Sunday Reading for January 21, 2024

1. What Are We Looking For? (via A Gathering of Curiosities). Why did you dive into the pen hobby? There’s a lot to unpack here, but I think this post does a great job of unraveling the various threads of interest.

2. 2024 Philadelphia Pen Show Recap (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). This is a great recap of the show, and I’m glad to hear traffic continued to pick up after I had to head out early on Saturday afternoon. Friday was a bit slow.

3. AI in the Pen Community (via Well-Appointed Desk). While I can see legitimate uses for AI, I would prefer to keep it out of pen community, thank you very much. (I suspect the product discussed in this review is very much tongue-in-cheek.)

4. Holiday Recap: 2023 Weirdoforest Reflection (via Weirdoforest Pens). 2023 reflections are still trickling out! This was an interesting one for me because it has a discussion of some pens/brands that had been off my radar.

5. Nakaya Hurt by Noto Earthquake (via Dapprman). Fortunately everyone working for Nakaya is apparently safe.

6. Gravitas Ultimate Vac (via Dapprman). An exceptionally thorough review of a pen I need to get into my own review queue.

7. Waterman Tender Purple: Quick Impressions (via Cheryl Lindo Jones). A great purple ink, though as noted it’s a wet ink so keep that in mind when choosing to put it in broad and stub nibs.

8. Early Thoughts on the Duke 551 Confucius Bamboo Fude Pen Nib (via Fountain Pen Blog). I’m intrigued a bit by these lower-cost fude nibs that other bloggers frequently write about. I may need to give them a shot!

9. A Bock Mystery (via Rachel’s Reflections). I’m not a heavy Bock user, as nearly all of my custom pens use JoWo-threaded nib units, so I wasn’t aware of this controversy over whether all Bock nib housings are uniform….

10. The Harmony in a Simple Index Tab (via mnmlscholar). Index tabs are one of my absolute favorite categories of simple stationery accessories that can transform your usage, especially if you use notebooks for multiple subjects or purposes.

11. Quick Look - Asvine P36 (via The Poor Penman). I was impressed with the build of the Asvine P36 for the price point, but as Paul points out, there are going to be issues with consistency and QC when attempting to keep costs down.

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The T.G.S. Ink Review Archive is Live!

In Case You Missed It…

This week’s theme was ink! I started by reviewing several dark teal and turquoise inks I’ve been using in my daily rotation, including inks from the Iroshizuku, Laban Greek Mythology, and Wearingeul lines. I also launched a project I’ve been working on for some time: The Gentleman Stationer Ink Review Archive, which contains reviews of 110+ inks from the past decade of T.G.S.!

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As of the time of posting, we have exactly one of these pens left in stock.

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop: Nahvalur Dragon, Clairefontaine Looseleaf, and a Black TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR!

Lots of new arrivals hit the shop this week, including Nahvalur’s 2024 Pen of the Year, designed around the Year of the Dragon. This pen features a stunning black, red, and gold resin plus a 14k nib option. (These sold incredibly quickly, and currently only the 14k nib pens remain!) The Black TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR is also available for purchase, with the pens set to arrive and ship on Tuesday. Check out this week’s Thursday Drops post for all of our recent arrivals!

Nahvalur

Pilot

TWSBI

Clairefontaine

Bear with us as we are still iced in, and USPS, Fedex, and UPS have all postponed most pick-ups and deliveries until Monday when warmer temperatures arrive. While we have been packing and delivering orders to the drop-off points near my office, I doubt many packages have moved due to the treacherous road conditions.

How to Support T.G.S. - Plus a Patreon Meetup This Coming Saturday

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), there are several ways that you can support us. 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, especially during the upcoming holiday season! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, consider joining the T.G.S. Patreon, which also includes early access to quarterly gently used sales. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. This past month, Patreon supporters have had access to additional Inkvent content, including commentary on my favorite Diamine Inkvent inks and more. The first of these Inkvent posts is public, so please check out Patreon to learn more!

No matter how you support us - even if just with a comment, recommendation, or encouraging word - we greatly appreciate your readership!

Sunday Reading for January 14, 2024 (Philly Pen Show Weekend Edition)

1. Montblanc Brothers Grimm (via Figboot on Pens). Ok, so this one might be an acquired taste, but I love it. At some point (provided circumstances allow) I will add one to the collection.

2. Eating My Hats: Diamine Early Dusk and Leonardo Andromeda (via A Gathering of Curiosities). I’ve also never really understood the idea of forcing yourself to use an ink solely to use it up. I change my ink with my mood, though there are some I use more than others, and I have finished bottles “naturally”!

