(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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