Sunday Reading for February 16, 2025

1. A Fountain Pen Lovers Guide to Paris in 2025 (via Pen Addict). One of my favorite cities to shop for pens! I enjoyed catching up on the current state of the market since it’s been a while, but it was sad to see that some of my own favorites didn’t make the list and possibly didn’t survive the pandemic years.

2. 90 Years of Diary-Keeping (via Notebook Stories). “No reason not to.” Couldn’t say it better.

3. Conklin 1898…the Best Conklin I have Reviewed? (via Figboot on Pens). This looks like an updated take on the Conklin All-American, exclusive to Atlas.

4. The Joy of Just Not Buying Ink for a While (via Stationery Pizza). I’ve spent some time lately writing down my own ink supply, and haven’t really purchased much ink in the past year.

5. Majohn P136 Titanium Hammered Fountain Pen Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). A tall order at $140 for a Majohn, but I do like hammered finish pens.

6. Saying Goodbye to a Favorite Ink (via mnmlscholar). Congrats on finishing a bottle! I’ve only done this the “traditional” way (writing, not giving away samples) a couple of times.

7. Pilot Short Pocket Pen (via Dapprman). All of these cool Japanese pocket pens, mostly from Pilot, definitely not made anymore. :(

8. The Forever Pen (via Well-Appointed Desk). How long does the “Forever Pen” really last? Not quite forever, apparently.

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In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog, I published two posts focused on inexpensive pens. The first answered a question I often get in the shop: When is the right time to “upgrade” from an inexpensive pen? (There’s also a companion YouTube video.) Yesterday I published a few additional thoughts, including some notes on the types of relatively inexpensive stationery that I use daily.

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Oh, and Teranishi Inks are restocked, including the ever-popular Gentle Green.

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

This week we added close to a dozen different specialty Japanese papers, including different Tomoe River assortments as well as a bunch of rare and/or discontinued papers curated by Yamamoto and Sakae Technical Paper. In addition to all of the new paper, check out this week’s Thursday Drops post for a huge laundry list of new arrivals, which I can barely keep up with, including new Lamy Safaris, AL-Stars, and Studios, Tombow pencils, more Uni Mitsubishi Hi-Uni pencils at a lower price point, Uni 2B pencil value packs, Mitsubishi natural pencils, and so many more!

THE Washi Tape!

Lamy

Exacompta Cards

Anecdote Goods

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives and Sample Sales

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 gently used stationery opportunities, 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)! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, the T.G.S. Patreon includes these as well as access to early shop releases, the quarterly gently used sales, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly Zoom meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount.

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

Sunday Reading for February 9, 2025

1. Feeling Tender in a Devastating World (via A Gathering of Curiosities).

2. Visit to Traveler’s Factor Station in Tokyo, Japan (via Inkredible Colours). A large part of the reason that I want to go to Japan is to visit a Traveler’s Factory Store.

3. Tactile Turn Groove (via Figboot on Pens). As much as I love vinyl, I remain undecided.

4. Aurora Ipsilon Deluxe Italic Fountain Pen Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). I’ve not had good luck with Aurora’s specialty italics, but I’m also spoiled with a large selection of custom ground stubs.

5. Galen Leather Expansi-Pouch 10-Pen Case Review (via Fountain Pen Love). I love Galen’s blue leather. This customizable pen case is an interesting design that I will need to check out.

6. Titan Pens’ #8 Steel Bock Nibs (via SBRE Brown). It’s about time that more #8 Steel nibs hit the market. $300 nib upcharges for those of us who don’t like titanium nibs are beyond frustrating.

7. Brian Eno’s Notebooks (via Notebook Stories). As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, I’m diving relatively deep into “notebooking” and how people use them.

8. Sailor Manyo Uri Fountain Pen Ink Review (via Pen Addict). I thoroughly enjoy colors like this one that cannot easily be categorized.

9. Journaling into 2025 (via Pete Denison). It’s really not too late to get started on your 2025 journaling!

10. Nagasawa “Odyssey Snow White LE” Fountain Pen (via Well-Appointed Desk). I love seeing all the annual special edition Sailor releases from Nagasawa, which are now available through our friends at Vanness Pens.

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The Jumbo Tombow Mono Eraser is another product that brings me an absurd amount of joy.

In Case You Missed It…

This week’s post touched on my own personal notetaking and journaling: I spent three days on the road earlier this week at the New York City stationery trade shows, and what came with me? The new Lochby Field Journal Mini and a bunch of write-anywhere ballpoint pens. I wrote a piece on how the new Lochby Field Journal is possibly an ideal size for a portable notebook, and made for an excellent travel tool. I also wrote a piece comparing the refills in four popular low-viscosity ballpoint pens that I’ve been using recently.

If I had to choose one photo to sum up the last 10 days….

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop - and Don’t miss the incowrimo special!