3. Waterman Carène Stub Nib: Initial Thoughts (via Cheryl Lindo Jones). Wait, there’s a Carène stub? Is the sole purpose of this week’s links to tempt me after I just got back from a pen show?

4. Appelboom Boston Is Closing (via Line Variation). I saw this announcement last week and was likewise sad to see it. Given high rents and costs of operation in downtown areas in major U.S. cities, however, it’s getting more difficult to operate businesses like pen stores, at least in these locations.

5. Handwriting Equals Thinking: Or, Why I Use a Paper Planner (via Analog Office). Couldn’t have said it better!

6. Dip Pens Part I: Some Basics (via Writing at Large). I’m looking forward to this multi-part series on using dip pens, something I dabble in but have never fully explored.

7. What To Do With Last Year’s Inserts? (via Philofaxy). Do you archive or destroy past planner inserts? For work, I destroy. Anything that approximates a journal, I keep.

8. A Comparison of Muji Paper Types (via Inkredible Colours). If you live near a Muji store and enjoy their extremely inexpensive notebooks, here’s a great comparison of how each version performs with fountain pen ink.

9. I’m Sorry Shimmer Inks (via Rachel’s Reflections). I had a similar experience this year during Inkvent. If you’ve written off shimmer inks in the past due to bad experiences with clogging, smearing, etc., consider giving them another chance. Many of the newer formulations are excellent.

10. Reflections on a Year of Journaling (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). Thinking of taking up journaling in 2024? There are plenty of great ideas in this comprehensive post.

11. Mark’s EDiT Reading Notebook (via Well-Appointed Desk). Ana has a giveaway for this cool notebook from Mark’s Tokyo! They are one of the more creative Japanese stationery companies, with a variety of products that I didn’t know included journals.

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In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog, I reviewed the TWSBI Precision fountain pen, which is one of the few drafting/technical style fountain pens that remains on the market. I also traveled to the 2024 Philadelphia Pen Show to kick off the Pen Show Circuit for yet another year. The show goes on for another day, so if you’re in the Philadelphia area (or even a short drive further afield) check it out!

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This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop (PEN SHOW WEEKEND SALE!)

In addition to welcoming more models of Pilot pens, including the Vanishing Point, we’ve recently received a restock of Lamy, more Clairefontaine looseleaf sheets and double-sheet booklets, and a shipment of Roterfaden is on the way! I’ve made a handful of the Roterfadens available for pre-order so those of you who really want one can reserve a binder, and they should arrive this week, though please be aware that there’s a federal holiday and a winter storm brewing here on the east coast of the U.S., which could delay things.

Finally, don’t miss our Pen Show Weekend Promotion, with 10% off many T.G.S. Curated Shop Items using the code “PENSHOW10” at Checkout. I will extend the sale through Monday at 11:59pm due to the MLK Day holiday tomorrow!

TWSBI

Pilot

Nakabayashi

MT Washi Tape

Help Support T.G.S. in 2024!

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), there are several ways that you can support us. 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, especially during the upcoming holiday season! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, consider joining the T.G.S. Patreon, which also includes early access to quarterly gently used sales. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. This month, Patreon supporters have had access to additional Inkvent content, including commentary on my favorite Diamine Inkvent inks and more. The first of these Inkvent posts is public, so please check out Patreon to learn more!

No matter how you support us - even if just with a comment, recommendation, or encouraging word - we greatly appreciate your readership!

Sunday Reading for January 7, 2024: Happy New Year!

1. Tokyo’s Best Stationery Store: “Cute Things from Japan” (via Inky.Rocks). Add this one to the list for my Tokyo trip! I’m so sad that I missed them at the San Francisco Pen Show.

2. 2024 Stationery Intentions (via A Gathering of Curiosities). I love reading about everyone’s intentions for 2024, especially those who have been in the hobby for a while. “Streamlining” is an increasingly common theme.

3. 2024 Journal, Planner, and Notebook Setup (via Pen Addict). I need to do my own review of the William Hannah. It’s an excellent flexible notebook option.

4. $30k in Pens from Taccia and Palisades (via Figboot on Pens). A touch outside of my price range, but fun to see nonetheless….

