Montblanc's Winter Glow

[lapis]

 

Packaging

Here's a shot of the bottle and box, the same things used for the MB Alfred Hitchcock and Meisterstück Montblanc Diamond inks, alongside the Kultur pen with a M nib used for most of the writing below:

 

 

 Introduction

 

First of all a line or two written with my Lamy Joy 1.5 mm nib >> Worry not, you can read this below thanks to the help of my friend Logitech K750. I bought this ink since I love Montblanc inks in general. All of their inks are all very well behaved and also have interesting colours, without going into a hundred different nuances. I liked their idea too of coughing out a special edition ink each year, especially around Christmas time. So this time, I wanted to see what they envisioned as a glow. A fire? This time of year's hot and spicy red wine? Yes, it may be going too far to offer many special inks each year, including those gems launched together with the purchase of a new MB pen coming out in the range of $ 1000⁺ but first let's see what's going on here!

 

Pens and papers

 

 

Now a shot with my Kultur pen which has a M nib >> Since this is intended to be a short review, this is what I'm up to: swabs, dipstick F, Pelikano M, Kultur M, and that aforementioned Lamy pen. Unless otherwise noted, things here are written on a 90 g/m² paper from the company Avery, AKA Avery Zweckform.

 

Ink properties

• Colour description in general: Sure that's a tough thing to settle in general but I'd say that this is a medium dark red which is still quite bright. Sort of a Christmas red, very happy, very cheerful. There are tons of inks out there which are just as dark but at the same time muddier, earthier, more like dried blood. At the same time, there are lots of reds available which are just as bright but also lighter, more orange, even getting into a pink. I'll cut it there. Check the comparison later.
• Intensity/saturation: Very high, very intense, IMO very nice, without appearing "overly" saturated like a lot of PRs and most N's.
• Flow as in wetness during writing: Nice and wet, like most of the other MBs. Still, it is wetter than the earlier shoe edition (containing among other things Racing Green).
• Lubrication is good too. It does not tend to dry up in pens quickly and thus decelerate ignition if the cap is off for at least 2 whole hours. No joke! 
• Writing and feathering on various papers: This ink writes nicely on all of the papers I've tried out. Anything between Moleskine and Avery 100 g/m² delivers a similar degree of sharpness or resolution, whereby Moleskine and an el cheapo HP copy paper demonstrate the greatest absorption yielding the highest amount of feathering.

 

 

•  Bleeding on various papers: This turns out to be exactly the same story as expected. Here is a scan of the reverse sides of the six papers just seen above.

  

• Clogging and creeping: I haven't yet seen any clogging but I do discern a bit of creeping, a peculiarity characteristic of a lot of reds. I'd say that that is at least in part due to the lesser solubility of the red dye solute (in contrast to that of other colours).
• Drying time is somewhere between 15 and 20 s on any paper used here. That's a fairly long time, but this ink does notsmudge or smear when dry.

 

• Waterproofness: No, but it does have a certain amount of "permanence". You can still read what was written on a piece of 90g/m² Avery paper which was soaked completely underwater for 5 minutes. Not bad for a red ink in general.

 

• Smudgeproof: Yes; as said above, no smudging after it has dried. Not even with a usual, moist finger.
• Shading is certainly evident, not as much as Apache Sunset but still better than I had expected.
• Fading: Not yet observed; impossible at this time of year in this latitude; okay, I give, looks like this ink could use a caboose job.
• Smell: I sense no smell here. Could have been the case since it is Christmas time. In any case, no phenol seems to be on hand.
• Cleaning a pen: Basically not all that easy here; this ink is not especially water-soluble, but it can be washed out if you use enough water. Likely due to its degree of saturation. Almost all of my other reds are easier to wash out, especially Diamines and R&Ks, more especially Herbins. Yes, PRs and Noodler's also need a thorough rinsing too, to get everything but the kitchen sink out of your nib and cartridge.
• Washing it off your hand is also a hard thing to cope with. Even lots and lots of water won't help very much. Above all, skin being skin means that if you by some chance do get some on your finger tip, anything you touch later with it can get a dash of red, even hours later. Be patient or resort to ammonia or bleach if absolutely necessary.

 

Comparable inks

Here is a small list of a handful of inks which popped into my mind. C'mon, there are many more reds, even reds which may have this type of intensity, brightness, etc. but I have to go easy and keep it down to only a few today.

 

 

Notes

1. To avoid inconspicuousness, "swabs, 1x/2x/3" means this: a Q-tip was anointed with exactly 100 µl of ink, then swabbed once, on the second line twice, and then on the third line thrice. No reinoculation in between!
2. MB "Dark Red" refers to the Season's Greetings 2007 ink in the small, flat, indecent round bottle. It has a sort of vanilla scent but reminiscent of rot (no, not the German word for "red").
3. MB's "Love You" is the decent version, very affectionately pleasing us with the smell of a fresh rose.
4. I'll leave it up to you to judge which other red comes close to the real McCoy (if possible) but I'd just like to point out that such comparisons of inks sometimes completely flabbergast me. I first thought of Habanero because I had already had my M320 with a F nib filled with that ink and I first thought that it looked red. Actually it still does look red. But the wider the nib -- check yer swabs, man -- the more the colour migrates to something else. One reason I'm not all that hot about swabs in the first place.

