Oyster Grey - Montblanc

[visvamitra]

It seems that in 2010 Montblanc changed the manufacturer of their ink as well as the design of the bottle. The company's issued a new, larger (60 ml vs 50 ml) bottle. To be honest I find Montblanc bottle not only nice but also practical, much better than Iroshizuku or Sailor.

 

The new colours launched in 2010 include:

 

1. Burgundy Red
2. Irish Green
3. Lavender Purple
4. Mystery Black
5. Midnight Blue
6. Oyster Grey
7. Royal Blue
8. Toffee Brown

Mont Blanc's Oyster Grey is a good ink, however it does’t stand out from the crowd. It' nice, well-behaved, quite nice.

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

Software ID

Tomoe River, kaweco Classic Sport, B

Tomoe River, Omas Emotica, M

Leuchtturm 1917, Kaweco Classic Sport, B

Comparison

[DrDebG]

Love your reviews, Vis!

 

This is a lovely oyster grey. But, as you said, there really isn't anything remarkable about it.

[Pravda]

I was just filling a pen with Oyster Grey and then came to FPN and found this review

[lapis]

Thanks for the review!

 

They didn't change their manufacturer, they only changed the names and recipes of the inks. And of course the bottles. The 60-ml shoes are much better than the old 50-ml ones, especially due to the much much better caps. As is that weren't enough, even the boxes are great. All of these fittings (outside of the inks themselves) belong to the best ones made today. All of these are better than Iroshi's. Only to be paralleled with GvFC's!

 

Mike

[lgsoltek]

I agree Montblanc has great packaging and great bottles. I once considered getting this ink. Is this a wet ink Vis? I read somewhere it's rather dry.

[Morphling27]

I got this for Christmas and it's a middle of the road ink to maybe drier, in my experience. No hard starts or anything, but it was bleeding like an artery either.

 

I love the color - much better than J. Herbin's Gris which was boooring and light for my tastes.

 

Also as your lovely grey comparo shows up there, this is a much more... earthy toned grey? I don't know how to put it, but it was very warming when I was using it a lot.

[Newjelan]

I agree Montblanc has great packaging and great bottles. I once considered getting this ink. Is this a wet ink Vis? I read somewhere it's rather dry.

It's very dry. I prefer wet inks and I persevered with it in my wettest and broadest pens but still found it got dryer and dryer as I wrote. I've taken to mixing it with Iroshizuku Yama-Budo to create a dusty purple with better flow.

[visvamitra]

I used it only in broad nib and it was OK. Not particularly wet but OK.

[zaddick]

I like the color. In a very fine nib it reminds me of a pencil on paper. I also hear it is good for mixing.

[lgsoltek]

It's very dry.

 

 

Drat. I'm gonna pass.

[lgsoltek]

I got this for Christmas and it's a middle of the road ink to maybe drier, in my experience. No hard starts or anything, but it was bleeding like an artery either.

 

I love the color - much better than J. Herbin's Gris which was boooring and light for my tastes.

 

Also as your lovely grey comparo shows up there, this is a much more... earthy toned grey? I don't know how to put it, but it was very warming when I was using it a lot.

 

IMO Gris nuage is like water after rinsing a pen. Not even as dark as the first rinse. More like after several rinse.

[visvamitra]

 

IMO Gris nuage is like water after rinsing a pen. Not even as dark as the first rinse. More like after several rinse.

 

 

+1

[wastelanded]

 

 

+1

 

+2. Gris Nuage is like writing with an 8H pencil.

 

This MB is a nice shade, reminds me a bit of Kiri-same. In a wet, wide nib this could be an interesting ink. Perfect review as always!

[haruka337]

Looks too brown to me. :c/

[arrScott]

I too really like MB's Oyster Grey. It's a very cool (as opposed to warm) gray. However, I find one odd thing about its performance: It seems to start out very light and increase in saturation over time. Both while writing for an extended period after uncapping the pen, and over the life of a given pen's fill with it. That is, the first words out of the pen from a new fill will be pretty light. A page or two later of continuous writing, and I'll almost always find a darker, more saturated line. And if I'm at the end of a converter after a week of use, the ink will set down on the paper darker than the first lines I wrote after filling. I much prefer this ink in its darker phases. I regard it as an OK gray at its lightest, but an excellent gray when it develops the darker or more saturated color that it tends to over time.

[lapis]

I too really like MB's Oyster Grey. It's a very cool (as opposed to warm) gray....

That's funny (again, not all that hilarious) but I find it at least a "somewhat" warm grey because of the bit of green and brown in it. Reminds me in fact of real oysters (whether raw or not). fuyu-syogun OTOH is for me a cool grey, reminiscent of the name itself (Old Man Winter) and the fully covered sky shortly before the snow storm. Actually, I find the latter more beautiful.

 

Mike

[agentdaffy007]

arrScott: You are totally right. The ink will start out light and as time progresses, it becomes darker. I love it!!

[TheDutchGuy]

I was given an old 50mL bottle of this that still contained about 15mL of ink. It’s colour is very dark and pleasantly purple-ish. In fact, when the flusing out the pen after use all I see in the sink is purple! I’m assuming the long years of storage have darkened my sample considerably and it has become black-ish/purple-ish. But somehow I really like it! Might have to get a bottle of this (it’s now called Cool Grey) and let some of the water evaporate for a while…

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

No pictures. Last month to 6 weeks ago I did a test with 6 grays...having forgotten I had Edelstien Moonstone, a seventh.

 

In Lamy often don't sell it's new inks in Germany,at my B&M I broke my price limit and ordered MB Cool Gray, what was once was Oyster Gray.

 

Yesterday, I loaded Moonstone in my semi-nail M P-75.

Today, I loaded my Lamy Studio with the tad springier something 55 or 755 or so nib, B.

On Clairefontaine Triomphe 90g and Oxford Optic 90g.

Both shaded.

MB Cool Gray is a nice readable darker gray...in a B.

Moonstone is a tad darker where it shades, ...sharper...but it's in a M.

 MB Cool Gray, shades more on Oxford Optic, looks a bit better.

On Clairefontaine Triomphe, Moonstone looks that tad better; shading is close but Moonstone is 'sharper'.

 

Both inks are well worth having...if you have good to better papers.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Forgot to add Diamine Silver Fox is tad more 'gray' then Moonstone, or Cool. I have that in my '38 Vac with a '36 Canadian BB factory stub...is a semi-nail, and does wonderful job with that ink. Nib width makes a big difference to letting an ink shade.

 

Lamy crystal Agate, a gray that shades very nicely but is by far the driest ink I've ever used...including 4001 BB. Needs one drop and one drop only!!!   Of Glycerine.