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The Gentleman Stationer

Vintage Living in the Modern World.
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Thursday Drops: Jetstream M17 Restock, Toyo Steel Boxes, Handsewn Notebooks from Original Brooks, and More!

July 17, 2025

They’re back! We have additional Lamy x Jetstream M17 ballpoint refills, which will fit the Safari, AL-Star, Lamy 2000 and other pens that take the Lamy M16 ballpoint refill. If you’d like to read more about why we love this refill so much, check out this post. We’ve also recently received a supply of Toyo steel boxes from Japan, which are a popular stackable storage solution for anything from stationery to office supplies to travel accessories. Finally, we’ve added some gorgeous hand-sewn journals from Original Brooks, a boutique bookbindery in North Carolina, and we also have a Roterfaden A5 and B6 restock!

UPDATE: While we’re at it, let’s do a vacation promotion! Through Sunday at 11:59pm, take 10% off most bottled fountain pen inks and ink cartridges using the coupon code “INKYVACAY” at checkout. (We did just get a restock of some favorites, including all the Greek Mythology inks!) Promotion excludes brands that cannot be discounted, including Pilot and TWSBI. I also wanted to take a moment to talk about the DC Pen Show, which will happen at the end of this month. I will be driving, so if you would like to place an order for DC Pickup, use “DCPICKUP” to drop the shipping charge. Note that we will NOT ship your order to you if you fail to pick it up in DC, unless it otherwise qualifies for free shipping at the over $75 threshold. All DC orders must be placed by noon on July 30 (7/30).

Original Brooks Hand-sewn Notebooks

These hand-sewn notebooks from Original Brooks have been a fun find. I love that each signature contains different reclaimed, antique, or repurposed paper.

Just a reminder that our brick-and-mortar shop is closed this weekend as we are on vacation this week. Orders have continued to ship, and anything placed today or later will ship within our normal 2-3 business day processing time. Many thanks for all your support!

  1. Lamy x Jetstream M17 Ballpoint Refills. The popular Lamy x Jetstream refills that sold out so quickly are back in stock. These are designed to fit Lamy retractable ballpoint pens that take the Lamy M16 refill. .5mm and .7mm tip sizes are available.

  2. Toyo Steel Boxes. These cult-favorite Japanese steel storage boxes come in a range of colors and are perfect for storing everything from stationery to tea to ink bottles, to travel supplies. Certain colors are harder to get than others, so supply may be limited.

  3. Original Brooks Handsewn Notebooks. Original Brooks is a small-scale bookbinder located in North Carolina that makes notebooks from reclaimed and antique scrap paper. Each notebook/journal contains multiple signatures of different papers, as well as a couple of envelopes for collecting keepsakes and ephemera. Two sizes are available.

  4. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter in B6 Smoke/Honey. The dark blue and honey suede Taschenbegleiter is back in the B6 size, a much-requested addition to our Roterfaden lineup.

  5. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiters in A5. Otherwise, we have a sizeable restock of A5 Taschenbegleiter covers in various leathers, both with felt and suede interiors. Four-clip versions have sold out but three-clip versions remain.

  6. Yamamoto Ro-Biki Canvas Covers/Cases. These canvas notebook cases are designed to fit the Standard Ro-Biki notebooks, but function more as a wrap than a traditional cover, and incorporate a zippered pouch into the outside.

  7. Yamamoto Ro-Biki Standard and Passport Notebooks. The Ro-Biki paper is excellent, and we now offer it in a passport-sized notebook that will fit in the Passport-sized Traveler’s Notebook cover. All Passport notebooks feature dot grid Soliste paper.

  8. Lochby Voyager Journals and Refills. Lochby’s version of the “A5 Slim” format is here, and it’s quite nice. Like the other Lochby cases, this one holds four refills on the cords and one in each cover. Lochby’s own refills contain 68gsm Tomoe River paper.

  9. Shorthand Press Notebooks and Desk Pads. Los Angeles-based Shorthand Press makes spiral notebooks and desk pads that feature letterpress covers, vintage-inspired rulings, and durable double-o spiral bindings.

  10. Anecdote Goods Correspondence Cards. By popular request from both our in-store and online customers, we’ve added a series of folded correspondence notecards with simple design motifs. These are 300g cardstock, with a substantial feel in the hand.

