Pen Show Season Continues: The Atlanta Pen Show Is Today!

Well, technically it started yesterday, but I’m doing a one-day trip to the Atlanta Pen Show this year given how much travel I’ve done recently. My daughter wanted to go to a pen show, so we’re on the road once again and plan to visit the show on Saturday (and maybe Sunday) as attendees! I’ll be posting photos of the show from my Instagram account, so if you’d like to track our adventures you can follow along there. If you’re planning on attending the show, check out the full list of exhibitors beforehand, and you won’t want to miss the following vendors who are Atlanta-area locals (or at least relatively so):

• Total Office Products / The Pen Show. Jimmy Dolive has been the Atlanta Pen Show organizer for years, and always does a great job. Be sure to visit his table for limited and special edition modern pens.

• Ryan Krusac Pens. Ryan’s carved scrimshaw pens are always one of my first stops at any show, and he typically brings a large inventory to Atlanta.

• Carolina Pen Company (Jonathon Brooks). Jonathon is based right across the state line in South Carolina, making Atlanta his “home show.”

• Mythic Pens. I’m looking forward to spending some time at Brad’s table, which I missed during my short Atlanta Pen Show trip last year.

• Stacy Robinson Pens. The “Navigator” model (pictured above) was one of my favorite discoveries from 2022, and I ended up taking home three of those pens from Atlanta. I can’t wait to see what Stacy has today.

If you’re attending the show, enjoy! I always enjoy visiting the Atlanta Pen Show as it’s definitely on the smaller side and is quite easy to navigates, especially for first-time pen show attendees. You can read my recap of the 2022 show here.

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

Thursday Drops: Pilot Fountain Pens, Iroshizuku Inks, and More!

At long last, we’re pleased to welcome Pilot to the T.G.S. Curated Shop! We currently have both the Pilot Custom 74 Fountain Pen and the Pilot Custom 823 Fountain Pen available in all colors and nib sizes. In addition to our existing stock of inks and refills, we have added the entire line of Pilot Iroshizuku Inks, as well as standard Pilot bottled inks and cartridges.

The Pilot Custom 823, with its vacuum-filling system and large 14k nib, is a classic workhorse. Included with every pen is a large bottle of Pilot/Namiki Blue ink.

Happy shopping, and we look forward to further expanding our product lines in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!

1. Pilot Custom 74. Of all the pens I’ve regretted selling over the years, the one I miss the most is an older violet Pilot Custom 74 that I no longer own (and which, of course, is no longer made). As we build out the Curated Shop, we’re focused on the workhorse pens that are a years-long mainstay on the T.G.S. “Best Pens” list.

2. Pilot Custom 823. As with the Custom 74 above, the Custom 823 is a slightly larger, reliable everyday writer that holds a ton of ink in its high-capacity vacuum-filling system. It’s an excellent pen for travel, both due to the ink capacity and the shutoff valve that protects you from spills while flying.

3. TWSBI ECO Persian Green Fountain Pen (Pre-Order). The latest TWBSI Eco release will arrive tomorrow and start shipping over the weekend. Reserve yours now!

4. Platinum Preppy Wa “Modern Maki-e” Limited Edition. These gorgeous limited edition versions of the Platinum Preppy bring Maki-e style artwork to the everyday. Featuring six silk-screened designs of traditional Japanese motifs.

5. Nahvalur Nautilus Cephalopod Black and Bronze Corydoras Fountain Pens. It’s hard to go wrong with classic black ebonite, especially when paired with antiqued bronze or blacked out trim.

6. Pilot Iroshizuku Fountain Pen Inks. Pilot’s luxury Iroshizuku lineup contains some of the best fountain pen ink on the market, in my opinion. Featuring as many as 24 colors inspired by the scenery of Japan, these inks are reliable performers that come in a gorgeous (and sturdy) glass bottle.

7. J. Herbin Fountain Pen Inks. As I’ve moved back to more “basic” (read: lower-maintenance) stationery in my own life, I’ve rediscovered the J. Herbin inks, particularly colors such as Vert Empire and Bleu des Profondeurs.

8. Life Noble Note Notebooks. Life Stationery makes excellent fountain pen friendly paper, and we now offer the standard Life Noble Note notebooks in both A4 and A5 sizes.

