Ink Review: Montblanc Lucky Orange and William Shakespeare Velvet Red

I have two more Montblanc inks for you this week, both of which I picked up at the Atlanta Pen Show back in April. While Montblanc's lineup of "standard" fountain pen inks is pretty limited, they release roughly four limited edition colors per year that typically correspond to special edition pens. For example, UNICEF Blue for the Montblanc for UNICEF pens and Miles Davis Jazz Blue for the Miles Davis pen. I recently reviewed the excellent UNICEF Blue, and now I can highly recommend two more great colors: Lucky Orange and William Shakespeare Velvet Red. 

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Montblanc's limited edition packaging is always worth checking out, even if you don't keep boxes. 

Highly Usable, Offbeat Colors

What I love about Montblanc inks is that they remain interesting while never straying too far from the standard color palette. For example, Lucky Orange appears to be a basic orange ink - it actually looks very plain "ink swatch" photographs you see online, but once you get this ink on paper it's much more vibrant than, say, Monteverde Mandarin Orange, and even the lighter and yellower Sailor Jentle Apricot. The William Shakespeare Ink isn't quite as unique, but I'm still a sucker for a dark red and it's somewhat close to Hitchcock, though a touch brighter and lacking the darker "blood red" undertones. 

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I've reviewed so many Montblanc inks now that I won't bore you all with an extended "review" of their properties, etc., but suffice to say performance-wise these are as good as any other Montblanc inks I've used. I've tested them out on-and-off at work for the past few months and have not had any problems with these inks bleeding through paper or feathering, extended dry times, or hard-starting in pens.  

Are These Inks Worth the Money? 

It's easy to get caught up in the hype over limited-edition-anything and the associated FOMO. Montblanc started this trend in the stationery world around 2011-2012 when it first began releasing special inks in limited quantities - Alfred Hitchcock is the first that I recall provoking ink hoarding, but I'm sure there were some others that I missed before that. Most of Montblanc's limited edition inks are priced at $19 for a 30ml bottle, but now it appears that they are moving to a $40/50ml price point. That's a pretty steep premium over the regular Montblanc ink, which sells for $22/60ml - roughly twice as expensive. 

If you're someone who burns through a lot of ink or are otherwise on a budget, there are definitely more cost-effective alternatives with equivalent quality. If you're looking for a unique color, however, or simply like the idea of owning a bottle of ink that features your favorite author or public figure as the theme, then you may be willing to pay a premium. Others hoard (or "collect") in the hope that the inks appreciate, and can be sold at a markup later once they are no longer available at retail. Whatever the reason, Montblanc seemingly has no trouble selling out their stock with each new release. 

I write a fair bit, but I change inks often, so if a limited edition piques my interest, I'll purchase a single bottle that will take me years to get through. Back in 2012, I bought four bottles of Alfred Hitchcock and ended up selling two of them because I'm only now getting near the bottom of my first. I advise people to buy the ink if they like it, but remember that with so many companies making high quality fountain pen inks these days, and the range of available colors increasing weekly, the odds that you won't be able to find something comparable somewhere else are low.

Where to Buy

Anderson Pens currently has both Lucky Orange and William Shakespeare Velvet Red in stock, but given that these are both limited runs, availability is subject to change. Both inks are priced at $19 - Lucky Orange comes in the 30ml square crystal bottle, and William Shakespeare comes in the slightly larger round 35ml Writer's Edition bottle. Anderson Pens also carries the full range of standard Montblanc Ink, and a wide selection of Montblanc Pens.     

Disclaimer: Anderson Pens provided these two inks to me at a discount as part of their sponsorship of this blog. I was not otherwise compensated for this review. All thoughts expressed here are my own. 

Introducing My Guide to Pocket Pens

Sometimes you just have to get it out there.  After working on this for the better part of a year, I finally just decided to publish it, admitting that it likely will never be "complete" and will be a perpetual work in progress. Check out my new Guide to Pocket Pens, live now, and major thanks to Thomas for loaning me so many pens! 

