New arrivals - I’m trying to decide whether the new Fixpencil or Swiss Woods are my favorite?

Sunday Reading for July 25, 2021

July 25, 2021

Montegrappa Miya 450 Limited Edition Yellow (via Rants of the Archer). So this is what I mean when I really have a hard time understanding why Montegrappa doesn’t make the Miya a permanent centerpiece of the company’s lineup. These vibrant celluloids are gorgeous and I was happy to get one in the “Zebra” celluloid.
What’s in the Bag; Back 2 the Office (via the Poor Penman). A great bag dump post, and a versatile set of everyday carry gear.
Schon DSGN Ultem Pen (via Figboot on Pens). David has a review of the new Schon DSGN Ultem pen, which is a different shape and size than Ian’s first fountain pen, the Pocket Six.
Worth a Look: The Worther Compact Fountain Pen (via Penquisition). A very interesting design from a brand that I don’t have experience with, though these smaller German brands tend to make very high quality pens.
Summer and I’m Not Dead Yet (via UK Fountain Pens). Anthony checks in for the summer, and he’s the one person I know so far who’s purchased the new Lamy 2000 limited edition. I’m looking forward to a review!
Nespresso Notebook and Pen (via Bleistift). Nespresso’s capsule recycling program has moved beyond their partnership with Caran d’Ache into other product lines, and apparently they now are using not just the recycled aluminum but the coffee grounds as well. As this article points out, Nespresso customers can get some unique stationery goods thrown in with their orders, depending on where you are located. Also, see below for more details on the latest Nespresso x Caran d’Ache collaborations.
Fountain Pen Quest Trail Log (via FPQuest). Ray seems to be going through a similar reevaluation of his collection, only I’m focused on thinning inks and the notebook hoard right now instead of pens. I’m always fascinated to see how other people make their decisions on what to keep and what to sell.
Where I Write (via From the Pen Cup). I’m a fan of decluttering in general, but I also firmly believe that we all need a space that’s uniquely “ours” to personalize without feeling compelled to “Kondo-ize” it to meet someone else’s standards. My own home office space serves a similar purpose to Mary’s.
Super Weird Moonman (via Well-Appointed Desk). Agreed. Super weird, but I’m somehow glad this exists.
Montblanc Writer’s Edition Homage to Arthur Conan Doyle Scarlet Red Fountain Pen Ink (via Gourmet Pens). I’m repeating to myself - I’m NOT buying any more red inks…. Ok, maybe I’ll check it out in D.C.

In Case You Missed It….

I’ve spent the past two weeks doing a massive summer clean-out, as we’re preparing to have some work done on our house (including floors in my office area), and I’m trying to thin out as much clutter as I can so I don’t have to move and/or store things I wouldn’t keep long term. I came up with the idea to mercilessly attack my ink accumulation by swabbing all the inks I have by color family, so I can compare them side-by-side and see which ones I’m actually likely to use going forward. Eventually I may do the same with pens, but ink is the more urgent issue. So far, I’ve done two posts, one on red inks, which makes up the largest set of inks in my collection by far, and one on green inks, which is the second largest group.

New in the Shop: Caran d’Ache x Nespresso Collaborations Arrive!

Yesterday I received my allotment of the new Caran d’Ache x Nespresso collaborations, including a limited edition Fixpencil in matte orange, and a set of three special Swiss Wood pencils with aluminum finials on the end. This release marks the fourth successful collaboration between Nespresso and Caran d’Ache, and the first that does not involve a special edition 849 ballpoint. Finally, T.G.S. x Sunderland exclusive mk1 rollerballs are back in stock, as I picked up the second half of my first shipment yesterday. If these last, I will bring some to the D.C. Pen Show the first week of August, but there’s a chance they may sell out so if you’d like to reserve one for show pickup please send me a note and we can work out the specifics.

Consider Joining TGS Patreon for Access to Monthly Meetups and First Dibs on Gently Used Stationery, Exclusive Products and More!

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. This year I’ve introduced monthly online meetups, which take place on Friday or Saturday and have been super enjoyable. We’ve discussed our thoughts on pen shows restarting, recent arrivals in our personal collections, and more. I will also continue with periodic “sample sales” of gently used review items and T.G.S. collaborations, to which Patrons will have first access. The current sale is now live and features the inks that I’m selling off as I thin out my personal accumulation.

Mini-Collections, Part III: All the Green Inks

July 24, 2021

Following last week’s ink-sampling session with all the reds in my collection, I decided that I would go through the greens next. While I have roughly 2/3 the number of green inks as I do reds in my ink archive, it’s probably the second-most represented color. My collection generally revolves around dark greens, mostly green-blacks or what would qualify as “racing greens”. (No, I don’t have the coveted “Montblanc British Racing Green” that was so popular many years ago, but I did make a copy using Platinum Mix-Free inks and a formula someone posted to FPN, so I include that for reference.)

