Posts filed under Vinta

Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana 2018: A Review

Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

To celebrate their one-year anniversary, Vinta Inks created Heritage Brown Pamana Ink. "Pamana" is the Filipino word for "heritage."

Heritage Brown is a brown-orange ink with lots of green sheen. On my Col-o-dex card, you can see the rich brown-orange-ish color in the swab. The writing and splats display the green sheen. In fact, there's so much green sheen that the brown is almost a secondary color.

Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana Col-o-dex
Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana Swab

Rhodia Dot Grid paper, which seems to suppress sheen, displays the true brown-orange color of the ink. My photos make it look lighter than it is in person. It's a rich rust color. The ink is wet, with a fairly long dry time, and it is not waterproof.

Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana Rhodia

Chromatography demonstrates that Heritage Brown is comprised of several hues: lavender, lots of pink, orange, lime, and turquoise.

Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana Chromatography

MD Cotton paper with a large ruling nib displays the variations of brown and orange and the thick green sheen. The sheen is evident even in the thinner writing.

Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana MD Cotton
Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana Sheen

I used Tomoe River Paper (52 gsm) for a writing exercise with a Lamy Vista medium nib. As you would expect, the paper brings out the sheen of the ink but only in bright light does the green dominate the brown. The swab shows both colors.

Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana Tomoe River
Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana Tomoe River Sheen

I wrote out a longer passage using my MD A5 Notebook Journal. This paper really brought out the brown-orange color (especially the orange).

Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana MD Journal
Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana MD Writing

Vinta Heritage Brown Pamana is a terrific ink if you love lots of sheen. The base color is a rich, rusty brown that leans heavily towards orange, but green sheen overwhelms the brown on all of the papers I tested except for Rhodia. The ink performed well and flowed wet and smooth in my Lamy Vista medium nib.

You can purchase this ink from Vanness Pens. It costs $12.50 for a 30ml bottle and $3.10 for a 4ml sample.

(Vanness Pens provided this ink to Pen Addict free of charge for review purposes.)


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Vinta Ink Heritage Brown Pamana Bottle
Posted on February 19, 2021 and filed under Vinta, Ink Reviews.

Vinta Inks Aegean (Armada 1944) Ink Review

Vinta Inks Aegean (Armada 1944) Ink Review

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.”

Vinta Inks Aegean (Armada 1944) Ink

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.

Vinta Inks Aegean (Armada 1944) Ink Writing

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.

Vinta Inks Aegean Ink

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.

Vinta Inks Aegean Ink Dry Time

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.)


Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Vinta Inks Aegean
Posted on June 22, 2020 and filed under Vinta, Ink Reviews.