KWZ Ink - Monarch

KWZ Ink Monarch - ink drop

This is Monarch from KWZ. It’s a Fontoplumo exclusive. Based in Delft, Netherlands, Fontoplumo worked with KWZ to create a color to matches their exclusive collaboration with Conid, the Conid Monarch Kingsize Bulkfiller. This is a special ink to match a special pen.

KWZ Ink Monarch - ink writing sample

Monarch is a gorgeous, deep, rich, pumpkin orange. It’s bursting with the strong influence of reds, yellows, and browns. It’s a wonderful shading ink, particularly on coated papers. In many cases, an individual letter or stroke will show orange-yellow lights, red-orange midtones, and brown-orange darks all together in a beautiful, fiery contrast. The splatter shows deep, textured, charcoal edging on areas of pooling, but it never develops in written strokes. Nevertheless, this ink really is spectacular!

As a writing ink, KWZ Monarch is a consistent performer in terms of stroke profile. Strokes were razor-sharp on all six papers tested. I didn’t find any sheen or halo, but this didn’t detract from the beauty or performance at all. Shading was amazing on coated premiums, there was a constant shift from light to medium to dark and back. Neither too wet, nor too dry, this is a smooth-flowing, comfortable ink. Drying was slightly longer than I prefer, with both coated and uncoated premiums at 20-30 seconds, but office copy was a quick 5 seconds. I definitely consider this an excellent writing ink.

KWZ Ink Monarch - ink swatch card

KWZ Monarch is an extremely attractive ink. The color is rich and captivating, especially on coated papers. It’s only available Fontoplumo online, or in their Delft shop, but this is an ink worth the effort to obtain! It’s definitely one of my favorite oranges!

January 2021