Thursday Drops: Caran d'Ache Restock, Washi Tapes, Penwells, and More!

Well, I’ll kick off this Thursday’s “Drop” announcement with the news that everyone’s been waiting for: Grown-up Washi Tape is back in stock, as are many of the other patterns in our Washi Tape and Pins section! If the past is any predictor, the “fun” Washi Tape will be gone by sundown. :) The next round of T.G.S. Special Edition Penwells will arrive and start shipping on Saturday, so if you’d like to reserve one of these from a relatively small batch, pre-orders are available. To read more on what went into designing our first exclusive product, check out this post.

As noted below, we recently received a restock of many of our core Caran d’Ache products, including the 849 Rollerball and the woodcase pencils. Finally, don’t miss out on the most recent TWSBI releases, especially if you’d like to pair a Glow Green with the upcoming Glow Purple! Happy Shopping!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brand sold, and T.G.S. is entirely supported by shop sales and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which comes with early access to Gently Used sales, meetups, and more.

1. Caran d’Ache 849 Rollerball. We recently received fresh stock of the Caran d’Ache 849 Rollerball Pen, including additional pens in the matte grey, white, and black finishes. We also received more of the excellent CdA Rollerball refills in both black and blue ink, which are Parker-style cartridges that fit many different pens. You can read the full writeup on the Caran d’Ache 849 Rollerball here.

2. Caran d’Ache 849 Standard Ballpoint. We also have a full restock of the standard 849 ballpoint pens in most colors, including the popular sapphire, dark blue, and my personal favorite, matte anthracite grey. Matching mechanical pencils are also available.

3. Caran d’Ache 2022 Limited Edition Dark Violet and Pastel Yellow 849 Ballpoints. The Dark Violet pens sold out extremely fast, so we ordered more and they recently arrived. The Pastel Yellow, however, is a sleeper. The colors are designed to complement one another so why not make yourself a set?

4. Caran d’Ache Claim Your Style Edition No. 4. What’s your favorite of this year’s Claim Your Style pen? The two blue options are outstanding - especially the Polar - but “Frozen Lemon” and “Clay Green” might make their way into my own growing accumulation of 849s.

5. Caran d’Ache Ecridor Racing Ballpoint and Mechanical Pencil Sets. The Ecridor Racing might be my favorite of Caran d’Ache’s higher-end releases, with the matte-black coated finish paired with a bright red racing stripe.

6. Caran d’Ache Swiss Wood Pencils. We have Swiss Wood pencils available individually, in packs of 10, and in prepackaged gift sets perfect for the upcoming holidays. Most other Caran d’Ache pencils have been restocked as well, including the standard yellow office/school pencil and the wonderfully smooth 3B Edelweiss.

7. Caran d’Ache “Color Treasure” Postcard Sets. I took a flyer and stocked some of these, and it turns out I absolutely love them. Part of this year’s holiday collection, these postcards are printed on thick watercolor paper that allows you to color with anything from colored pencil to fountain pen ink!

8. TWSBI ECO “Cerulean Blue” Fountain Pen. Easily my favorite solid-color ECO fountain pen that TWSBI has released in the past couple of years (MAYBE with the exception of the discontinued Yellow), the Cerulean Blue is a vibrant dark turquoise that sets off the red finial. You can have a lot of fun with fountain pens for $32.99!

9. TWSBI ECO “Glow Green” Fountain Pen. Apparently the glow-in-the-dark “Glow Green” ECO has kicked off a trend, because TWSBI just announced the “Glow Purple,” which glows blue and will launch on Halloween with pre-orders available a few days ahead of time. Be sure to check out the pics below!

10. Platinum Preppy Wa Limited Edition Fountain Pens. This year’s Preppy Wa release features six new patterns drawn from Japanese tradition. Choose your favorite or collect all six for less than $50!

11. Platinum Plaisir “Aura” Fountain Pen. I’ve been enjoying the pearlescent finish on this year’s limited edition Plaisir, and I’m liking it even more now that I’ve figured out that you can swap the fine or medium nib in the Plaisir for the sweet extra-fine nib sold in the Platinum Desk Pen!

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The Quest for the Perfect Green-Black Ink: Anderillium Colossal Squid Dark and Green Kingfisher Green

For years, I’ve been searching for that perfect dark green ink - something that’s dark enough to look almost black at work, yet has just enough of a hint of green to keep things interesting, especially when I use a broader nib. I’ve cycled through loads of green ink over the years, and have dozens in my personal collection. Have I found that “perfect” dark green? No, of course not - and it would probably take much of the fun out of the hobby if I did - but the two inks I’ll review today from Anderillium are pretty darn good: “Colossal Squid Dark” from their “Cephalopod Series,” and “Green Kingfisher Green” from their “Avian Series”.

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Review writing samples were done with a Nahvalur Original Plus steel medium, and a Nahvalur Nautilus BB ground to a “Mini-Nag” by CY of Tokyo Station Pens.

