Moonstone - Monteverde (Gemstone Collection)

[visvamitra]

Monteverde is part of Yafa company. Some time ago the company offered wide array of new inks with Ink ITF™ - new Ink Treatment Formula that's supposed to drastically improve ink-flow quality, extend cap-off time and improve ink drying time on paper. After trying two inks I can agree it's not just marketing - the inks behave very well.

New colors are divided into two series. The newest one is called GEMSTONES.

I admit I have a problem with this name as Pelikan started their Gemstone collection (Edelstein inks) years ago and was succesfull. I do realise that this name can't be copyrighted but I feel something's off. Sure, it's easy to base marketing on proven and succesfull ideas but I feel just a little bit of disapproval. I believe they could have created something new, especially that the colors are rather interesting and eye-catching.

Anyway the line has inks

1. Amethyst
   
2. Charoite
   
3. Erinite
   
4. Fireopal
   
5. Garnet
   
6. Moonstone
   
7. Olivine
   
8. Ruby
   
9. Sapphire
   
10. Topaz
    

I appreciate the fact that Monteverde posted on their website data about these inks ph:

I've ordered two inks from Gemstone line. After a week of testing ( using at least two converters of each) I'm ready to share some thoughts.

Bottle

The inks can be bought in 30 (and 90) ml bottle. The bottle is made of lass, has simple design and id pretty functional - stable and with wide neck allowing to fill quite comfortably (as long as there's more than 60 % of the ink content in it) evem monster fountain pens straight from the bottle.

Ink

This ink caught my attention as it displays interesting hue. It's fairly well saturated but not as much as Olivine that I reviewed yesterday. It shades strongly, even in finer nibs. It's also very paper-sensitive - in some papers a green tone will be visible (Moleskine) while on others it may appear to lean toward purple just a little bit. The flow is smooth and the ink feels well lubricated even in dry pens. Some feathering and bleedthrough will be experienced only on crappiest papers (hello Moleskine). Drying time is reasonable. Also, it's impressive that the ink doesn't dry out when you leave the pen uncapped. Even after three minutes the pen starts without any skipping when you put the nib to the paper.

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

Color ID

Color range

Rhodia, Kaweco Sport, double broad nib

Leuchtturm1917, Caran d'Ache Ecridor, medium nib

Oxford, Hero 5028, stub 1.9

Tsubame, Lamy Al-Star, medium nib

Moleskine, Kaweco Classic Sport, BB

Water resistance

Edited June 25, 2017 by visvamitra

[white_lotus]

The color on the bottle's label would indicate to me that the ink in the bottle would be a kind of brown, but it looks like mostly gray. Is that true?

[RedScarves]

I'm abit confused this ink is moonstone right? Not olivine, correct? (that you mention starting with?)

 

This ink looks like it has a brown tinge/undertone on some papers and absolutely grey on others... interesting...

[visvamitra]

My mistake - Olivine was reviewed yesterday. Corrected.

@white_lotus - it depends on pen and p[aper combo. I wouldn't say it's grey but it's not strong brown.

Edited June 25, 2017 by visvamitra

[KellyMcJ]

This is beautiful. It looks like it feathers a lot though, does it?

[visvamitra]

No - it feathers only on Moleskine but Moleskine I have (calerndat from 2015) is worst (bleep) I ever had. 90 % of inks feather on it.

Edited June 25, 2017 by visvamitra

[MsRedpen]

Vis - this was your 4000 post!!!

 

Thank you for the review,

I like this ink, seems like a darker (brownier?) cousin of Cacao du Bresil.

 

My Caran d'Ache Ecridor (M) behaves moody with Cacao, I might try with Moonstone!

 

Agree on Edelstein "copy-paste" marketing comments...

[Carrau]

Thank you for the review, Vis. It is am interesting ink, reminding me of a more saturated Kyoto Kyo iro Stone Road of Gion. It would be interesting to see a comparison with those two, Cacao de Brasil, and Pelikan Smoky Quartz if anyone is fortunate enough to have that collection.

[NicolausPiscator]

As orange the inks which have an indecisive colour between grey and brown seem to be en vogue. I would not associate it with moonstone, however... Thank you, dear visvamitra, for your review!

[visvamitra]

Moonstone

Cacao du Bresil

Smoky Quartz

Stone Road of Gion

Sepia - Rohrer & Klingner

[Carrau]

Wow!!! Thanks for that comparison-impressive, as always. The greyness of Moonstone and Sepia are well demonstrated when compared to the others.

[NicolausPiscator]

Jup! Thanks for the comparison! ... Once more: Ink comparisons are instructive!

[namrehsnoom]

Great review that presents the ink perfectly. Really interesting colour - looks a brown-grey to me. I like it when inks walk the line between different colours, and Moonstone pulls this off very nicely.

[amberleadavis]

Vis, keep up the good work.

[Carrau]

By the way, Vis, clever choice of background in your photos. With the shading demonstrated in your written samples, one could have called this ink Split Rail Fence(weathered appearance of wood between brown and grey).

[jmccarty3]

Fantastic review by Vis as usual. Anyone have any idea why there is such a disparity in pH between these inks? Some are pretty acidic, while most are moderately alkaline.

Edited June 27, 2017 by jmccarty3

[D3N2]

Nice color!

 

 

Fantastic review by Vis as usual. Anyone have any idea why there is such a disparity in pH between these inks? Some are pretty acidic, while most are moderately alkaline.

 

 

I was wondering about this as well. And do other ink brands have similar ink-pH trends? Although I haven't looked into it, I would assume not. Would it be not problematic if inks of wildly different pH's are mixed together?

[Honeybadgers]

I can't tell - is this a more sepia tinted grey? I'm REALLY looking for one of those.

[rudyhou]

i'm liking this color tone of brownish-grey. good for everyday formal writing.

[DrDebG]

Wonderful review and great comparisons. I will add it to my list.