Montblanc Leo Tolstoy "sky Blue" Le

[white_lotus]

As everyone knows, Montblanc makes high-end pens. They also have a line of inks, and when they have a new special edition pen, there is an ink to go along with it. Sometimes these LE inks are available separately, i.e you don't have to buy a pen to buy the ink. Some of these inks have gone down in inky history as fabulous such as the Leonardo Red Chalk. But they sometimes have had some real misses of late, The Blue Hour "Twilight Blue" being one.

 

But I don't think the Leo Tolstoy Sky Blue is a miss, I think it's quite a good ink. It has some shading, but nothing dramatic. It's a middle valued blue, so not too dark, and not too light. It's not excessively bright, or even really bright. While called "Sky Blue" it's not like Sailor's Souten nor their discontinued "Sky High". I suspect this ink will work best in broader nibs if you're looking for something dramatic. The color is greyed down a little, so it's not a pure blue, but it's only a little, enough to lend it some seriousness.

 

Overall a very good ink I think. Not turquoise at all, but also not dark blue. Quite a bit different from their Midnight Blue.

 

The usual papers exhausted here: Mohawk via Linen=MvL, Tomoe River=TR, Hammermill 28 lb inkjet=Hij.

 

On the actual page the writing looks pretty even down the page. At the top where the feed was full maybe a little darker but not much. It looks nice on the page. The Nikon P50 Coolpix definitely didn't understand the lighting, and I don't have the image manipulation skills to adjust it.

 

Again the writing on the page appears much better than the image here. I like how this ink looks on the MvL much better than the Hij.

 

To me, this is where the ink looks the weakest, which in a way os surprising. A wetter pen, a wider nib may have been called for here.

 

Not meant to be waterfast. When blotted with a paper towel, a decent amount of ink came up, but some left behind that might be useful. When washing the writing with water a good amount flows away, but some is left behind.

 

An unusual mixture of what looks like two or three dyes, either all blues, or two blues and a grey.

 

 

[Uncial]

What was the issue with the Blue Hour ink?

[white_lotus]

I changes color from a blue to a green. Even on the page it shifts to this green color. I'll have to take a pic in the daylight and post to my review.

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the review.

Do you know if Tolstoy is still available anyplace? I'd been curious about trying it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[AndyYNWA]

I like this ink, a nice mid range blue. It's the only ink that has properly tamed the flow in my Custom 74, which writes rather wet with all other inks.

[lgsoltek]

I changes color from a blue to a green. Even on the page it shifts to this green color. I'll have to take a pic in the daylight and post to my review.

Well I do like Blue Hour. I consider the colour shift a "feature" rather than a bug. But I prefer Tolstoy anyway.

[visvamitra]

I dislike this ink.

[Mastiff]

Well I do like Blue Hour. I consider the colour shift a "feature" rather than a bug. But I prefer Tolstoy anyway.

I like Blue hour too. I haven't tried it on my broad MB but using fine and medium MB nibs did not result in any noticeable colour shift.

[AndyYNWA]

I dislike this ink.

The ink, the colour or both?

[fugel]

I purchased recently a bottle of Leo Tolstoi in Bonn, in a small stationery shop (there was 3 left) and I have mixed feeling with it: the ink behaves really well, it is excellent, my stubs glide very smoothly on all papers I have tried so far, but the color is not exactly my cup of tea.

[Pens Woods]

White_Lotus, I also enjoy this ink very much. I like the shading qualities and blue color. Currently, my Montblanc Thomas Mann, a cursive italic nib and my Pelikan Stresemann, also a cursive italic nib are inked with the Tolstoy Sky Blue. I don't think the ink is available anymore. Fortunately, I have two bottles of the ink.

 

Keep on writing, Pete

[LizEF]

Thanks for the review.

Do you know if Tolstoy is still available anyplace? I'd been curious about trying it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Marketfair Stationery on Amazon might have it (it doesn't say out of stock), but it's $30 / 30 mL!

 

Anderson Pens have it listed at $16 for the same amount, but they're out of stock.

[mmg122]

Thanks for the review.

Do you know if Tolstoy is still available anyplace? I'd been curious about trying it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Ruth...if you'll PM me your address, I'll send you a sample of the Tolstoy.

 

Mary

[Cyber6]

Tolstoy on a wet pen is gorgeous....

 

[fugel]

In my stubs it looks that way when I start writing but after a few lines it becomes clearer. And after a few days, it is still more clear what remains on paper.

[inkstainedruth]

Ruth...if you'll PM me your address, I'll send you a sample of the Tolstoy.

 

Mary

 

Thanks, but if the ink isn't available commercially, I'll just get depressed if I end up liking it....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[thygreyt]

Use Tolstoy on a better pen... I love this ink.

 

It has good (3/5) shading on my pens (they are all very wet), and it also shows the most amazing red sheen (4/5) on the pool areas.

Flows nicely and behaves in lots of papers. I'm sad I only bought 3 bottles of it

[Olya]

This ink looks beautiful. Is there a dupe for this ink? ie another brand's ink that is its long lost twin..

[Old_Inkyhand]

I dislike this ink.

Maybe you should try it in a different pen? It looks dull in my Taranis (F), average in my Rembrandt (stub), but it looked great in my Targa (BB). Imagine a darker version of Robert Oster's Sea Blue.