Montblanc Honore De Balzac: Dandy Turquoise

[Joane]

This photo is closer to reality:

 

[tenurepro]

thanks all... excited to get my bottles !

[meghan]

I ADORE this color! I love turquoise and I'm still sad that I didn't stock up on more Ink of Friendship while I had the chance. I'll not make the same mistake twice!

[Lemonshark]

Great review! I like the color but I just got some PR Daphne Blue and think I'll stick with that.

[johntdavis]

I've tried both, and Waterman's 'Bleu Inspiration' (formerly 'Bleu des Mers du Sud') seems to display much more shading.

And is much cheaper

 

Thanks for the tip; I've been wanting to get a bottle of Waterman after reading about how well behaved it is and admiring the functional beauty of the bottles. (The second or third ink bottle I ever bought was one of the little J. Herbin ones. Loved the ink but couldn't get any of my nibs to easily fit into the bottle. Bottle shape has become at least as important to me as the actual color of the ink I'm buying.)

 

I had been planning to buy some Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku. Any idea how the shading/color in the Blue Inspiration (I assume this is the same thing as the Inspired Blue listed on Goulet's?) compares? It would certainly be cheaper.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

If you are curious, the bottle MB is using for these inks is off the shelf from Vetrerie Italiane Foresta, an Italian company that makes lots of glass bottles. It's model IN-0005-01. Giardino Italiano sells the bottles with specially decorated caps, and I have the exact bottle on my desk, down to the cap. VIF makes a lot of wine bottles, but they are responsible for the OMAS bottles (custom mold), Aurora bottles (custom mold), and Diamine bottles. Diamine uses IN-0003-01 with ridges. You can tell what bottle MB uses not only from the shape, but also from the cap. The cap is the standard one that they now provide to Diamine in black. Aurora uses their more shallow cap, but the caps all interchange. On the bottom, there is usually a stamp that tells where the bottle is from. VIF has a number of different maker's marks that they use. I don't know who makes the regular MB bottles, but I don't think they used VIF for any of the regular bottles. None of the regular bottles have any identifying marks.

 

In any case, the ink itself seems to be quite a nice color. My friend tells me it is very similar to Ink of Friendship, and that seems very true. I wonder why MB doesn't make a standard turquoise offering any more.

 

Dillon

Edited October 22, 2013 by Dillo

[Sailor Kenshin]

I bought this ink as I love turquoise inks. My fear was that it would be like Ink of Friendship, as Alfred Hitchcock was very like Ink of Love. My suspicions were confirmed: it seems almost exactly the same as the Ink of Friendship.

Which, to me, was a plus. I wanted Ink of Friendship and wasn't able to get it. Pretty happy with the Dandy Turnquoise.

[Bhavna]

Thanks for the great review. I had a letter from a friend who used this colour and it really was stunning, especially with the red sheen. I just had to get some. I have a couple of bottles on their way to me thanks to the incredible staff at Wheelers Luxury Gifts (http://www.wheelersluxurygifts.com/). No affiliation, but astoundingly good service and excellent prices.

[Joane]

Thanks for the great review. I had a letter from a friend who used this colour and it really was stunning, especially with the red sheen. I just had to get some. I have a couple of bottles on their way to me thanks to the incredible staff at Wheelers Luxury Gifts (http://www.wheelersluxurygifts.com/). No affiliation, but astoundingly good service and excellent prices.

 

Red sheen? That sounds exciting. Please tell more!