My Favorite Red Inks in 2026 (and Why I Still Decided to Make My Own)

As a red ink aficionado, I often get asked for a “Top 5” list of my favorites. I’ve deferred publishing any sort of definitive list since there are simply so many good ones out there. But since we’ve launched our own ink collaborations this week, I thought it made sense to revisit this question and offer up a “best of” list based on the red inks I find myself using the most.

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Top 5 Red Inks, in order they appear on the list below. Inks are swatched on dot grid Tomoe River 68g paper.

Joe’s Top 5 Red Inks

1. Tono & Lims Superstar T. The ink that started me thinking on my own collaboration with Tono & Lims. Superstar T is a dark red/almost burgundy ink from the Tono & Lims “Friendship” Line, which are inks designed in collaboration with influencers and other friends of the brand. On certain papers, it reminds me very much of my all-time favorite Montblanc Alfred Hitchcock (unfortunately discontinued).

2. Teranishi Modern Red. Another darker red that definitely leans more red than burgundy, Teranishi inks flow exceptionally well and features a richness of color that I enjoy. This particular ink has been in one of our shop tester pens for the past year, and people always ask what it is.

3. Laban Greek Mythology Ares Red. My substitute for old-school Sheaffer Skrip Red, and probably the brightest red I use regularly. It’s saturated without causing issues with dry times or smearing. (This goes for all of the Laban Greek Mythology Inks.)

4. Private Reserve Burgundy Mist. The first burgundy ink I ever bought, and the one that caused me to really dive deep into the broader red color family. Is it the best ink out there? No. It doesn’t have much subtlety, it can be wet, and the wide-mouth bottle is messy to use, but it’s still one of the best “pure burgundies” on the market. For nostalgia’s sake, I keep it on hand and use it fairly frequently.

5. Pilot Iroshizuku Syun-Gyo. Is it a red? Is it a red black? Is it a brown? While it leans a bit too brown to be my perfect ink, I still enjoy these dark murky shades with burgundy and red undertones. I find myself using Syun-Gyo quite a bit, if for no other reason than it’s an unusual, somewhat adventurous color for the Iroshizuku line.

Introducing Two New TGS-Exclusive Inks from Tono & Lims

So what is missing from the list above? A true “Red-Black” or “Burgundy-Black”. For the 12th Anniversary of The Gentleman Stationer, we wanted to formulate some special inks, and are happy to introduce our first two releases "Classic Burgundy" and "Black Shimmer". I strongly prefer dark red inks, and have never been able to find a red-black without overly predominant brown, purple, or pink undertones. While all those are components of most reds or burgundies, I wanted an ink with more black.

T.G.S. 12th Anniversary Classic Burgundy

Classic Burgundy is formulated to match the background dark burgundy on the classic TGS website, with the darker red-black hue I've been looking for, especially when used in a wet pen. Black Shimmer is my attempt at a subtly playful shimmer ink that can still be used as an everyday writer. It's a black that has purple and blue undertones on certain papers, and if you write with a wet pen that can lay down the shimmer, the red shimmer particles make the ink look like an actual standard red-black.

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TGS 12th Anniversary Black Shimmer

Both of these inks are now available in our shop, priced at the same price point as the rest of the Tono & Lims inks. Come see them in person this weekend in our Nashville shop, open normal hours from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday and from 10am-5pm on Saturday.

New Arrivals: Opus 88, Retro 51, and the Pilot Vanishing Point Golden Journey Limited Edition!

This week we finally get to introduce two new brands to our newly redesigned store! We are happy to welcome Opus 88, famous for their Japanese-style eyedropper fountain pens, as well as Retro 51, known for their Tornado-series rollerballs and ballpoints that are available in a wide variety of themes and finishes. Stay tuned as we completely revamp the shopping experience here at T.G.S., as the new site give us much more flexibility to add additional product lines and navigate our growing offerings.

The Opus 88 Koloro was the first pen I picked up from the brand - I still love the combination of acrylic and ebonite.

To read more about the versatility Opus 88 offers both in terms of nib compatibility and ease of use when traveling, check out our “Workhorse Pens” write-up that’s been a longstanding favorite post of many. We currently offer select pens from the Opus 88 Koloro, Demonstrator, Jazz, and Harmony lines, as well as a selection of nib units which are JoWo threaded and therefore compatible with other pens that accept JoWo nib units.

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The Retro 51 Rescue Collection features animal-themed designs, including protected and endangered species.

