Gratitude by Monteverde

Posted October 19, 2022 by bethwyrm in Fountain Pens / 0 Comments

The above photo was taken in direct sunlight. Ink is swatched on Clairefontaine 90gsm paper, using a glass dip pen.

Specs

Name: Gratitude

Maker: Monteverde

Color Family: Purple

Properties: Shading

Purchased at: Atlas Stationers

What’s in a name?

Part of the Emotions collection, this magenta is meant to represent emotional balance, helping to create harmony, happiness, and gratitude in every aspect of daily life- whether it’s physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. When in the company of magenta, most people feel optimistic, content, and appreciative of what they have acquired and achieved in life.

purple dog paw prints against a light grey background run horizontally left to right; the right side has an illustrated ink bottle spilled on its side

Swatches

A large swatch of ink showcases the darkest this ink gets, as well as the maximum properties it has (when held at the right angle to show any shimmer or sheen). But what about when you’re writing a letter or notes with it?

Magenta always confuses my eyes, because it reads close to pink than purple, to me. This one is like a slightly dragonfruit purple. Is that gratitude? Hrm.
The shading is a bit on the subtle side, but you can see it above in the ‘k’ in ‘deadlock’ and the ‘o’ in ‘or’ (as well as other words).

The above was written on Clairefontaine 90gsm paper, using a Diplomat Magnum fountain pen with a Medium nib.

Of course, for maximum effect you want to see it in light and in motion. The following video shows the ink swatched on Skylab Letterpress 160gsm cards

purple dog paw prints against a light grey background run horizontally left to right; the right side has an illustrated ink bottle spilled on its side

Thoughts

As with all Monteverde inks, this has their ink treatment formula (ITF) that essentially lubricates the ink, helping prevent clogs in the feed. It makes the ink write very wetly- not messily, but absolutely no pressure or fiddly positioning of the pen is needed while writing with this ink. The ink just….slides out like warm butter.

Hue-wise, this is a mid-tone magenta, in between pink and purple. It theoretically has a low gold sheen, but I haven’t seen that on my writing sample or swatches, including swatching this ink in the store during my trip to Chicago in May. Lack of sheening aside, I expect the shading will be evident with any size of nib and the hue isn’t eye-bleeding bright so it would work well with a variety of environments and uses. In a lovely coincidence, my junior year prom dress was almost exactly this shade of purple.

*All pics and vid were taken using a Google Pixel 4a and color-adjusted to best reflect the hue of that ink.

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