Sunday Reading for December 28, 2025

1. Year in Review: What Happened with My 2025 Stationery Intentions (via A Gathering of Curiosities). A really good recap of what I’d certainly consider a successful year of intentions!

2. Ranking My Top 5 Notebook Systems and Top 5 Papers of 2025 (via dwrdnet). The year-end recaps have started! Derek gives us his favorite notebooks and papers from the past year.

3. Diamine Inkvent 2025 Summary (via Writing at Large). I agree with much of this reaction. Can we dispense with so much “Extreme Sheen” next year? I’m not hearing many positive reactions.

4. 2025: Some of My Fountain Pen Highlights (via Fountain Pen Blog). An interesting set of acquisitions, notable for showcasing a breadth of interest.

5. The Transformative Power of a Planning System (via Philofaxy). Some great advice for those looking to add a planning system to their lives.

6. Top 10 Beautiful Nibs (via Figboot on Pens). David walks through the 10 best-looking nibs in his collection, looking at the visual artistry.

7. How to Fix a Stuck Mechanical Pencil Mechanism (via Vanness1938). A useful video on how to fix a mechanical pencil mechanism, shown on a Kaweco Sport mechanical pencil.

8. Iroshizuku Rikka (via Inkredible Colours). Rikka didn’t get as much attention when it was released this year, probably because the Iroshizuku line already has so many blues. But it’s a nice color all the same.

9. Meet Your Maker: Jonathon Brooks, Carolina Pen Company (via Pen Addict - Caroline). I enjoyed reading about the backstory behind Carolina Pen Company and how Jonathon got started.

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In Case You Missed It….

I got a bit behind, but I finished up my recap of the 2025 Inkvent and Colorvent Calendars in two installments: Days 11-20 and Days 20-25. I also filmed a YouTube video walking through my business planner of choice for 2026: the Wonderland222 A5 Core S. This week look for more 2025 Recap content as well as announcements on 2026 plans!

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The NJK No. 211 Long Lead Pencil Sharpener is the latest addition to our shop!

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

The day-after-Christmas craziness continues through the weekend, with new arrivals from Craft Design Technology leading the way. In addition to the new CDT pen releases, we’ve introduced their Pentel mechanical pencil collaboration and Camel pencil set, as well as a bunch of new paper items (including fun sticky notes), as well as scissors and leather pen cases! I’m also testing out a lot of these items personally as I add them to the shop, and I’ve enjoyed exploring this line. It’s clearly been designed by people who love stationery and each of the various items thoughtfully chosen. We’ve also restocked this week on Roterfaden Taschenbegleiters (which now have their own shop page), Musgrave pencils, and NJK Pencil Sharpeners!

Craft Design Technology

Musgrave

Roterfaden

TRAVELER'S Company

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Closing Out Colorvent and Inkvent: The Last Few Days and Overall Conclusions

Now that we’re past Christmas Day, another year of Inkvent/Colorvent ink Advent calendars has come and gone! This year was, overall, a good year for both Diamine and Colorverse in terms of the inks they chose for the calendars, but for my own personal preferences I would still give the edge to Colorverse. Why? Simply because most of the colors they chose to include are inks that I could see myself using on a regular basis, whereas the Diamine inks tend to be more “festive” and holiday-themed. That’s not bad by the way, and is actually the reason many people choose the Diamine calendar. Here’s a run-down of the last few days:

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Yes, I know this was actually Day 22. I got lost when I started playing catch-up so I stopped numbering them. I really enjoyed the Diamine Pineapple Spritz, btw, more than I thought I would, with its combination of pigment and shimmer.

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Colorverse Lunar Black and Winter Wonderland were both interesting: I always enjoy black/dark grey inks that offer subtle undertones of other colors like blue and purple, and I felt that Winter Wonderland struck a good balance of shimmer and sheen.

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The last few Diamine Inkvent Inks I didn’t find all that interesting. “Let It Snow” felt like a single-tone shimmer ink, and while Antler had some interesting shading that will appeal to some, the color didn’t do much for me. This year’s large 30ml bottle, “The Myrrh the Merrier,” was a shimmer/sheen combination but as with most of the Diamine sheening inks, I found the red sheen overpowering.

