I love unique fountain pen ink names. Sure, Diamine Orange describes exactly what you are getting into. But Vinta Inks Aegean (Armada 1944) - what exactly am I getting into here?
I’ve been using this ink for a while, but only this past weekend did I dig into what the name of this product is in reference to. And by looking into that, I ended up into an interesting rabbit hole.
Vinta’s product description is simple:
“Armada is a fleet of warships. Throughout time, we've seen how the multitude of ships on sea can transform its color from grey to blue to everything in between. The biggest naval war in history is the Battle of Leyte in 1944.”
In reading about the up the Battle of Leyte Gulf, I learned that it was the US invasion of the Philippine island of Leyte against Japanese forces in World War II. And yes, it is at least on the list of largest naval battles in history. With Vinta Inks being based in the Philippines, I can only assume this ink is a nod to the history of the country.
With Vinta’s own description of ships in colors of “grey to blue” on the seas, that’s what I expected from the color of this ink. It’s more of a grey to green, with a hint of purple. How the bright blue of the Aegean Sea plays into all of this I’m not sure, but the ink color represented on the page is nice in its own right.
When fresh out the nib onto the page I see mostly a muted, mossy green from this ink. When dry, some of the grey pops out, and you get a decent amount of shading. There is also a hint of purple around the edges of where the ink pools in the line, giving it a unique whole-page look.
I think this is the thing with Vinta Aegean: You need a large sampling to get the full effect. Whether that means the wide lines of a medium or broad nib, or a full page of writing, it looks the best when you see a lot of it. I don’t think it would be as enjoyable in my finer nibs.
Also, this ink worked best on papers that allow the ink to sit up a little bit. The color looks the best on the Clairefontaine Triomphe pad I used for the written review, while it came off a little flatter, but still nice, on the Yoseka Notebook and Col-o-ring Oversize. The dry time was impressive across the board, reaching fully dry in under 20 seconds on the Clairefontaine.
This is a more unique and fun color than I thought I would be when I first received it. It’s not blue by any stretch, but that alone made me dig into this ink and its story more than I would have otherwise. I’m glad to add it to my library.
(Cityluxe provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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