Thursday Drops: Platinum Preppy Wa Modern Maki-e, Plaisirs and Prefountes, and Restocks Galore!

It’s the home stretch! I will have pictures to share of the new T.G.S. space once we are able to gain access Monday morning. In the meantime, new stock is pouring in a bit early, and I’m trying to get it listed in order to minimize everything I need to do next week (which will be a lot). This week’s arrivals include the new Platinum Preppy Wa “Modern Maki-e” collection, featuring six new traditional Japanese patterns and designs made using a modern silk-screened maki-e technique. We also have two new lines of Platinum fountain pens available for purchase, including the Platinum Prefounte and Platinum Plaisir, along with ink cartridges and converters, and the Platinum Desk Pens with optional stands.

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Finally, a major Hightide restock arrived this week, which included most colors of the shop-favorite Sandglasses in the longer 30 and 15-minute intervals, as well as additional Penco Drafting Ballpoint Pens. Happy Shopping!

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

1. Platinum Preppy Wa “Modern Maki-e” Edition, Second Edition. Over the past few years, the Preppy Wa has successfully brought the fun of limited and special edition fountain pen releases to an accessible price point. Building on the success of last-year’s “Modern Maki-e” release, this second edition introduces six new designs. (We have a small handful of back releases as well.)

2. Platinum Plaisir Fountain Pen. The Platinum Plaisir is one of the classic “beginner” recommendations for those looking for a barrel upgrade over the clear plastic of the Preppy and Procyon, but truth be told it’s an excellent pen all around. Platinum rules the under $20 market.

3. Platinum Prefounte Fountain Pen. Think of the Prefounte as a Preppy with a more durable metal clip and a somewhat classier transparent colored barrel. I love the demonstrator colors.

4. Platinum Desk Pen. Don’t sleep on the steel nib that’s included in the Platinum Desk Pen. It’s an EF (finer than the .3/fine in the standard steel Platinum line), and I’ve had good luck swapping it onto the Plaisir. A bouncy writer that many people love for drawing. An optional pen stand is also available.

5. Endless Recorder Notebooks. The Endless Recorder has become one of the more popular ink-friendly notebook options, featuring Endless’s proprietary “Regalia” paper that was designed in-house to showcase shimmer and sheen. We currently have most cover/ruling combinations available.

6. Caran d’Ache Claim Your Style 849, Edition No. 5. This year’s 849 “Claim Your Style” release features four different gradient barrels in a matte finish. Honestly, this is easily my favorite from the CYS series so far. Read more on this here.

7. Caran d’Ache + Nespresso 849, 6th Edition. This midnight blue matte ballpoint is inspired by the “Kazaar” capsule from Nespresso, with the metal used to make the pen comprised of partially recycled Nespresso capsules.

8. Caran d’Ache Claim Your Style Bicolor Pencil Set. To complement the CYS pen release, Caran d’Ache created a bicolor pencil set consisting of 12 different colors (two in each pencil) that includes organic, fluorescent, and metallic shades.

9. Hightide Sandglasses. One of the first high-end desk accessories that we carried in the shop, and one of our most popular! I can’t wait to display these in our physical store. You can read more about how I use them here.

10. Hightide Folding Metal Book Stands. All colors are back in stock! This versatile desk accessory holds books, notebooks, pads, tablets, etc., and folds flat so that you can take it with you when you travel.

11. TWSBI ECO-T Eggplant Purple and Diamond 580 AL-Iceberg. We still have a handful of the Eggplant TWSBIs available, as well as the gorgeous ice blue “Iceberg” 580s. I’m planning a nice shop display, complete with a case, for all of the various colors so that people will be able to compare them.

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New Arrivals: Caran d'Ache Claim-Your-Style, Edition 5 Plus the Endless Recorder Notebooks and Hightide/Penco!

