Monteverde Sapphire Review

[jj9ball]

I'm still just not sure why more people don't talk about Monteverde Ink. I have noticed they are starting to become more popular, but I think there's a lot to like that no one talks about. First of all is the price. I got this bottle of Sapphire for around 8 bucks for 30ml. Had I know what a great color it would turn out to be I could've gotten a 90ml bottle for around $15. Thats a lot of ink for not a lot of money.

 

This ink had great flow in every pen I used. Most of the pens were pens I made, but I did use a platinum preppy and a lamy safari along the way. The ink flowed really well in every pen. It also behaved itself pretty well. I didn't have any problems with bleed through or even show through. I tested it on Tomoe River paper as well as Rhodia and some copy paper. There isn't a significant amount of shading or sheening with it, but I'm not a huge fan of that anyway. In general I just like the color itself. I did a comparison on both copy paper and Rhodia to find a close match. It was pretty close in color to Visconti blue but it was a near dead ringer for one of my other favorite inks.... Colorverse Quasar. The Quasar is like $36 and for a similar quantity of ink Monteverde only needs $15. Its a good value in my opinion.

 

My biggest gripe is dry time. I'm pretty sure I could write something, go eat supper, and come back and smudge it a little if I wanted to. Okay, so its not that bad, but if you look at my sheet, it was still smudging after 15 secs. This isn't a deal breaker per say, but it does keep this ink from being perfect.

 

Overall I really like this color and Monteverde inks in general. I've already used half my bottle and I will probably buy the big bottle next time. I would love to hear what everyone thinks. Thanks for looking.

[silverlifter]

Thanks for the review!

 

I found the same thing. I bought it as a Penman Sapphire-like colour. I really like the colour, but the smudging means that I am pleased I opted for a sample, not a bottle.

 

I get that with any saturated ink, there is a trade-off, but Visconti Blue is in roughyl the same neighborhood and dries much quicker. I'll stick with that.

[taimdala]

Thanks so much for the review, jj9ball! As luck would have it, I've *just* ordered a 30ml bottle of this to go a with a pen I bought for my upcoming birthday. Your timing (and your review) is perfect!

[DrDebG]

Thank you for doing this review! I appreciate the time you took and the photos that you made.

 

I really like this ink, but I really wish it shaded more. And I don't appreciate the occasional smearing on some papers.

[sansenri]

thank you for the review.

I'm a happy user of Monteverde Horizon, and this Sapphire looks good.

I own Diamine Sapphire, Edeltein Sapphire, JH Eclat de Saphir, Asa Gao, Visconti Blue, and quite a few other close colour blues and just can't seem to get enough of them.

No concern for slow drying, I'm patient... Will go for the 90 ml most certainly...

[Eclipse157]

Thank you for this! I was just evaluating getting samples for several Monteverde inks and this was one of them. Looks very pretty!

[chromantic]

Great review! This isn't a color that normally interests me but I bought a bottle on the strength of Vis' review and have been very pleased with it. I especially like that it's a true blue and doesn't lean purple. I have it in my Pelikan 140 but, as I need a need a hard point for some NCRs at work, I also have it in a dark blue Lyra Calypso cartridge-fill roller so it's pretty much become an EDC.

[Carrau]

Thanks for the review-Ive had at least one pen inked with this since it came out. It performs well for me, and, depending on the pen and paper, it covers a range of blues all of which I enjoy-sometimes lighter, near Diamine Blue Velvet, and on the other end approaching Diamine Regency Blue, a darker blue. I enjoy Horizon Blue, but it can be a bit eye-popping in professional use-Sapphire is saturated, intensely blue, and a bit more understated. Great Blue ink for me.

Edited March 1, 2020 by Herrjaeger

[RockFL]

Thanks for this great review. I am also a fan of the Monteverde inks because they are saturated and seem to be a bit more 'slick' than dry. Although I understand that some folks prefer heavy shading from their ink, these rich colors with great performance are a much more desirable choice for me. I have had great results from Sapphire, Charoite, Purple Reign, Ruby and Fire Opal.

[grmbrk]

thank you

[amberleadavis]

Great review. I especially love the comparisons.

[TSherbs]

Thanks for the comparisons. I, too, have sampled this ink and do not like the color. Just not for me.

[jj9ball]

thank you for the review.

I'm a happy user of Monteverde Horizon, and this Sapphire looks good.

I own Diamine Sapphire, Edeltein Sapphire, JH Eclat de Saphir, Asa Gao, Visconti Blue, and quite a few other close colour blues and just can't seem to get enough of them.

No concern for slow drying, I'm patient... Will go for the 90 ml most certainly...

It sounds like we have the same problem. The only one I'm missing from the inks you mentioned is the Edelstein.... and its on my radar. I really love that color range too.

[jj9ball]

thank you

 

 

Great review. I especially love the comparisons.

 

 

Thanks for the comparisons. I, too, have sampled this ink and do not like the color. Just not for me.

 

No problem. I loved doing the review. Hopefully it was helpful.

[jj9ball]

Thank you for doing this review! I appreciate the time you took and the photos that you made.

 

I really like this ink, but I really wish it shaded more. And I don't appreciate the occasional smearing on some papers.

The lack of shading didn't bother me but I could see how it might feel like something is missing. The drytime was really the only complaint on my end so far.

[jj9ball]

Thanks so much for the review, jj9ball! As luck would have it, I've *just* ordered a 30ml bottle of this to go a with a pen I bought for my upcoming birthday. Your timing (and your review) is perfect!

Awesome. You'll have to post your own review so we can hear what you think of it once you've had it a while.

[TheVintagelife]

Thanks for the review - this seems a nice, saturated violet leaning bluw - something I like to use often at work...

[AlexLeGrande]

I have an Aurora 88, semi flex fine nib pen circa 1948 purchased on EBay. I filed it with Aurora Blue ink, and the flow was poor, the pen skipped and railroaded. I feared I had made a error with my purchase. I emptied and cleaned the pen and filled it with Aurora Sapphire. EUREKA! No hard starts, no skips, no railroading. This ink returned my pen to full health. And I like the color, too.

[cgreenberg19]

Thanks for the review. I love this ink and the very similar blue velvet from their sweet life collection.

[HobbitLife]

On 2/29/2020 at 6:00 PM, jj9ball said:

My biggest gripe is dry time.

 

That is really interesting because dry time has been its #1 strength for me! In both a Sailor Pro Gear (M) and TWSBI Swipe (F) it dries in 20 seconds on Tomoe River paper (in humid NC summer), which is tied for the fastest in my collection. I've been really surprised by it and haven't had the smudging problem. Could they have changed the formula? My batch at least surprised me so much with the dry time that it made me search for reviews of the ink (including this one) to see if others had experienced such good results.