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Kala Nostalgia Gemstone Onyx This is my 172nd review. Kala pinks are made in Taiwan. As of this day, there are 4 series of inks: 1) The grey scale Nostalgia Gemstone (12 pigment - inks) 2) The subtle Abstraction (12 pigment - inks) 3) The punchy Neon (12 pigment inks) 4) Non-pigment Island N°38 Series (18 inks). According to their website: KALA Gemstone Series is themed around precious gems. In order to demonstrate the radiance of superior gems, we added different color shades into black pigment and utilized black and gray color progressively, for 12 exclusive colors to represent 12 precious gemstones. · Pigment based ink · Waterproof and fade resistant It’s a pity these inks are distributed only in US (Shigure & Jetpens), Japan and obviously Taiwan. Now for the review: This is my 4th ink in the Gemstone series. I loved it so much, that I have almost finished the bottle. 🙀 You can appreciate the brown/pink/purple tinge on the bottle. Ink in the bottle looks like a dark hot chocolate ☕ I really love this brand. This brown/pruple grey, pigment ink is deliciously wet and well lubricated. I tried it in too many pens as you can see. Depending on your pen and paper combo and it performs very well. However, with a very, very wet ebonite feed, dry times were astronomical for writing. Inks needs to dry completely otherwise the brown component will wash away (for artwork). Shading is absent, however, there’s green/ gold sheen visible on Iroful paper. Dry times are excellent on Rhodia, but on Japanese paper, depending on the dry/wetness of pen are double/triple the time. Ink is a snob and doesn’t like copy paper. Cleaning in general was easy, flush, overnight soaking, flush and good to go. I don't know how the ink behaves in longer period, I have one pen to clean, so it's good to have a cleaning solution or an ultrasonic jacuzzi might be needed. FInal thoughts: I am not sure if the subtle grey variation of Nostalgia Gemstone would be visible for everyday writing. It all depends on the pen, paper, nib combo. In my experience mostly the tone (read warmth) of the grey changes. Some pens show off the colour, some don't. One thing I can say, the writing experience has been exquisite. 👼 With Onyx, depending the lighting, a whole written or drawn page, could take the whole tinge of the chroma below. Chroma: Writing Samples: I used to unusual pens for this test. First the Duke 690 fude with an overfeed, and FPnibs bock full flex with an extra wet ebonite feed. As you can see the dry times on Rhodia double as the ebonite feed turns the pen into a firehose. Photo: Note how the tone of the paper changes A bit of sheen on Iroful Comparison: Water test: Left side (10 seconds under running water. After 24 hours) Art Work: I did a lot of practice art work with this ink. They were mostly inspired by @LizEF characters from her legendary Efnir reviews. Paper is a Strathmore 200 white sketching paper. Makhabesh, before going into the pyramid and bumping into Quin. (Note the wash is diluted 1:1) Makhabesh pacing around... (shall I go into that pyramid or no?) Makhabesh in a cross universe scenarios meeting the mouse. Makhahbesh & Essri the Snek in an official function (Maybe getting a medal of valour?) · Pens used: Pilot Kakuno Ef, Lamy (EF/F/M/B/ Stub 1.1), Fpnib full flex with ebonite feed, Duke 690 fude · What I liked: Colour, lubrication, subtlety, wetness · What I did not like: To difficult to find. Price per ml is expensive for extensive use. · What some might not like: AFOPI (Abnormal fear of pigment inks :D), price, availability. · Shading: No. · Ghosting: Yes, on cheap paper. · Bleed through: Yes, on cheap paper. · Flow Rate: Wet · Lubrication: Excellent · Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. · Start-up: Great · Saturation: Deliciously saturated. · Shading Potential: · Sheen: A bit on Iroful. . · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Only with very, very wet wide feed/nib combo. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: A bit on Kakuno. · Staining (pen): No. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Relatively early for a pigment ink. Detailed above. · Water resistance: Excellent. · Availability: 30 ml bottles Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier