Montegrappa Saffron Fountain Pen Ink Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Montegrappa Saffron is a lovely yellow ink from the Italian luxury brand that is more known for their unique and bold writing instrument designs. While the name would have you believe this is a dark red or maroon ink like the spice it shares a name with, it's actually a golden yellow color.

Despite the misnomer, this ink is a beautiful color that behaves well. This is the first ink I've ever tried from Montegrappa, and I haven't heard a lot in the past about their ink offerings, so I really didn't have any expectations. Luckily, I've had a really great experience with Saffron. The ink flows well, resists bleeding and feathering, and dies relatively quickly. While it flows well and keeps up with fast writing, it does feel a little dry when writing. I doubt this is something that you'll experience in every case as each nib/feed accounts for a lot of the writing feel.

Along with the crisp lines that this ink produces, it also has some mild shading effects. The ink is just a tad more golden yellow in areas where the ink pools when drying. Most of the ink strokes are a medium yellow, but the darker areas make it look more interesting as well as making text easier to read. This ink has just enough saturation and depth to stay bright and vivid, but still easy to read on white paper.

Writing with this type of color isn't something I do regularly, but I definitely prefer that the yellow color be dark enough that it's easy to read while also still looking cheery and yellow instead of light red or brown. It's a tough line to walk, but Montegrappa have done a good job here.

Another positive thing regarding this ink is the dry time. In my testing, it was smudge-proof by about 15 seconds. Not bad! It might not be fast enough for some cases, but it's pretty quick when comparing it to the majority of fountain pen inks.

Just shy of $19 for a 50ml bottle, this is a fairly average ink price. There are plenty that average lower and higher, but this price feels fair for the performance and amount you get. By all means, if the color speaks to you, you won't regret picking up a bottle of Saffron. It's a great performer and adds joy and brightness to any page!

(Pen Chalet provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Montegrappa Elmo Fantasy Blooms Blue Cross Gentian Fountain Pen Review

The Montegrappa Elmo is one of “those” pens. No, not the ones with the interminably long names, but rather, one of the ones that lands in the $150-$200 price range that I have been discussing so much recently.

While the Montegrappa Elmo Fantasy Blooms Blue Cross Gentian Fountain Pen might be the new product name length record holder, it’s also a heck of a good pen.

I’ve had my Elmo inked up and in use for several weeks to get a good feel for it, and I’m having a hard time coming up with a narrative thread to weave in this review. That’s a good thing, because that means that it just works. It looks great, feels great, and writes as well as any other out of the box experience I’ve had.

The standout feature of the Fantasy Blooms series is the materials used. I chose the vivid Blue Cross Gentian - named after a plant with vibrant blue flowers - but Iris Yellow and Black Star Calla Lilly are equally as bright and fun.

Based on the product images, I thought the Blue Cross Gentian would have more purple in it, but there are only a few swirls present. I noticed that Ana’s was almost identical to mine. I’m good with that because of how unique this material is. It’s more of an overhead shot of the Caribbean Sea, with the Mariana Trench added in for good measure. It’s a great look.

The Montegrappa Elmo has a great feel too. This model was first introduced in the early 1900’s, and enjoyed a long run as one of Montegrappa’s most popular every day writing instruments. The Elmo made its way back into the lineup in 2019 with a basic black barrel, but the standout of the return are certainly these Fantasy Bloom editions.

If there is one particular thing to consider when purchasing this pen it’s that the section is not overly long, so the back side of your fingers on the grip will rest on the barrel transition. That part of the pen is metal, but it is rounded and smooth. I have a low grip on most pens so it is a non-issue for me, but it is something to think about if you grip the pen higher on the section.

The steel Extra Fine nib in my Elmo, manufactured by Jowo, was wonderful out the box, and continues to be great the more I write with it. It’s firm, and surprisingly wet for a steel EF. I inked up this pen with Kobe NOLTY 70th Anniversary Blue, so it could be the ink that is responsible for this wonderful flow. Whatever it is, I’ll take it.

And I’ll take the Montegrappa Elmo, now, and in the future. At $200, it bumps right up against the ceiling of my new favorite price point, but this is a new realm for Montegrappa. I was a fan of the brand already, but if they continue to dedicate catalog space in this price point there will be more Montegrappa pens in my future.

(I purchased this pen at a discount from Vanness Pens.)

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Montegrappa Mia Limited Edition Sea at Dusk Fountain Pen with 1.1mm Stub: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Montegrappa is one fountain pen brand I’ve never tried. I was poking around on the Casa della Stilografica website one day and came across a striking blue pen. It was a deep blue with turquoise swirls. I was entranced.

Anyone who knows me understands that I have a crazy thing for blue pens. So, despite the rather steep price (€ 569) and the fact that I had no prior experience with Montegrappa, the Mia Sea at Dusk fountain pen stole my heart.

The pen arrived from Italy in a sage green outer box and an engraved wooden inner box with a hinged lid. I must say, Montegrappa did a great job packaging this limited edition pen.

In person, the pen is, simply put, spectacular. The resin looks like brush strokes in rich oil paint.

With solid silver furnishings, this pen has substance and class. The top finial is engraved with the Montegrappa logo. The clip tapers to a roller-ball tip for easy attachment to pockets or papers.

The cap band is engraved with “Montegrappa” on the front and “2020 Italy” on the back.

The barrel threads are also made of silver, which is a special touch, and there are silver rings at the end of the grip and around the piston knob.

You’ll find the limited edition number engraved on the bottom finial.

The Mia is a large pen (but not over-sized). It measures 137mm capped, 125mm uncapped, and 157mm posted. It is heavy, however, because of all the metal furnishings. It weighs 31.6g uncapped and 43g posted. The grip tapers. At its narrowest, it is 10.1mm and at its widest it is 12mm.

The 18k rhodium-plated nib is engraved with the Montegrappa logo, the name Montegrappa, and the gold content. There’s no scroll work to complicate the simplicity of the nib design.

I purchased my Mia with a 1.1mm stub nib. When it arrived, I noticed that the pen was writing poorly--hard starts, scratchy, skipping. I took macro photos of the nib and discovered the tines were misaligned.

But Casa della Stilografica and Montegrappa took care of the problem gracefully. I had to ship the pen back to Italy, but the nib was repaired and returned speedily. Now those tines are perfect.

The 1.1mm stub writes beautifully. It offers a thick line with enough sharpness that it could be called a semi-italic nib. The ebonite feed provides plenty of ink for a smooth, wet writing experience.

I will say this pen blows through ink very quickly, but it’s easy to refill with the piston system. This is one aspect of Montegrappa that is different from my experience with other piston fillers. The Mia piston makes a ratcheting sound the entire time you turn it. That freaked me out a tiny bit the first time I rinsed out the pen. But now it just sounds kind of cool. One thing to note: the piston knob is a little loose and jiggles if you shake the pen (don’t shake the pen!). That said, I haven’t noticed any sound coming from the knob during normal use.

I am quite impressed with my first Montegrappa. This is one solidly built pen. I love its heft, the feel of the pen in my hand, the silver accoutrements, and the (now) fantastic stub nib. I find myself gazing at the beautiful resin and enjoying its depth and painterly qualities.

The Montegrappa Mia Limited Edition comes in two colors: Sea at Dusk and Chrysocolla (turquoise). 120 pieces were made in each color. I bought mine from Casa della Stilografica, but I’m not sure if they have any more in stock.

(I purchased the Montegrappa Mia Sea at Dusk from Casa della Stilografica with my own funds.)

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Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!