DREAMS MADE REAL
Hercule Poirot once solved a murder onboard. James Bond narrowly avoided Soviet assassins in its corridors. It ferried hunters seeking the head of Count Dracula and played host to one of the countless clashes between Shredder and the Ninja Turtles. And, to this day, no one is quite sure what happened to that dining car!
Few trains have ever been as storied or legendary as the Orient Express. While much of its popular legend lived only in the works of Agatha Christie, Ian Fleming, and Bram Stoker; in the animations of Murakami-Wolf; or as an inanimate volunteer in the eye-popping illusions of David Copperfield (among many others), the Orient Express had 126 years of very real, well-earned legend all its own. From its first voyage in 1883 to its last in 2009, it carried countless passengers from Paris and London as far as Istanbul and Athens, stopping (depending on the route) in combinations of Calais, Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest, Bucharest, Zurich, Innsbruck, Belgrade, Sofia, Lausanne, Simplon, Milan, Venice, and Varna. Its voyages stretched more than 2,000 miles one-way, often in less than three days, all in the lap of refined luxury. If ever a dream had taken train form, this was it.
OTTOMAN VIOLET
Switchman’s Ottoman Violet is our salute to the most legendary train ever to travel—its deep, shading purple flowing from subtle twilight whispers to mysterious, opulent depths. It is our hope that, as you write with this ink, you’ll embrace the thrill of mystery, adventure, and the unknown—letting your pen spin tales of intrigue, plot daring journeys, or chase shadows across the page. Yet remember the wisdom of a certain headmaster: “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.” Let the fiction inspire, but let the real world—its wonders, its people, its unexpected turns—be the true destination. May each stroke keep the legend alive while rooting you firmly in the here and now where you belong.
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