Sepia has been often used to describe a brown without any real agreement on what it should look like. Part of this is due to the origins being an extract from the defensive ink of the cuttlefish, after which it is named. Alas with one exception, real spepia can not be used in fountain pens else they will quickly clog up (the exception being produced by a small Japanese chemist and sold only through one small pen maker of renown). Not an issue for the Romans in the time when they were still a republic, but certainly one for us today. Instead we have safe inks using the name, and how appropriate it is for the name to be used by a brand based in a city which was around before Rome expanded beyond it’s city walls to conquer it.
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