Sunday Reading for July 10, 2022

1. My Thoughts on the Lamy Studio (via Pen Addict). Kimberly and I share a love for the much-underloved Lamy Studio, which is a great pen that warrants so much more attention than it typically receives.

2. My Lamy 2000 and I: A New Chapter Begins (via Fountain Pen Blog). The Lamy 2000 is my own personal definition of a modern classic, and I always love to see reports of great experiences!

3. Inky Converters Notebook Cover (via Well-Appointed Desk). I love Angela’s designs and overall aesthetic, and picked up several items from her table when I was in Chicago this past fall. I love it that she’s expanding into things like Traveler’s-style notebook covers.

4. Opus 88 Halo Fountain Pen (via The Poor Penman). The Halo is likewise one of my favorite Opus 88 releases in recent years, and Opus 88 is fast become a favorite brand. I’m glad to see Opus doing more specials and collaborations.

5. Papier Plume Limited Edition Inks (via Mountain of Ink). Papier Plume has been working on more and more collaborations these days, including limited and special edition inks with others in the community. Kelli reviews three of them here.

6. Pilot Custom 912 FA Nib (Falcon) (via Well-Appointed Desk). Not to be confused with the Pilot Falcon fountain pen, the Falcon (FA) nib is a “more flexible” (I use that term very loosely) nib that will provide some of the best line variation you can get in a modern 14k nib.

7. Sheaffer VFM (via Dapprman). Sheaffer has made some modern pens in recent years that deserve more consideration than they typically get. This VFM, however, didn’t perform very well.

8. Dominant Industry Periwinkle Blue on Midori MD (via Inkredible Colours). Dominant Industry is one of many new ink brands taking the community by storm, and I’ve managed to pick up a few bottles. Look for reviews soon as I get settled into my new space and work my way through the backlog!

9. Second Chances: Conklin Duragraph Purple Nights (via A Fleeting Ripple). Conklin can be hit or miss as a brand, especially on the less expensive end of the spectrum, in my opinion.

10. Anderillium Inks Avian Series (via KraftyKats). Chloe reviews the entire series of Anderillium “Avian” Inks. I’m a big fan of Anderillium, and hope to see them again at the D.C. Pen Show.

In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog, I reviewed the Schon DSGN Classic Machined Pen v2, one of my purchases from the 2022 Chicago Pen Show. I also did a short write-up on a new arrival from Lochby, the Venture Pouch!

View fullsize

The Lochby Venture Pouch is in-stock, in all colors, and available for purchase!

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

The Great July Inventory Draw-Down continues! Take 10% off all paper and pencils in the shop, with the discount automatically applied at checkout. This is in addition to any clearance pricing that currently applies. I am also thinning out review samples and items from the collection, so don’t forget to look at the Gently Used Page as well. Stay tuned for more specials and sales as we make our way through July!

Patreon Announcement!

I would love for the T.G.S. Patreon to become the primary method of support for T.G.S., and have tried to streamline it. I’ll also need to be a bit more vocal about its availability and what it offers. As of yesterday, I’ve streamlined the Patreon to two tiers: $3 and $5, and plan on making monthly meetups, pen show events, and periodic exclusive content the primary benefits. Of course, Patreon members will continue to get first access to periodic sample sales, with right of first refusal on gently used pens.

Holiday Reading for July 4, 2022!

Happy Fourth of July, for those in the U.S.! Enjoy the long weekend!

1. 2022 St. Louis Pen Show Recap (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). It’s hard to compete with Kimberly’s incredibly comprehensive pen show reviews! This is a great write-up of St. Louis, and it highlights a concerning trend - the lower attendance at the smaller/medium-sized pen shows due to the current expense and difficulty of travel, lingering COVID concerns, and general economic unease.

2. What Happens When the Desk Goes to a Pen Show (via Well-Appointed Desk). Ana has another St. Louis Pen Show report, plus an announcement regarding an XXL Col-o-ring, the Folio!

3. A Play in 3 Acts: Leonardo Momento Zero Prisma (via A Fleeting Ripple). Rainbow-anodized trim certain is having its moment right now, as this post points out, and the frosted material is certainly a different take.