Pencil Review: The Baron Fig Archer "Prismatic" Edition

It's that time again! For what's become an at-least-monthly event:  The release of a new limited edition from Baron Fig. The last version of Baron Fig's Archer pencil, the "Snakes & Ladders" edition, drew some criticism because Baron Fig changed the graphite formula to a softer, 2B-ish core. While I enjoy soft pencils, and really liked the look of the Snakes & Ladders, Baron Fig returned to their firmer, standard Archer core for the next limited edition pencil, the Prismatic. 

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The three Archers, from left: Prismatic, Snakes & Ladders, and the standard pencil. 

“Prisms come in myriad shapes and break up light into a beautiful spectrum of colors. Ideas can be viewed in the same light (pun intended) - they come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Prismatic - what will you think up?”

— Baron Fig

Each pack of Prismatic Archer pencils includes four red, yellow, and blue pencils, each with a dipped purple end cap. I like the look of these pencils, and somewhat surprisingly, the red and the blue pencils are my favorite. When I first received the promotional photographs, I expected to love the yellows, but the finish on my yellow pencils is thin and shows cracking and flaking on one or two of them. I'm not going to knock Baron Fig too hard for this. When you're producing a large volume of woodcase pencils - a consumable good that's sold in packs of a dozen and meant to be used up - its not going to receive the same level of individual quality control that say, a $60 Squire pen might receive. I've had cracked finishes in $22 boxes of Blackwings. That said, this isn't a $4 per dozen box of pencils, so it's still a bit annoying.

Some of the finish on my yellow Prismatics is a bit thin and bubbly, to the point where you can almost see the underlying wood. 

Writing Experience

The standard Archer has been in regular use since it was first released back in October.  I keep a couple sharpened at my desk and others tucked into various books that I'm reading. If you're a fan of graphite cores just slightly on the harder side of HB, then the Archer should be on your radar, especially if you like to write on toothier paper like Baron Fig which can wear down softer pencils fairly quickly. The standard Archer core is surprisingly dark for how good the point retention is. Baron Fig's pencils remind me of "European HB" pencils like the Staedtler Noris or Staedtler Tradition. That's probably not a coincidence - the Archers are manufactured in Portugal.

Before I received my first pack of Archers, I wasn't a fan eraserless pencils. I thought that I needed the eraser in order for the pencil to balance better in my hand. As it turns out, this isn't the case, and I've come to enjoy writing with the lighter "end-dipped" pencil. In the U.S., end-dipped pencils are somewhat harder to find than they are in Europe or Japan, at least outside of the "art pencil" market.  

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Where to Buy

You can purchase the standard Archer, the Prismatics, and even Snakes and Ladders directly from Baron Fig's online store. Limited edition versions of all of Baron Fig's products, including the Archer, the Squire, the Confidant, and the Vanguard, are released on a quarterly basis. 

Disclaimer: Baron Fig sent me these pencils free of charge for review purposes. I was not otherwise compensated for this review. 

Pen Review: Pelikan M101N Bright Red

Pelikan's annual release of its vintage-inspired special edition M101N fountain pen has become a bit of an event, with collectors anxiously awaiting each announcement. Pens in the series have included the M101N Tortoiseshell Red, the M101N Tortoiseshell Brown, and the M101N Lizard. All recreate the look and feel of vintage Pelikan pens from the 1930s. Many thanks to Appelboom for loaning me this year's model, the M101N Bright Red. 

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The Bright Red acrylic does a fairly nice job of mimicking the appearance of vintage celluloid.

Appearance and First Impressions

The Pelikan M101N is larger than I originally anticipated. For some reason, I expected this to be a smaller, almost "pocket-sized" fountain pen. That's not the case - it's a decent sized pen at 4.5" unposted and 6.2" posted. Pelikan packages each pen with its customary white "penvelope," and includes a special bottle of Pelikan 4001 blue "Konigsblau" ink with a vintage-inspired label. It's very attractive packaging, and certainly complements the pen. 

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A nice bonus - this Pelikan 4001 vintage-style "Konigsblau" ink bottle.