5. 23 Memorable Inks in 2023 (via Ink Octopus). Just what I need, a list of more inks to buy and try in 2024! :)

6. Diamine Inkvent 2023: A New Year’s Eve Review (via A Gathering of Curiosities). It’s interesting to hear everyone’s reactions to this year’s Diamine Inkvent Calendar. Everyone’s “No Way!” category seems to contain the scented inks. :)

7. The Inkvent Draft Is a New Family Tradition (via mnmlscholar). In our house, the one-way Inkvent Draft would get pretty boring real fast! This is a great idea for a multi-addict household.

8. Pen Show Calendar Updated! (via Well-Appointed Desk). This is my go-to resource for pen show logistics, and the calendar stays up-to-date throughout the year.

9. Old Inks (via Goodwriterspens). Collecting old inks is something that I dabbled in for a while early on, and shockingly, many older inks remain stable and usable years later.

10. Planning in 2024: The 12-Week Year (via Writing at Large). Breaking down the year into manageable chunks is an excellent way to get started with planning.

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Did you know there is a fine-tip Lamy EMR Pen? In both Safari and AL-Star format!

In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog, I published my daily journal lineup for 2024, which is all Hobonichi (each used for a different purpose). I also wrote the next installment of my “Strategic Paper Replacement” series, in which I talk about my experiments with e-ink paper tablets like the Remarkable 2 and the Kindle Scribe. And, finally, we come to the end of Inkvent 2023, with my full-length YouTube recap that includes my thoughts on all 25 inks.

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This Week in the Curated Shop…. More Pilot!

The first new arrivals of 2024 are starting to trickle into the shop! On Friday we received a shipment of pens from Pilot, including the black-trimmed Vanishing Point “Capless” pens, as well as the Pilot Explorer, a relatively new pen from Pilot at the $25 price point that’s sharp looking and is an excellent well-balanced writer. I inked up a matte black medium myself. We’re also fully restocked on Pilot Iroshizuku inks, including favorite colors such as Shin Kai, Yama Budo, Tsuki-Yo, and Sui-Gyoku (one of the newest additions). Finally, read about our favorite TWSBI releases from 2023.

Pilot

TWSBI

Highlighters

Profolio

Help Support T.G.S. in 2024!

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), there are several ways that you can support us. 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, especially during the upcoming holiday season! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, consider joining the T.G.S. Patreon, which also includes early access to quarterly gently used sales. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. This month, Patreon supporters have had access to additional Inkvent content, including commentary on my favorite Diamine Inkvent inks and more. The first of these Inkvent posts is public, so please check out Patreon to learn more!

No matter how you support us - even if just with a comment, recommendation, or encouraging word - we greatly appreciate your readership!

Sunday Reading for December 31, 2023 (New Year's Eve Edition)

1. Creating an Artist Book with Inkvent Inks (via A Gathering of Curiosities). I love seeing how everyone has used their Inks, especially making beautiful gifts like this one.

2. Diamine Inkvent 2023, Closing Thoughts (via Cheryl Lindo Jones). While 2023 did indeed have a bit of a slow start, there were some great colors in this year’s set!

3. Diamine Inkvent 2023 Summary (via Writing at Large). I followed the daily posts over at Writing at Large throughout December!

4. Visiting Stationery Shops in Japan (via Inkredible Colours). Bookmarking this for later this year. (Hopefully….)

5. Bokumondoh Urushi Studio (via Figboot on Pens). Lots of us received pens back from Bokumondoh in 2024, and I’ve enjoyed reading everyone’s reactions.

6. Lamy Cursive Nib: Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me? (via Cheryl Lindo Jones). One of the best-kept secrets in “nibdom”! We still have several in stock, just sayin’….

7. Papier Plume Iron Lace (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist). I purchased a bottle of this ink during my last trip to New Orleans and absolutely loved it! Blacks and greys with subtle undertones of other colors were my kryptonite this year.

8. Greatest of All Time (GOAT) 2023 (via SBRE Brown). Another post long-awaited by many each year!

9. Personal Fountain Pen Roundup for 2023 (via Dapprman). We’ll likely be seeing many more year-end wrap-ups as people evaluate their collections. I appreciate the trend of people being more deliberate with their acquisitions.

10. A Planner and a Plan (via Pete Denison). I’m still in the process of firming up my own plans, but some of us are well on our way!

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In Case You Missed It….

I’m not a huge “New Year’s Eve Person,” preferring instead to spend my day resting up for Jan. 2. You can read a bit more about what I’m up to in yesterday’s post, and it’s mainly cleaning, reorganizing, and, of course, shipping all your orders. ;) Earlier in the week, I wrote out my personal reflections and intentions for 2024, which hopefully my new journaling/planning strategy will reinforce. More on that later this week!