4. Caran d’Ache 849 Gold Bar (via KraftyKats). Many thanks to Chloe for reviewing the Caran d’Ache 849 “Gold Bar” ballpoint pen. We still have a few in stock, and they’re eligible for the 4th of July Sale (see details below).

5. Vinta Limited Edition Inks (via Mountain of Ink). Be sure to check out that Vanness Pens “Sodalite”! It’s a great ink.

6. Birmingham Pen Co. Antique Sepia (via Macchiato Man). These dual-tone, multichromatic, double-shading, whatever-you-want-to-call-them inks are becoming increasingly popular. Though I haven’t spent much time reviewing Birmingham Inks (and I know I should), the ones I’ve tried have been mostly excellent.

7. Write Notepads Pocket Notebook - Ledger (via KraftyKats). Chloe also reviews some Write Notepads paper, which we also stock and as she discovers, it’s incredibly fountain-pen friendly!

8. Enameled Sakura (via Rachel’s Reflections). An Ironfeather Creative pen is definitely on my list of things to look for at my remaining pen shows this year. This carved pen with a sakura theme is gorgeous.

9. BENU Euphoria Scent of Irises (via Dapprman). If you’re a fan of extremely interesting materials, BENU pens should be on your radar. I have irises in my front yard so this particular design caught my eye.

10. Leonardo Momento Zero Grande Limited Pens Korea (via SBRE Brown). Wow, that pen features a beautiful material. Stephen was definitely luck to get one of these!

In Case You Missed It…

Last week on the blog I reviewed the Nebula Note “Casual Note” notebook, which not only features excellent paper but has PERFORATED PAGES, something that I want to see more often in high-end notebooks. I also wrote a piece on my evolving thoughts on eyedropper fountain pens, and why I’ve decided to narrow the scope of pens that I convert to eyedroppers.

T.G.S. Curated Shop Announcement and Site Updates

As I posted on Thursday, we are generally reducing our inventory and streamlining our shop. This includes clearance pricing on many items and a “SUMMER” Coupon code to take an additional 10% off through tomorrow, July 5. We haven’t decided to what extent we want to keep a stand-alone shop going - everyone in our house is pretty overwhelmed right now with work/family/life obligations, and given that the original goal was to enable us to design our own exclusive and special editions of well-loved products, there might be a way to do this (i.e., via retail partnerships or third-party fulfillment) that gives us more flexibility. For now, continue to shop T.G.S. Curated, enjoy our Fourth of July Sale, and look for more announcements during the second-half of 2022.

Meanwhile, we are fully stocked on Lochby, including some new colors of favorites! See the link below and be sure to check out the new colors of the Tool Roll and the recently arrived Venture Pouch!

Lochby

Traveler's Company

Platinum Desk Pen

Maruman

Patreon Announcement!

I would love for the T.G.S. Patreon to become the primary method of support for T.G.S., and have tried to streamline it. I’ll also need to be a bit more vocal about its availability and what it offers. As of yesterday, I’ve streamlined the Patreon to two tiers: $3 and $5, and plan on making monthly meetups, pen show events, and periodic exclusive content the primary benefits. Of course, Patreon members will continue to get first access to periodic sample sales, with right of first refusal on gently used pens. I just uploaded a huge batch of pens, inks, paper, cases, and accessories yesterday and there is stuff remaining!

Sunday Reading for June 26, 2022

1. The Red Dragon: Penmeester.be Urushi & Osprey Milano (via a fleeting ripple). Ah, the things you’ll discover at pen shows! It sounds like there’s a lot to discover at these non-U.S. pen shows.

2. Lamy Cursive Nib Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). Blake from The Paper Mind has started a video series, in which he looks at Lamy’s new specialty nib that apparently has a slight architect shape to it.

3. Early Thoughts on the Parker Vector XL Fountain Pen (via Fountain Pen Blog). Parker has released a larger version of their popular “Vector” fountain pen, which many might prefer to the original. Personally I always thought the standard Vector felt a bit flimsy.

4. Additional Indie Makers (via Rachel’s Reflections). Wow, I hadn’t heard of most of the indie makers on this list. I look forward to exploring all of these makers.

5. Wearingeul Henry Jekyll (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist). Here’s the first part of the two-ink Wearingeul set review!