Takeaways and Overall Conclusions

I’ll likely always work my way through both calendars, because I find it to be a fun way to celebrate the holiday season and the calendars always have at least one or two inks that showcase each brands’ creativity. My favorite inks from this year’s calendar were probably Colorverse “Erebus Crater”, a multishading blue grey, and Diamine “Nostalgia,” a multishading red/purple/grey from the Chameleon collection. Diamine always releases the entire line of Inkvent inks as standard releases, while last year Colorverse picked three of the most popular to add to the standard lineup. Apparently they are doing the same for 2026, so we’ll eagerly await this year’s choices. Be sure to vote in the poll via the QR code on the back of your Colorvent Calendar box.

Colorverse Erebus Crater (right).

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Diamine Nostalgia.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can also come visit us and see any products we sell directly at our physical stationery store in Nashville, Tennessee!

Weekly Drops: Got Gift Cards to Burn? New TWSBIs, a Roterfaden Restock, and More!

The week between Christmas and New Year’s marks that special time when everyone starts to (1) spend their holiday gift money/gift cards and (2) retailers look to clear out their excess inventory. To that end, everything in the T.G.S. Clearance section will now receive an automatic 25% off at checkout, no coupon code necessary. We’ve also received the latest TWSBI release “Obsidian,” as well as a large Roterfaden restock that has many different sizes in stock in addition to the standard A5! Finally, be sure to check out the latest arrivals from Japan, including special edition releases from Craft Design Technology and Graphilo!

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CDT is a Tokyo and UK-based design house that collaborates with traditional manufacturers such as Pilot, Pentel, and more on their own versions of classic stationery items. These including multi-pens like the Zebra Sharbo and Pilot Frixion 3, a Pentel Sharp Kerry, Camel pencils, writing pads and notebooks, and even leather items. We are constantly adding more as they arrive, so stay tuned.

We will be open in our Nashville store normal hours (1-6pm Friday and 10am-6pm Saturday). Please come by and see us!

1. TWSBI Obsidian Piston Filler. The latest TWSBI acrylic piston filler limited release has landed, and it’s a beautiful pearlescent black acrylic with rose gold trim. We still have a (very) small number of the TWSBI “Kai” release from last year, if you prefer the blue.

2. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter B5 Size. We’ve restocked on most Roterfaden sizes, but the increasingly popular B5 is the one we’re asked about the most. This will hold B5 notebooks as well as standard composition books.

3. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter A4 Size. We have a few larger-format A4 Taschenbegleiters in black. We get requests to bring in A4 but it’s definitely a larger portfolio so these restocks tend to be fewer in number.

4. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter TGS_25. Our store-exclusive A5-slim Roterfaden is still available in grey leather, with either the grey or green elastic. We have a growing selection of A5-Slim notebooks, including newly arrived Graphilo offerings! More on those below.

5. Craft Design Technology Leather Pen/Pencil Cases. These zippered leather cases can hold either pens or pencils, and will age/patina beautifully. Available in either black or brown leather.

6. Craft Design Technology x Pentel Mechanical Pencil. So far, this CDT special edition mechanical pencil that is based on the iconic Pentel Sharp Kerry is a top seller.

7. Craft Design Technology Desk Note Bagasse Notebooks. These landscape-style notebooks feature CDT’s signature green color and fountain pen friendly Bagasse paper, which is made from sugarcane waste and handles most inks extremely well. The Desk Note is available in two sizes and designed to sit beneath a keyboard while you work.

8. Craft Design Technology Notepads. Available in either A5 or A6, with a mint green or natural color, this textured paper is pleasant to write on and features a smaller grid for jotting notes or even drawing.

9. Graphilo A5-Slim Notebooks. The A5 Slim format is becoming increasingly popular, and Graphilo has released these notebooks with lined, grid, blank or “Ciro” (white line) layouts. Each notebook contains 188 pages of fountain pen friendly Graphilo paper.