To me, two things make the M101N's design distinctive: the cap and the ink window. The cap features an elongated "cap head," with the clip set lower on the cap than you would ordinarily see. It's an interesting look - again, vintage-inspired - but it's not really my thing. The pen also sports 24kt gold trim, and I do appreciate the double cap band. The yellow ink window offers nice visibility, and on this particular pen it provides some variety to what would otherwise be a solid red pen.  

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A close up of the nib, ink window, and "Bright Red" acrylic

You all know that I'm a sucker for red pens, and Pelikan did a nice job with the marbled acrylic. You can tell that they tried to mimic the look of vintage celluloid, and pull it off fairly well (at least to the casual observer). The acrylic doesn't have the camphor smell or warmth of real celluloid, but it's still visually attractive. Both the piston knob and the "cap head" (Pelikan's term) are made from synthetic resin, which supposedly "polishes itself as it is used - meaning that Bright Red continues to shine." Huh. I've never heard that one before, but the material is shiny. Take it for what it's worth. 

Writing Experience

Like nearly all Pelikan pens, the M101N is a piston-filler. And like nearly every Pelikan pen that I've written with, the piston mechanism worked smoothly without a hitch and held a fair amount of ink. The 14kt gold fine nib was moderately wet and wrote what I would characterize as a traditional medium line. Again, this is something I notice with every Pelikan pen out there, and generally recommend that readers purchase one Pelikan nib size down from the size they actually want, if they haven't had the opportunity to try the pen themselves at a pen show. To get a truly extra-fine nib, you'll likely need to have the nib ground.

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Vintage-inspired engraving on the Pelikan M101N Bright Red

The M101N is a very light pen, and would serve nicely as an everyday writing instrument. Posted or unposted, it was comfortable to use, though I found the length a bit too "in-between" for me. The pen was slightly too short unposted, and slightly too long posted. Keep in mind that this reflects my personal preferences more than anything else, but I'd say that this is a pen you'd want to "try before you buy," especially at the price point.  

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Takeaways and Where to Buy

The Pelikan M101N is a solid pen, and provides an outlet for those people who appreciate the style of early vintage Pelikan, but may prefer to stick to modern writing instruments as their daily users. Though I'm one of those people, this particular model doesn't really speak to me aesthetically, and if I was to purchase an M101N my personal tastes gravitate more towards the Brown or Red Tortoiseshell models than the Bright Red. If you like the look of this pen, however, it's a Pelikan, and Pelikan's are great writers that should provide you with years of reliable service. 

You can purchase the Pelikan M101N from Appelboom for around $450 (excluding VAT). The M101N pens sit at a high price point, but they are special editions made in smaller production runs, and in any event the pricing is fairly consistent with Pelikan's other high-end piston fillers with a gold nib. While it's a special edition that won't be around forever, as a practical matter these M101N pens tend to remain in stock for at least a couple years.

Disclaimer: Appelboom loaned me this pen for review purposes, free of charge. Many thanks!

Notebook Review: The Blackwing Clutch, Slate, and Summit

Pretty much everyone - stationery nut or not - is aware of the reissued Blackwing pencils sold by Palomino, which seems to be in the process of rebranding itself as "Blackwing" for most of its newer products. The company has expanded outside of its standard line of pencils, introducing the "Blackwing Volumes" subscription service and a new line of notebooks. I've used Palomino/Blackwing pencils for a long time, but Alex at Blackwing was kind enough to send me over some samples of the notebooks for review. 

First Impressions

These are nice-looking black notebooks, which appear high-end and not at all like just another Moleskine clone. The clean, minimal packaging doesn't detract from the notebooks themselves.

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To give you an idea of the size differential between the three different models. 

Blackwing sells their notebooks in three sizes. The smallest is the Blackwing Clutch, which is a 5.5" x 3.5" (the same size as a Field Notes notebook). Next is the Blackwing Slate, a 5" x 8.25" hardbound A5-ish notebook that was actually the first notebook Blackwing released around two years ago, and unique because it features an elastic spine with an elastic "holster" to hold a pencil (one Blackwing 602 is included). Finally, Blackwing recently release the Blackwing Summit, a 7.5" x 10" large format softcover notebook. The Clutch is your standard 48-page notebook, and the Slate and Summit both contain 160 pages. 