6. ScriBo Classico Sepia (via Dapprman). Sepia inks are an acquired taste, but I personally love this color.

7. Diamine Inkvent 2021, Part 2 (via Mountain of Ink). I missed out on the Diamine Inkvent calendar (again), but here’s a review of Part 2 of this year’s set.

8. Currently Inked on Ayush Paper and Sakae TP Iro-ful (via Pen Addict). Kimberly looks at two less common fountain pen friendly paper options, Ayush and Sakae Technical. I have briefly tried Ayush, which I enjoyed, but have not experienced Sakae.

9. Out of Office: What Am I Carrying? (via Well-Appointed Desk). I love to see how people travel for work and never get tired of EDC posts.

10. Limited Pens Korea x Leonardo Officina Italiana Momento Zero Grande Purple Sand Limited Edition Fountain Pens (via Gourmet Pens). Wow, that’s a colorful Leonardo!

In Case You Missed It…

This week I’ve been playing catch-up and focusing on ink. On Wednesday, I reviewed the 2022 Chicago Pen Show Ink from Anderillium, MIchigan Avenue, which is an oxidized-bronze-green inspired by the lions standing guard outside the Art Institute of Chicago. And while I got a bit of a late start yesterday, I finally published a look at the Kakimori Brass Dip Nib, which is an excellent option for those of you who enjoy serial-ink-sampling or lettering with your fountain pen inks.

This Week in the Curated Shop

The big news was the arrival of a new shipment of notebooks and notepads from Maruman Mnemosyne. In addition to their fabulous spiral notebooks in new sizes, we added spiral steno pads in classic “Gregg” ruling, as well as grid. I’m personally most excited about is the notepad cover, which holds an A5 Notepad and five different dividers to file away your notes!

Maruman Mnemosyne

Midori MD

TWSBI

Midori Pens

Help Support T.G.S. and Consider Joining the Patreon!

For some additional fun, and to help support the blog consider joining our Patreon. Patreon supporters receive special pricing and early access to product releases and collaborations such as the T.G.S. x Sunderland pen, in addition to other benefits. You can read more about T.G.S. Patreon here.

Holiday Reading for June 20, 2022

1. My First Show: The Dutch Pen Show (via A Fleeting Ripple). I love reading about people’s reactions to attending their first pen show, especially the sense of overwhelm when they see how much pen stuff can actually exist in one place!

2. Review Madness and an Ink Vial Hack (via KraftyKats). If you have trouble with filling or dipping pens from standard plastic ink sample vials, Chloe has an interesting hack here to hold your ink bottles steady when filling.

3. All Geared Up for Commonplace Notes (via mnmlscholar). Catching up on my commonplace book is definitely on my list of things to do, now that I’m back from vacation.

4. Vintage Sheaffer Research (via Rachel’s Reflections). I get a lot of questions seeking help identifying specific models of vintage pens, so people might find Rachel’s discussion of her research techniques helpful.

5. On Journaling and the Meditative Aspects of Writing (via S.B.R.E. Brown). Reviews are fun, but it’s definitely interesting to dive into the “why” and think about how analogue tools help us out in our daily lives.

6. Dominant Industries Autumn Forest (via Well-Appointed Desk). The one Dominant Industries Ink that I’ve been truly coveting and haven’t gotten my hands on yet.

7. Kaweco Premium Steel Fountain Pen Nib Review (via Pen Addict). I really wish Kaweco would simply increase their prices to account for necessary quality control and give people a guaranteed writing experience out of the box.

8. La Couronne du Compte (Diamine) Vert Sapin (via Machiatto Man). An interesting Diamine Ink with a lot of sheen. Yagan’s ink reviews are incredibly thorough, to say the least!

9. Preview of Montblanc Glacier Collection (via Gourmet Pens). Just take my money already.

10. M605 Tortoiseshell Black (via Pelikan’s Perch). Pelikan’s latest Tortoiseshell release is beautiful, and I’m excited to see them release more in the M600/M605 size.

In Case You Missed It….

