Diamine Monaco Red

[Chris]

There have been a couple of very nice reviews of this ink already here but I just wanted to add a few words now that I have had a chance to write with it.

 

It is a lovely deep red colour with a richness that seems to my eyes a little old-fashioned/traditional, whatever that means. Well, I like it and it brings to mind the sort of reds I've seen on old manuscripts. To some people's eye, there may be a hint of brownishness but that is only in comparison to the brightest reds I think.

 

It does not have the brightness of Waterman red, which seems a little youthful and brash by comparison . Neither does it have any of the orange tint of the less intense Pelikan red (which was a disappointing purchase for me, though I love their black).

 

I am using it in a Cross Century II (chrome with stainless steel medium nib) at present and find the flow is richly wet, consistent and very smooth-flowing. For a cheap(ish) pen, this writes extremely well.

 

I found the flow was sufficient to keep up with my very fastest writing (even if no longer legible ) and the line was consistently intense - no skips, jumps or faded bits.

 

Ther is little or no shading, but I am glad about that because the colour is then that much more consistent.

 

Once my Sheaffer snorkel is empty of Waterman red, the Monaco will go in there as the 'marking up' pen. I think it will compliment the maroon of the pen nicely - colour co-ordination don't you know! Otherwise, it will go into the black snorkel as a contrast colour. Or maybe it might stay in the Century... or... we'll wait and see...

 

Drying time was fine, even with a wet flow - and I'm left-handed as some of you know. And no smudging when rubbed hard with a dry thumb afterwards.

 

It is reasonably water-resistant too. I washed a page of writing under the cool tap to the point where the paper was transparent and starting to disintegrate. Waterman red was only faintly remaining, but the Diamine Monaco was still clearly legible. Some ink had washed out of course, but once the paper had dried, the writing was almost as good as new.

 

I have very much liked Diamine inks since discovering them recently and it now sits alongside Prussian Blue as a favourite colour. I love their intense yet subdued colours, though I believe Diamine have some bright ones too.

 

 

Chris

 

ps I also bought some Visconti blue from the Writing Desk at the same time. I'll let you know what I think in a couple of weeks as I don't think I'll get a chance to use it before then.

[Slush99]

it seems like a really nice ink. I'm thinking of trying it out.

[Goodwhiskers]

Thanks, Chris! You've provided more proof that an ink review can be good without a digital image .

[southpaw]

Thanks for the good review. As a leftie, I too have become quite smitten with Diamine inks (I now have 6 of them).

[RichardS]

Great review Chris. Monaco Red is fabulous colour, and seems to me more general-purpose than most reds. The way it shades is fantastic - I totally agree about its traditional look. Use it with an old flex or semiflex nib, and the look of your writing can transport you back to a time of wing collars and horseless carriages!

[Chris]

Thanks RichardS.

I have a Waterman W5 somewhere that has a medium nib (quite fine for me) which has a little flex and provides some line width. The two are just asking to be tried together.

 

Winged collars - I notice clerks just don't seem to wear them anymore. What is the world coming to?

 

Chris

[jmk]

I completely agree! This ink is great. It's usually the first one I reach for when I'm in the "red" mode. To me, it does have a hint of brown when there's a straight red nearby. Really nice ink that works well in virtually all of the pens I've used it in. Hats off to Diamine!

[RichardS]

What is the world coming to?

I know. People will be gadding about in some sort of flying machines next, I shouldn't wonder.

[Armchop]

:meow:

mmmm

strange :blink:

these reviews illustrate the subjectiveness of ink reviews.

I tried out Monaco Red as a potential replacement for the "discontinued" Penman Ruby that I really like.

I trialed the Monaco ink in my Laban Mento, Lamy Safari and another pen. I did not get to like the colour so I ended up giving the bottle to one of my students who is keen on getting used to fountain pen use. She uses a Parker Invicta or Frontier and she summitted an assignment using the Monaco and boy did I feel like becoming an "indian giver" when I saw how nice it actuallly can look. A little bit brown but still a nice warm red. At least i have gone some way to keeping someone on the track of proper writing instead of cheap ballpoints.

Just goes to show that one should hang on your inks and pens as you never know what combinations might suprise you.

Armchop

[hatherton_wood]

I bought a bottle of Monoco Red thinking it might be a deeper darker red than it proved to be - not that I dislike the colour. It flows well and is a good ink.

 

John

[alexanderino]

My Namiki/Pilot Bamboo renders it darker [and a tad less reddish] than other pens it’s been in. The generous flow must be responsible, and the shading is far more subtle.

 

Fiery.

 

[The dashed line is rendered in Ottoman Azure using a Pilot Enzo Varini.]

Edited December 17, 2007 by alexanderino

[encremental]

Alexanderino - how do you find it compares to Antietam, one of my favourite ever colours? I see you have them both, and on The Writing Desk's comparison page they look very similar, but your scans show a difference.

 

John

[alexanderino]

Hi John,

 

I find them quite similar if the pen and nib are comparable. Antietam is more orange-ish, but the difference is more pronounced here because the Naimiki Bamboo is a much finer nib, and its flow is generous [but not gushy]. My Pilot 78G with a BB nib [a dry writer] is also filled with Monaco Red, and its output is quite comparable to the Antietam scan [Lamy 2000 OB nib, wet but noy gushy writer].

 

Both samples are crops from the same scan [after it was colour-matched]

 

BTW, the aforementioned Enzo Varini [dashed line in scan] did Monaco Red the greatest justice. Truly gorgeous rendition. Sadly, it's a temperamental pen and skips with every ink except Noodler's Walnut. I will order a couple more to see if the ink would work in one of them.

Edited December 17, 2007 by alexanderino

[alexanderino]

I've deleted my previous scan as I realise it's inaccurate. Sorry about the confusion, John.

 

Another shot of Monaco Red in action, this time on an envelope. Written with the Pilot 78G BB nib. Rather pleased with how it enhanced the address

Edited December 19, 2007 by alexanderino

[lmederos]

I love this color. It is the only red I have.

 

 

[Melnicki]

I should have put Monaco and Antietam next to each other, but oh well... Check out This Post and the scans contained in it.

 

(EDIT: added image)

http://lh6.google.com/mmelnicki/R2mZqFF8KdI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/OqpksHWSzWU/s400/redinks1%2C3%2C4%20merged.jpg

 

Monaco has the rustiness of Antietam (but not nearly so orangey, definitely more red) and with a bit of a darker cast than most reds, but not nearly so brown nor dark as people say it is. Great flow, I wish more inks were like this one.

Edited December 19, 2007 by Melnicki