 

Availability

Being a MB ink, this'll likely be available all over the world, even if only online. This 30-ml bottle was and still is, of course, available in the two MB boutiques here in town but I bought it at a different store which I find more sympathetic. Price was 13 Euros, the same as that for Hitchcock, Collodi, Diamond and Johnny Swift.

 

All in all

To reiterate, I'm not really into reds at all but this is IMO a very good red for all-round purposes. Very similar to Skrip's Red which is already definitely an all-time winner in the red sector. Not too bright or orange (which many of you dispel), like Diamine's Poppy or Pumpkin. Also, not so dark and fearful like blood (whether warm and wet, or cold and dry). Easy to maintain like most MB inks, although I do find this ink to remain stubbornly on my fingers. But that's nothing unusual; I do it all the time. Other reds have been stated elsewhere to be hard to get out of pens completely.

I'd say that the price is alright and the bottle is great, very good-looking but also very practical. Maybe only to be superseded by their current 60-ml shoes. That is IMO no small achievement because they are so easy to pull out of the box, a rendition which can by no means be claimed for any Noodler's ink bottles. And as if that weren't enough, these 30-ml MB bottles' caps alone are perfect and identical to those of the current shoes.

 

It might be a good idea to find out how long this ink is going to be available. Some of the older one-year Season's Greetings aren't issued any longer, some were reissued once, a year later (Dark Brown -- cinnamon -- 2005 = 2006 and White Forest -- 2008 = 2009) and this one isn't even labelled "Season's Greetings" anymore. At least for me, it doesn't have to be. Whew.

 

Small note on the side

MB's Einstein Ink (and the pen to go along with it) apparently won't be making it until the end of January 2013... but... this Winter Glow already is on the scene...sooo.... make sure you get some in your socks....

 

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[tenurepro]

nice - the top sample looked like hitchcock red at first, but i see from the bottom comparison that it is a bit brighter than hitchock.

 

Thanks for the review

[PenTieRun]

Thanks for another great review, Mike. I wish MB would get its marketing and distribution act together so people can purchase its inks easily. I still can't get my hands on the Diamond Blue, and goodness knows when Winter Glow will become available. Often staff at the boutiques have no clue about LE inks. Feels like one has to go into battle to get some of the LEs, except the Writers Edition series.

 

Love the comic.

[seanruss]

Looks like a nice color of ink, i will have to keep my eyes out for it. Don't see it anywhere yet.

Sean

[Genius]

Nice review but am I the only person seeing that Winterglow looks exactly the same as Ink of Love?

[goldenkrishna]

Hello lapis,

 

Thank you very much for this elaborate review. I ordered Winter Glow a few days ago and I'm looking forward to using it. I like Hitchcock and Skrap too.

You've saved me a lot of searching for a nice red colour! I like the intensity and shade of WG.

I also ordered MB Toffee Brown.

 

What colours do you mostly use?

 

With love,

 

goldenkrishna

Edited December 5, 2012 by goldenkrishna

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Many thanks for the great Review!

 

I noticed from the scans that the paper has considerable effect on the amount of vibrancy & chroma; with the coated papers doing better than the more absorbent papers. From the ink-on-paper originals, would you say there is such a large difference that you would avoid the more absorbent papers?

 

I certainly have a tendency to use the LE inks on hard smooth coated papers, but with Red inks, I still like to use a paper that has a softer tactile feel when held by the reader.

 

Bye,

S1

[lapis]

Nice review but am I the only person seeing that Winterglow looks exactly the same as Ink of Love?

No, you're the second person to see that. The Love ink is IMO the one which best fits as a match, in any case. Depending on what I compare exactly (e.g. swabs or any pen) I still can't tell for sure if they're "identical" or not. If one of these has to be darker, I'd say it would be the Love, but only by a quarter of a hint. The Glow writes, however, wetter than the Love does.

Oops, I forgot to say that the Glow's colour is brighter than your avatar's ink.

 

Mike

 

 

Edited December 5, 2012 by lapis

[Genius]

Thanks Mike,

 

I love the dark red of the Hitchcock ink but all retailers have run out of that ink. Winterglow is on route! Lovely Xmas red colour perfect for the holiday season.

 

MB should really start putting name tags on the bottles again. They make great gifts!

[lapis]

On 12/5/2012 at 11:16 AM, Sandy1 said:

Hi,

 

Many thanks for the great Review!

 

I noticed from the scans that the paper has considerable effect on the amount of vibrancy & chroma; with the coated papers doing better than the more absorbent papers. From the ink-on-paper originals, would you say there is such a large difference that you would avoid the more absorbent papers?

 

I certainly have a tendency to use the LE inks on hard smooth coated papers, but with Red inks, I still like to use a paper that has a softer tactile feel when held by the reader.