Colossal Squid Dark is perhaps my favorite sleeper hit from the entire Anderillium lineup. Is it a black? Is it a green? Is it a blue-black? All of the above, and that’s what makes it interesting. If I had to peg this ink as a color I’d call it a “deep teal-black”, which will look almost pure black with hints of green and blue in finer nibs, with more of the teal shades showing in broader nibs and stubs.

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Is it a green-black? Is it a blue-black? Both? You’ll probably have to decide for yourself, but either way, I love it.

Green Kingfisher Green, from the bird-inspired “Avian Series,” surprised me with how dark it was. Based on the label I expected a standard “hunter green,” but it’s actually more of a true green-black. If I had to pick out any undertones, I see some brown and maybe a hint of yellow in the thinner parts of the swab. In extra-fine nibs, however, this ink appears black.

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If you angle the paper in a certain way and play with how the light hits it, you can see several different tones in Green Kingfisher Green. The writing sample here was done with a TWSBI Swipe, extra-fine nib.

Both Colossal Squid Dark and Green Kingfisher Green flow well in all pens I’ve used, dry relatively quickly despite being on the wet side, and neither bleed nor feather on most papers. I’d consider both to be good “workhorses” suitable for your everyday writing. What other inks would I consider comparable to these two, in terms of color? Based on my “Green Ink Comparison Project,” I would say that the closest three I currently have in my collection are 3Oysters “Black Moss,” Sailor Bungubox “Dandyism,” and Pilot’s 100th Anniversary Iroshizuku Ink “Hoteison”. Green Kingfisher Green is, of course, the more “true green-black” ink, while Colossal Squid Dark is more of a “teal black,” with hints of blue. Maybe even similar to Sailor Miruai (which I no longer own) but not an exact match?

This photo is probably the best representation of how these inks look in everyday use.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Colossal Squid Dark has become a surprise favorite. I currently have it inked up in two pens, one of which I’ve had to refill (a vacuum-filler, no less). “Teal-black” is less common than “green black,” or standard blue-black, and it keeps my work interesting even though non-fountain pen nerds won’t notice that I’m writing with a non-standard color. Neither ink, however, has given me any problems, and Green Kingfisher Green is accompanying me to the office today.

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Yes, I’ll keep posting photos of this display because I absolutely love it.

You can purchase Anderillium Inks, including the two shown here, directly from us in the T.G.S. Curated Shop. Anderillium was kind enough to send a full set of samples when I stocked the brand, and I’ll post reviews as I work my way through the colors in the various lineups (though I’ve already swatched them all). These inks are priced at $14.50 for 1.5oz (roughly 45ml) of ink, which represents good value, and are sold in a wide-mouth “jam jar” bottle that makes it easy to fill larger-diameter pens. The names of all Anderillium inks are nature-inspired. As i mentioned above, Colossal Squid Dark forms part of the “Cephalopod Series” - inks based on squids and octopuses - while Green Kingfisher Green forms part of the “Avian Series” - inks based on birds. Other Anderillium Inks I’ve reviewed in the past include “Cuttlefish Brown”, a classic sepia that looks brown when wet but dries more grey, and “Michigan Avenue,” another green released as a special edition for the 2022 Chicago Pen Show.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of Anderillium Inks, as well as all other brands sold. This post does not contain links to paid sponsors or third-party affiliates.

In Stock: The Caran d'Ache 2022 Limited and Special Editions

Every year, Swiss maker Caran d’Ache releases multiple special and limited edition pens and pencils, often just in advance of the holidays. This year, they have released the “Colour Treasure” collection, the first of which have arrived! While the series will eventually include new special edition 849 Ballpoints and even a jumbo pencil set, we have in stock now these sets of 12 high-quality postcards designed to be colored using your favorite colored pencils, perfect for catching up on your holiday correspondence. (In my case, the particular postcard pictured here will be turned into a Patreon thank-you note.)

Shown here with the three-tone Midori MD colored pencil set.

We also have the rest of the Caran d’Ache 2022 releases, including this year’s Claim Your Style 849 Ballpoints, the Dark Violet and Pastel Yellow 849s, and the Black Code, Gold Bar, and Brut Rosé mechanical pencils designed to match the ballpoint versions. Finally, we have a healthy stock of the eminently giftable Swiss Wood Pencil Gift Sets, and the Caran d’Ache x Nespresso Edition No. 4 Swiss Wood Pencils.

It truly pains me to say it, but the holiday shopping season is starting now, whether I like it or not. (Personally, I enjoy Halloween and would prefer to celebrate my holidays one at a time.) That said, if you’ve had your eye on something that you are considering for a gift, please don’t sleep on it. Restocking has been delayed, especially for items arriving from overseas. Many thanks for your support!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all products sold, including Caran d’Ache.

Sunday Reading for October 16, 2022

1. Rituals: Galen Leather The Old School Molded Pen Case for Five Pens (via A Fleeting Ripple). I love the Galen old-school cases, and I’ll echo that their packaging and presentation is top-notch.

