Montblanc Manganese Orange was released in 2019, in conjunction with the Montblanc Pix Orange Ballpoint. Wait, a fountain pen ink was launched to mark the release of a ballpoint? I can’t find a similar fountain pen to match, so yeah, maybe so?
Or, more likely, it is my excuse to understand how an orange ink fan like myself missed a bright orange ink release by a major company. Yeah, the ballpoint threw me off. That’s what it was!
In reality, there are a lot of products launched every year, and with Montblanc Lucky Orange released two years prior, a new, similar looking orange from the company with the snowcap flew under my radar. It took a spin around the Atlanta Pen Show a month ago to run across a bottle of this ink stacked on the Dromgoole’s ink shelf. A quick look at how bright it was, and it was an easy purchase.
The main question I had about Manganese, aside from how I missed it, is how different it is than Lucky Orange. Given Montblanc’s repeated reissuing, repackaging, and renaming of existing ink formulas, that’s right where my mind went. Is this Lucky Orange in a new box?
Cotton swabs on Kokuyo A5 Business Paper. Manganese is lighter than the three other inks, but isn’t a yellow-orange like Sailor Apricot, or similar.
I was assured it wasn’t, and that turned out to be the case. Lucky Orange is a nice, bright orange. Manganese is a nice, BRIGHT, orange. There is a visible difference to junkies like me, but is there enough of a difference to separate it from an already saturated orange ink contingency?
Once I inked it up, I was instantly drawn to it. It leans towards that searing, almost neon orange look that I see in Akkerman #16 Oranje Boven. It’s bright, that’s for sure. And usable, too. On the page, it does tone down the nuclear glow that I was seeing at first, simply making it a standout color.
Dry ink makes for fast dry times. Good color, only minor shading, if any.
But I’m not sure you need it if you already have something close. Montblanc Inks are some of the best on the market and fairly priced to boot. This bottle is $26 for 60 ml, with Lucky Orange, when originally available, priced at $19 for 30 ml. The beautiful 60 ml Akkerman bottle is slightly more at $30.
All of this is to say that I like Manganese Orange, and would recommend it if you don’t have something in this range. If you already have a similar orange, I’m not sure it is a difference maker.
Notes on the pen, nib, and paper used in this review: I bought my Franklin-Christoph Model 46 in Olivae at the Atlanta Pen Show as well. It is fitted with a black-plated steel EF nib with a SIG grind done by the Nib Doctor Audrey Matteson. This is a near-perfect nib setup for my writing style, and it will be in heavy rotation.
The two notebooks are the Yoseka Notebook for the line art, and The Paper Mind for writing and ink samples.
(I purchased this ink from Dromgoole’s at the 2022 Atlanta Pen Show.)
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