Tono & Lims Sunda is a limited-edition ink released in the summer of 2020. Together with Sahul, and Wings of the Sea, it’s part of the three-ink Beyond the Horizon series. The series honors early wooden craft ocean exploration, settlement, and population exchange. Sunda is the continental landmass that includes much of Southeast Asia, while Sahul covers Australia and New Guinea. In human history, these are areas rich in early human exploration, migration, and exchange, all by simple, wooden, ocean craft.

Visually, this is a lovely, powdery reddish plum. It’s a very pleasant ink for extended reading. This is a moderate shading ink, and it shaded consistently across all six test papers. There is a subtle edge halo on premiums that adds a little definition to a nicely balanced ink.

Sunda is also a very nice writing ink. It’s slightly dry, but very comfortable on the page, and it flows nicely. The word balanced again comes to mind; it’s a very well-managed ink. Strokes were clean and sharp on all papers, but shading is more defined on premiums. Drying was very reasonable at 15 seconds on most premiums, and under 5 seconds on office copy.

This is a beautiful, gentle ink, nice for both the writer, and the reader. It’s very well-behaved, and great on any paper. There’s enough shading to make it interesting, too! It’s an easy ink to like, and an easy ink to recommend.