For Retro 51, we have a selection of Tornado Rollerballs, which can be used with either short Schmidt Capless Rollerball Refills or Schmidt Easyflow 9000 ballpoint refills (or any other Parker-style refill). Our current selection includes standard lacquered finishes, the dark “stealth” finishes, the Vintage Metalsmith collection, and the “Rescue” Editions (where Retro donates a portion of proceeds to animal rescue and conservation groups). We also have a couple of their 1.15mm twist-action mechanical pencils, which is one of the more unique pencil offerings out there!

Finally, we have received a very small shipment of this year’s Pilot Vanishing Point Limited Edition, “Golden Journey”. Inspired by the Japanese art and philosophy of Kintsugi, this pen features a pearlescent dark blue barrel accented with lines of metallic gold paint. This absolutely beautiful fountain pen also features Pilot’s yellow gold trim and nib unit, which has been discontinued from the regular line in the U.S.

Those of you may notice that the T.G.S. online storefront looks different, and that’s because we’ve completely redesigned the experience and moved to Shopify! Read more on what’s new and what you can expect in this post from Sunday. You can also see these pens in person at our Nashville shop, which will be open this week normal hours from 1-5pm Thursday and Friday and from 10am-5pm on Saturday.

Sunday Reading for September 20, 2026 (The We-Have-a-New-Storefront Edition!)

1. 2026 San Francisco Pen Show Highlights (via Olive Octopus Ink). Lisa had an epic San Francisco Pen Show recap, including some great pictures from outside around the show hotel.

2. The dwrdnet Stationer Feed: Interview with Jonathon Brooks (via dwrdnet). Derek interviews Jonathon Brooks of Carolina Pen Company. I’m looking forward to check this one out.

3. Out of This World…Tactile Turn Roswell (via Figboot on Pens). Bolt action pens tend to sit funny in my hand, so I was sad to have to pass on this one.

4. Pen Rotation Transition (via Rachel’s Reflections). I love to read about how other people manage pen rotations and ensuring that all of their pens are used. I especially like to read about analog tracking systems, as opposed to electronic.

5. Galen Leather “Expansi-Pouch” Wide 10-Slot Pen Case (via Scrively). If you’ve been considering Galen Leather cases (notebook or pen) but find the standard ones too narrow, consider the “Expasi” series, which is capable of holding larger items.

6. A Successful Pivot (via From the Pen Cup). Sometimes you have to change things up, especially when it comes to writing and getting back in the swing of journaling after a few years off.

7. Owl Paper Co. 2026 B6 Dated Bullet Journal (80gsm Delphina Paper) (via Well-Appointed Desk). It’s planner season, and if you’re carefully considering all of your options, be sure to check out some of the less “hyped” brands which can feature more unique layouts and papers.

In Case You Missed It…

This week we released Episode 16 of On The Paper Trail, featuring Part I of a two-part series on journaling for mental health. We discuss some of the journaling techniques we both use, and Part II will go a bit deeper into other journaling practices we both have tried but may use less frequently. Yesterday I also published a post discussing specialty stock nibs, which can be a great way to test out less common nibs and nib grinds prior to committing to an irreversible modification.

Today we welcome Opus 88 to the T.G.S. Curated Shop!

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop - WE HAVE A NEW WEBSITE!

Welcome to the new look Gentleman Stationer online store! We’ve moved off our aging Squarespace commerce platform onto Shopify, which should be much easier for everyone to navigate. Please read the announcement post for details on how the new shop will work, since there is a lot that does not translate form our old platform to the new one. Those who used the Squarespace “Account” feature will need to re-register on Shopify. Legacy Squarespace Account data (order history) can be accessed here.

In conjunction with our launch of the new website, we are also happy to introduce two new brands: Opus 88 and Retro 51, which are now available both online and in-store. Be sure to check out this week’s Thursday Drops post for recent new arrivals and restocks, which include a Lamy restock, new Tono & Lims inks, and more!

The Nashville Shop will be open normal hours this coming week, from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday and 10am-5pm on Saturday. Please come by and see these and more in-person, and we are open online 24-7!

Roterfaden

Lamy

Tono & Lims

Retro 51

Visit Us on Patreon

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), and would like early/extra access to shop releases and special promotions, consider supporting us via Patreon. In addition to exclusive content, Discord access, and online meetups, Patreon supporters have access to one or more initial “practice” episodes of “On the Paper Trail” which have not been publicly released.

The New Look Gentleman Stationer Storefront Is Now Live!

UPDATE: The New Store is Now Live! Enjoy!

