Ink Review: Montblanc Legend Of Zodiacs Red Chine (The Dog)

[Chrissy]

I’ve started a review of an ink I recently bought in Montblanc Boutique, Millenia Mall, Orlando.

It has quite a long name: Montblanc The Legend of Zodiacs Red Chine. ‘Chine’ translates to Loyal Dog, so it’s also known as The Dog ink.

I found it a reasonably saturated bright red colour, just like the red on the box, although I’ve seen some splashes of it on here where it looked more like a washed out pinkish colour. That was nothing like the colour that came out of my bottle when I wrote with my Parker Sonnet.

I found it a quite wet ink with decent flow. I particularly like the way it writes with a dark outline, as some red inks seem to do.

It had reasonable lubrication with the Parker Sonnet pen I tried it with. However, this is the first time I’ve properly filled and used this Parker Sonnet that was gifted to me by a very kind and generous fountain pen expert.

I’m going to fill other pens and write on some different papers and I will add those results and pictures as I go along.

The comparison inks were swabbed with a cotton bud and their ink names were written with a glass dip pen.

I didn’t experience any ignition or clogging problems with The Dog. I had no problem cleaning it out of my pen using cold water or off of skin using soap and warm water.

It is not sold as a waterproof ink and isn't particularly water resistant.

The paper I used for the main review form is very smooth, shiny and non-absorbent. It’s heavy 100gsm paper, so dry times are longer than they are on thinner, more absorbent, papers. The Dog ink showed through, even on this paper, so it is likely to show through on thinner papers.

• Flow Rate: Quite wet, good.
• Lubrication: Fairly smooth, quite good.
• Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.
• Start-up: Immediate.
• Saturation: A reasonably saturated ink
• Shading Potential: None seen.
• Sheen: None seen.
• Show-Through:
  • Xerox ColorPrint
  • Clairefontaine Croc Book
  • Rhodia Bloc
  • Silvine Notebook
  • Tomoe River Seven Seas Writer Journal 52gsm
  • Tomoe River 68gsm Notebook
• Spread / Feathering: I spotted a few dots of spread.
• Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen, even after over a week in the pen
• Staining (pen): Not seen - easy clean-up
• Staining (hands): Not seen - easy clean-up
• Clogging: Not seen. Seems unlikely.
• Water resistance: Has very little water resistance.
• Availability: It is available in 50ml square bottles, inside a substantial ‘sliding drawer’ type, special packaging, box, from Montblanc.com and other AD outlets. In the UK it costs GB£30

[titevm]

Very nice review, thanks! Not sure I like the colour though.

[da vinci]

Great review Chrissy! Really covers all the bases, thank you

 

I must admit that I think I prefer the darker Shakespere...

[lapis]

Good, rich review but poor ink. Not only too pink but also too much neon. IMO.

[Chrissy]

Good, rich review but poor ink. Not only too pink but also too much neon. IMO.

 

You're welcome.

 

I haven't formed an opinion that it's a poor ink, but it definitely contains quite a lot of pink and neon.

[Chrissy]

Great review Chrissy! Really covers all the bases, thank you

 

I must admit that I think I prefer the darker Shakespere...

You're welcome.

 

I still have some more writings to add, but I also prefer Shakespeare and Hitchcock

[Chrissy]

Very nice review, thanks! Not sure I like the colour though.

You're welcome.

 

The colour is quite bright and pinkish....so it won't suit everyone. But what ink does?

[ca49reber]

Thanks for the review. I purchased this ink but haven't tried it yet. I like the color so may try it next.

[Chrissy]

Thanks for the review. I purchased this ink but haven't tried it yet. I like the color so may try it next.

 

You're welcome. I hope you like it.

[CS388]

Nice review. Thanks.

 

I like this ink, it has a vivacity, which my other red inks lack. I've found that it comes in useful for specific tasks, but can't imagine using it for everyday writing. (I usually have one pen inked up with a red ink)

I recently used it to test a pen I'd flushed out and serviced (MB 256), filled a page with writing and sketches and the overall effect was very pleasing - bright and almost luminous. However, after a few days of lying unused, I flushed it out of the pen and filled up with a blue ink, which is more suitable for my everyday needs.

When I first got it, I was amazed to see how transparent it is in the bottle.

 

All in all, I'm pleased I bought it, but I wonder how often it will be used.

Nice packaging and presentation, but overpriced, imho.

 

Thanks

[Chrissy]

Nice review. Thanks.

 

I like this ink, it has a vivacity, which my other red inks lack. I've found that it comes in useful for specific tasks, but can't imagine using it for everyday writing. (I usually have one pen inked up with a red ink)

I recently used it to test a pen I'd flushed out and serviced (MB 256), filled a page with writing and sketches and the overall effect was very pleasing - bright and almost luminous. However, after a few days of lying unused, I flushed it out of the pen and filled up with a blue ink, which is more suitable for my everyday needs.

When I first got it, I was amazed to see how transparent it is in the bottle.

 

All in all, I'm pleased I bought it, but I wonder how often it will be used.

Nice packaging and presentation, but overpriced, imho.

 

Thanks

 

You're welcome. It's a very bright red ink, and several Montblanc inks could also be described as overpriced. It's quite an interesting ink though.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

What a nice bright red! 🔴

[taimdala]

LOVELY! Great review. Thank you for posting it.

Now .... where can I get some of this gorgeous ink?

[Pravda]

Thank you for yet another amazingly helpful review

[Chrissy]

LOVELY! Great review. Thank you for posting it.

 

Now .... where can I get some of this gorgeous ink?

 

You're welcome. I don't know if it's still available in some Montblanc boutiques, or online at Montblanc.com.

[Chrissy]

Thank you for yet another amazingly helpful review

 

You're welcome.

[georges zaslavsky]

Very nice and interesting color. Thanks for the review

[roadrunner320]

I agree. Its a nice bright red to begin with, but if dry and after few days the bright red had changed to a red with more pinkish hue in it, but I still like it.

 

 

 

[Tom Kellie]

~ Montblanc Red Chine ink for the Year of the Dog has been a staple on my writing desk.

It's ideal for an EEF nib writing margin notes in books.

Tom K.