From left, the Uniball Jetstream, Traveler’s Company Brass Ballpoint, Mark’s “Tous Les Jours,” Penco Perfection, Penco Perfection Light, and Mark’s x Anterique “Days” Click Pen.

Workhorse Pens: Low-Viscosity Ballpoint Pens

February 18, 2023

Let’s face it: When it comes to actually getting work done, a fountain pen is never the most practical option. For me, it’s not so much the messiness, but more the added mental load and distraction. In addition to the work itself, you have to consider the nib, ink, paper, and how all three of these factors interact with one another. If any single thing goes wrong, it will break your focus, and while I’ve been in this long enough to have a pretty good instinct about what combinations do well enough to allow me to “just work”, lately half of my everyday writing has been with a ballpoint. But not just any ballpoint….

“Low-Viscosity” Ballpoints: An Excellent All-Around Workhorse Option

By now, you’ve likely heard the term “low-viscosity” ballpoint and wondered what the heck that means. I won’t get too deep into the science here, but it seems to be the new marketing term for what I’ve always referred to as “hybrid gel” ballpoint pens such as the Uniball Jetstream and the Pilot Acroball. Pen companies have modified their traditional oil-based ballpoint ink formulations to make them less “sticky,” which allows the pen to write darker, crisper lines, and results in quicker dry times with less smearing. As a result, today it’s actually fairly easy to find ballpoint pens in the .5mm (and even .38mm) tip sizes, which is difficult to pull off in a more traditional ballpoint ink formulations without clogging and skipping.

Lately I’ve been using a lot of needle-tip ballpoints. Low-viscosity ink allows you to have a very fine ballpoint line without running into problems with skipping. From left, the Mark’style Tous Les Jours ballpoint, the Traveler’s Company Brass Ballpoint, and my ever-reliable Lamy 2000 multipen with a Penco Needle-tip refill.

Five Excellent Low-Viscosity Ballpoint Pens

Unsurprisingly, Japanese companies dominate this product category. The Uniball Jetstream and Pilot Acroball tend to be the “gold standard” pens/refills, though there are boutique options available that, in my opinion, offer even crisper and finer ballpoint lines, including in needle-tip formats. Here are five to consider:

Uniball Jetstream and Pilot Acroball. Though they’re not necessarily exciting, these remain exceptionally good pens and excellent low-cost options. If I were stocking a workplace or office supply closet, this is where I would start. Uniball actually makes a Parker-style cartridge called the Jetstream SXR-600, which I have used to convert many of my rollerball pens like my Grey Caran d’Ache 849.
Traveler’s Company Ballpoint Pen and Needle-Tip Refill. A favorite for years, I own three of these pens. One is permanently clipped to my Plotter Mini-5, and the other two live in the breast pockets of my two winter coats, so they’re always available. I’ve found the needle-tips reliable, and despite the small size, the refills last for a very long time and are cheap to replace.
Mark’style “Tous Les Jours” Ballpoint with Ohto Needle-Tip Refill. If you don’t enjoy the format of the Traveler’s Company Ballpoint, and want something longer for better balance, these hexagonal wooden click pens from Mark’s Inc. contain an Ohto needle-tip ballpoint refill and feel like you’re writing with a woodcase pencil. The “Tous Les Jours” series from Mark’s is insanely popular, with what might be the finest needle tip on a ballpoint I have ever seen.
Penco “Perfection” Pocket Ballpoints and Pocket Drafting Ballpoint. I suspect that Penco uses a .7mm version of the Jetstream D1 refill (or something very similar) for it’s “Perfection” line of pocket ballpoints, and the pocket-sized “Drafting” Ballpoint uses a D1 needle-tip ballpoint refill that is an excellent option for other D1-compatible pens like the Lamy 2000 Multipen. I feel like both refills write a finer line than their respective .7mm and .5mm designation.
Mark’style x Anterique “Mach” Ballpoint. A new addition to the Curated Shop - one which I plan to continue to stock in additional formats - I discovered the “Mach” ballpoint refill by Japanese stationer Anterique during my trade show travels earlier this month. The .5mm, super-sharp ballpoint refill leaves a clean line, and as discussed below, is sold separately from the pen body and can be used to jazz up your collection of vintage Bic Clics.