We have all kinds of new arrivals to sort through, from newly arrived Japanese pencils, to the latest Blackwing release and restocks, to the Pilot Kakuno fountain pen, to Iroful and Yamamoto papers! It was an incredibly busy weekend in-store, and exciting to see so many people discovering the shop. To keep up to date on our new releases, be sure to check out each week’s Thursday Drops, and also remember that there is an ongoing InCoWriMo promotion for those of you interested in letter writing. Take 10% off the InCoWriMo section for the month of February using the coupon code “SNAILMAIL” at checkout.

Lochby

Kleid x Mnemosyne

Iroful Paper

Pilot

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives and Sample Sales

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 gently used stationery opportunities, 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)! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, the T.G.S. Patreon includes these as well as access to early shop releases, the quarterly gently used sales, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly Zoom meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount.

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

Sunday Reading for February 2, 2024

1. Ripples Through Water: Happy Third Anniversary! (via A Fleeting Ripple). Happy third bloggiversary! That’s a huge achievement - and here’s to more long-form content and less social media.

2. Notebook Meeting 2025 (via The Poor Penman). I love a good notebook setup post, especially ones discussing really good user-customized systems.

3. Diggin’ These Amarillo Vibes (via Pen Addict-Kimberly). Four new inks from Amarillo Stationery! I can’t wait to check these out at a show this year.

4. My New Weekly Review Format (via Writing at Large). I found this concept of a “weekly review” in your journal quite interesting, especially as my own weeks are getting more and more cluttered and I have a hard time making sense of them.

5. Nahvalur Plongeur (via Figboot on Pens). A titanium version of the popular Nahvalur Nautilus, with a few different design modification. Apparently this one is limited to 365 pens.

6. Hinze Kolbenfüller (via Figboot on Pens). A piston filler from our friends at Hinze Pens!

7. Otto Hutt Design 07 Fountain Pen Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). Otto Hutt’s higher-end models are absolutely gorgeous, but they come at a steep price. The black finish looks sharp.

8. A New Month, a New Plan (via Fountain Pen Blog). I believe in the whiskey world this concept is called the “infinity jar”.

9. Pen Rotation Changes (via Rachel’s Reflections). Do you have an official system for rotating your pens? It’s something I’ve tried before but has never stuck. I kind of feel like I need a true structure in place because there are pens I love that aren’t getting used.

10. Planner/Journal Progress: One Month In (via Well-Appointed Desk). Keep going through the January doldrums!

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In Case You Missed It…

This week I reviewed a classic piece of stationery: The Field Notes Steno Pad, which alongside the classic kraft paper Field Notes pocket notebook is a relatively ubiquitous piece of stationery that is what it is and makes no apologies for its simplicity. I also updated the TGS Fountain Pen Review Archive to include recent reviews from the past year. If you haven’t checked out this resource, it’s just that - an organized-by-brand archive of all the fountain pen reviews from The Gentleman Stationer over the past decade.

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This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop: New Arrivals and a February Flash Sale on Paper

It’s February, which means all the restock orders that we placed in January are pouring into the shop almost daily! This past week we received a huge shipment of pencils from Musgrave, based down the road from us in Shelbyville, Tennessee. We also have a bunch of additional arrivals from pencil manufacturers including Blackwing, Kitaboshi, and Viarco. You can see the full list of new arrivals (including pencils, pens, and paper) in this week’s Thursday drops, with the major highlight being a massive Clairefontaine restock, nearly all of which has been listed and is available for purchase.

But the big news is that we ordered so much paper, we are having trouble making room for all of it on our shelves! Through Monday - no longer through Sunday! - while I’m at the NY Now and Shoppe Object Trade Shows (probably buying, you guessed it, more paper) take 10% off most paper orders using the coupon code FLASH10 at checkout. See this post for the full details.

Viarco

Notsu

Blackwing

Lochby

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives and Sample Sales

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 gently used stationery opportunities, 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)! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, the T.G.S. Patreon includes these as well as access to early shop releases, the quarterly gently used sales, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly Zoom meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount.

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

Sunday Reading January 26, 2025

1. Do I Really Need to Get Into Pantone Brown (A Gathering of Curiosities). Also not sure I’m all-in on this one.

2. 24 Memorable Inks in 2024 (via Olive Octopus Ink). Seriously, hide your wallet.

3. 2025 Philadelphia Pen Show Recap (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). I missed the Philly Show this year, so it was great to catch up.

4. 14k Flex! The Magna Carta Mag 650 (via Figboot on Pens). Magna Carta has experimented more than most with larger nibs and flex nibs, and here’s an attempt at a vintage-style 14k flex. Honestly this looks good.

5. Fountain Pen Cleaning? (via Stationery Pizza). I’ve fallen waaaay off the wagon on my fountain pen cleaning lately. I need to do a reset soon.

6. Dressco Cloth Notebook (via Blake’s Broadcast). I’ve seen Dressco notebooks available and have been curious, but I’ve never tried one. Same for “Conqueror” paper.