The top ink is the “racing green” imitation/approximation made using Platinum mix-free inks. I have a few other inks that get generally close to that shade, discussed further below.

Takeaways From the “Green Ink” Project

In addition to the Platinum Mix-Free combination, Sailor Jentle Epinard is a long-time favorite and probably the closest ink in my collection to a true “Racing Green.” I definitely need to use that ink more. Diamine Classic Green and Color Traveler Shodoshima Olive Green are similar, but lighter.
As with the reds, I have too many green inks and can absolutely part with some of these colors, including duplicate bottles and inks that lean heavily blue or teal. These will be added to the Patreon ink sale quickly and rotated to the public “Gently Used” page after a week.
I really was surprised at the number of inks that were grouped as “greens” but really should be blues. Waterman Green, Iroshizuku Syo-Ro, and Rohrer & Klingner Smaragdgrun are the three that jump out the most. Sailor Yama-Dori really is characterized more as a teal blue that I swabbed with the greens by mistake.
Overall, my favorite two brands for green inks at a reasonable price are Diamine and Colorverse. Diamine Classic Green and Sherwood Green are great colors I’ve recently added to my collection, and Colorverse Schrodinger and Sea of Tranquility have staying power.
My overall favorite green ink for everyday writing? Probably a tie between the Sailor Epinard and Sailor Bungubox Dandyism.

As with the reds, I laminated the two green ink sheets and will have them with me at the D.C. Pen Show!

Disclaimer: This post does not contain paid affiliate links. Going forward, T.G.S is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!

Sure, it’s the old location, but the new one doesn’t provide a higher place to take a photo and give you the sense of scale. I don’t know whether this year’s show will be quite this big, but the fact that it’s happening at all is exciting!

Deals & Drops: Gearing Up for the D.C. Pen Show - A Few Updates!

July 22, 2021

I plan to attend the D.C. Pen Show from August 5-8, and I honestly can’t wait. I’ll be behind the Vanness Pens table, hopefully in the same location as 2019. While I really don’t know what to expect crowd-wise, I assume it will be well-attended on the vendor side, and there are SO many pens I want to see in person this year. I have a lot of catching up to do. A few updates for the weeks prior to the D.C. Show:

First, I need to sell off some stationery from my personal collection to “free up some funds” for D.C. These are listed separately from any items in the shop, though you can still combine orders and I will honor the $75 free shipping promotion. Check out the “Gently Used” page here. Patreon members have right of first refusal on any gently used items, so Patreon members please check the exclusive page as I list more stuff this week.

Second, while I plan to have a few items with me in D.C. (mainly my exclusive pen and maybe a couple of small items that are easy to travel with and don’t overlap with Vanness), I will not have my own table. That said, if you plan to attend D.C., and would like to place an order for pickup at the show, please reach out and I will arrange to remove the shipping charge if the order is under $75. Note that heavier or more fragile items, such as sandglasses and paper pads, will need to be excluded from this offer for logistical reasons.

I look forward to seeing you all! And happy shopping with this week’s featured items, which includes both exclusives and low-stock items that are gone once I sell out!

T.G.S. x Sunderland mk1 Exclusive Edition. I’m down to my last pen for this shipment, but should receive another prior to the D.C. Pen Show. I plan to bring some with me to have at the table, but that will depend on current stock in two weeks. Read more about this pen here.
Lamy 2000 Brown Limited Edition Fountain Pen and Paper Set (via Vanness Pens). Vanness has limited edition Lamy 2000 pens in stock at the moment. This one ships with a brown notebook. Will I add one to my collection?
Caran d’Ache Léman “Klein Blue” Fountain Pen with Limited Ultramarine Ink. I have exactly one remaining Klein Blue Léman, with its gorgeous limited finish and exclusive 50ml bottle of Caran d’Ache Chromatics ink. You can read my write-up on this pen here.
Caran d’Ache Ecridor Racing .7mm Mechanical Pencil. If Caran d’Ache was going to make a ballpoint or mechanical pencil in my ideal finish and color scheme (matte-black plus a red racing stripe), it would be this one. Somebody buy this before I keep it for myself.
Caran d’Ache “Claim Your Style” Season 2. I have a few of these remaining, including pens in the “Bluish Pale” and “Hibiscus Pink” finishes, which are among my favorites. These won’t be restocked to make room for Season 3, coming soon.
Reading Accessories from WMS & Co. I may bring some of these with me to the D.C. Show, since they are so easy to travel with and really pop once you see them in person. In addition to book weights, be sure to check out their hand stamps and
TWSBI ECO Lilac Fountain Pen. The ECO is on the cusp of taking over as TWSBI’s flagship, with its exceptional price point and reliable build. These “color” editions have remained extremely popular.
TWSBI ECO Transparent Purple. Other than the Transparent Orange, which isn’t made at the moment, the Transparent Purple might be my favorite of the ECO demonstrators (well, that and maybe the Transparent Blue). These pens have a jewel-box-like quality which makes them a lot of fun for the money.
Opus 88 Pens (via Vanness Pens). As a whole, I love the Opus 88 brand as an example of high quality, high-capacity fountain pens with reliable nibs at a reasonable price point. These have been huge sellers at the D.C. Pen Show in the past. Check out my recent review of the Opus 88 “Omar” here.
Traveler’s Company “Factory Green” Fountain Pen. This one will be traveling with me to the D.C. Pen Show, as the “bullet” format has become a personal favorite for pocket carry. The matte “Factory Green” finish comes on all Traveler’s Company writing instruments and makes this a very comfortable pocket pen to write with for longer sessions.