So even though we don’t move into our new space until next week, some recent orders we’ve placed have started to arrive! The most surprising arrival was this year’s Caran d’Ache 849 Claim Your Style Release (the 5th Edition), which features four new Caran d’Ache 849 ballpoints in a matte-gradient finish. I’ve been somewhat underwhelmed by the Claim Your Style Pens in the last couple of years, but these are simply stunning. I think I like the dark blue tones the best. This year, Caran d’Ache also released a special bicolor pencil set to complement the annual Claim Your Style 849, which are sure to be popular as they feature a combination of a dozen different organic, fluorescent, and metallic colors.

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Which one is your favorite? The top two are the ones that speak to me in particular.

We’ve also received our first shipment of the Endless Recorder Notebooks, featuring Endless Regalia Paper. This latest addition to our stock of fountain pen friendly paper has been in the works for some time, and these popular hardbound notebooks come in a wide array of colors and the full range of rulings (blank, lined, grid, and dot). Finally, we’ve restocked on many Hightide/Penco items, including the Sandglasses, Folding Metal Bookstands, and the Drafting Ballpoint Pens.

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

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We now have Endless Recorder A5 Notebooks in all five colors! Most rulings are available with more on the way as some color/ruling combinations are backordered.

Thursday Drops: Pencils, Pencil Sharpeners, Kaweco, Kakimori and More!

As we approach our move-in date to our new physical location (yay!), we’re in the process of going through our current inventory warehouse and updating our stock. You may see some items we thought were sold out reappear, as with the Kakimori items listed below, and we are also taking the time to reevaluate some lines to make room to bring more in. Anything marked as “Sale” or “Clearance” on the site will likely not be restocked going forward, so take advantage of this opportunity!

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The recently arrived Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multi Pen is available with dozens of different refills, and we’ve put a lot of time into making assortments of the various color families.

We currently have plenty of pens in stock from Pilot, TWSBI, Lamy, Kaweco, and Caran d’Ache, including fountain pens, ballpoints, and rollerballs, and also an extensive selection of gel and multi pens as well as pencils. We look forward to showcasing all of these with new display options after we move and you can come see us in person!

1. Caran d’Ache Pencil Sharpening Machines. I’ve been looking to bring these gorgeous pencil sharpeners into the shop for a while now. These are heirloom-quality desk accessories well below the price point of something like an El Casco but of similar heft and history! More compact “Mini” versions are also available.

2. Viarco Vintage-Style Pencils. This week we received a large restock of Viarco woodcase pencils from Portugal, made in one of the last European pencil factories. Made in a range of different vintage styles drawn from the companies archives, these pencils all sharpen extremely well and still stay on the darker side for European HBs. Excellent point retention.

3. Viarco Pencil Caps. So these spring-style pencil caps are one of this year’s surprise hits, as I can’t keep them in stock. Sold in packs of 8, they fit most standard woodcase pencils and will protect your sharpened point from incidental breakage in your case of choice.

4. Kaweco Softfeel Clutch Pencils. A T.G.S. favorite, I keep waiting for these to go out of stock as I understand Kaweco doesn’t make them anymore, but for whatever reason I can still get them. (If they’ve started making them again, I’m not complaining as they’re great.) People love the rubberized grip and the black-yellow color combination.

5. Kaweco Sketch-Up Clutch Pencils. We also have the standard metal Kaweco Sketch-Up in multiple finishes, including chrome, matte chrome, and black plated. The Sketch-Up and Softfeel both make excellent dry highlighters, in addition to the classic sketch pencil. Check out our range of refills here.

6. Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Gel Pens. One of our recent large additions was the Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multi Pen line, which features Pilot’s excellent needle-tip Hi-Tec-C gel pen in a multi pen format and a range of colors. There are dozens of different refill options, and we also offer assortment packs if you’d like to try them out before stocking up.

7. Zebra Sarasa Grand Vintage Gel Pens. We recently added a high-end gel pen option to our lineup of available pens, and these “Vintage” Sarasas feature matching barrel-ink options in black-infused colors that are more subtle than many gel pens out there. Don’t sleep on these, as they’re excellent.

8. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter Covers. I will be bringing all of my Roterfaden stock to this year’s D.C. Pen Show the first week of August, so if you’ve been looking to pick one up online and aren’t attending the show, please get your order in soon. These are made to order, so I’m unsure of the timing of any restock either before or after the show.

