New Arrivals: What Makes the Kaweco Art Sport Special?

Last week saw the launch of Kaweco’s latest round of four new “Art Sport” fountain pens. What distinguishes these pens from the standard Kaweco Sport lineup? Let’s do a quick rundown.

Four Different Italian Resins: Hickory Brown, Terrazzo, Pebble Blue, and Mineral White

Kaweco Art Sport fountain pens are turned from Italian resin, as opposed to the machined metal or injection-molded plastic used in most of Kaweco’s standard lines. In addition to a somewhat more sophisticated look, the Art Sports have a lighter, smoother feel in the hand, and post slightly deeper/more securely. The facets on the cap are not as sharp as on the standard Sports, and you notice the step up in finish quality immediately. For this release, Kaweco chose four very nice patterns: Hickory Brown, Terrazzo (my personal favorite), Pebble Blue (which won my Instagram Poll), and Mineral White (which is semi-translucent and people seem to want to eyedropper).

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From left: Terrazzo, Mineral White, Hickory Brown, and Pebble Blue

Kaweco has also added a new design touch to the Art Sport: an integrated clip. Personally, I found the addition of the clip quite exciting, as it’s the same vintage-style clip design used on the discontinued “Sport Luxe,” which I have in my personal collection and remains a favorite Kaweco. Note that the clip is not intended to be removed - you can technically take it off it by unscrewing the finial, but it will leave a gap as the finial won’t screw down all the way.

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Kaweco Art Sport in Terrazzo (Center) compared against my Sport Luxe Ballpoint (left) and Standard Sport (right)

Get Your Art Sports Now in the TGS Curated Shop!

Originally, the Art Sport line marked the “high end” of Kaweco’s Sport lineup, though that has since changed with the introduction of a slightly lower price point for this series, as well as some higher-priced standard and special edition offerings that break the $100 mark. Currently, the Art Sports are priced at $125 (formerly $150), and we have all four colors remaining in stock though Hickory Brown and Terrazzo are running low. If you don’t see your desired nib size available, go ahead and purchase your color in one of the nibs shown as available, and let me know what nib you want - we have spare Kaweco nibs in nearly all sizes and the Art Sport takes a standard Kaweco nib unit. It’s easy to switch it out.

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I absolutely LOVE the clip.

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The cap of the Art Sport is slightly more rounded than the standard Sport, as are the facets. It also posts slightly deeper, resulting in a shorter pen. Because the Art Sport’s resin adds a bit of heft, I didn’t find that the balance changed much.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold, including Kaweco. You can view the Art Sports and the rest of our Kaweco offerings here, and for holiday gift ideas, be sure to check out our 2023 Holiday Gift Guide!

Sunday Reading for December 3, 2023

1. The Gathering and the Menagerie (via A Gathering of Curiosities). R.B.’s posts on collecting are among the most interesting I’ve read this year, and certainly have me thinking about how I curate my own collection(s) to pare stuff back and focus on what’s meaningful.

2. Pens of the Tough Love Variety (via mnmlscholar). Some pens are just built to take the rigors of daily carry. Like the Kaweco Sport.

3. Diamine Inkvent 2023: Spoiler Free Introduction (via Writing at Large). Many of us are posting our daily Inkvent finds as we go. Just be sure to open your own Inkvent Calendar before checking your feeds!

4. A Sturdy Pen (Not Fountain) (via Pen Picture). Tombow’s pressurized pen (think Fisher Space Pen equivalent) was popular a while back, but I’ve not heard of it for a while.

5. 3D-Printed Diamine Inkvent Tree, Version 2.0 (via Cheryl Lindo-Jones). This needs to be a generally available product. Seriously.

6. Bringing Less Stationery? (via Stationery Pizza). This x 1000. I’ve not inked up many new pens in a while, as I focus on reducing my daily carry to a manageable level.

7. Early Thoughts on the Hongdian N23 Year of the Rabbit Fountain Pen (via Fountain Pen Blog). Hongdian is one of those companies people keep mentioning that makes inexpensive, Amazon-accessible pens with fairly decent quality specialty nibs. I’ll have to check one out eventually.

8. Ink Review #788: Vanness Fountain Pen Day (2022). Each year, our friends at Vanness release an official Fountain Pen Day Ink to match that year’s color theme. There are several inks now. Anyone have them all?

9. Nahvalur (Narwhal) Does Nashville (via Penquisition). Being an actual Nashville Native - one of five remaining in the city, don’t get me started - I have strong feelings on this pen, which I won’t get into in this short post, but I’m pleasantly surprised to see that they did make an effort to tie the colors chosen to Nashville. I do have to admit that I’m disappointed to see that the artist they chose to help design the pen is from and lives in Oklahoma.