Last week I also did some 2023 year-end recap content, which you can catch up on here if you’ve been offline due to the holidays.

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

Restocks (finally) slowed down a bit this week, since most distributors are giving their employees a well-earned vacation prior to inventory counts this week! You can also help us out in this regard by shopping our year-end inventory clearance sale and New Year’s special, in which you can take 10% off all Notebook Systems through 11:59pm tomorrow night (January 1, 2024) using the coupon code “NEWYEAR24” at checkout! All orders over $75 still ship free, and many “last call” items have been marked down. That’s not to say there weren’t some new arrivals - we received a fresh shipment of Nakabayashi scissors, Logical series notebooks, and more!

Nakabayashi Paper

Scissors

Highlighter Leads

Profolio Oasis

Help Support T.G.S. in 2024!

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), there are several ways that you can support us. 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, especially during the upcoming holiday season! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, consider joining the T.G.S. Patreon, which also includes early access to quarterly gently used sales. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. This month, Patreon supporters have had access to additional Inkvent content, including commentary on my favorite Diamine Inkvent inks and more. The first of these Inkvent posts is public, so please check out Patreon to learn more!

No matter how you support us - even if just with a comment, recommendation, or encouraging word - we greatly appreciate your readership!

Sunday Reading for December 24, 2024 (Christmas Eve Edition)

1. Currently Inked Christmas (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). Merry Christmas, to everyone celebrating!

2. Year in Review: What Happened with My 2023 Stationery Resolutions? (via A Gathering of Curiosities). I love this kind of accountability. :)

3. My Top Three Fountain Pens for 2023, and a Stationery Year in Review (via Urban Adventure League). Three great pocket/portable fountain pens here.

4. Year-in-Review - 2023 Pens (via Rachel’s Reflections). Rachel had a great year full of diverse acquisitions.

5. My Theme for 2024 (via From the Pen Cup). Something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately, personally. Still working on a theme….

6. Meet Your Maker - Tim Cullen, Hooligan Georgia (via Pen Addict - Caroline). If I have one personal acquisition goal for 2023, it might be to get a hold of one of Tim Cullen’s pens featuring his metalwork.

7. Kilk Celestial Blue & Black (via Figboot on Pens). I’m likewise a fan of Turkish brand Kilk’s design, especially the materials they use.

8. Diamine Inkvent 2023, Day 22 “Tinsel” (via Cheryl Lindo-Jones). Tinsel - a bright red with silver shimmer, might be the perfect “Christmas Red,” at least for me?

9. Burnham and Casein (via Goodwriterspens). I’m often asked about casein pens - casein is a milk-derived resin - which have a distinct highly coveted look among vintage pen enthusiasts, but are easy to damage and susceptible to rot.

10. Inkmas Day 11: Vinta Aegean Armada 1944 (via Well-Appointed Desk). One of my favorite Vinta ink showed up in the 12 days of Inkmas!

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Lots of new arrivals from TWSBI and Kaweco hit the shop (and my own personal Favorites list) at the end of 2023!

In Case You Missed It…

This week, I finished my year-end recaps on the blog. Don’t miss Part I: Five Favorite Acquisitions of 2023; Part II: Five Favorite Products Reviewed in 2023; Part III: Best Sellers from the T.G.S. Curated Shop; and Part IV: Series and Editorials. We’re also finishing up the 2023 Diamine Inkvent Calendar today and tomorrow, so tune in to the YouTube Channel to see what’s in store!

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

I’m leaving the shop open for the next few days, and while we’re off today and tomorrow orders will be processed in the normal 2-3 business days time. We have lots of new arrivals, including Profolio Oasis Notebooks, a new shipment of Nakabayashi “Logical” and Yu-Sari notebooks, new Field Notes, and new washi tapes from MT Tapes. We have the Holiday Gift Guide for those of you still looking for New Year’s gifts, and for last-minute Christmas presents, we have digital gift cards!

E+M Highlighter Leads

Craighill Pens

Profolio Oasis

Field Notes

Support T.G.S. and Get the Rest of our Inkvent Content via Patreon!

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), there are several ways that you can support us. 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, especially during the upcoming holiday season! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, consider joining the T.G.S. Patreon, which also includes early access to quarterly gently used sales. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. This month, Patreon supporters have access to additional Inkvent content, including commentary on my favorite Diamine Inkvent inks and more. The first of these Inkvent posts is public, so please check out Patreon to learn more!

No matter how you support us - even if just with a comment, recommendation, or encouraging word - we greatly appreciate your readership!