Pelikan 2001 Turquoise V Talens Super Cc Azuurblauw

[alexander_k]

Just a brief comparison between a vintage and a modern ink: some time ago I was offered a cornucopia of vintage ink bottles that had been delegated to a decorative presence on the shelves of an unknown seller. The price was right and the hoard included a couple of Penman bottles, reputedly half full, so I took the plunge. All inks but two were known to me: a Talens CC Blauwzwart (Blue Black) and a Talens Super CC Azuurblauw (Azure Blue). My experience with the former was the same as in https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/25329-two-vintage-dutch-inks/: there was no blue left and the watery grey that dried on paper was so disappointing that I disposed of it down the sink. The latter was still its original colour and initial, careful tests were quite promising, so I decided to use it. After a couple of weeks of intensive use, I'm pleased to confirm that it has caused no trouble to any of the pens.

 

 

 

The interesting thing is that the colour of Azuurblauw reminded me strongly of one of my favourite inks, Pelikan 4001 Turquoise. So I put pen (and cotton bud) to paper and set the two inks next to each other. The bud smears are clearly identical but the colour that comes out of the nibs of different pens depends on the flow of each pen: the Divina is drier than the Big Red clone and the Aikin Lambert is the wettest of the three. The wetter the pen, the darker the colour.

 

 

As I do not believe in coincidences, I'm inclined to think that there might have been some collaboration between Talens and Pelikan or at least that they shared the same recipe for their inks. A cursory Internet search returned nothing of relevance or interest. Maybe someone has some historical knowledge that can elucidate matters.