If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that the colour of fountain pen ink that sells more than any other would probably be blue and on the spectrum of blue inks it would be inks such as Royal Blue.
A true go anywhere ink, you can take a pen loaded with Royal Blue or similar pretty much anywhere and no one will bat an eyelid; it is a truly universal ink.
Back in the mists of time when I was at school pupils still used fountain pens and pretty much everyone used Royal Blue or something not to dissimilar and so it has continued into adult life; no matter where in the collection you look, you’ll find a bottle of mid-blue ink be it Waterman, Pilot, Montblanc there is always a bottle of blue ink to hand. And this led me to, between lockdowns, drop into Selfridges and before I knew what had happened, I was leaving with the discreet Montblanc bag containing a bottle of Royal Blue.
One lockdown later I opened the bottle and started to write.
Royal Blue is a wonderful mid-blue that has some purple undertones which showed up on the swab test but once I built up the layers on the stripe test it turned into a much deeper blue.
The drying test was impressive it dried at room temperature in around 15 seconds; I smudged the 30 second marker!
For the writing test I broke out my dip pen, dipped it and started to write. Royal Blue is a nicely saturated ink that puts down a very even colour when writing text and because it a well-balanced ink it is a pleasure to write with; not too wet nor too dry just what you need from an everyday go anywhere ink.
This ink is very easy to recommend. The colour is good, it flows well, and it comes in one the Montblanc inkwell bottles and at around £20.00GBP for 60ml it’s not bad value. Overall, this is an ink to add to your collection; so next time you’re near somewhere that sells Montblanc drop in and try it out and if you like it treat yourself.
Disclaimer: The ink was purchased with my own funds at retail price. The opinions expressed in this review are my own; and I am not connected with either the retailers or manufacturers in any way.
The Indian Marmalade Company 