9. Stainless Kakimori Dip Nib and Hardbound Notebook. As we prepare for a move to our new space, we’ve come across a few stray items that inadvertently weren’t listed on the site, including a handful of items from Kakimori. I do intend to restock this line but they can take a while to ship from Japan.

10. Blackwing “Illegal” Pads. Many thanks to Mike over at Inkdependence for his video review of the Blackwing legal pads. I really love this paper, especially the old-school traditional legal lined ruling. Dot and Grid options are also available.

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

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A Mid-Summer Update from T.G.S.: Lots of Changes on the Horizon, Including a Brick-and-Mortar Shopping Option Plus Pen Shows!

Those of you who are Patreon members or who subscribe to the shop newsletter may already be aware of some of these announcements, but I figured it was time to update the general readership since we are now very close to our move date! For the past year, I’ve been searching for a physical location for T.G.S., and given rising commercial real estate costs in the greater Nashville, Tennessee area, it hasn’t been easy to find suitable space that’s also reasonably priced. As it turns out, we have a lease on a location, and will be taking possession towards the end of July.

This is an extremely exciting new development for us (me and my family, who collectively run T.G.S.), and will allow us to expand both the T.G.S. Curated Shop as well as the range of pen-related content we can provide through our various media channels. Currently, I don’t have dedicated studio space for photography and video, which necessarily limits the quantity and quality of content that I can produce. The educational and informational content we offer here at T.G.S. will remain a core part of what we do, and a big part of this move is about expanding what we can offer the pen community in that regard.

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I’ve been attending multiple retail trade shows over the past couple of years preparing to expand the various lines of stationery we can offer, as well as partnering with manufacturers and brands on additional exclusive collaborations.

Will There Be an In-Person Shopping Option in Nashville? Yes! But Not Immediately.

As soon as we are able to move over our warehouse and office/fulfillment operations, we will offer in-person order pickup from a fixed location in the Nashville area. Once we take possession, I will post the address and pickup instructions here on the site, but I can go ahead and let my local customers know that the new location is near Berry Hill and central to most of the greater Nashville Metropolitan area. In the coming months - hopefully prior to the holidays - we plan to have a small retail area set up within our space that will allow people to come and shop our various product lines in person. Store hours will be forthcoming.

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D.C. Pen Show Details: Come See T.G.S. In Person!

Due to the impending move, which is currently scheduled to take place the week before the D.C. Pen Show, we will not have time to assemble a full table’s worth of inventory for either the D.C. or San Francisco Pen Shows in August. That said, we will be in attendance, teaming up with our friends at Vanness Pens to help staff the new Vanness Pen Lounge in D.C.! The Pen Lounge will be located in the downstairs conference area below the main ballroom (which at past shows had been used as the “maker’s area” before last year’s hotel remodel. Stay tuned for further details as we get closer to the main event, but this space will feature an area for attendees to socialize, ask questions from a rotating cast of volunteers, and attend mini-classes and workshops throughout the weekend.

In addition to helping staff the Lounge, I will be hosting a workshop on notebook systems, and will have a small selection of samples from brands including Roterfaden, Lochby, Traveler’s Company, Midori, Laconic, and more. While I can’t commit to bringing items for in-person purchase, since our ability to restock inventory may be limited by the move, I will try to have a small selection of T.G.S. products available for purchase at the Vanness tables. Please let me know if there is something you specifically want to see and I will try to make it happen!

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 Arrivals: More Viarco Pencils and Accessories (Including Violet Pencils and Pencil Caps!)

Viarco pencils have returned, and it appears as though this brand will be regularly carried by a U.S. distributor, which of course makes me very happy! Viarco pencils represent an excellent combination of quality and value, and are made in one of the last operating European pencil factories. The graphite sharpens very well and holds an excellent point for writing.

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These spring-style pencil protectors are inexpensive and sold in packs of 8.

We currently have all of the various vintage-style pencils in stock, as well as the popular pencil caps and pencil gift sets, which contain a dozen of each vintage style for a half-gross in total. All of these pencils are HB-grade graphite, with the exception of the surprisingly popular vintage violet copying pencils.

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