The "best" red ink color ever made by Montblanc?

[HalloweenHJB]

For me, the most brilliant red I have is Sailor Jentle Irori.  Pure, bright, perfectly saturated red.

 

[And to be honest, the price of Montblanc inks and pens are absurdly overpriced when the products are not of dramatically greater quality.] 

 

Best, 

 

Herbert

 

 

[Lithium466]

I like Irori but Sailor is almost there with MB and overpriced inks 😂

[PJohnP]

On 1/21/2023 at 3:59 PM, Shannon said:

Well, as far as MB, my preference is the Hitchcock red.  Good luck finding it at a price that doesn't involve selling a body part.

 

What an incredibly apropos remark !  Why, yes, selling a body part would be just the the thing for the Hitchcock Red !  I'm sure Sir Alfred H. would recommend selling someone else's body part, though...  After all, what does one do when the current bottle of ink is empty ?

 

But, for me, Hitchcock Red is probably the best MB red colour.

[txomsy]

I would advice a global price comparison before making absolute remarks. Inks tend to be less expensive near their production source and more when they cross border lines, sometimes due to customs, and sometimes to local resellers' greed or costs.

 

If I were less careful, I would feel tempted to say that Noodler's are among the most expensive inks in the world (or have been until very recently here) because getting them the other side of the ocean incurs a substantial premium.

 

I am not denying that some Montblanc inks are arguably expensive. But my first bottle of MB grey (the 90 years LE) cost me less at the time than a bottle of Noodler's Lexington Grey (which is why I immediately got a second one of MB grey). As an aside, off-topic, to me they seemed very similar in hue and behavior back then.

 

Absolute statements are misleading. It is better to qualify them with "here" or "there", so other readers are not confused to take wrong decisions.

[JulieParadise]

19 minutes ago, txomsy said:

I would advice a global price comparison before making absolute remarks. Inks tend to be less expensive near their production source and more when they cross border lines, sometimes due to customs, and sometimes to local resellers' greed or costs.

 

If I were less careful, I would feel tempted to say that Noodler's are among the most expensive inks in the world (or have been until very recently here) because getting them the other side of the ocean incurs a substantial premium.

 

Yes, these are good examples. I have looked up the prices I once payed in my Excel list: In 2018 I bought Montblanc Corn Poppy Red in the 60 ml shoe horn glass for the then standard price of 18 € at Galeria Kaufhof at Berlin Alexanderplatz, without any sale or coupon reduction whatsoever. The same year brought a bottle of Noodler's Apache Sunset into my stash, having cost me 29,95 € from the UK Seller Niche Pens + another 12 € for shipping to Berlin. So, as with everything in life ... it all depends on a number of circumstances.

 

BTW: I do find this Corn Poppy Red the nicest red MB ever made; Winter Glow and Shakespeare are a bit too dark for my liking.

[TSherbs]

More ink comparison sites:

 

Ink Swatch

 

Mountain of Ink

 

Your location (I don't think that you have said) will likely make some of this inks less attractive in cost.

[fireant]

On 1/16/2023 at 3:18 PM, Uncial said:

Red is not a Montblanc strong point sadly. The shakespear red and corn poppy red are quite good but now in the realm of unobtainium...unless you are happy to pay silly money for ink. The older reds like winter glow and seasons greetings were far superior to any of the modern offerings.

 

I thought you could still get the Shakespeare Red. I do like the Corn Poppy!

[Uncial]

I think you can get both on the secondary market.....at a price. I don't think Montblanc have Shakespeare Red on their website any longer (could be wrong) but I have seen it in a few stores still, so you could get lucky.

[bunnspecial]

For a pure, true red I will die on the Corn Poppy hill. It's not pink, it's not orange, it's not burgundy. It's just red. The old Skrip red in the conical bottle was similar.

 

I do love Shakespeare red, though, for a darker and very pleasant red. I'm sorry I just have one bottle of it.

[fireant]

21 hours ago, Uncial said:

I think you can get both on the secondary market.....at a price. I don't think Montblanc have Shakespeare Red on their website any longer (could be wrong) but I have seen it in a few stores still, so you could get lucky.

 

Huh, I mean that color seemed to be around forever. I always assumed people didn't like it.

[HalloweenHJB]

On 4/8/2023 at 8:27 AM, bunnspecial said:

For a pure, true red I will die on the Corn Poppy hill. It's not pink, it's not orange, it's not burgundy. It's just red. The old Skrip red in the conical bottle was similar.

 

Exactly.  The only other really pure reds [that I know of] are Diamine Poppy, Akkerman Chinatown Red, and to a certain extent, Sailor Irori.

 

On 4/8/2023 at 8:27 AM, bunnspecial said:

I do love Shakespeare red, though, for a darker and very pleasant red. I'm sorry I just have one bottle of it.

 

Gorgeous ink.  Velvety. 

[bunnspecial]

21 hours ago, HalloweenHJB said:

 

Exactly.  The only other really pure reds [that I know of] are Diamine Poppy, Akkerman Chinatown Red, and to a certain extent, Sailor Irori.

 

 

Gorgeous ink.  Velvety. 

To my eye, Diamine Poppy has a very subtle pink cast. You have to really look for it and it mostly shows up at the very edge of shading, but it's there. AFAIK, China Town Red is either Diamine Poppy or Strawberry(I think the former).

 

This semester, I've been grading with vintage Quink permanent red. It's a really nice red color. It's similar in color to the above, but a bit less saturated so it's better behaved on the whole and a little less messy in pens.