post it here. The label is pretty basic, the only thing to tell you that it is black ink is that the label is black! That is it. We did not keep the box, I am sure that was not the fashion back then. The ink itself looks as black as black can be in the bottle, thick even to my poor eyes BUT that is why I was so surprised when it came out more grey than I expected, shaded (of all things). However, going to the brown side of the spectrum was not a surprise. I used to be an artist and have had the living tar beaten out of me over color and spent long hours debating black. This reminded me of dilute bone or ivory black...it can turn a brown color if you put enough white (or turpentine) with it. That is the nature of it. But that is pigment and this is dye. I have been assured that dye has the same property, either errs on the side of blue and cool or brown and warm. Hence, not being too surprised by the brownness of it all. I thought that was a characteristic that they were going for, a unique property.

 

P.S. Do you think I could get a small sample of your MB black when we exchange? Now I am consumed with curiosity.

Edited February 23, 2012 by Fabienne

[Laura N]

I don't use black ink anymore, but I would if it looked like this. I think you should call it Montblanc Racing Black and sell it for $35.

 

Mr. Fabienne might be on to something here.

[lapis]

Sure, I'll send you a ml or two. But I'll also take and post a few photos of the bottles, box and labels I have when I get around to it.

 

To thin out the plot -- or, to water it down? -- I can of course conceive of the simple reaction that your MB black has just deteriorated and/or been altered over the years. That happens with lots of inks, from lots of brands, But AFAIK MB is pretty stringent here and some of my MB inks which are also ten or more years old seem to confirm this. If worst comes to worst, and you really like the heck out of MB inks in general (which I do) and you also like the heck out of black inks in general (which I don't) then why not get a bottle of MB's Mystery Black in the meantime and hang onto that, too? Remember that since 2009/2010, the MB inks have either changed a lot i.e. they've been either discontinued or issued for the first time (e.g. racing green - Irish green, sepia - Toffee) or remained the same / very very similar and just renamed (e.g. black - Mystery Black, blue-black - Midnight Blue).

 

Whew!

[Fabienne]

Maybe I am just expecting too much but I am in your camp...I expect Montblanc to be perfect because...it's Montblanc. So, if anything deteriorates, I am appalled. OK, I am mildly shocked. Personally, I love this ink. Of course it's scarce and limited to part of one bottle, but it's unique.

 

I like black in a lot. I have a few favorites here (one reason why I am doing this protracted and OCD study of Black Inks). Getting a whole bottle of ink is a time commitment, if I fall out of love, it's there forever and I will never ever use it up. I am not sure that Mystery Black is going to be my idea of Black Ink Heaven, more than Noodlers Black but I am fickle and could fall out of love at any time.

 

Just for the record, my current favorite ink is Noodlers Golden Brown. Followed closely by Stipula Moss Green.

 

Oh, and your scan of the browns, I just took a good look at that and to tell you the truth they look real red to me! I am assuming that is Pelikan Brilliant Brown up there and it looks pink to me! Galileo Brown looks like Galileo Strawberry and MB Carlos? Pink. There are a lot of puces up there, too. We may have stumbled across a rather important point, unless you were showing me brown scans that you had tended to red with Photoshop, and I doubt that. I just calibrated my monitor yesterday so I doubt that is a problem. I wonder if anyone else is seeing that, or I might be crazy (might be, you know). Do they look brown to you?

[Uncle Red]

If I remember correctly the shoe bottles are clear glass, yes. If so then the ink can be light damaged.

[Fabienne]

Here is the MB bottle:

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/photo-21.jpg

 

 

Here is the label:

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af174/fabienne301/photo-22.jpg

 

There are no other markings on the sides or bottom of the bottle. It doesn't even say "Black"!

[lapis]

Ahhh.... very nice. One more clue to thin out our discepancies. Since the label on top say West Germany, your ink is at least 22 or 23 years old! I'd suggest oxidation (if there is no mould etc to be seen).

We still can't rule out that these inks' charges weren't changed over the years or at least once every decade. I'll soon post the labels on my own youthful commodities.

 

Mike

PS: I realy like the looks of the top of your solid oak desk.