New in the Shop: Design Your Own Desk Space, at Home or on the Road

Never underestimate the importance of quality everyday desk accessories! Personally, I see this every few days when I switch between my home office and “the office.” (I tend not to leave my good desk setup where it might get borrowed.) While everyone pays a lot of attention to things such as pens, pencils, ink, and paper; accessories such as scissors, rulers, tape, book stands, and desk trays can also make up a big part of your everyday work experience.

The Midori XS Stationery Kit has everything you need for a full day of work/journaling/creating, and it zips into a portable go-anywhere pouch. (Shown here my 70th Anniversary Edition version, but we stock the standard in both black and white!)

Slowly but surely, the Desk and Reading Accessories section of the T.G.S. Curated Shop is starting to take shape. We’ve recently added new items from Midori, including these multifunction scissors, wood-inlay rulers, and the ever practical XS Stationery Kit for when you want to carry an entire desk setup with you in your bag. In addition to accessories, be sure to keep checking the “New Arrivals” in Pens/Pencils, Ink and Refills, Paper and Notebook Systems, and our recently restocked selection of Washi Tape and Enamel Pins. More items are being added daily!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

Thursday Drops: Midori Paper Restock, Life x Kleid Notebooks, and TWSBI Saffron!

While the big news this week was the expansion of our selection of bottled fountain pen inks and refills to include three new brands and a separate page in the shop, we still have boxes of new arrivals and restocks showing up on our proverbial doorstep daily! Notably, we now have the Saffron TWSBI ECO-T fountain pens in-stock and ready to ship, as well as a refresh on other ECO models and the TWSBI Swipe. Don’t forget - since we still have 10ml Anderillium sample bottles available, our Nahvalur promotion continues. All purchases of Nahvalur and Opus 88 fountain pens receive a complimentary bottle of Anderillium Ink, and purchases above $120 receive two! Happy Shopping!

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

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TWSBI Tuxedo, anyone?

1. TWSBI ECO-T Saffron. Of all the various colors that TWSBI has released over the years, the ones that have stuck in my collection - the pens that I simply can’t bear to part with - have been their yellow pens. This Saffron model in the subtly triangular ECO-T already has a spot in my pen case.

2. TWSBI ECO Black and White. Even the “basic” ECO lineup looks sharp. In addition to a restock of the classic clear TWSBI ECOs, we’ve added the standard black and white pens. Sort of a late oversight on our part!

3. TWSBI Swipe Restock. Most colors of the TWSBI Swipe are now back in stock, including this winter’s popular “Ice Blue” edition.

4. Nahvalur Nautilus Bronze Corydoras and Black Cephalopod Fountain Pens. While our stock of the Nautilus “Pen of the Year” has sold out and is gone, I’m still stuck on the classic black Nautilus, and can’t pick a trim. Bronze or Black? Bronze won our Instagram poll from a while back. (Note: Your purchase of an ebonite Nautilus will complimentary 10ml sample bottles of Anderillium Ink.)

5. Life x Kleid “Noble Note” Notebooks. In this Japanese stationery collaboration, Japanese stationery Life has paired with Kleid to incorporate the latter’s 2mm grid ruling into the “Noble Note” notebook series. these notebooks are available in both standard A5 and B6 formats, in four different cover and paper combinations.

6. Midori Soft Color A5 Notebooks. Looking for something different to refill your A5 notebook cover, or merely a new paper to give you that vintage “examination book” feel without losing fountain pen friendliness? These Midori notebooks are available in blue, grey, green, or purple.

7. Midori Multi-Year Diaries. It’s not too late to start journaling, even in February, and especially where you can use an undated multi-year journal that lets you pick up wherever! We stock three, five, and even ten-year versions!

8. Penco Pocket Drafting Pens and Pencils. Love the look of classic technical drafting pens and pencils but wish you could take them with you in a portable format? These pocket-sized versions come in either black or silver, in both a ballpoint pen and .5mm mechanical pencil version.

9. Midori MD Cotton Writing Pads. Our top-selling everyday writing pad is now the Midori MD Cotton pad, which features soft, ink-friendly paper that works well with pretty much every writing instrument. Now if only Midori would resume making the entire standard MD Notebook lineup in a cotton paper alternative! (Blank notebooks ARE available!)

10. Write Notepads Memo Pads. Baltimore-based Write Notepads makes some of the best everyday writing paper on the market - these memo pads are sold in packs of two and come in three different rulings: lined, dot grid, and “meeting.”