Lamy x Jetstream M17 Refill
In TGS Curated Shop Tags Thursday Drops, TGS Curated Shop

From the Archives: Early T.G.S. YouTube Videos and Overlooked Gems

July 16, 2025

Sometimes when I’m on vacation or traveling I’ll pull out some older posts from the early days - perhaps content from a time when the site (and certainly the YouTube Channel) didn’t get as much traffic as it does now. Due to the algorithmic nature of the modern internet, a lot of good, informative content gets buried simply because it’s old. Periodically you need to do what you can to put it back out there. Here are three videos/video series that I had a lot of fun making and I hope you enjoy if you missed them the first time around.

  • Fountain Pen Basics: How to Fill a Fountain Pen. I walk through several different filling systems, demonstrating how they work. Self-explanatory, but I do receive a lot of questions and inquiries on this topic.

  • London Stationery Haul, Part I: Inks from Cornelissen. I thought this one would get more attention than it did, but perhaps the YouTube Algorithm simply isn’t as captivated by historically inspired dip pen inks as I am.

  • Santini Italia Libra Fountain Pen Review. I reviewed a pen that was loaned to me by a friend, which honestly saved me a lot of money. These pens are beautiful but simply don’t match my writing style.

Due to our travel schedule this week, please note that our brick-and-mortar shop is closed and will reopen the week of July 21. Online orders will continue to be processed and ship but may require an additional 1-2 business days beyond our normal time. Thank you for all your support!

In Travel Tags Travel, Content Archive

The Smoke Blue and Honey color combination is among my favorites.

New Arrivals: Ro-Biki Passport Size and A5/B6 Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter Restock!

July 15, 2025

We may be on vacation this week, but we still have a bunch of new arrivals that we continue to work to get listed. Right before we left, we received a restock of A5 Roterfaden Taschenbegleiters in A5. While the four-clip versions sold out almost immediately, we continue to have stock of several classic three-clip A5 Taschenbegleiters with both suede and felt interiors, as well as a B6 version of the Smoke Blue and Honey Suede that has been a favorite.

In addition to the standard size Ro-Biki notebooks, we now have the Passport-sized Ro-Biki notebooks available for purchase, which are the same dimensions as the Traveler’s Company passport refills and feature wonderfully fountain pen friendly dot grid paper. Now available in 17 different cover designs!

Due to our travel schedule this week, please note that our brick-and-mortar shop is closed and will reopen the week of July 21. Online orders will continue to be processed and ship but may require an additional 1-2 business days beyond our normal time. Thank you for all your support!

In TGS Curated Shop Tags New Arrivals, Yamamoto Ro-Biki, Passport Notebook, Pocket Notebook, TGS Curated Shop

Vacation Reading for July 14, 2025

July 14, 2025
  1. Stationery Feed Interview with Matthew Chen (via dwrdnet). Derek has nib grinder Matthew Chen sit for an interview this week! Matthew has one of the best naginata-style grinds out there, the Kodachi.

  2. Dominant Industry Ink Archiving Book: A Log of Elixir (via Olive Octopus Ink). After seeing Lisa’s Atlantis archiving book, I went ahead and picked up a Log of Elixir. While I didn’t take it on vacation (figured bottles of ink wouldn’t travel well), I’ve played around with it back at the shop and these are fun ways to explore the properties of all the inks in your collection.

  3. The WORST Pen Montblanc Ever Made? (via Doodlebud). I’m not sure I necessarily agree with this one, but the Montblanc Model M continues to draw very strong opinions!

  4. Fifty4T Titan Ultem (via Figboot on Pens). A look at another new pen brand (pronounced “fiftyforty”) that uses this draw-filler/syringe mechanism.

  5. Endless Stationery Phantom Fountain Pen First Impressions (via Dapprman). Endless is iterating on their low-cost capless fountain pen. I missed this Kickstarter, though admittedly I’m not following the crowdfunding platforms as much as I used to.

  6. Benu Tribute Fountain Pen: “Black Coffee” Edition. A Tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. (via Penquisition). Usually Benu designs don’t do much for me, but this one takes a different approach.

  7. Kaweco Piston Sport: A Quick Review (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). I’m a fan of what Kaweco has done with the piston sport, retrofitting a piston into their standard classic sport format. I’m hoping for some new colors in the future!