7. How Do Your Various Interests Complement Each Other? (via SBRE Brown). Do you find that all of your interests complement each other or compete for your attentions?

8. What Makes a Good Ink Bottle? (via Rachel’s Reflections). Another take on what makes a good ink bottle. Emphasis on stability.

9. Journaling the Backyard (via From the Pen Cup). What a cool journaling idea. Another great post from Mary.

10. Shachihata Daily Log Stamp - Weather and Days of the Week (via Well-Appointed Desk). These daily stamps let you add dates, weather and more to your planner and journals. I’m exploring stamps more lately.

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In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog I reviewed my latest “Workhorse Pen,” the Pilot S20 Ballpoint with the Dr. Grip “Cocoon” hybrid refill. I also wrote a new installment on my 2025 writing/notetaking system, in which I look at pocket notebooks and index cards, and how the two might work together.

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The Musgrave Bugle is a classic capless wood pencil that comes in three different finishes!

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

We had a big week of new arrivals in the shop, including not only a fresh shipment of Pilot and Uni ballpoints, but new notebooks from Anecdote Goods, the latest Lochby Release (Field Journal Mini), a giant shipment of wood pencils from local-to-us manufacturer Musgrave, and the latest Volumes release from Blackwing with a full restock of sharpeners and more! The January hold has lifted on most distributors and new goods are arriving every day. Be sure to check out Thursday Drops for a full list of new arrivals.

Our brick-and-mortar shop will be open again this coming week. Come by and see us!

Musgrave

Notsu

Anecdote Goods

Field Notes

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives and Sample Sales

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 gently used stationery opportunities, 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)! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, the T.G.S. Patreon includes these as well as access to early shop releases, the quarterly gently used sales (one of which just dropped yesterday), a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly Zoom meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount.

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 19, 2025

1. Top 10 Sections (via Figboot on Pens). Now this is an interesting idea for a video! I agree with many of the choices highlighted here.

2. What Makes a Good Ink Bottle? (via UK Fountain Pens). Of the various factors discussed here, stability (i.e., it won’t tip over) and filling convenience (specifically, the mouth of the bottle is wide enough to fill most pens) are the two that I most value.

3. Diamine x Sugar Turtle Studio, Slowpoke Series 1 (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). Lovers of sheen shouldn’t miss these inks. I love that they come in a set of three.

4. Big Idea Design Base Line Bolt Action Review (via Writing at Large). The universal refill pen folks are at it again, with another versatile design. Bolt-action mechanisms have never been my favorite, but many appreciate them as fidget toys.

5. Marvy LePen Flex Pens (via Well-Appointed Desk). Flexible brush-tip pens have been a new discovery for me this year. The classic “LePen” series of fineliners and brush pens features some great uncommon colors.

6. 2024: Some of My Fountain Pen Highlights (via Fountain Pen Blog). I love the mix of acquisitions here!

7. Nahvalur Original Plus Lavender Tetra Fountain Pen Review (via A Fleeting Ripple). It happens that sometimes you get a bad nib. I always advise people to try to send it back to exchange the pen if it won’t write properly out of the box.

8. OMAS Arco Bronze Paragon Fountain Pen Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). A throwback from 1990 - the original Arco celluloid from the original OMAS!

9. Index Cards Again? (via Stationery Pizza). I too am finding myself reconsidering how index cards might work for me everyday, especially since I’ve found some good ones.

10. Waterman Charleston Fountain Pen Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). I have a rather large Waterman collection, but have yet to add a Charleston.

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In Case You Missed It…

This week I looked at two of my current ink favorites: Taccia Sabimidori and Teranishi Gentle Green. I decided to write about these inks together because I find the colors complementary - similar yet distinct. I also published a new “Ask TGS” post on journaling, which discusses how I journal and a bit about the role it plays in my life.

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The Kaweco Perkeo has been a surprise hit. Read our recent review of this pen here.

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop: Don’t Miss a Planner Sale!

It’s definitely not too late to start your journaling resolution for the year! Use the coupon code “25PLANNER” at checkout to take an extra 10% off all planners (including planner system refills). We’re also fully restocked on the popular Caran d’Ache 888 Infinite ballpoint pens, and recently received a shipment of new Pilot Vanishing points that included both the black and blue “Carbonesque” finishes. Finally, we had some new arrivals from Japan, including additional Pilot S20 ballpoints, Pilot Birdie Ballpoints, and more Uni Jetstream 4+1 Multi Pens in the Bamboo and Karimoku finishes.

Our brick-and-mortar shop will be open again this coming week during normal hours. Come by and see us!

Pilot

Uni

Kaweco

TWSBI

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives and Sample Sales

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 gently used stationery opportunities, 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)! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, the T.G.S. Patreon includes these as well as access to early shop releases, the quarterly gently used sales (one of which just dropped yesterday), a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly Zoom meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount.

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