Pen Hacks: Saving the Classic Mid-Century “Click” Pen

I don’t write about “refill hacks” very often, but when I discovered the Mark’s/Anterique pens earlier this month, and learned that the refill was sold separately, it got me wondering. I have a rather large personal collection of vintage and vintage-inspired “clic” ballpoints, which is ironic in the sense that while I love the format of this pen, I’ve grown to despise the standard refill. In my experience, these pens write much more inconsistently than the Bic Cristal, and I find the refills almost always skippy and too light. It begs the question: Can you use the Anterique “Mach” refill to upgrade your classic click pens? Maybe.

The fit isn’t perfect. The standard Bic Clic has thinner plastic around the opening. As a result, even with the upgraded refill you will have tip wiggle and rattling. Then again, it’s <$2. I still love it.

One odd thing I’ve noticed is that while the external design of the “Bic Clic”-style ballpoint hasn’t changed much over the years, these pens are far from identical on the inside. Some (frustratingly) use refills that are slightly longer and/or thicker than others, and there’s no real way to know which pens contain which parts other than to disassemble them. For pens designed to take the longer refills, there is an easy hack/fix that you can use to get the Anterique refill to fit. My notes below:

Field Notes Clic Pens and Pen Addict “Loaner” Pens are based on a version of the Bic Clic ballpoint that should take the Anterique refill without modification. (I say “should” because all that I can be certain of is that the Anterique refills fit the specific pens in my possession. It’s possible there isn’t refill or manufacturing consistency across product lines with these sorts of ballpoints, so YMMV.)
“Higher-end” Clic-style pens may need modification. I have a handful of “demonstrator” Bic Clics and some “fancy” Clic-style Kikkerland pens that required mild hacking to get them to work. Specifically, the Anterique refill was too short, but I was mostly able to fix the problem by wrapping a small piece of washi tape around the end of the refill to lengthen it. I was never able to get the Kikkerland pens to work 100% consistently, so if you don’t already own these I wouldn’t buy them for the purpose of modification.

You can adjust the length of the refill by wrapping a piece of tape around the end. Alternatively, if a refill is too long, you can trim the plastic a bit.

Of course, if you want to save yourself the trouble of refill hacking, or you don’t already have a large collection of vintage ballpoints, the Mark’s/Anterique pen bodies are a nice upgrade. The plastic is thicker, especially around the tip/opening, and as a result there is zero wiggle or annoying rattling when you write with them. (While Anterique pens are designed to mimic the vintage “disposable” pens in design, they’re actually intended to serve as nicer refillable pens. Stay tuned for a bunch of different colors and body styles that I have on the way, in addition to the Mark’s versions currently in stock.)

Writing Samples - various low-viscosity / needle-tip ballpoint inks on Write Notepads paper.

2023 Pen Show Schedule: T.G.S. at the Baltimore and Arkansas Pen Shows!

February 17, 2023

Mark your calendars! Just a quick note to let you all know that we will be at both the Baltimore Washington International Pen Show and the Arkansas Pen Show next month! Stay tuned for details on exactly what we’ll be bringing with us, but you can look forward to plenty of notebooks and cases from Lochby and Traveler’s Company, including the ability to put together your own notebook cover + refills at the table. I’ll also be teaching a workshop at both shows, more details to come.

I will have some limited ability to bring shop orders for pickup. If you would like to place an order for pickup at the pen show, and it’s a smaller item (i.e., not a 30-min Sandglass), go ahead and check out and use the coupon code 615PICKUP at check out to drop the shipping charge. Send an e-mail to joe (at) gentlemanstationer.com, noting the order number and the show you will be attending. As always, if you have any questions, just reach out.

While the yellow ECO (far left) is long gone, the Saffron ECO-T (center) and Transparent Yellow Demonstrator (right) are both in-stock and available for purchase.

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

February 16, 2023

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.

TWSBI ECO Black and ECO White — TWSBI Tuxedo, anyone?

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

February 15, 2023

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.

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

Midori Soft Color Grey — 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.

Five favorite ink colors, which I love for their muted vintage style: Vert Empire (Empire Green); Blue des Profondeurs (Deep Sea Blue); Vert de Gris (Verdegris); Poussière de Lune (Dusty Purple); and Cacao du Brésil (Brazilian Cocoa).

New in the Curated Shop: Three New Ink Lines!

February 14, 2023

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.

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.

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.

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.