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A shot of the "pencil holster" on the Slate, minus one sharpened (and used up) Blackwing 602.

These notebooks feel sturdy, and I suspect they will hold up to everyday use quite well, though I've not had the opportunity to really break 'em in and beat them up. Blackwing describes these covers as "wear-resistant polymer," which I suspect is another way of describing vinyl (what the texture reminds me of). The binding is sewn-bound, not glued, so it should hold together long enough for you to finish the notebook (unless you're harder on these things than I am.)  All three are made in Turkey, and contain the same 100gsm paper which comes in dot grid, blank, or ruled format. Alex sent me dot grid notebooks, which I've enjoyed. Some people have complained that the "dots" are too dark, but this isn't necessarily something that bothers me, especially in notebooks like these which I primarily use for scratch work, tracking ideas for posts, and drafting various writing projects I'm working on. I also have a tendency to write very small, so I'm not necessarily "overlapping" the ruling on any paper I use. 

Paper Performance

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An interesting aspect of the Clutch is that Blackwing recommends you write with the notebooks longways (i.e., as reflected in the writing sample on the left).   

The paper performed well - definitely better than the Ghost Paper notebook that I reviewed last week - and I'd probably say that the paper in these Blackwing notebooks is comparable in terms of performance to either Write Notepads or early Baron Fig paper. It handles fountain pen ink and other liquid inks moderately well. You may still experience some "pinpoint" bleedthrough or show through on the reverse of a page if you use an especially wet nib or ink, but I would have no problem adding these notebooks to my daily rotation.

As you might expect, the paper is outstanding with pencils. It's ever-so-slightly toothy, and the low degree of smearing or "ghosting" suprised me. (For those of you unfamiliar with pencil terminology, "ghosting" refers to graphite transfer from one page to another in a notebook, especially when you write on both sides of a page. With a cheap pencil or super-smooth paper, it can make your notebook look like a mess by the time you get to the end.)

Takeaways and Where to Buy

I've been meaning to try the Blackwing Notebooks for a while, and many thanks to Alex and the team at Blackwing for sending these over. Honestly, before seeing these in person I had expected just another rebranded Moleskine imitation, which Blackwing probably could have pulled off, given that Moleskine notebooks work perfectly fine with pencils. That's not the case, however, and the team at Blackwing has put together a quality notebook that deserves your consideration, whether you're a pen or pencil user. 

You can purchase these notebooks directly from Blackwing via their online store. One thing I do have to mention, however, is the pricing on these notebooks, which for certain models is higher than their direct competitors. The Blackwing Clutch costs $14.95 for a three-pack; the Slate comes in at $22.95 (which does include a Blackwing 602 pencil); and the larger Summit is priced at $21.95. While the MSRP on the Slate is around the same as the Rhodia webnotebook or the Leuchtturm 1917, you can often find these two notebooks for $3-4 cheaper, and the Baron Fig Confidant costs $18 at full price. The pricing on the Clutch three-pack is also $2-5 higher than Field Notes and about $5 higher than Write Notepads.  If you're a fan of Blackwing, or you otherwise like the aesthetic of these notebooks, spending a few dollars more may not bother you, but if you're someone who regularly churns through a lot of notebooks, there are more cost-effective alternatives to consider without sacrificing quality. That said, The big Summit notebook appears to be a bargain, especially if you were considering the slightly larger, and much more expensive, Leuchtturm A4 Master.  

Overall, I love what Blackwing is doing and the effort they have put into building their brand. They make quality products which offer an enjoyable user experience. While you're checking out the notebooks, you may also want to consider Blackwing's newest limited-edition Blackwing Volumes pencil, the Blackwing 73, which is Lake Tahoe-themed.  

Disclaimer: Blackwing sent me the products featured in this review at no charge, for review purposes. This post contains affiliate links.