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Thread: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

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    Senior Member silverlifter's Avatar
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    Default A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    After a discussion with Fred in another thead...

    Bear in mind, the Blue Black is a bottle that I originally opened in the mid-1990s and then promptly forgot to unpack after a move. I discovered it recently when digging through papers. So it may have oxidised slightly over that time. The Midnight Blue I opened for the first time last week.

    cover.jpg
    mb_inks_2.jpg

    The Blue Black is closer to Regsitrars and other old school IG inks. The Midnight Blue goes down darker and dries to an almost black. The lighting is not great, but you can see where I blotted the swabs the underlying colours are quite different. BB is a greyish hue, and Midnight Blue is, well, midnight blue.
    swatches.jpg
    Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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    Senior Member Pterodactylus's Avatar
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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    MB IG Midnight is an awesome ink, one of my all time favorites.
    I still have a bottle and you reminded me that I should ink up a pen with it again.

    Itˋs a pitty that they discontinued this fantastic ink.
    Last edited by Pterodactylus; October 8th, 2020 at 04:42 AM.

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    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    Thank you, silverlifter. If I didn't have two 50ml bottles of the old stuff and 80ml of ESSRI, I'd buy a bottle of the new MB IG ink. I like the darker color of the latter, which appears the same as my non-IG version.

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    Senior Member Yazeh's Avatar
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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    What I prefer most is your elegant handwriting

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    silverlifter (October 8th, 2020)

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    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    Thank you silverlifter. I quite like the look of Midnight Blue.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    Each has their own charm. Currently, I am more inclined to the Midnight Blue. But that may only be due to the fact that there is more in the bottle

    I'll try and get some better photos today that actually capture the subtle colour differences.
    Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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    Senior Member Ole Juul's Avatar
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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    I'm a little confused. I was under the impression that Mont Blanc discontinued the use of iron gall. Perhaps I'm wrong, but a three year old email from them states "According to our ink specialist, the permanent ink no longer have an Iron-Gall content and we have changed to a new ink with black or blue solid pigments. With these pigments, the ink corresponds to ISO 14145-2 (documentary use).”

    Edit: So what I meant to ask, is this a new thing, or are these older ink samples? If it's a new thing I'd like to know where to get them.
    Last edited by Ole Juul; October 8th, 2020 at 01:31 PM.

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    Senior Member silverlifter's Avatar
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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    Yes, I mentioned on the page that Blue Black was discontinued in 2010, and Midnight Blue (the iron gall variant) was only made between 2010-2013. The current Midnight Blue is, sadly, free of ferrogallic content.

    So, it is a comparison of two inks that are no longer available. Sorry about that.
    Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    Quote Originally Posted by silverlifter View Post
    Yes, I mentioned on the page that Blue Black was discontinued in 2010, and Midnight Blue (the iron gall variant) was only made between 2010-2013. The current Midnight Blue is, sadly, free of ferrogallic content.

    So, it is a comparison of two inks that are no longer available. Sorry about that.
    That's kind of what I thought but wasn't sure. No need to be sorry. It's a very cool idea.

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    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    Quote Originally Posted by silverlifter View Post
    ...and Midnight Blue (the iron gall variant) was only made between 2010-2013....
    And I'm not paying attention and missed that.

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    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    Quote Originally Posted by silverlifter View Post
    The current Midnight Blue is, sadly, free of ferrogallic content.
    If the current version of Midnight Blue is the same colour as the discontinued IG version then that's the one I would be attracted to.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

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    Senior Member silverlifter's Avatar
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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by silverlifter View Post
    The current Midnight Blue is, sadly, free of ferrogallic content.
    If the current version of Midnight Blue is the same colour as the discontinued IG version then that's the one I would be attracted to.
    Unfortunately, I don't have the modern Midnight Blue to compare to. Going off reviews, I would consider the older IG formulation to be a bit darker, and definitely drying to almost black (as you'd expect).

    Perhaps someone who has the modern variant could comment?

    # Edit: of course, someone has done a comparison of the two
    Last edited by silverlifter; October 8th, 2020 at 11:06 PM.
    Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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    Senior Member Pterodactylus's Avatar
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    Default Re: A Comparison of Montblanc Iron Gall INks

    Quote Originally Posted by Chrissy View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by silverlifter View Post
    The current Midnight Blue is, sadly, free of ferrogallic content.
    If the current version of Midnight Blue is the same colour as the discontinued IG version then that's the one I would be attracted to.
    Not the same, neither in color nor in behavior.
    You just canˋt remove the IG and think it perform equally well.
    Good IG inks perform normally exceptionally well.......

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