Ink Review: Montblanc Maya Blue

By Jessica Coles

Montblanc recently released a line called “Blue Palette”. A lineup of six new inks that are all different shades of blue (although to be fair, they include turquoise and teal in the “blue”). Why would anyone need that many shades of blue? That was my first thought about the line, however, once I saw all of the boxes together, I began to understand a bit.

I picked up my bottle of Maya Blue from the Dromgoole’s table at the Colorado Pen Show last month. On a very pleasant note, Dromgoole’s recently announced that they are offering free shipping for orders over $35 until the end of 2019! Just use the code FREE and your shipping cost will disappear. Magic.

I then learned that each of these blues was a Pantone color. Interesting.

One thing to note is that these special edition inks come in smaller 30mL bottles rather than the larger 50mL bottles, although the price reflects this as well. The Blues are $28 rather than $43.

Please forgive the dust in my photos. Rearranging a room is never good for close up pictures! From the cap, this seems to be a mid-range turquoise ink that isn’t too watery – it holds on fairly well to the inside of the cap.

Again, I must apologize here; I should have re-dipped my pen before I did. This is actually Maya Blue, NOT Mayo Blue.

I was surprised to see some red sheen in this ink – very subtle, almost a halo rather than sheen. But the shading! So many different turquoise shades in one ink!

Maya Blue seems to fall somewhere between Robert Oster Aqua and Robert Oster Pacific Ocean Teal although it shades like Lamy Crystal Amazonite. Both the Lamy and the Montblanc here show an interesting characteristic – in certain portions of the shading area, the blue actually seems a bit lighter. I’ve noted this before with Robert Oster Avocado. Possibly arising from the various dyes rising as the ink dries.

Maya Blue is just a touch on the dry side of normal, and dries quickly – this helps create the incredible shading. To achieve shading, the ink needs to dry fairly quickly so the extra ink left as the pen leaves the page only travels partially up the drying ink.

I chose my newest pen for this review – a Newton Townsend made from BSea Glacier material with a fine nib. I’ve never owned a Newton pen before and I am quite enjoying the experience. The turquoise of Maya Blue fits beautifully with the swirled colors in the material.

When the pen is out of the way, you can see what incredible shading this ink produces. A light sky blue melts into a pacific teal with the heaviest applications a slightly lighter and greener teal.

The halo around the heaviest ink pools looks, for the most part, black. However, a faint reddish sheen is present at times.

I mentioned earlier that the Blue Palette inks come in a 30mL bottle. Another option is offered – a three-bottle box that includes Egyptian Blue, Maya Blue, and Ultramarine.

I love the blending of the three blues on the box. I never would have placed these colors together in a collection myself, but once I see it presented this way, I love it.

In this set, each bottle is labeled clearly – a nice inkstand for the desk with a variety of choices. As far as my research tells me, Montblanc has not done this in the past – packaged three inks together. The price for this package is $72, bringing the individual bottle price to $24.

 

I have reviews for the other two inks in this box coming soon. Any of the Montblanc Blue Palette inks would be a great gift for any fountain pen user, though!

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Tools:

• Paper: Musubi Tomoe River Refill ($30-35 USD)
• Pen: Newton Townsend in BSea Glacier, fine steel nib ($160)
• Ink:  Montblanc Maya Blue ($28 for 30mL bottle)

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DISCLAIMER: The ink included in this review was provided at a discount by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Other items were purchased by me. Please see the About page for more details.