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Mini Collections, Part II: All the Red Inks

July 21, 2021

My stationery “collection” doesn’t really have a central theme, in that it’s not built around a specific brand. Rather, I tend to accumulate what I like to use, which has given rise to what I refer to as “mini-collections.” The first of these that I wrote about includes several models of the Parker Sonnet, what I consider a vastly under-appreciated pen. The second is on the ink side, which revolves around a rather large stable of red inks, mostly dark reds and burgundies.

Why Red Inks, You Might Ask?

It’s pretty simple. Dark red is just one of my favorite colors. It’s no coincidence that one of the first bottled fountain pen inks I ever purchased was Noodler’s Antietam, that the main color scheme of the T.G.S. website is burgundy and black, that I review red pens whenever I have the option, and that both of the exclusive editions I’ve released through the shop include red somewhere, whether it be the “Aged Red” Penwell or the recent Sunderland mk1. As you can imagine, I have accumulated a LOT of red ink over the years.

I don’t subscribe to the stigma that writing in red ink is somehow too loud, or should be considered “angry” or offensive. There are various shades of red, and I’ve always enjoyed a darker burgundy or red-black for everyday writing. My favorite, of course, is Montblanc’s legendary Alfred Hitchcock, a limited edition ink that many have tried to duplicate over the years. My personal “grail quest” hasn’t necessarily involved a pen, but rather finding a suitable replacement for this favorite ink, given that I only have half a bottle remaining. What I’ve never done, however, is swab ALL of my current stable of red inks and compare them side-by-side, to get a sense of whether I’ve accomplished my goal (or even whether I still want/need to).

The Process for Standardizing My Ink Samples

Taking inspiration from Anthony over at UK Fountain Pens, I wanted to use a menu-style format for the comparison with a simple cotton swap + dip pen writing sample combination, on bright white paper from a Write Notepads dot-grid memo pad. I chose this paper because it showcases the ink color quite well, including any shading and sheen, and absolutely will not feather or bleed even with most very wet ink swabs. The whole process took me approximately three hours on a Saturday, and I wound up with three sheets containing 43 different red inks. I laminated these sheets for posterity, and plan on doing similar comparisons with other ink colors in my collection.

Takeaways from My Red Ink Collection, Including Replacements for Hitchcock and Other Cult Inks

I’ve spent a few days thinking about this, and there’s a lot to unpack here, not least that I have more red ink than I can ever use in my lifetime, including a lot of similar shades. Here are my takeaways.