 

Bye,

S1

Thanks for the good question! I actually don't see any big differences. At most, the harder the paper, the glossier the ink's sheen (IMO) in the sense that the more absorbent the paper, the more it looks like the ink was just blotted (doh). But... I still like a paper which has at least a certain amount of "texture". Is that what you mean by "tactile feel"? If IMO a paper has no or very little texture, I try to avoid using it with any ink colours. E.g. Clairefontaine.

 

[mge01park]

Duplicated below, sorry!

Edited December 5, 2012 by mgepark

[mge01park]

Anybody know where to buy the Writers Glow Red ink?

Edited December 5, 2012 by mgepark

[lapis]

On 12/5/2012 at 1:51 PM, lapis said:

On 12/5/2012 at 9:10 AM, Genius said:

Nice review but am I the only person seeing that Winterglow looks exactly the same as Ink of Love?

No, you're the second person to see that. The Love ink is IMO the one which best fits as a match, in any case. Depending on what I compare exactly (e.g. swabs or any pen) I still can't tell for sure if they're "identical" or not. If one of these has to be darker, I'd say it would be the Love, but only by a quarter of a hint. The Glow writes, however, wetter than the Love does....

Okay, we asked for it! Ahh, jus' kiddn'....

Here's a paper chromatography of MB's Winter Glow vs MB's Ink of Love using two strips of blotting paper in a 1 : 1 vol water : isopropanol solvent:

 

It's easy to say that both inks contain at least one and the same component, but the WG definitely contains something else which may, of course, be very similar in colour, but this "addition" is likely also that which substantiates WG's greater intensity/saturation. We can't tell by this primitive analysis how high each concentration is, just like we can't actually visualize the amount(s) of tensides/detergents/surfactants present (the latter being responsible for WG's higher flow).

 

Mike

[tinta]

Interesting, on my APICA paper, the MB Winter Glow writing looks very similar to my newly bought Burgundy Red.

Yet, when seen in a comparison list of swabs & such, the two inks look different.

Both inks seem to be on the purple side of red to these old eyes.

A nice reserved red.

[lapis]

Interesting, on my APICA paper, the MB Winter Glow writing looks very similar to my newly bought Burgundy Red.

Yet, when seen in a comparison list of swabs & such, the two inks look different.

Both inks seem to be on the purple side of red to these old eyes.

A nice reserved red.

Hmmm....To my eyes, the old Bordeaux looks a half a hint bluer but the new Burgundy isin any case darker. Whatever, both of these are IMO much less vivid than theWG:Mike

 

 

[lapis]

For those of you in need, I see (at least) three possibilities:

 

 

(1) Check here on the forum for a distributer in Holland.

(2) Ask Rolf at missing-pen, here in Krautland.

(3) Tomorrow, I'll phone MB -- their main office being in Hamburg -- and ask them for a phone number or two, especially in the States, so that you can try your luck there.

 

Mike

[Genius]

Nice review but am I the only person seeing that Winterglow looks exactly the same as Ink of Love?

No, you're the second person to see that. The Love ink is IMO the one which best fits as a match, in any case. Depending on what I compare exactly (e.g. swabs or any pen) I still can't tell for sure if they're "identical" or not. If one of these has to be darker, I'd say it would be the Love, but only by a quarter of a hint. The Glow writes, however, wetter than the Love does....

Okay, we asked for it! Ahh, jus' kiddn'....

Here's a paper chromatography of MB's Winter Glow vs MB's Ink of Love using two strips of blotting paper in a 1 : 1 vol water : isopropanol solvent:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu264/peli46/WinterGlow_vs_InkofLove.jpg

 

It's easy to say that both inks contain at least one and the same component, but the WG definitely contains something else which may, of course, be very similar in colour, but this "addition" is likely also that which substantiates WG's greater intensity/saturation. We can't tell by this primitive analysis how high each concentration is, just like we can't actually visualize the amount(s) of tensides/detergents/surfactants present (the latter being responsible for WG's higher flow).

 

Mike

 

Thanks champ!! Ink of love seems less waterproof. I shall stock up on Winterglows! :clap1:

[WOBentley]

Thanks for another great review, Mike. I wish MB would get its marketing and distribution act together so people can purchase its inks easily. I still can't get my hands on the Diamond Blue, and goodness knows when Winter Glow will become available. Often staff at the boutiques have no clue about LE inks. Feels like one has to go into battle to get some of the LEs, except the Writers Edition series.

 

Love the comic.

 

 

Anybody know where to buy the Writers Glow Red ink?

 

Available now via Montblanc.com (though you have to call the listed number)

[mge01park]

Thanks. Just received an email from customer service that they're available by phone.

 

Thanks for another great review, Mike. I wish MB would get its marketing and distribution act together so people can purchase its inks easily. I still can't get my hands on the Diamond Blue, and goodness knows when Winter Glow will become available. Often staff at the boutiques have no clue about LE inks. Feels like one has to go into battle to get some of the LEs, except the Writers Edition series.

 

Love the comic.

 

 

Anybody know where to buy the Writers Glow Red ink?

 

Available now via Montblanc.com (though you have to call the listed number)

[Chrissy]

I have 'Hitchcock' and 'Love You' reds and I'm undecided whether to buy 'Winter Glow' or not. I'm going to think about it for a while