Monteverde Horizon Blue

[jj9ball]

I just went on a bit of a ink binge. I ordered 12 bottles and 6 samples of ink. Is that normal? I sorta feel like I have a problem. I wanted to review this Monteverde Horizon Blue really quick. I fell in love with this color. I am a big fan of Amber's Inkyman Sapphire recipe she posted a while back. I can't ever get my hands on any Penman Sapphire so I needed a substitute. This color might be it. From what I can tell it is a pretty close shade of blue. I tested this on both HP 32 pound paper and good ole 20 pound copy paper. It behaved really well on both sheets. I also wrote quite a bit on some Tomoe River 68 gsm paper and my Rhodia dotpad. The ink only feathered slightly on the copy paper. The rest of the samples it was really well behaved. It has a decent drytime and good lubricating properties. Of particular importance for me was the bottle. I took a picture so you could see. The mouth of the bottle is nice and wide. This is very important to me because I have several pens I made myself with 15mm sections that won't fit inside some bottles of ink. I think the pictures should explain the rest. I would love to hear what everybody thinks. Oh, and one final note, this ink is supposed to have Monteverde's ITF technology. I don't want to poop on them too much but marketing plows like that drive me nuts. Its ink, and a very pretty color at that. Its well behaved and I enjoyed it, but at no point and time will I admit that it has some "technology" that sets it apart from every other ink I have ever used. It drives me nuts when companies fall into the hyperbole trap just to sell their products. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. I hope you like the review.

Monteverde Horizon Blue 1.pdf

Monteverde Horizon Blue 2.pdf

[OCArt]

Thank you for the review, this is a very nice ink!

[lapis]

Thanks from me too. I love this ink, and maybe it's even "better" than PPS (all things considered). I have a couple (okay, dozens) of other pure blues, including DCW's substitutes, but this is the one I'd go for and recommend if it had to be only one (1) true blue.

 

Whew

[farazqamar]

thank you for the review. i love this blue as well. nicely behaved ink.

[The Good Captain]

I'm using the Conklin labelled version - same stuff - and it's a great ink. Currently in an M200F.

[DonM]

Actually, I found my bottle to be a rather dry ink. Gave me some flow issues in my Pilot 742. The color wasn't as close to Penman Sapphire as Diamine Blue Velvet, as least to my eyes, so I'll stick with that.

[TSherbs]

I like this ink, too. And their Capri Blue!

[displacermoose]

I like this ink, too. And their Capri Blue!

+1 for each. I was surprised by how much I like Capri blue.

[Honeybadgers]

Why monteverde makes such garbage pens but also makes some of the best inks on the market is beyond me. They're a crazy good value, the saturation is always just right, Never too wet or dry, they have spectacular depth, very good manners, the bottle design is good (not the best but perfectly adequate) and the lubrication is solid.

 

I love horizon blue, olivine, emerald green and fireopal so much. I used an entire bottle of fireopal in 6 months 2 years ago. It's my "okay it's officially autumn" ink.

 

Come to think of it, horizon blue is my summer monteverde color, emerald green is the spring, fireopal is the summer, and olivine is the winter. I legit have a monteverde color that I use every single season.

Edited August 4, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[twin63]

Horizon Blue is my favorite ink, period. I'm using it exclusively in my daily writers/work pens. I always preface ink comments with "I'm not very adventurous when it comes to inks", but I have really enjoyed a few recent purchases - California Teal, Copper Noir and a sample of Napa Burgundy. I'm looking forward to trying more of Monteverde's inks.

[DrDebG]

Thank you for the review! I am just about to order a bottle. I did a mystery ink challenge on another pen forum. Everyone involved in the challenged loved the mystery ink with some thinking that it was Penman Sapphire. The ink turned out to be Horizon Blue.

[jj9ball]

Thank you for the review, this is a very nice ink!

 

 

Thanks from me too. I love this ink, and maybe it's even "better" than PPS (all things considered). I have a couple (okay, dozens) of other pure blues, including DCW's substitutes, but this is the one I'd go for and recommend if it had to be only one (1) true blue.

 

Whew

 

 

thank you for the review. i love this blue as well. nicely behaved ink.

 

 

Thank you for the review! I am just about to order a bottle. I did a mystery ink challenge on another pen forum. Everyone involved in the challenged loved the mystery ink with some thinking that it was Penman Sapphire. The ink turned out to be Horizon Blue.

No problem. It was a fun ink to review. I wish someone would give me some penman sapphire so I could do a comparison .

[DrDebG]

 

 

 

 

 

 

No problem. It was a fun ink to review. I wish someone would give me some penman sapphire so I could do a comparison .

 

Alas, I would love to send you some, but a couple of years ago I was so incredibly fortunate to be given one cartridge by a fellow FPNer. Those that have it, hold on to it pretty tightly.

[dan in montreal]

I have this in the 30 ml bottle and mine looks a little lighter that your writing sample. Maybe it's my monitor. I'm usually not a fan of true-blue inks (I've always been fond of blue-blacks), but this one I like a lot. The flow is great, it's well lubricated and I've used it in a variety of pens with joy, from a fine nibbed Pilot Custom 74 to a oblique nibbed Sonnet and it's very nice stuff indeed. I've also been using California Teal, Ruby Red, Mandarin Orange and Red Velvet. I'm a happy camper. They've done a good job with the lineup. All have been well behaved and fun to use.

BTW, the 30ml bottles also have a wide enough opening to accomodade large nibs and sections. More than 2.5 cm in diameter.

Thank you for the review.

[MissCellany]

Good heavens, I am in love with this color! And the water resistance looks solid, too! Now I have to choose between this and Pilot Blue as my one "everyday water-resistant blue".

[inkstainedruth]

I really need to get a full bottle of Horizon Blue at some point. It is a really nice color. But at the same time I have so many similarly-hued blues there's no rush (I'm a big fan of KWZI Chicago Blue LE from a couple of years ago, and also Birmingham Ink Smithfield Street Truss Blue (I really need to get a full bottle of THAT as well...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Gloucesterman]

Been using Diamine Sapphire Blue for a while and really like it. Based on what I see in your review

 

I just got a 30ml bottle to test out soon.

 

So many inks, so many pens, so little time!!!

[welch]

I find that MV HB is so close to Parker Penman Sapphire that I cannot tell them apart.

 

MV's ITF is supposed to do what Parker's wonderful Solv-X did, although it does not have the ink-and-only-ink smell of Solv-X. No idea if it really cleans a pen as it writes, or if it could have saved precious rubber sacs during WW2, but the MV inks I use -- MVHB, Sapphire, and Ocean Noir -- flow well and behave themselves.

[Twister292]

This is my favourite blue. Just pure vivid blue, not teal, turquoise or blurple.

 

ITF is just probably a marketing name for a mixture of lubricants, biocides and surfactants.

[Flaxmoore]

I've run through three bottles of the stuff, and there is but one problem with it- or a benefit, depending on perspective.

 

It has zero water resistance. Washes out of clothing or off decent paper without so much as a trace.

 

It's in my top three for solid blues- Diamine Sapphire, Parker Blue, Monteverde Horizon.