9. Life Specialty Paper. In addition to the Noble Note series, Life makes specialty paper products that include Bank Paper pads, Airmail-style writing paper, Stenographer’s Notebooks, and more!

10. Midori Multi-Year Diaries. Looking for an easier way to develop a daily journaling habit? How about a multi-year diary that only requires you to write a few lines for each day. We have the 10-year, Five-year, and Three-year versions in stock.

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

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Sui-Gyoku is one of the new arrivals in the Iroshizuku lineup. This one could be a favorite. I love the color. Shown here on Tomoe River 52g paper.

Ink Review: Laban Greek Mythology Poseidon Green and Hera Dark Green

The Laban Greek Mythology Inks continue to impress me with their range of colors, and today I’ll look at the two excellent greens from the lineup (though one I would characterize as a bit more blue/teal). Either way, as someone who loves ink in both of these particular shades, both the Poseidon Green (Blue?) and Hera Dark Green have become standbys in my work pens.

Laban Poseidon Green (or Blue? or Teal?)

First up is “Poseidon Green,” which I view as more of a teal/turquoise blue, but whatever you might call this color, I love it. It’s actually the first ink from this series that I tried, and it has some wonderful shading properties in a nib that provides line variation, especially in those places where the ink pools on the paper. Laban nailed the color matching here. Poseidon (Roman equivalent: Neptune) is the ancient Greek god of the sea, and while this particular color may not necessarily evoke the ocean where I personally go to the beach, they’ve attempted to capture the blue of the Mediterranean islands.

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Not a trident, but a fountain pen!

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Laban Hera Dark Green

Hera Dark Green is more of your traditional dark green “workhorse ink”. Hera (Roman equivalent: Juno) is the ancient Greek goddess of marriage and “the home,” so I’m not sure I see the connection between the dark green color of this ink and Hera’s traditional affiliations, but it’s a lovely ink nonetheless. As with Poseidon, you’ll experience some shading, with dark teal and grey undertones. Both Poseidon and Hera are drier inks than some of the other Laban colors like Athena Grey, Artemis Navy Blue, and Demeter Brown. That’s not to say they hard-start or dry up in the pen, and I’ve never had that issue with either. It’s more that I’ve noticed they take very little time to dry, making them quite good for work. These are two of the better Laban inks for working on cheaper papers at the office.

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Takeaways and Where to Buy

Laban continues to impress me with the Greek Mythology series. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s one of the few ink lines where I purchased a bottle of every color as quickly as I could, but again that says just as much about my personal fascination with mythology as it does about their excellent quality.

You can purchase the Laban Greek Mythology Inks directly from us in the T.G.S. Curated Shop, priced at $25 for a 50ml bottle. At this point, I’ve almost made my way through the entire lineup of the Laban Greek Mythology inks, and have reviewed Athena Grey and Artemis Navy Blue, Apollo Orange and Aphrodite Pink, and Ares Red. Some really interesting options remain, including Demeter Brown, Hermes Sky Blue, and Zeus Purple. Stay tuned as I round out this series of ten!

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My Leonardo Momento Zero Maestro in Burkina Celluloid, alongside my Montblanc 146 UNICEF (with the small sapphire on top).

Bonus! The Return of Two Favorite Pens with New Nib Grinds

Back in September at the San Francisco Pen Show, I left a handful of pens with Gena at Custom Nib Studio for modification. Just before the Arkansas Pen Show, I received my pens in the mail, including two to which Gena had added their “Perspective” grind that I love so much. Both of these grinds are just as good as the original I had added to my Pelikan M800 Stone Garden and reviewed last year. You’ll notice that both pens I’ve used for today’s ink reviews feature Perspective nibs, which I highly recommend to those who are looking for some of the line variation of an Architect without the sharp edges. Plus, you get the ability to change line width from EF to Medium by adjusting your writing angle!

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The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program, and is an authorized retailer of all brands sold, including Laban.

New Arrivals: Bank Paper, Typewriting Paper, and Airmail Paper from Life Stationery!

After a bit of an unintentional hiatus, Life Paper - including all specialty varieties - is back in stock! Favorites include the 100-sheet Bank Paper pads in both Letter and A5 sizes, Typewriting Paper, and the new (to us) ultra-lightweight Airmail paper. We even added the spiral bound stenographer’s notebook in classic Gregg-style ruling. Whether you’re looking for dedicated correspondence paper or the classic Noble Note writing pads and notebooks, all of the Life stationery is fountain pen friendly.