  8. You Have to Make a Mess to Make It Better (via From the Pen Cup). I owe my home office a couple weeks of cleaning/organizing. That looks like an awesome room!

  9. Upcoming Pen Show Workshops (via Well-Appointed Desk). I panicked a bit when I looked at the Calendar and saw that the D.C. Pen Show is just over two weeks away. Ana and I will both be holding workshops in the Vanness Pen Lounge through the weekend. Stay tuned for details on the notebook systems workshops I did last year, and as with last year, I’ll have some of them available for purchase if you want to try and buy.

  10. Is It Good: My First Asvine Pen: The C80 with a #8 Nib (via Inkdependence). Asvine makes some excellent low cost pens, and are following Jinhao into the lower-cost No. 8 nib territory, though Asvines cost a bit more. (Worth it, IMHO.)

In Case You Missed It…

This past week on the blog was a bit light as I was prepping to get out of town for a week. (My real first week off in about a year.) The main post from the past week was a comparison of the Yamamoto Ro-Biki Note to the Traveler’s Notebook, and how the two systems differ. (They do not have exactly the same dimensions.) I also published a YouTube video walking through the Ro-Biki Setup. For more details on what I’m taking with me on vacation, and how things will work while I’m gone, there’s a short post from Saturday.

Shorthand Press Calendar Pad next to Lamy Swift

Fans of desk pads should check out the Shorthand Press offerings!

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop - Vacation schedule

We continue to build out our selection of notebook systems, and this past week introduced the Yamamoto Paper Ro-Biki System. We also have a full Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter A5 restock that includes most of our favorite colors and formats. In terms of new brands, we have added Shorthand Press, a U.S.-made brand out of Los Angeles, as well as new notebooks from Anecdote Goods. Be sure to check out last week’s Thursday Drops post for details on all new arrivals.

Note that our brick-and-mortar shop is closed this week to in-person shopping, though most online orders will continue to be processed as I do have some help while I am out. Fulfillment may take an extra business day or two.

Stàlogy 2025 Releases
Stàlogy 2025 Releases
Jetstream M17
Jetstream M17
Lochby
Lochby
Kuru-Toga KS
Kuru-Toga KS

PAtreon curated stationery boxes are available!

If you’re a Patreon supporter, be sure to check the Patreon feed because the second round of quarterly curated stationery boxes are available, with plans to start shipping by the end of the month. 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 like this one, consider supporting us via Patreon. We do our best to remain 100% self-supported without having to rely on third-party advertisers or affiliates. Of course, the number one way to help is to visit our curated retail shop either online (or in person, if you’re in the Nashville area)! The T.G.S. Patreon includes early access and discounts on exclusive shop releases (including the Taschenstift “Violet Tendencies”), the quarterly gently used sales, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. As noted above, we’ve recently started a Discord community for all paid Patreon supporters.

In LInks Tags Links

All I’m bringing this week.

Vacation Prep: What I’m Taking and What to Expect Next Week

July 12, 2025

So we’re taking a vacation. A real vacation. The kind of do-not-much-but-read, actually relaxing vacation. I have some pre-set content queued up, but things will be quiet here for a few days. The brick-and-mortar shop will be closed next week (July 13-20), but online orders will still be processed and will continue to ship as I have helpers assisting with fulfillment. We’re driving all day tomorrow, so “Sunday Reading” will likely become “Monday Reading”, and I have some fun “throwback” posts on the way.

My 2025 Vacation Travel Kit

I’m keeping it simple, per the picture above, taking a single Rickshaw Sinclair with whatever fountain pens are currently in there, a couple Lamy’s with the new (and restocked!) Jetstream refills, plus my current Maruman Mnemosyne Journal and my oldest Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter with a Nanami Paper Seven Seas writer containing a partially finished first draft of a creative writing project I want to revisit. We’ll see how much actually happens, but the plan is to disconnect from work and “the world” for a bit. Honestly, this is a travel-kit-by-default because I’m working all day today to get pending orders out the door or pulled for packing tomorrow and don’t have time to redo anything, but I put a lot of thought into this currently inked rotation and really want to use all of these pens until they’re dry.

See you next week!

A5 Roterfadens are back in stock! These are easy to ship while I’m out, so orders will be processed in our normal shipping time.

In Travel Tags Vacation, Traveling, Travel Pens
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