I was out of town this past week, so I did what I always do when I’m on my annual summer vacation, which is post a series of recaps/reflections on my favorite products from the past six months. Part I discussed my Top Five Product Reviews, Part II discussed my favorite new products added to the T.G.S. Curated Shop, and Part III talked about my favorite acquisitions of 2022 thus far.

This Week in the Curated Shop

I’m basically playing catch-up on shipping today and tomorrow, since so many of you were kind enough to continue to support me even though I was off for a week! I truly appreciate it. Look for some new product arrivals and restocks in the coming weeks, but for now we are still well-stocked on favorites and some remaining special releases!

Caran d'Ache

Traveler's Company

Midori MD Light

Reading Accessories!

Help Support T.G.S. and Consider Joining the Patreon!

For some additional fun, and to help support the blog consider joining the Patreon program. Patreon supporters receive special pricing and early access to product releases and collaborations such as the T.G.S. x Sunderland pen, in addition to other benefits. You can read more about T.G.S. Patreon here.

Vacation Reading: Week of June 13, 2022

1. Where Lamy Daren’t Go…. (via Penquisition). I will now purchase both of this year’s Safari releases, since Evan has shown us what is possible with some tinkering and a little bit of courage.

2. BlueDew Flex Fountain Pen: Too Good To Be True? (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). For those looking for dip-nib-style flex, Kimberly reviews another option from a brand I’m not familiar with.

3. Comparing Common Nib Grinds (via Rachel’s Reflections). An excellent illustration of the differences in some of the more common nib grinds, showing both how the nib is modified and how the modification changes your handwriting.

4. 12 for 12: Our 12 Favorite Products for Our 12th Anniversary (via Well-Appointed Desk). Congratulations to Ana and team for this milestone, and thanks for including us!

5. Flexibility and Searchability in Taking Notes (via mnmlscholar). I love the science/art of notetaking, especially reading about how people archive their notes for later cross-referencing.

6. Romillo No. 7 Fountain Pen (via Blake’s Broadcast). These pens, which feature handmade nibs, continue to fascinate me, even though they tend to require a lot of tinkering, from what I hear.

7. An Ode to Cheap Pens: Faber-Castell Grip Fountain Pen (via A Fleeting Ripple). I’ve long believed that Faber-Castell makes some of the best inexpensive fountain pens available. They unfortunately have always received far less attention than I think they should.

8. IWI Colors of Nature Slight Snow (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist). I love dusky purples, though this one appears to me (or my screen) as more on the pink side. Either way, it’s an interesting color that should still be legible despite the desaturation and shading.

9. Cult Pens Diamine Flower Inks Set Exclusive (via Dapprman). Diamine is releasing a new set of flower-themed inks. I loved the first set and will probably try to pick these up as well.

10. Stilo&Stile x Leonardo Momento Zero Prisma Fountain Pen (via Gourmet Pens). Leonardo is now getting on board the prismatic/rainbow anodized train. I’m not sure this particular design is for me but everything they do is great quality.

In Case You Missed It….

Last week on the blog I published a piece on enjoying a hobby in the midst of an economic downturn or other financial pressures, something we all unfortunately have to do the longer we pursue a passion because, well, life happens. I also reviewed one of my favorite new nib grinds - the “Perspective” nib from Gena Salorino from Custom Nib Studios. If you appreciate versatile nibs that give you many different writing options in a single package, you absolutely need to check this one out.

This Week in the Curated Shop

I’m on vacation, so our usual 2-3 business day shipping time will be extended to 5 business days. That said, we’re still processing orders and any orders placed during this window will go out promptly on my return, with some extras included such as stickers, ink samples, etc.. We’re fully restocked on Midori MD Paper, including the Limited 70th Anniversary MD Light Notebooks and Fountain Pen & Ink Sets, and we also still have plenty of Lochby Quattro Four Pen Cases, Pocket Journals, and Tool Rolls! Check out even more links below.

Caran d'Ache

Traveler's Company

Platinum

CW&T

T.G.S. From The Archives

Vacation week seems like a good time for a reminder to check out the 2022 “Best Pens” list, updated to reflect recent preferences. Enjoy!

Many thanks for your support of The Gentleman Stationer! We rely entirely on purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program in order to keep the site going. If you enjoy the content, please consider visiting our shop or pledging! Even the smallest of amounts helps!