Really like the review and quality camerawork. I wonder if Montblanc ink would have performed better in this notebook? Do you have any to test? I think Montblanc would have designed their notebook to perform well with their own pens and inks, and I find Montblanc ink, in general, is surprisingly well behaved.
Thanks for the comment J J! I am a big fan of Montblanc inks, like you, I find them very well behaved and I have used them with this notebook (Irish Green and Burgundy Red specifically) and unfortunately the performance is no better.
I recently bought a Montblanc #149 notebook, which uses thicker (100gsm) paper and has bigger size (roughly a4). Out of all the fountain pens I have used, the bleed through are definitely reduced but sadly I also found quite a lot feathering when using almost all gel pens which is very disappointing and I honestly think a Midori notebook plus a normal leather cover > the Montblanc notebook😢 but they are almost equal in prices.
I agree with you. The Midori paper is much better for fountain pens. I think if enough customers were to complain about the paper they might try and fix it but these notebooks have been out for years now and my guess is that the majority of their customers don't use fountain pens.
Thanks for this one. I love the brand and always ‘eye up’ the 146 notebooks, however that price always gets me 😂 a true Montblanc price for sure. Then that paper quality is just not up to the brand I don’t think. I love the watermark, the brand, the notebook, but that paper is just 😕 Thx Blake 👍🏻🙂
GREAT REVIEW!!!! I revisited my Montblanc Miles Davis Notebook (and Miles Davis pen). I use the Montblanc Irish green ink in my Miles Davis pen. I've written on a couple of pages and did not see any feathering. There was some ghosting, but it's tolerable. I never noticed the watermark until your review. I now see it and noticed it is in random spots on every page. I agree with your concluding remarks about the notebook. Because it does not lie flat, I don't use it much. An elastic band to keep it closed woudl be a nice improvement. The paper could be better; it is only passible. The corners of the page could be rounded. But on the other hand I love the silver gilding, the generous bookmark, the leather cover and the stitched binding. As you said the quality of the notebook is very high (except for the paper). And by the way I paid $50 for the notebook at a Montblanc boutique. Considering the quality and the brand, I thought it was a fair price.
Glad to see one of these in action as I’d never buy one. The montblanc name isn’t enough to get me to pay that much for a notebook when there are so many other more affordable options. 85 gsm doesn’t get it done for fountain pens in my opinion. Totally not worth it. Thank you for this review.
You are welcome! The paper that Montblanc chose isn't great with fountain pens but I think the poorer performance has more to do with the type of paper they chose rather than the weight.
Hi Gino, I will admit that the paper performance was disappointing. Being a Montblanc product, I expected the paper to be more fountain pen friendly. I need to experiment with some other leather softcover notebooks...there has to be a good one out there for a reasonable enough price. The equivalent size from Smythson with their excellent Featherweight paper is an outrageous $245.
@@BlakesBroadcast Odd, i have a 146 notebook from the little prince collection, it had no problem with my BB pen, maybe some show through since it had a dark ink but absolutely no feathering, but to be honest my perfect notebook would be something akin to these Montblanc leather covers but with tomoe river paper.
@@jsolares Perhaps there is some variation in paper in the Montblanc notebooks. The one I reviewed is my first one, so I don't have a large sample size to reference. One of these with Tomoe River would be awesome!
I bought it a year ago and only used it once. In my opinion the paper is honestly rubbish and I wish I never bought it lol. Clairefontaine paper way better :(
Hi Chris, I have not heard of Soumkine before. Thank you for bringing this brand to my attention! Their notebooks look well made and I like the style. I've added them to my notebook list and will try to purchase one of the regular wood pulp ones. I've emailed them to find out what paper they are using in the 100 Euro cotton paper notebooks. It sounds like it is made by Fabriano. If they are using their Secolo XIII paper I might have to splurge.
I can get a Tomoe River notebook with twice as many pages for about half the price. And while it's a matter of taste, I can get a full grain leather cover for less money, and it will fit every A5 notebook I have. You're paying half the money just for the little Montblanc emblem on the cover. "Luxury" too often means paying three times what something is worth, just so those who see you using it/driving it, etc., will think you're worldly, rich, and sophisticated. This is why I hate the Montblanc logo. I don't mind paying twelve thousand dollars for a pen, or a hundred dollars for a notebook, or even a hundred dollars for a bottle of ink. I do mind not getting my money's worth. I expect more for my money, not less. I get this wiuth Namiki Maki-e and Chinkin pens, and with some Sailor Maki-e pens. I don't feel like I come anywhere close to getting it with anything from Montblanc, including the notebooks.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment James! I do wish this Montblanc notebook performed better. Montblanc used to make a notebook with a removable leather cover and as I recall the paper performance was better. Can you elaborate on what you mean by "getting my money's worth"? Do you mean how much it costs to make vs how much you pay? Like something with a small margin?
