Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Architekt Ink Review: Antique Pink





Just received my shipment from xFountainPens and couldn't wait to try the Architekt ink, which is clearly a De Atramentis bottle.  I ordered several different inks, including Antique Pink, which should correlate to their special Historic Person ink "Maria Stuart" or Mary, Queen of Scots.  Described as "antique pink," the ink was made for the 425th Anniversary of Mary's death on February 8, 1587, and I was hooked when I first read about it on the De Atramentis website.

Architekt Antique Pink on the left, Diamine Flamingo Pink on the right

Is antique pink associated with Mary, Queen of Scots?  No idea, and the De Atramentis web site doesn't say.  Their history of Mary ends with her husband, Lord Darnley's, death, which is the third or fourth beginning (her birth/father's death, sent to France, the dauphin's death) of her long, sad saga and not its end.

On to the color, which is definitely pink.  Indoors this looked like it had a touch of purple in it, but outside (where I took these pictures) you can see it tends more to a strawberry color.  It's definitely darker than Diamine's Flamingo Pink, which almost glows on the Rhodia bright white paper.


The color is vibrant, and there's a lot of shading though I couldn't quite see it at the time. I wanted to record my Antique Pink/Fusion pen combination in The InkJournal as well, and noticed that there wasn't a lot of bleed through on the paper until I colored in the heart. 

Architekt Antique Pink with Nemosine Fusion Pen
Definitely I had a lot of fun with this color.  I'm not sure how much I'll use it day to day, though.  I'm in the office right now, taking notes, and I have to say there's something odd about using it on Rhodia graph paper--the violet lines seem to overwhelm the pink color.  I'll have to try it on my other papers (Whitelines, Kyokuto, etc.) to see how it handles.  I guess my first test will be when I use it for a memo to my boss!

Was there anything I didn't like about this Architekt ink?  No, but I do have a problem with the way xFountainPens shipped the order.  Two glass bottles of ink placed in a bubble mailer--nothing around them, no "fragile" on the outside of the mailer, basically the way you'd expect someone unfamiliar with USPS to mail something that could quite easily break and spill.  How this got to me intact I don't know, but I have to say it has made me a bit hesitant to order again.  I might want to put a few instructions in the comments section of the order form, particularly what their return/replacement policy is for broken bottles of ink.




6 comments:

  1. Cool! I've ordered their Chesterfield ink before (aka Diamine) and was pretty pleased with the prices. I made a pretty big order so it came boxed with bubbled wrap so it was pretty safe, but thank you for the warning for your order. I'll contact them before ordering again, just in case. I'm surprised they made it to you intact!

    Otherwise, I enjoyed your review! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, Azizah, I was surprised it got through USPS without breaking. And thanks for the reminder, I forgot about the Cheterfield-Diammine connection. At least that ink comes in plastic bottle. I may have to do a bigger order, which could be a lot of stuff from them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I, too was surprised when my order came in nothing more than a bubble mailer. Mine included two pens (the Nemosine Singularity pens are fantastic), a full bottle of Chesterfield Garnet ink, and three Chesterfield sample bottles. One of the sample bottles leaked onto the label of the bottle covering the name of the ink but nothing else bad happened.

    Having said that, the company must have been out of one of the sample colors I ordered because I was sent the next bottle size up at no additional charge.

    Also, I missed one of their periodic promotions for free ink cartridges by less than 24 hours so I took a chance and called. The gentleman I spoke with said that if my order hadn't yet gone out then the free cartridges would be put in with the rest of my order. Sure enough, that bubble mailer also included the cartridges.

    Their customer service, at least with me, was absolutely stellar. Now, if they can just do something about their shipping methods...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love thos blog. At the risk of asking an obvious question, what is the notebook you're using for your ink tests?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I see this post was written exactly one year ago. I was wondering if everything has gone well with Lending from Discover. Have you had any financial problems? Any positive lenders offer you a loan? I believe Pedro Jerome and his loan company whom I have been working with to finance my business, have you had any financial issues trying to get a loan or get a flexible loan Repayment? Then Pedro and his loan company would appreciate these issues of loans either individual loans or corporate loans, So I want to say thank you Pedro Jerome and his loan company in advance for granting me a loan with a 2% rate. Contact Pedro Jerome and his loan company on Email: pedroloanss@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete