Ferris Wheel Press Shangri-La Hotels Land of Shangri-La - 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample

Hue: Ferris Wheel Press describe this as an ashy brown. On my swatches on Tomoe River it reads considerably darker and greener than that — a deep olive-tinged near-black in writing, with the brown only surfacing as a khaki-olive halo where the ink pools at the edges of a swab or drop. Buy it as a dark olive-brown rather than a mid-toned brown.

Shading: Moderate. The dip-pen swab bar shifts between olive-brown and near-black, and pooled areas throw a distinctly khaki edge against the dark core. More tonal movement than the official "low shading" suggests.

Sheen: None clearly visible on my swatches. A low green sheen is reported in heavy pooling elsewhere; I can't confirm it on Tomoe River, where the shimmer is what catches the light.

Shimmer: Yes — gold/champagne shimmer, fairly dense. Against this dark a base it reads as a pale silvery-champagne sparkle rather than obvious gold, and it settles visibly in pooled areas. Shake before filling.

Flow: Dry.

The interesting bit: A 2022 collaboration between Ferris Wheel Press and Shangri-La Hotels Canada. The name comes from James Hilton's 1933 novel Lost Horizon, which invented Shangri-La as a hidden Himalayan paradise and gave the phrase to the English language. Ferris Wheel Press built the collection around the Vancouver and Toronto Shangri-La properties, and the packaging artwork works the two cities' landmarks — the CN Tower, Lions Gate Bridge, Science World, Prince's Gates — into a mythical dreamscape, complete with orcas leaping out of gold waves.

This is a hand-decanted 4ml sample vial from my own bottle.
Photos are my own swatches on Tomoe River Paper.
I'm a collector and I'm always happy to talk ink, so please message me if you have any questions.