I just tried the 146 notebook with red lip theme, it felt so hard to write on , and I’m using a Mont Blanc pix . It feels the ink is going to run out , but the refill is just new. Now I regret a lot😭
Hi David, I am sorry to hear that you don't like your 146 notebook. Are you used to writing on smoother paper? What made it hard to write on? If you switch to a different paper is your Pix writing normally?
@@BlakesBroadcast yup and idunno, you know the ink in that refill is liquid, so sometimes the ink doesn’t come out . Lol it’s really hard to describe 😂 but I tried a gel pen on the 146 notebook another day , same issue happened again. Anyway thanks a lot to your concerning
Hi JJ, I have a review coming in about month. Is it worth the price? I can't answer that for you. It is a luxury product and at $75 it comes with a price to match. I try to always get mine on sale and even then they are very expensive to me. What I can say for certain is that the quality of the paper, the materials, and the construction is very high. I am not aware of a notebook that is comparable to the Smythson Panama.
Hi Ingrid, unfortunately the cover is not reusable. Montblanc does make notebook covers and notebook folios but they are quite expensive (around $500+).
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Really like the review and quality camerawork. I wonder if Montblanc ink would have performed better in this notebook? Do you have any to test? I think Montblanc would have designed their notebook to perform well with their own pens and inks, and I find Montblanc ink, in general, is surprisingly well behaved.
Thanks for the comment J J! I am a big fan of Montblanc inks, like you, I find them very well behaved and I have used them with this notebook (Irish Green and Burgundy Red specifically) and unfortunately the performance is no better.
I recently bought a Montblanc #149 notebook, which uses thicker (100gsm) paper and has bigger size (roughly a4). Out of all the fountain pens I have used, the bleed through are definitely reduced but sadly I also found quite a lot feathering when using almost all gel pens which is very disappointing and I honestly think a Midori notebook plus a normal leather cover > the Montblanc notebook😢 but they are almost equal in prices.
I agree with you. The Midori paper is much better for fountain pens. I think if enough customers were to complain about the paper they might try and fix it but these notebooks have been out for years now and my guess is that the majority of their customers don't use fountain pens.
Thanks for this one. I love the brand and always ‘eye up’ the 146 notebooks, however that price always gets me 😂 a true Montblanc price for sure. Then that paper quality is just not up to the brand I don’t think. I love the watermark, the brand, the notebook, but that paper is just 😕 Thx Blake 👍🏻🙂
Hi Richard! I agree that the paper performance is disappointing for a Montblanc product. I do enjoy the notebook with medium and smaller nibs though.
For that price you can find better A crazy price for a crazy notebook😢😮
It's a pretty notebook but the performance doesn't live up to the Montblanc name and price.
GREAT REVIEW!!!! I revisited my Montblanc Miles Davis Notebook (and Miles Davis pen). I use the Montblanc Irish green ink in my Miles Davis pen. I've written on a couple of pages and did not see any feathering. There was some ghosting, but it's tolerable. I never noticed the watermark until your review. I now see it and noticed it is in random spots on every page. I agree with your concluding remarks about the notebook. Because it does not lie flat, I don't use it much. An elastic band to keep it closed woudl be a nice improvement. The paper could be better; it is only passible. The corners of the page could be rounded. But on the other hand I love the silver gilding, the generous bookmark, the leather cover and the stitched binding. As you said the quality of the notebook is very high (except for the paper). And by the way I paid $50 for the notebook at a Montblanc boutique. Considering the quality and the brand, I thought it was a fair price.
Thank you! I enjoyed mine but it's definitely not without it's faults.
I've long despaired that the MB notebooks don't perform nearly as well as the pens!
I agree. I wish they had better paper. They are beautiful notebooks otherwise.
@@BlakesBroadcast It's disappointing; but I love the Smythson notebooks. Always wait till the annual sales and grab some.
Smythson notebooks are great. I too try to buy them on sale as they are not cheap even at 50% off.
Glad to see one of these in action as I’d never buy one. The montblanc name isn’t enough to get me to pay that much for a notebook when there are so many other more affordable options. 85 gsm doesn’t get it done for fountain pens in my opinion. Totally not worth it. Thank you for this review.
You are welcome! The paper that Montblanc chose isn't great with fountain pens but I think the poorer performance has more to do with the type of paper they chose rather than the weight.
At that price point I would want a higher quality paper that would work with medium and broad nibs.
Hi Gino, I will admit that the paper performance was disappointing. Being a Montblanc product, I expected the paper to be more fountain pen friendly. I need to experiment with some other leather softcover notebooks...there has to be a good one out there for a reasonable enough price. The equivalent size from Smythson with their excellent Featherweight paper is an outrageous $245.
@@BlakesBroadcast Odd, i have a 146 notebook from the little prince collection, it had no problem with my BB pen, maybe some show through since it had a dark ink but absolutely no feathering, but to be honest my perfect notebook would be something akin to these Montblanc leather covers but with tomoe river paper.