10. Opus 88 Demonstrator Sapphire Fountain Pen (via Pen Addict - Sarah). It’s interesting to see that Opus 88 is doing more with their larger “ink tank” eyedropper line, in materials other than transparent.

In Case You Missed It….

For the past few weeks, I’ve been spending time going through my personal accumulations of pens and ink, selling some off and just generally consolidating. I wrote this short post about what turned out to be the three most “well-worn” items in my current rotation. In the meantime, I’m also participating in Inkvent for the first time ever! You can check out the first couple of days in yesterday’s post, along with details on my plans for documenting the entire Inkvent adventure.

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New Arrivals in the T.G.S. Curated Shop: Kaweco Art Sports!

This week saw the arrival of the latest round of Kaweco Art Sport Fountain Pens. For those of you who haven’t been in the hobby 5+ years, the Art Sport is a higher-end line of Kaweco’s iconic pen, in which Kaweco uses Italian resins to make a turned version of the Sport fountain pen that feels quite different from the original injection-molded version. There are four colors: Hickory Brown, Terrazzo (personal favorite); Pebble Blue, and Mineral White. In recent weeks we have also added an expanded assortment of woodcase pencils (including Camel pencils from Japan), and high-quality Japanese scissors from Allex.

Kaweco

Diamine

Pencils

Allex Scissors

How to Support T.G.S. This Year!

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), there are several ways that you can support us. We do our best to remain 100% self-supported without having to rely on third-party advertisers or affiliates. Of course, the number one way to help is to visit our curated retail shop, especially during the upcoming holiday season! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, consider joining the T.G.S. Patreon, which also includes early access to quarterly gently used sales. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. No matter how you support us - even if just with a comment, recommendation, or encouraging word - we greatly appreciate your readership!

Diving into Diamine Inkvent for the First Time: Days One and Two

2023 marks the first year that I’ve acquired a Diamine Inkvent Calendar and had my stuff together far enough in advance to play along here on the blog. This “project” is pure fun for me and a bit out of my comfort zone for the blog, not being known for ink reviews and also as someone who’s admittedly a bit “boring” in terms of the inks they use on a daily basis. So how’s it going? So far, so good, and as expected about 1/3 of the inks have turned out to be colors that I would use semi-regularly.

Note: In order to allow myself adequate time to photograph and video each ink, I’m currently working about five days ahead. So even though we’re technically only on “Day Two” of Inkvent, I’ve already opened and swatched through Day 5.

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How Does the Diamine Inkvent Calendar Work?

Like a typical Advent calendar. You receive a box that has 25 numbered “doors” punched into it. If you use the calendar as intended, you open one door for each day of Advent. The calendar contains 25 bottles of different inks behind each door: 24 15ml bottles and one 30ml bottle, with the latter intended to be a “special” ink opened on Christmas Day. Diamine claims these inks are all unique for each year’s Inkvent, and they have started releasing the inks in full bottles about six months later.

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What Inks Are In and Inkvent Calendar?

Diamine includes 25 different ink samples featuring “Holiday-themed” inks from across their various lines, including standard ink, Shimmer Inks, and even “Chameleon” inks (shimmer inks that change color depending on the light). This week, Door No. 1 included “Fortune’s Gold,” a gold ink with gold shimmer that leans yellow-green in different light. Door No. 2 contained “Cashmere Rose”, a dusty pink that’s more my style, and will probably end up inked soon as I have several pens getting ready to run dry and will need a refill.

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This year, I plan to use a large Col-o-Ring Folio pad to swatch all 25 inks side by side. Many thanks to my friend Ana over at the Well-Appointed Desk for supplying the large Col-o-Ring!

What Are You Going to Do with All That Ink?

Probably keep the ones I like and give away the ones I won’t use, including most of the Shimmer and Chameleon series. It’s not that I don’t enjoy playing around with these inks - I might use them to jot quick holiday messages to friends and family - but afterwards will probably pass them along since inks containing shimmer or heavy sheen don’t receive much long-term use from me.

How to Follow Along with Inkvent 2023

I won’t be posting regular Inkvent updates here on the blog - there’s simply too much ink to do individual reviews, though I might do a general overview at month’s end. I will, however, be doing daily - or as close to daily as I can manage - posts over on Instagram and YouTube, as well as posting more detailed thoughts on the inks on the Patreon Channel. If you’d like to follow along in person with your own Inkvent Calendar, we still have a few available in the shop. Enjoy the holiday season!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’re looking for gift ideas, check out our 2023 Holiday Gift Guide!

