Montblanc Antoine De Sainte-Exupéry Encre Du Desert

[visvamitra]

I believe Montblanc company doesn't need introduction here. Each year Montblanc offers few LE inks. Their evil-minded marketing team creates interesting colors that soon become unavailable. Not all of them are great but almost all of LE ink become sought after after they're gone and are sold for outrageous prices.

Personally I have mixed feelings about idea of LE inks but I enjoy some of them a lot. Some Montblanc LE red inks were great (Winter Glow can easily concur with Maruzen Nihombashi Akane; it's not the same and but still amazing). Newest one is quite nice.

I have to confess I never liked Antoine de Saint-Exupéry books. Even as a child. When an ink dedicated to him was announced I wasn't impressed. On the other hand I wanted to try new Montblanc bottle. Finally I got the ink. The bottle is nice, the packaging is great. Price not so much. Montblanc changed volume of their inks and made a bold move: while increasing ink volume by 66,7 % they increased the price by 37 % (price per 1 ml - prices from La Couronne du Comte). I can't say I'm thrilled by MB move.

Encre du Desert behaves well. It has good flow, with no feathering or bleedthrough. It’s quite saturated ink. Dry times vary depending on the paper, but can reach even 25-30 seconds on some papers. Shading is moderate and clean up is easy and fast. While this isn’t waterproof, it was easy to read the writing ever after the water test.

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

Software ID

Color range

Tomoe River, Caran d'Ache 849, medium nib

Leuchtturm 1917, Caran d'Ache 849, medium nib

Rhodia, Caran d'Ache 849, medium nib

Maruman, Lamy Al-Star, broad nib

Mini-Comparison on Tomoe River paper

Water resistance

[hsianloon]

Thanks for the review, like the detail you put into them.

 

Don't think this is an ink I'll go for, its an unremarkable colour with no characteristics we can't find in other cheaper colours

[lgsoltek]

Oh that Liquid Words, I want...

[NicolausPiscator]

After some hesitation I purchased this ink - first I didn't want because the reviews didn't thrill me and neither did the price but when I received some letters written with it I changed my mind. Now I tested it for one week and I have to say and to admit that it is indeed a unique colour. Unique in the sense of uniqueness of Montblanc Defoe. It is what I call an undecided colour: red, brown oder purple?! It is not my favorite colour but it established a new colour location in my colour topography.

[NicolausPiscator]

... And of course! Thank you for your review, dear visvamitra!

[white_lotus]

In the US, the new 50ml inks are going for $39, while the older 30 ml LE inks were $19. The standard 60 ml inks are $21.50. More than doubling the price of something just because you make it LE isn't going to get me to buy it.

 

So even if it's a great ink, I'll pass on the MB LE inks.

[lapis]

Thanks for the good review. Speaking of deserts (a specialty of Exupéry's sights from his plane), this colour still doesn't really remind me of the deserts I've seen (notably looking over the mountains to the west of Elat) although I really love the red itself. A giant feat considering that reds seem to be one of the colour favourites of MB's inks.

[Barkingpig]

I suspect this will be the first & perhaps the last of the MB LE inks I purchase. I admit I was excited about the association of the author with this ink & a "not quite THIS & not quite THAT" color intrigued me. But I have enjoyed the ink & found it quite different when left in a pen for awhile; it darkens considerably & has a bit of sheen that I was pleased to discover. I tried it in both a fine nibbed pen after reading a review from a user that mentioned it looked different, with different nib choices. My favored choice is a broad nib I first filled; it is an Astoria Yard o Led, which has an acrylic body that is unusual & complements the ink choice. Because it is a slip cap I find myself reaching for it & enjoying the ink more than I did when first filled.

[cattar]

visvamitra wrote <...I have to confess I never liked Antoine de Saint-Exupery books...>

I gasped aloud at this. My tattered copies of Le Petit Prince and of Wind, Sand and Stars sit next to my inks.
But I admire your ink and pen reviews. As with pens and inks, it's all right if we have different book preferences. So I continued reading the review.

 

Nice that the ink is water resistant.

Like barkingpig, I'd been intrigued by comments that this ink is not quite this color or that color.

Would have preferred the ink range darker or more brown.

[mulrich]

I really like this one. For those interested in cheaper alternatives I find it similar to KWZ Brown Pink and Diamine Syrrah. If I could figure out my scanner I'd post a picture. The three aren't identical but I'd say they're from a similar color family.

[Ghost Plane]

I really like this one. For those interested in cheaper alternatives I find it similar to KWZ Brown Pink and Diamine Syrrah. If I could figure out my scanner I'd post a picture. The three aren't identical but I'd say they're from a similar color family.

 

Now THAT is useful as I have the KWZ Brown-Pink and adore it.

[Cyber6]

Vis.... in North America the price was increased more than double. from $19 to $39.

 

 

C.

 

 

 

The bottle is nice, the packaging is great. Price not so much. Montblanc changed volume of their inks and made a bold move: while increasing ink volume by 66,7 % they increased the price by 37 % (price per 1 ml - prices from La Couronne du Comte). I can't say I'm thrilled by MB move.

[crahptacular]

I believe he was talking about price per milliliter of ink, rather than price of the bottle, to account for the difference in size (30mL vs 50mL). So even though it might seem reasonable to pay more for more ink, the price increased proportionally more than did the volume of ink.

 

For North American prices:

New: $39/50mL = $0.78/mL

Old: $19/30mL = $0.63/mL

(which is an increase of $0.15/mL)

 

So in terms of price per mL,the cost has gone up roughly 24% for North Americans. The same calculations using the prices from La Couronne du Comte for the European market shows a 37% increase in price per mL, as Vis stated.

 

 

edit: mixed up the "old" and "new" labels

Edited September 18, 2017 by crahptacular

[visvamitra]

Yes, that's exactly it

[mulrich]

Now THAT is useful as I have the KWZ Brown-Pink and adore it.

I just looked back at my writing using the two and Brown-pink seems like a darker version of Exupery. I'll try to post a picture this afternoon.

[Cyber6]

I just looked back at my writing using the two and Brown-pink seems like a darker version of Exupery. I'll try to post a picture this afternoon.

 

 

That;s good news... Although... in my wet OBB pen... St. Exupery shows VERY dark...

[namrehsnoom]

Interesting colour, I like it. Thanks for sharing.

[ca49reber]

Love, Love, Love this ink. I have 2 bottles of it & am thinking of buying 2 more. I have it in a Pelikan M600 red stiped XF & they are great together. Thank you for the review.

[amberleadavis]

I liked the ink, but then, I really liked my vintage MB Burgundy and really, they are almost indistinguishable. I won't be acquiring this ink at this price. Thank you, Vis, for another wonderful review.

[haruka337]

Oh that Liquid Words, I want...

Ditto.

 

In the process of sourcing it!