Montegrappa Violet Ink is Italian imported ink from the well-regarded Montegrappa Pen Company. Montegrappa’s focus, like many pen manufacturers, is their fine writing instruments and has produced some wonderful pens. However, their ink line should not be overlooked. Montegrappa inks, which only come in 8 colors: black, dark black, coffee, fuchsia, green, red, turquoise and violet have some wonderful characteristics. Montegrappa Violet ink is one of these exceptional inks. It is a true deep purple color with no red, plumb or burgundy feel to this purple at all. Its not as vibrant as the bright Visconti purple ink or a muted soft purple, but is a true nice shade of purple. Purple ink has been super popular the last few years with pen enthusiasts, and Montegrappa Violet ink will not disappoint those who love this color.

Continuing reading for a chance to win the bottle of Montegrappa Violet Ink we used for this review.

Montegrappa Violet Ink

We noticed the following characteristics while testing Montegrappa Violet ink:

Testing Factors

For this review, we used a J. Hergin glass spiral dip pen on Rhodia Bloc paper. The glass dip pen has a tip equivalent to a fine nib.

Bottle Sizes

Montegrappa Violet ink comes in Montegrappa’s signature octagonal glass 50 ml. glass bottle. Although the bottle, labeling and box is identical for all 8 colors of ink, with a small label indicating which color is inside, the bottle is unique. The cap has an easy grip design with a silver “1912” finial on the top of the lid, making this bottle very elegant. The packaging is some of the most protective in the industry, where the ink bottle doesn’t touch the sides of the box and is internally wrapped in foam paper.

Cost

Montegrappa Violet ink retails for $20.00. This makes Montegrappa ink a mid range ink, but the color, bottle and ink traits make the price worth it and inline with other imported inks such as Visconti and Delta.

Dry Time

The dry time we experienced using Montegrappa Violet ink was a fast 2-3 seconds, while it may be even quicker at the 1-2 second mark using a fine nib. This is a quick dry time and allows this great color to be used as an everyday ink.

Bleed Through

Using Rhodia bloc paper and the fine tip glass dip pen, we experienced some slight bleeding with Montegrappa Violet ink. To note, when using the cotton swab at its wettest point, some bleeding was noticed. Although there was some bleeding, it is acceptable even if using both sides the paper as it is not extreme.

Feathering

We did not experience any feathering using Montegrappa Violet ink. Even under a microscope, there was not any real perceptible feathering. The lines are crisp and clean.

Water Test

During our cotton swab water test, where we run a wet swab over a Montegrappa Violet ink sample and the ink held up really well. There was no additional feathering or bleeding and just slight color smear. Although Montegrappa Violet ink is not waterproof we would consider it to be water resistant.

Shading

Some shading was noticed using Montegrappa Violet ink but with the a fine tip dip pen it was not real noticeable.

Conclusion about the Montegrappa Violet Ink

Overall, nice true purple color, excellent dry time, holds up well to water for a non-waterproof ink and is a reasonable value with an above-average ink bottle. For these reasons we would recommend picking up a bottle of Montegrappa Violet ink. It is a good option for an everyday ink, in the office or letter/journal writing, as long as you test it first on the paper being used for the level of bleeding you might experience.

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