We’re happy to announce that we’ve received three new lines of ink from Tono & Lims, which is now available for purchase both in shop and online! Those familiar with Tono & Lims know that the brand is the result of a Japanese-South Korean collaboration between Japanese fountain pen enthusiasts and the South Korean ink producer Lim’s Lab. Tono & Lims loves to experiment with color, sheen, shimmer, and inside jokes, so the inks end up being a lot of fun (especially the names). We’ve swatched these inks on multiple papers to showcase how they can look different depending on which specific paper you use!

Tono & Lims My Bank Account is Sick — My personal favorite. A shimmer red with black sheen and a great name.

As noted in Tuesday’s post, we have also restocked products from Kakimori and Object Index, including the Kakimori dip nibs and a new line of miniature nib holders that are slightly smaller than the traditional calligraphy nib holder.

Our Nashville shop will be open from 1-6pm on Friday January 2, and from 10-6pm on Saturday January 3 (normal hours). We’re looking forward to getting back into the swing of things after a busy holiday season!

Tono & Lims Standard Line Inks. The standard line of Tono & Lims inks, with the numbered colors. To start I’ve picked a handful and we will be bringing in more as we get a sense of what people like.
Tono & Lims “Friendship” Line Inks. Ok, so I added some shimmer inks to the T.G.S. curation! This particular ink series is inspired by friends of the Tono & Lims brand, whether that’s collaborators or partner shops or others. There are some particularly interesting color combinations, and shimmer and other special properties are not overwhelming.
Tono & Lims “Adult Night” Inks. No, there’s nothing inappropriate going on here. This line of inks - mostly lightly scented - is themed around coffee, tea, and chocolate, with a touch of insomnia thrown in. (And Dynamite?)
Kakimori Dip Nibs. We’ve received a restock of the Kakimori conical metal nibs, as well as the standard writing nib which functions much like a fountain pen only there is no feed and is intended more for writing.
Kakimori Nib Holders. The standard Kakimori nib holders are available again in the Sakura wood finish. This is the longer nib holder in the classic shape.
Kakimori Mini Nib Holders. These “mini” nib holders are slightly smaller and more compact than a traditional nib holder, making it perfect for travel, portability, and those with smaller hands. It’s also a fun range of colors!
Object Index Modular Marker. We’ve brought back a selection of Kakimori’s popular “Object Index” line of high-end office supplies, including these “Modular Markers” that allow you to build a set of customizable fineliners and highlighters that stack in a way that lets you easily cycle through different tip sizes.
Kakimori Colour Liners Fineliner Markers. Kakimori first popularized fineliners that you can fill with your own inks to create a truly custom set. Several different tip sizes are available, ranging from standard writing points to chisel-tip markers for highlighting or drawing.
Pilot Prera Fountain Pens. The popular solid-color Pilot Prera fountain pens are back in stock, including the coveted Honey Yellow in both nib sizes.
The Roterfaden Shop at T.G.S. We are restocked on most versions of the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter, including many different A5 designs and a handful of remaining TGS_25 in Grey. While we want to keep this special release in stock, there is no scheduled restock date at the moment on either the grey or green A5-Slim, and we are unable to take pre-orders or deposits.

Allex Desk Scissors from Japan are now available in four different formats. Black Fluorine version is restocked, and we also have Jagged Blade (for cutting vinyl, etc.) and Thin Blade (for fine detail work) versions available.

I first heard about Tono & Lims inks on the Japan-centric stationery podcast “Tokyo Inklings,” which is an excellent listen for those interested in Japanese stationery, and especially the market for store-exclusive and specialized Japanese releases. Tono & Lims, a newer line of inks that represents a collaboration between a Japanese brand and a South Korean ink producer, is frequently mentioned on the show as the maker of many of the exclusive and limited edition inks for Japanese pen shows and clubs. Over the past year or so Tono & Lims inks have become available in the United States via retailer Shigure Inks, which stocks more than twenty “lines” of Tono & Lims inks for both fountain and dip pens, amounting to over 240 different colors at the time of writing. This might be intimidating to some, and even I had some difficulty navigating the various options. I would have appreciated slightly more guidance on the differences between the various collections and the properties of the inks in each line. That said, let’s dive in.

Tono & Lims uses a very simple square glass ink bottle, but I absolutely love the artwork on the box.

So far, I’ve only sampled one color from the expansive Tono & Lims lineup, but I’ve really enjoyed the experience. The color I chose - no surprise here - is “Superstar T” from their limited edition pen show line, described as a “dark maroon” fountain pen ink. The color didn’t turn out exactly as expected. I would definitely describe this ink as more of a rich blood red as opposed to what I consider “maroon,” and the color of the ink I received looks quite different from the swatch online. In any event, Superstar T is still a gorgeous ink which flows well in all the various pens I’ve tested, doesn’t bleed or feather on most papers, and dries relatively quickly. I’d describe the performance as similar to Sailor ink.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a red/burgundy ink review without a comparison against my favorite red ink of all time, Montblanc’s now-ancient limited edition Alfred Hitchcock. As you can see, the Superstar T is much more of a classic red than the Hitchcock, which has the purple undertones that I associate with maroons/burgundies.

I went ahead and swabbed a couple of other similar inks, including Vanness-Joey Feldman “Good Evening” collaboration ink and my own attempt to replicate MB Hitchcock using Platinum’s Mix-Free Inks. Paper used is the bright-white Write Notepads paper… — I went ahead and swabbed a couple of other similar inks, including Vanness-Joey Feldman “Good Evening” collaboration ink and my own attempt to replicate MB Hitchcock using Platinum’s Mix-Free Inks. Paper used is the bright-white Write Notepads paper that I carry in the shop, which I absolutely love for showing off reds.

Superstar T makes a perfect match for my PenBBS “Manjusaka” acrylic 456!

Takeaways and Where to Buy

I fancy myself a red ink connoisseur, and Tono & Lims Superstar T is an exceptional red ink that I can see myself using regularly. I’m definitely looking forward to testing out more of their colors. I purchased the bottle shown here from Shigure Inks, which as I mentioned carries multiple collections of Tono & Lims fountain pen and dip pen inks in addition to other brands of pens and stationery. Tono & Lims inks are relatively pricey, coming in at $22 for a 30ml bottle, but increased “per ml” pricing is probably unavoidable with smaller import brands that maintain such a large number of different colors.

One note on Tono & Lims: Read the descriptions carefully. Certain of their inks are intended only for use with glass dip pens, not fountain pens, probably because the inks have special properties that would cause them to stain, clog, or just not flow well in a fountain pen feed.

Disclaimer: I paid full price for the ink shown here, purchased with my own funds, and have no affiliation with Shigure Inks other than as a customer. This post does not contain affiliate links. Going forward, T.G.S is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!