10. Graphilo Notebooks and Looseleaf Paper. In addition to the A5 Slim format, Graphilo makes notebooks in traditional A5, Square, and A4 sizes, and even has looseleaf sheets available in both A4 and A5.

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Colorvent/Inkvent Recap: Days 11-20 Top Picks

So I got a bit behind on the Advent Calendars due to the holiday rush in the shop, but hopefully I’ll get caught up now that I have a couple days off! I do forget how much ink you end up accumulating with two calendars. (I can’t imagine keeping up with three or more like some people!) For today’s post I thought I would pick a handful that spoke to me and might make their way into the 3-4 inks from each calendar that I keep every year. If you missed the first two parts, check out my recaps of Days 1-5 and Days 6-10.

Day 16: Diamine Ruby Taffeta and Colorverse Polar Night

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Taffeta is a dark red with a subtle gold shimmer, and Polar Night is a color-shifting ink that I’ll probably need to try out a bit more to see how dark it actually gets.

Day 19: Diamine Overcast and Colorverse Cosmic Reef

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The color-shifters and multi-shaders were my favorite this year. Diamine Overcast has those multiple shades of blue and grey while Cosmic Reef combines tasteful levels of reddish sheen with color-shifting properties.

Day 20: Diamine Ambience and Colorverse Golden Airglow

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Two really nice shimmer inks. Is subtle shimmer growing on me? Golden Airglow was a favorite.

Takeaways So Far From This Year’s Calendars: Enough with the Green/Gold Super-Sheeners

Not only do they tend to smear, but they all end up looking the same to me whether the underlying color is blue, purple, green, etc. The handful of sheening inks included in this year’s Diamine Calendar were my least favorite, and from what I’ve heard from readers and customers it wasn’t an uncommon take. I am, however, interested in further exploring the Diamine pigment inks, though given how sticky some of them have been I will be careful with the pens I use.

The Wonderland222 A5 Core (S) might be the dated paper planner that actually meets my needs.

Finally, to everyone who has supported us through the holiday season, a huge thank you! We’re looking forward to a couple of days off and then we’re back at it, with the store open Friday and Saturday normal hours. (Yes, we will be closed Christmas Day.) In the meantime, I'm busy getting ready for 2026, including closing out my 2025 notebooks and setting up planners and notebook systems for 2026. Believe it or not, this is actually one of my favorite things to do during the last week of the holiday season. Be sure to check out my recent video walkthrough of my main 2026 Planner that I’m still in the process of setting up, and I’ll have more 2026 notebook content in the week ahead!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can also come visit us and see any products we sell directly at our physical stationery store in Nashville, Tennessee!

New Arrivals: TWSBI Obsidian Fountain Pens, Plus a Roterfaden Restock!

TWSBI’s latest limited edition piston filler has arrived, featuring a pearlescent black acrylic paired with rose gold trim. Like the TWSBI Kai (of which we still have exactly one available), the new TWSBI Obsidian will be available for a limited run. TWSBI releases this particular style approximately once a year, and sometimes less frequently. These pens are available for purchase now and will ship starting today.

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Most Roterfaden Sizes Are Restocked - Please Visit the New Dedicated Roterfaden Shop Page

Unless you’re shopping in person with us today, these won’t arrive in time for Christmas, but we did receive a large restock of Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter covers, including less-common sizes such as B5 and A4, as well as Four-Clip covers. Going forward, Roterfaden products will be listed on their own dedicated section of the shop, since the stock changes frequently and it is easier to maintain this way. Please understand that we are not holding back stock and because the holiday season is busy, we have been unable to respond to inquiries about whether specific sizes and colors are available. If it is not listed on the Roterfaden page or showing as unavailable, we do not currently have it in stock.

We have holiday hours in the Nashville shop today from 1-6pm, and will be closed to in-person shopping tomorrow (12/23) and Thursday (12/24). We will reopen Friday and Saturday during normal store hours.