{"product_id":"tono-lims-earth-contact-opal","title":"Tono \u0026 Lims Earth Contact Opal — 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHue:\u003c\/strong\u003e A pale champagne-yellow that deepens to olive-gold and warm brown where the ink pools. Retailer copy generally describes it simply as a gold ink; my swatches on Tomoe River show it lighter and cooler than \"gold\" suggests in normal writing, and considerably more complex in heavy application — the muddler swabs break into distinct olive-green and warm brown-mauve zones rather than staying a single tone. Worth knowing this is a genuinely pale ink on the page.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShading:\u003c\/strong\u003e Strong, with a wide range from near-transparent pale yellow to deep olive-brown, and a darker halo at the edges of strokes on premium papers. The light areas are light enough that legibility depends on nib and paper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSheen:\u003c\/strong\u003e None.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShimmer:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes — a fine, densely suspended shimmer. It reads gold in writing, but the particles are actually a mix of green, pink and silver, which is what gives it the opalescent flicker. Shake the vial before filling, and it does better in a broader nib.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFlow:\u003c\/strong\u003e Medium.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe interesting bit: \u003c\/strong\u003eOpal is number 003 in Tono \u0026amp; Lims' Earth Contact series, a run of shimmer inks each built around a gem or mineral. Opals aren't usually thought of as yellow, but the name isn't really about hue — it's about opalescence, the play of rainbow colour that appears when light moves across the stone. That's what the multi-coloured shimmer is doing here, and why the particles are green, pink and silver rather than plain gold. Tono \u0026amp; Lims itself is a collaboration between Japanese fountain pen enthusiast Takashi Ono and the South Korean ink maker Lim's Lab, which is why the brand's inks tend to sit somewhere between Japanese restraint and Korean colour experimentation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThis is a hand-decanted 4ml sample vial from my own bottle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003ePhotos are my own swatches on Tomoe River Paper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eI'm a collector and I'm always happy to talk ink, so please message me if you have any questions.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Tono \u0026 Lims","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57266211684678,"sku":"INK-032","price":2.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1020\/9696\/1862\/files\/TonoandLims-Opal3.jpg?v=1789166463","url":"https:\/\/thepensmuggler.co.uk\/products\/tono-lims-earth-contact-opal","provider":"The Pen Smuggler","version":"1.0","type":"link"}