@@jsolares Perhaps there is some variation in paper in the Montblanc notebooks. The one I reviewed is my first one, so I don't have a large sample size to reference. One of these with Tomoe River would be awesome!
Imagine beeing a famous fountainpen brand making a notebook... that is not fountainpen friendly
Hi Thule, unfortunately this isn't the first time for me. Graf von Faber-Castell notebooks have even worse performance.
Another great video, Blake!
Cheers from Brazil!
Thank you Eduardo!
This is a nice looking and feeling notebook, however I think the paper is a bit to "slippery", my 149 skipps a bit on this paper.
Hmm I haven't had that particular issue. It is a relatively smooth paper though.
Appreciate your review, but I will pass on the Montblanc 146 notebook.
I don't recommend it if you use fountain pens. It's workable but not ideal.
I bought it a year ago and only used it once. In my opinion the paper is honestly rubbish and I wish I never bought it lol. Clairefontaine paper way better :(
Yeah, the paper was definitely disappointing.
Has anyone mentioned your great watch collection? tops. Did you match this band to the grey Montblanc bookmark and silver edges by accident?
Thanks for the comment L K! I do love watches and a few people have noticed. I didn't intentionally match the band to the notebook though.
Speaking of somewhat pricey notebooks, check out Soumkine. Would love to see a how they compare to notebooks in a similar price range, including MB’s!
Hi Chris, I have not heard of Soumkine before. Thank you for bringing this brand to my attention! Their notebooks look well made and I like the style. I've added them to my notebook list and will try to purchase one of the regular wood pulp ones.
I've emailed them to find out what paper they are using in the 100 Euro cotton paper notebooks. It sounds like it is made by Fabriano. If they are using their Secolo XIII paper I might have to splurge.
Nice, but the price is hard to justify for a non-refillable notebook.
Thanks for the comment Thomas! Yes, it is definitely on the pricey side. I enjoyed using mine but it is too expensive to be my go to notebook.
I can get a Tomoe River notebook with twice as many pages for about half the price. And while it's a matter of taste, I can get a full grain leather cover for less money, and it will fit every A5 notebook I have. You're paying half the money just for the little Montblanc emblem on the cover.
"Luxury" too often means paying three times what something is worth, just so those who see you using it/driving it, etc., will think you're worldly, rich, and sophisticated. This is why I hate the Montblanc logo.
I don't mind paying twelve thousand dollars for a pen, or a hundred dollars for a notebook, or even a hundred dollars for a bottle of ink. I do mind not getting my money's worth. I expect more for my money, not less.
I get this wiuth Namiki Maki-e and Chinkin pens, and with some Sailor Maki-e pens. I don't feel like I come anywhere close to getting it with anything from Montblanc, including the notebooks.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment James! I do wish this Montblanc notebook performed better. Montblanc used to make a notebook with a removable leather cover and as I recall the paper performance was better.
Can you elaborate on what you mean by "getting my money's worth"? Do you mean how much it costs to make vs how much you pay? Like something with a small margin?
the cover is not removeable?
The cover is not removable.
If you like silver gilt pages archer & olive does one much cheaper with better paper and thinner lines.
Which notebook from Archer & Olive do you recommend?
@@BlakesBroadcast they have a burgundy one with gold gilt pages that I really like and the sage one with the bee on the front.
I just tried the 146 notebook with red lip theme, it felt so hard to write on , and I’m using a Mont Blanc pix . It feels the ink is going to run out , but the refill is just new. Now I regret a lot😭
Hi David, I am sorry to hear that you don't like your 146 notebook. Are you used to writing on smoother paper? What made it hard to write on? If you switch to a different paper is your Pix writing normally?
@@BlakesBroadcast yup and idunno, you know the ink in that refill is liquid, so sometimes the ink doesn’t come out . Lol it’s really hard to describe 😂 but I tried a gel pen on the 146 notebook another day , same issue happened again. Anyway thanks a lot to your concerning
Would love to see your review of your Smythson notebook! Is it worth the price?
Hi JJ, I have a review coming in about month. Is it worth the price? I can't answer that for you. It is a luxury product and at $75 it comes with a price to match. I try to always get mine on sale and even then they are very expensive to me.
What I can say for certain is that the quality of the paper, the materials, and the construction is very high. I am not aware of a notebook that is comparable to the Smythson Panama.
@@BlakesBroadcast Thanks for replying! I ordered a Soho from Harrod's last night so I hope it lives up to the hype!! It was $$$$
You have fantastic content.
Thank you Ovais!
Thank you for the review. Is there any way to reuse the saffiano leather cover/"refill" it with another notebook?
Hi Ingrid, unfortunately the cover is not reusable. Montblanc does make notebook covers and notebook folios but they are quite expensive (around $500+).
@@BlakesBroadcast Thanks!