Search the Community

Kala Nostalgia Gemstone Sillimanite According to the Shigure Website: “The KALA Nostalgia Gemstone Series is themed around precious gems. These practical water-proof inks use black and gray pigment to create 12 unique greyscale and dark colors. KALA Nostalgia inks are made in Taiwan.” You can check the whole lineup at https://www.kalaink.com/gemstone-series_en/ I have been enjoying Kala pigment inks for some time and it’s a pity they are not as readily available as other inks. I beleive they are only sold by Shigure inks and Jetpens in the US. For a cute 30 ml bottle, you pay the same amount as a bottle of Noodler’s 90 ml bottle Inks are waterproof/ resistant i.e. if you use them in watercolour a bit of ink is removed if not dry enough. They are dream inks for (inspiring) artists, especially for cross hatching. They are also fabulous for everyday writing, if you like different shades of grey. Now for Sillimanite: it's a pure pencil grey with excellent lubrication, making the scratchy Kukuno Ef nib sing. For me it’s drawing/ doodling/ sketching ink. I enjoyed this ink so much that I’ve been procrastinating posting this review, filling my pens twice. Dry times are short on Rhodia, but the wetter the pen, dry times lengthens as usual on Japanese paper. If you want it a pencil hue, go for a dry pen, otherwise a wetter pen might be needed. There’s subtle shading but let’s say it won’t by any prizes 😛 Ink in general is well behaved and there’s acceptable ghosting on copy paper, unless you use a gusher. Chroma: Writing Samples: Photo: Comparison: Water test: Left side 10 seconds under running water. Art Work: I practiced different styles of drawing with this ink. Most are rough sketches, I can blame the rough quality on the holiday season but to be frank it's mostly because of my impatience and lack of experience I called it Lady Eve, though I wonder if she is an ancestor of Lieutenant M'ress from Star Trek animated series Paper is Talens. Red ink is Octopus Write & Draw Red Duck Background is a mixture of De Atramentis Document/ Artist Cyan in a brush pen, a very difficult to control as it binds immediately to the paper. a quick sketch with a Pilot Kakuno Ef This was inspired by Shop around the corner 1940 movie. Sketch was done whilst watching the movie. The background ink is J Herbin Terre de Feu. · Pens used: Pilot Kakuno Ef, Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1), Kanwrite with semiflex Ahab nib. · What I liked: Colour for drawing, behaviour. · What I did not like: Maybe price, for me it’s a drawing ink. Learning to spell Sillimanite Very long name · What some might not like: Pigment ink, colour doesn’t change much even with a wet pen. · Shading: Subtle · Ghosting: Faint on cheap paper, unless using wet pen and are heavy handed. · Bleed through: Same as above. · Flow Rate: Wet · Lubrication: Excellent. · Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. · Start-up: Great · Saturation: Medium. · Shading Potential: There’s some. · Sheen: No. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: A bit with a wet flex, applied heavily. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice. · Staining (pen): No. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Surprisingly easy, but with pigment ink, · Water resistance: Very Good. Some ink will wash away. · Availability: 30 ml bottles, Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

There's a eBay promotion in play for 26/9/2021 that gives any random Joe Punter 20% off the prices in Peter's of Kensington's official eBay store, or 22% off for eBay Plus members. Sadly, not much of interest to me personally (even if I were still in the market for pens and inks today), but I'll call out that: Monteverde 10-colour (Bloo, Emotions, Gemstone, and Noir ink collections) gift sets are now A$56 (or less) after discount Pelikan Souverän M605 Green-White fountain pen (different nib sizes still available) is now A$416.80 (or less) after discount That is much cheaper than ordering it from my normal go-to European retailers for Pelikan products, even after stacking discounts to get an overall 19%–20% off the regular price, and with ‘free’ international shipping by DHL. I personally wouldn't be able to get those items any cheaper anywhere else.

(Another quickie review, being largely a by-product of my checking how the EF nib on a Delike Alpha performs.) Colour: I suppose the closest colour of ink I have to it is Diamine Evergreen but, at least in daylight, Monteverde Olivine is slightly more yellow (and Diamine Evergreen has an obvious red sheen). Feathering: None observed on the Rhodia paper I used. Ghosting and bleed-through: Not from normal writing, but several passes with a soaked cotton swab or a wet nib can cause some ghosting and even bleed-through. Drying time: Quick enough. No smearing after 15 seconds. Water resistance: None whatsoever. Washed clean off the page under a running tap in under 15 seconds. Shading: Some, but slightly subtle. No distinct step going from faint to dark. That's a good thing. Sheen: Not any to speak of. There is the slightest hint of a dark red outline or 'halo', if you look really hard, but that's about it.