Personal Obsessions: My Quest for the Perfect Blue Writing Paper

Despite having access to about as wide a range of stationery products as humanly possible, there are still certain things I’ve been looking for over the years that remain elusive. Chief among these is a reliably fountain-pen-friendly blue writing paper. Smythson of Bond Street seems to be the gold standard for many, and their notebooks are indeed gorgeous, but I’ve had trouble locating reviews of their paper from the perspective of a fountain pen user, and in any event the price point makes the paper hard to justify for everyday writing outside of formal correspondence.

G. Lalo Paper comes in 50-sheet tablets. As shown from the picture at the top of the page, shading won’t look the same, but the blue doesn’t distort the ink color as much as I expected. In fact, it gives it a nice vintage look. G. Lalo paper has a laid texture (meaning that it’s not smooth), so if you prefer super-smooth paper you should be aware of this.

Since the past few years saw a steep drop off in my work travel, depriving me of regular opportunities to loot hotel rooms of “low cost” light blue stationery, I’ve been on the lookout for a replacement and have found two options that I enjoy. The first, G. Lalo Vergé de France writing paper, is typically recommended for written correspondence, but I’ve also enjoyed using it as a standard writing tablet, similar to the Midori MD Cotton Paper. While a touch darker than what I originally expected, I’ve been enjoying this as a solid general purpose writing paper, especially since the price point ($14 for a 50-sheet A5 tablet) is fairly reasonable for paper of this quality and the paper is easy to get a hold of, especially now that we stock G. Lalo Paper in our own shop.

The Midori Soft Color A5 Notebooks come in four shades (grey + three pastels) that aren’t so loud they overwhelm your writing. Some people match the notebook to their ink color, but I prefer a bit of contrast.

I discovered the second blue paper option when I was in New York City last week and found myself browsing the back wall at Kinokuniya bookstore off Bryant Park. (For those of you who haven’t visited Kinokuniya, it’s the NYC outpost of the Japanese bookstore that has a massive stationery section in the basement, and the back wall contains nothing but notebooks.) I noticed that they had a couple piles of Midori A5 “Soft Color” notebooks in blue, grey, green, and yellow, priced at $4 each. Seeing that they contained dot grid paper, I figured that was a no-brainer purchase at that price and grabbed one in blue and one in grey. I spent ten minutes jotting in these notebooks in a coffee shop, realized the paper lost none of the excellent qualities of the standard Midori MD Paper, and promptly contacted my distributor to stock all four colors for the shop.

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Midori Soft Color Notebook in blue, with dot grid paper. Testing inks are three of my favorite colors from the Laban Greek Mythology series.

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Midori Soft Color Notebook in Grey (shown with the blue notebook for contrast). These notebooks are standard A5 so they fit covers like the Lochby Field Journal.

Many people have requested recommendations for colored paper options in the past, but it’s a tricky thing to get right. Often, companies will apply a coating to give the paper its color, which works fine as long as you’re not trying to write with a fountain pen, rollerball, or other liquid ink, since most coated paper isn’t particularly absorbent and the ink tends to never dry. That’s not an issue with either of the two papers shown here. Both G. Lalo and Midori Soft Color dry fairly quickly, and behave essentially like standard white or ivory writing papers. There is a third option - Original Crown Mill - that makes a light blue laid paper I want to try, and yes, I probably will eventually splurge on some Smythson. (“For science.”)

For the time being, however, these two will work fine, and I no longer have to worry about exhausting my dwindling stash of blue notepads. If you’re interested in trying out some of this stationery for yourself, we currently have G. Lalo writing paper and envelopes available for sale in the shop in white, ivory and blue, along with the Midori Soft Color A5 notebooks in blue, grey, green, and yellow.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

New in the Curated Shop: Three New Ink Lines!

A key project we’ve been working on over the past several weeks is the expansion of our selection of bottled fountain pen inks and other refill options. We recently had not one but THREE lines of bottled fountain pen ink arrive from Laban, J. Herbin, and Nahvalur. To accommodate these additions, we’ve created a separate page for all of the inks and refills, which should have the added benefit of making the store easier to navigate.

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These little 10ml bottles of J. Herbin ink are an excellent way to test-drive ink colors before committing to a larger bottle.

J. Herbin Fountain Pen Inks

In today’s super-saturated (pun intended) fountain pen market, there are a lot of ink lines being released, and it’s easy to get lost in an overwhelming selection of brands and colors. Personally, I’ve started defaulting to the classics, and recently rediscovered my love for the Herbin brand - a classic French ink still made in Paris and distributed by the same people who bring us Clairefontaine and Rhodia papers. Herbin inks work well in fountain pens, dip pens, and with brushes. In addition to being versatile, they’re low maintenance and tend to wash out of pens quite easily without staining. We currently carry 16 different colors in both the 10ml and 30ml bottles, priced at $7.50 and $13.95 respectively.