2. RIIND The Compact Pen (via KraftyCats). I really enjoyed the original RIIND pen, though some found it a bit large. The “Compact” version is worth checking out.

3. My Personal Pens: Gravitas Blue Fountain Pen (via SBRE Brown). I’ve also enjoyed getting to use the larger Gravitas model. If you appreciate larger, heavier pens, check this one out, and look for my own review soon.

4. The Plot Is Afoot (via Pen Addict - Sarah). I can’t believe NaNoWriMo is here already. I want to do SOMETHING to commemorate the occasion, since I love the idea, but I’m overwhelmed as it is and this year a novel just isn’t going to happen. Be sure to check out Sarah’s choice of pen.

5. Hieronymus XH5 Notebook Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). 120gsm paper tends to be extremely thick for me, but at this thickness it often can’t help but be fountain pen friendly.

6. The Tale of the Lady and the Scholar: My London Autumn Pen Show 2022 (via Fountain Pen Blog). I had originally intended to try to make the London Autumn Show, but life events intervened. On to the Spring? Semikolon’s new line of products intrigues me.

7. October 2022 London Pen Show (via Dapprman). A great pictorial recap of the London Pen Show!

8. Cypress Eggshell Series Dandelion (via Rachel’s Reflections). I love these eggshell designs, but I’ve not tried a pen from Cypress. Should I pick one up? (Also check out Part II of this post.)

9. Sheen with Purpose and Ink Mullets (via mnmlscholar). I’m going to submit “Ink Mullet” to the dictionary for 2022 new word of the year.

10. Ferris Wheel Press Curious Collaborations: Paper Tree (via Well-Appointed Desk). Ferris Wheel Press is killing me with all these new collaborations….

In Case You Missed It…

I was on vacation this past week! No, seriously, I probably had about five different posts noting this fact, so hopefully it didn’t take anyone by surprise. In the meantime, I did a wrap-up post discussing the 2022 Pen Show Season, since both the Colorado Show and New York Metropolitan Shows are currently ongoing. While there are a few more this year, my own pen show season has likely come to a close.

This Week in the Shop

Despite me being on vacation, a lot of new arrivals hit the shop this week! For starters, the second round of Platinum Preppy Wa fountain pens are now available for purchase, and - wait for it - the T.G.S. x Penwell exclusive “Aged Red” model is now available for preorder, with the Penwells likely arriving and shipping out sometime later this week. We are also restocked on most of our Caran d’Ache pens and pencils. There is MUCH more on the way in the near future, so stay tuned! Since I’m back in town, there should not be further delays in orders shipping, and anything placed while I was away should ship by tomorrow.

Platinum Preppy Wa

Nahvalur

Marks

Gently Used

Many Thanks for Your Shop Support, and Please Consider T.G.S. Patreon!

We’ve been surprised at the level of enthusiasm and support for our curated retail strategy over the past couple of months, and after careful consideration are beginning to build out our inventory with more brands and product categories. I love managing this aspect of T.G.S., as it offers me the opportunity to directly put great stationery - including brands I feel are underappreciated and underemphasized - into your hands. For those who want to support T.G.S. without necessarily adding to their accumulation, the Patreon Program offers two options for tiers of support: $3 and $5, and plan on making monthly meetups, pen show events, and periodic exclusive content the primary benefits. Of course, Patreon members will continue to get first access to periodic sample sales, with right of first refusal on gently used pens. (Reminder that those pens which made it through Patreon are now available to the general readership!)

It's Back! The T.G.S. x Penwell "Aged Red" Exclusive (Available for Preorder)

Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with some of my favorite makers on exclusive products, and one of the creations I’m most proud of is the first one: the T.G.S. exclusive Penwell pen holder in a unique “Aged Red” finish that draws its inspiration from the T.G.S. blog colors, burgundy and black. While these Penwells are powder-coated aluminum, as opposed to Urushi, I wanted to pick a finish that complements the look and depth of the dark red finish on my Nakaya Decapod. The subtle black and red grain on the Aged Red came out absolutely gorgeous during the last run, and given the number of requests for more I wanted to do another batch.

If you’re unfamiliar with the Penwell, it’s one of my favorite fountain pen accessories that allows you to turn any pen into a desk pen. I have one (or maybe two) on my desk at all times, and you can read my full write-up here.

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Packaging may vary with the new run.

These special edition Penwells are available for preorder in the T.G.S. Curated Shop, priced at $75, which is the same price as the prior run and qualifies for free shipping. T.G.S. Patreon Supporters receive a special pricing + free shipping, so if you are a Patreon member, please check your messages. The Penwells should arrive in a week or so, and I will ship upon receipt. Please feel free to combine your Penwell pre-order with other items to save on shipping charges, though combined orders will ship together with the Penwell. Many thanks for your support, and I can’t wait to get them in your hands!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold. Also, a reminder that today is the last day to use your discount code as I’m returning from vacation. Use “VACAY10” at checkout to receive 10% off all paper orders.