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Life is one of the few brands that continues to make specialty papers such as Bank Paper, Typewriting Paper, and Stenographer’s notebooks.

Visit our Curated Paper shop to view our full selection, as we continue to add new brands regularly. Many thanks for your support!

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I love the classic green chipboard cover.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. We are authorized resellers of all brands sold.

Sunday Reading for March 26, 2023

1. Manila Pen Show 2023 Recap (via Hand Over That Pen). Honestly, having read this recap and followed the social media posts in real time, MPS has jumped to the top of the list of international shows I want to visit.

2. Unmoored (via From the Pen Cup). There’s something to be said for adopting a minimalist stationery carry, which is one reason why it’s been fun to reduce the size of the pack/bag I carry on a regular basis.

3. Aurora Il Viaggo Secreto in Italia Volterra (via SBRE Brown). I absolutely love the material on this recent series of the Aurora 88.

4. Pairings Party: Onoto Scholar Highland, Ferris Wheel Press Central Park Greens (via Pen Addict). The Onoto Scholar has been one of the surprising hits of the past year, and they have some amazing, subtly gorgeous colors. Check out the Vanness website, as I believe they are the exclusive Onoto dealers in the U.S.

5. Moleskine Bullet Notebook Review (Writing at Large). As predicted, Moleskine’s attempt at a “Bullet Journal” notebook isn’t fountain pen friendly, despite the heavier paper weight.

6. Early Thoughts on the Aurora Duo Cart Fountain Pen (via Fountain Pen Blog). I haven’t heard much about the Duo Cart over the past couple of years, though it’s been showing up more in my feed lately as perhaps a wider return to pen shows has revived interest in the model?

7. Colorfully Uncommon Commonplace Notes (via mnmlscholar). I love reading about other people’s analog notetaking systems, especially how they organize and process information for future reference.

8. Even More Indie Makers (via Rachel’s Reflections). Rachel’s blog is an excellent source for referrals on independent and/or custom penmakers, if you’re interested in having someone design a pen for you or if you’re simply looking for a unique design or materials unavailable elsewhere.

9. Maruzen Athena Renga (via Fountain Pen Love). The Maruzen inks are popular store-exclusive ink options for those visiting Japan.

10. Plantable Paper (via Bleistift). Just curious, has anyone ever been able to get plantable paper to work? I’ve had little success.

11. That In-Between Feeling (via Well-Appointed Desk). I can relate to this one, as I’m in-between a lot of things right now, stationery and notebooks included.

In Case You Missed It….

This week I tried to get some sleep after two full weeks of pen-related and other travel…and then had to travel AGAIN for work. I did manage to find some time to recap the 2023 Arkansas Pen Show, which was a great experience and I enjoyed getting to meet everyone in person! I also wrote a bit about my vintage purchases at that show, which included two new Parker 51s!

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We recently received a ton of new products from Life Stationery, including this vintage-style airmail paper.

New Arrivals in the Curated Shop!

New releases and fresh stock are arriving faster than I can get them listed in a timely manner! On the pen side, we received additional Mark’Style x Anterique ballpoints with the excellent Mach Ball refill, as well as the Mark’s hexagonal metal gel pen in the “Days” series. Platinum’s newly released “Preppy Wa” fountain pen also arrived, in their six silk-screened “Modern Maki-e” finishes. Finally, I spent most of the day yesterday listing three giant boxes of paper from Life Stationery, including restocks of the Bank Paper and Typewriter Paper specialty writing pads!

Life Stationery

Platinum

Mark's

Midori

Consider Supporting Us Via T.G.S. Patreon!

I shared some exciting news about projects I’m working on for an expanded T.G.S. on our last Patreon meetup, and our next members’ meet is tonight at 7:30pm CT via Zoom! T.G.S. Patreon is the only non-shop means of support for the site, and features not only access to meetups and early gently used sales, but more exclusive content. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. In addition to purchases from The Curated Shop, Patreon allows us to continue to grow the site without relying on advertisements and affiliate marketing. If you’re interested in meetups and exclusive content, or simply supporting the site, we greatly appreciate your support!