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Artemis Navy Blue is a gorgeous dark navy that doesn’t get a lot of attention. I hope to change that.

Laban Green Mythology Ink Series

Combining two of my favorite things in the word - writing and history - I’ve had my eye on this particular product line ever since they were released last year. Laban’s “Greek Mythology” series features a line of ten excellent inks themed around the ancient Greek gods and goddesses, and there’s not a bad one in the bunch. Laban nailed both the packaging and the bottle itself, which holds an ample 50ml of ink. We currently have all colors in stock except for Aphrodite Pink.

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Nahvalur’s new “Explorer” line of fountain pen inks.

Nahvalur Explorer Fountain Pen Inks

Finally, fresh off the release of their Pen of the Year, Nahvalur has added four inks to match the colors of the “Original Plus” vacuum-filler fountain pen. Sold in 20ml bottles at $12.95 each, all four of these colors are slightly offbeat variations of green, blue, purple, and gold. The green and the blue are exceptionally nice looking, and all colors are available!

You can visit the entire Inks and Refills page here, and don’t forget to check out the rest of the T.G.S. Curated Shop. The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by shop purchases and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

Thursday Drops: A Special Pen Show Promotion

If you’re in Los Angeles this coming weekend (or if you’re simply on the West Coast), please be sure to visit the California Pen Show in its inaugural year! While we won’t be attending this year due to previous commitments, we will be at the upcoming Baltimore Washington Pen Show and the Arkansas Pen Show next month. Stay tuned for more details on exactly what we’ll have with us and how we’ll be set up.

The TWSBI ECO-T Saffron Yellow is currently available for purchase!

Even though we’re not attending this weekend’s show, we’re running a special promotion! All purchases of Nahvalur and Opus 88 fountain pens will receive a free sample bottle of Anderillium Ink, courtesy of our friends at Anderillium. The bottle of ink will be automatically added to your package when your order is shipped, so there’s no need to use a coupon code. Purchases over $120, such as a Nahvalur Nautilus or an Opus 88 Minty, qualify for two ink samples. Finally, the TWSBI ECO-T Saffron is available for pre-order. The pens are on their way to me and should ship later this week.

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all products in the T.G.S. Curated Shop.

1. Nahvalur Pen of the Year: “Year of the Rabbit” Nautilus. We have exactly ONE of these limited edition pens left in stock. They’ve sold incredibly well, and there’s been a lot of interest in Nahvalur’s new 14k gold nib.

2. Nahvalur Nautilus Black Ebonite Fountain Pens. We now have the Nautilus fountain pen in classic black ebonite, featuring either antiqued brass or black trim. (We also have one remaining Stylophora Berry limited edition.)

3. Nahvalur “Explorer” Bottled Ink. Nahvalur recently released a new ink lineup in colors matching their Original Plus fountain pens. Stay tuned for some additional ink swatches!

4. TWSBI ECO-T Jade Rose Gold Ink Sets. We have a handful of the ECO-T pen and ink sets in stock, and I love the way the Jade works with the rose gold trim.

5. TWSBI Vac700R Iris Fountain Pen. We have fresh stock of the Vac700R in the iridescent “Iris” finish. I traveled with vacuum-filler fountain pens this past week, and if you find yourself on airplanes on in circumstances where the temperature and air pressure change rapidly, a vacuum-filler or Japanese-style eyedropper with a shutoff valve can protect you from inky messes in your bag.

6. Midori MD A5 Natural Goat Leather Sleeve. Looking for a gorgeous natural leather A5 pouch that will patina beautifully as it ages? Check this one out, as well as our other Midori natural leather covers designed to fit any of the Midori MD Notebooks.

7. Letter Writing Supplies in our “InCoWriMo” Section! It’s International Correspondence Writing Month, or “InCoWriMo,” and we’ve pulled together all of the various letter and writing supplies into one section of the paper shop.

8. WMS & Co. Hand Stamps. We stock WMS & Co stamps ranging from a customizable self-inking desktop stamp perfect for making your own letterhead or personalizing your library, to these “philosophical” wooden handstamps certain to liven up your interoffice mail!

9. WMS & Co. To Do and Calendar Notepads. Some of our most popular desktop writing accessories, the WMS & Co. undated calendar pads come in both full-size and keyboard layout, and the "Next” to-do lists are a new addition. I find the paper to work quite well with most fountain pens.

10. Traveler’s Company Dated Calendar Refills 25% Off! I just have a handful left, and it’s not too late to start your 2023 planner and still get nearly the full benefit of your planner.