Hitchcock Replacement. So far, no one has been able to come up with what I’d consider a true match. In terms of reasonably priced “everyday writers,” both Diamine Oxblood and Monteverde Passion Burgundy are very close. Vanness and Joey Feldman collaborated on “Good Evening,” an attempt to develop a similar shade of dark red, but I find it to be a touch darker (though still a great ink). The trouble with matching Hitchcock is that the color tends to look much different in wet writers than it does in narrower nibs. I managed to come up with a Platinum mix-free combo that looks very similar in a fine or medium nib writing sample.
Other Matches for Limited Edition or Discontinued Montblanc Inks. Montblanc makes excellent inks, but their best colors tend to be limited or special editions that are made for a year or so and then discontinued. When I was live-posting this project on Instagram in real-time, I received questions about potential matches for Corn Poppy Red, William Shakespeare, and Bordeaux (the predecessor of “Burgundy” in the standard lineup). For Corn Poppy Red, consider Color Traveler Mihara Daruma Red. For William Shakespeare, consider Leonardo Red Passion or Robert Oster Red Candy. And while I don’t think the old Bordeaux is that far off from current Burgundy (maybe slightly darker), Diamine Burgundy Rose (from the “Flowers” set) and Pennonia No. 27 “Mustvoros Young Wine” are close.
My Overall Favorite Red and Burgundy Inks for Everyday Writing. While this category keeps changing, since I’m constantly finding new shades that interest me, I’ve also rediscovered a bunch of inks in my collection that I had forgotten about. The ones that basically leapt off the page were Leonardo Red Passion (Leonardo makes exceptionally good but under-appreciated inks), Montblanc Corn Poppy Red, and Robert Oster Red Candy. You will likely see more of these in my rotation in the future.
I’m Not Going To Use Certain Colors and Need to Purge Some Ink. It’s been over a year since my last ink sale, and I need to let 10 or so of these bottles go. I don’t use pink inks or reds that lean heavily pink, including many of the Pilot inks other than Iroshizuku Yama-Budo. Now that I have these inks swabbed for posterity on a laminated sheet, there’s no need to keep them around solely for comparison purposes. As always, Patreon subscribers will get first crack at whatever I decide to sell off, via the Patreon Sale page, and if anything’s left it will move over to the “Gently Used” stationery page, which is separate from the T.G.S. Curated Shop but can be combined with shop orders for free shipping purposes.

This was a highly satisfying project, and as I mentioned, I plan to repeat with other colors in the hopes of identifying my favorites, (re)discovering some hidden gems, and letting go of a bit more excess. Stay tuned for more fun! If anyone is interested in viewing these sheets in person, I will bring the color sheets with me to the D.C. Pen Show, where I will be behind the Vanness Pens table.

Sunday Reading for July 18, 2021

July 18, 2021

The Noodler’s Cinematic Universe: Six Degrees of Baystate Blue (via Left Hook Pens). It’s been FAR too long since anyone’s talked about the great “Baystate Blue controversy.” This is a must-read for those who joined the pen and stationery community in recent years, with history of the ink and why people continue using this vibrant color despite its quirks.
Lamy 2000 Brown (via Bleistift). I’m not sure how I feel about this version of what might be my favorite fountain pen in existence. Part of me loves that Lamy isn't diverging from its understated color palette on its Lamy 2000 limited editions. The other part of me is angry at the price point.
Schon DSGN Ultem Fountain Pen (via Pensplaining). Lisa over at Pensplaining reviews the new Schon DSGN fountain pen made from ultem, a material that has rarely been used in pen making until recently. I can’t wait to see one of these in person, hopefully in D.C.
Drillog: Precision Drill Tipped Dip Pen (via Gourmet Pens). Ok, this product is intriguing to me, but the price point is a bit too high for me to experiment with, since I’m not necessarily a huge dip pen user. Extremely cool idea, though.
An Interview with Rachel, The Creator of the Profolio Oasis Summit Notebook (via Fountain Pen Love). I enjoy reading interviews with the creators of products we enjoy. This one makes me want to go out and try a Profolio. (I also love B6-sized notebooks.)
Tono & Lims No. 11: The Boundary Between Like and Dislike (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist). I reviewed at Tono & Lims ink for the first time myself this week, and I have to say, with literally hundreds of different colors, they really do have to start getting creative with the names.
Birmingham Pen Company Antique Sepia Fountain Pen Ink (via Pen Addict). I’m in the process of exploring Birmingham Inks’ various lines as well, and particularly enjoy their more muted color scheme, which makes them excellent choices for work inks, provided they behave well. Keep checking back for more reviews in the future.
Narwhal Key West (via Well-Appointed Desk). I’ve jumped into exploring Narwhal’s pen line recently, but this one didn’t hold as much interest for me. Laura seems a bit underwhelmed as well.

In Case You Missed It….

This was a busy week on the blog! I wrote a few articles that were a bit of a change of pace for me, including this piece on customizing notebooks to meet your exact needs, which for me meant cutting down a thicker Stálogy 1/2 year notebook to fit my Traveler’s Notebook. I also continued some ink review work with this follow-up piece on water-resistance of TWSBI Inks, and a review of a new red ink that recently passed through my hands: Tono & Lims “Superstar T.”

Exclusive Sunderland Pen Update, and New This Week in the Curated Shop

I have very few exclusive Sunderland mk1 pens remaining in stock, and hope to receive another shipment so I’ll have some pens available to take with me to the D.C. Pen Show early next month. In the meantime, we’re fully stocked on notebook systems, from Traveler’s Notebook, to Stálogy, to Midori MD, all of which are infinitely customizable and perfect for getting yourself ready for back-to-work/back-to-school season. (I can’t believe it’s right around the corner.) Check out the links below and this week’s Deals & Drops Highlights for more details.

Stálogy

Midori MD

Traveler's Company

TWSBI