You will soon see some changes around here, including an updated T.G.S. Online Storefront launching later today! The legacy store is currently offline during this update and links from the main website may be down or redirect to holding pages while this occurs. We will be moving from Squarespace Commerce to Shopify, so the site will look very different yet hopefully be much easier to navigate. All orders placed on the Squarespace platform are actively being fulfilled and will continue to be fulfilled through that platform in our standard fulfillment time. There is nothing you need to do with respect to pending orders as the transition should be seamless from a fulfillment perspective. The primary T.G.S. blog and resource website will remain on Squarespace.

Because there is little compatibility between the old platform and the new, please note that you will be asked to create or link a Shopify account in the new store. For the time being, order history from the legacy platform will remain available for printing and downloading through the “Sign In” link on the main T.G.S. website, after which it can be made available upon request as we of course maintain these records.

We look forward to welcoming you to the new look TGS!

Favorite Specialty Nibs That Don't Require a Nib Grind or Modification

Many people are understandably nervous about having a nib modified by a nib grinder, whether that’s reducing a nib’s size from broad to medium, medium to fine, or changing the shape of the tipping entirely to something like a stub, architect, or kodachi. Nib modifications are irreversible. Once you’ve ground a nib into a new shape you can’t return it to its prior form without cost-prohibitive retipping, so it’s definitely wise to carefully consider any modification before you alter a favorite pen.

Look for the “SF”, “SM”, or “SFM” designation on Pilot nibs to find the relatively rare “soft” designation.

One way to test the suitability of a potential nib modification is to purchase a pen with a stock specialty nib. For example, if you’re considering having a nib ground to a stub or an architect, consider picking up a stock version and testing the grind/style of nib before modifying a pen in your collection. While stock nibs won’t be tailored to your personal handwriting - the main benefit of having a nib ground in person - they do give you an idea of how a style of nib writes and the opportunity for a longer “road test”. Pen shows and pen clubs can be helpful if people allow you to write a few lines, but I often need a week or more of continuous writing before I figure out whether a grind or nib style will work for me.

TOp “Stock” Specialty Nib Recommendations

1. TWSBI 1.1mm Stub. Those who have never written with a stub or italic nib should try TWSBI’s 1.1mm stub nib. Available in nearly all their pen models, this stainless steel stub is smooth and delivers good ink flow. It’s an excellent way to explore stub/italic line variation at a lower cost. We’ve previously done comprehensive posts devoted entirely to stock stub nibs, which we had to break into Part I and Part II.

2. Tom’s Studio Architect Nib. Stock architect nibs are difficult to do well because the smoothness of this grind depends heavily on your writing angle. The Tom’s Studio Architect starts as a double broad stainless steel nib, so it has a bit more tipping and is ground at a more forgiving angle than many architects. You can purchase this nib as a stand-alone add on to a Tom’s Studio pen, or you can find it pre-installed on certain pens in their Studio Pocket line.

3. Pilot Kakuno EF or Pilot PO Nib. A lot of people think they want a needle-tip or “ultra extra-fine” fountain pen - until they actually write with one. Those of us who learned to write with ballpoint technology tend to apply far too much pressure, which can absolutely make a very fine fountain pen feel “scratchy”. (You are essentially pressing a needle into the surface of the page and trying to drag it around.) Before customizing one of your own pens, try an inexpensive steel-nib EF Pilot Kakuno, or a Pilot Custom 912 with a PO nib if you prefer gold. Both of these pens offer a sense of how most needlepoints “feel” on the page, including whether you need to adjust your own writing pressure in order for these nibs to be usable.

4. Pilot “Soft” Series or “FA” Nibs. Considering having one of your gold nibs modified for flex or semi-flex? Many people don’t consider (1) how much ink these nibs put on the page, making them impractical for writing on lower-quality paper; and (2) how you need to slow your writing down when writing with a flex nib so that the ink flow can keep up. While the Pilot “Soft” nibs and the FA nibs are not necessarily true vintage-style flex, they will give you a sense of whether this type of wetter-writing pen is for you.

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Note the wide downstrokes and narrower cross strokes on this Stub.

Nib grinds and modifications can be fun, and even addictive. That said, as I mentioned above it’s usually irreversible in the sense that if you don’t like the result, you’re left replacing either the nib or the pen. Stock nibs can be a less expensive (or at least less permanent) way to explore, and we regularly recommend these options and more for those looking to branch out from your standard round nibs.

Looking to learn more? Come see us in person at our Nashville shop or at a pen show! We will be at the Dallas Pen Show next week (September 25-27), and from October 16-18, we will be co-hosting the On The Paper Trail Live in Nashville weekend event. Both events have nib grinder opportunities, so be sure to buy your tickets in advance.