Thursday Drops: Inkvent Starts Tomorrow! Plus a Few Remaining Holiday Markdowns

Tomorrow is Inkvent, so you can guess what I’ll be doing today! We have a couple of Inkvent Calendars remaining from our allocation, so if you’d like to play along this December, now’s the time! Other colorful gift items include the new Caran d’Ache Keith Haring series, the Caran d’Ache “Colormat-X” set of new matte-textured 849 ballpoints, and the “Kaweco Collection” Kaweco Sport fountain pens! Finally, we recently received a restock of Write Notepads items, including the popular writing pads and the Classic Hardcover Notebooks.

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Update: As of this evening, we received our shipment of Kaweco Art Sport Fountain Pens, in four unique Italian resins!

Just a reminder that in order to ensure domestic U.S. delivery by December 25, it’s important to get your orders in within the next two weeks. For Holiday gift ideas, check out the 2023 edition of the T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide! Also remember that we offer a gift card option.

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

1. Diamine Inkvent Calendar. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be opening doors 1-25 of the 2023 Inkvent Calendar, and swatching a 12ml sample of ink up until December 25 (where we open the 30ml bottle). Want to play along? Pick up an Inkvent Calendar. It will probably have you set on ink for the year.

2. Caran d’Ache Keith Haring 849 Ballpoint Pens. These collaborations with the estate of pop artist Keith Haring (whose artwork was featured on the “Very Special Christmas” album covers back in the late 1980s, early 1990s) would make an awesome gift for art fans, as well as for those who just enjoy a cool design on the 849. While the black pen is my favorite, the red is probably more classically Haring?

3. Caran d’Ache Keith Haring Colour Set. This set of 10 special edition water-soluble colored pencils also comes with a Fibralo brush pen. The pencils are engraved with Keith Haring’s signature. Pair this with the Colour Pad for a great gift idea!

4. Caran d’Ache Keith Haring Colour Pad. This A5 pad features 20 different Keith Haring drawings that you can color in to add your own twist on the original artwork.

5. Write Notepads Classic Hardcover Notebooks. A hardcover journal makes an excellent gift for pretty much anyone interested in reading and writing. These Write Notepads look great on a shelf once finished, and come in either lined or dot grid paper. Blue, grey, and cranberry (dark red) color options available.

6. Camel HB Pencils in Natural Wood Lacquer. Camel Pencil from Japan makes some of my favorite woodcase pencils on the market. The HB graphite is dark and smooth for an HB core, and these sharpen extremely well.

7. Caran d’Ache x Nespresso Edition No. 4 Swiss Wood Pencil Set. We still have a handful of these Caran d’Ache x Nespresso pencil sets from last year, as well as the standard Swiss Wood Pencil Set that includes a sharpener and eraser.

8. M+R Brass Pencil Sharpeners. Camel pencils serve as an excellent platform for the M+R brass sharpeners, including the long point Castor & Pollux sharpeners.

9. Lamy Pico Pocket Ballpoint Pens. The Pico is up there as one of my favorite all-around pocket ballpoint pens, and we have a fresh shipment ready to go. I’ve given these as stocking stuffers for years and people have enjoyed them - even “non-pen” people.

10. Laban Greek Mythology Ink Series. This is a bit of a random addition, but if you’re looking for a gift for a fountain pen person and don’t feel comfortable with a pen, this epic ink series based on 10 different ancient Greek gods and goddesses

Personal Collections: The Three Most Worn Stationery Items in Regular Rotation

I’ve been doing some pruning and sorting lately, as I often decide towards the end of the year what stationery items and other “gear” I will keep in rotation, and what I plan to move on from. Given the nature of what I do, I cycle through stuff often, and the items that truly get “used” to the point where they show signs of significant wear are few and far between. That said, three particular items jumped out at me, and none of them are fountain pens.

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1. Traveler’s Company Brass Ballpoint, San Francisco Pen Show 2022 Limited Edition in Olive Green. I pre-ordered this pen at the same show where I purchased the Plotter Mini-5, and once it arrived a few months later, I clipped it directly to the pen slot in the Plotter and it’s been in my pocket ever since. The “bullet pencil” has never really caught on with me, mainly due to having to carry a hand sharpener, but this pocket ballpoint uses the same convenient format with an excellent needle-tip refill. I do wish that Traveler’s made the color versions part of their regular lineup, but the standard brass develops a warm patina with age.

2. Lamy 2000 Ballpoint, “W. Germany” Edition. Ok, so this one may be cheating a bit, as it had some history on it when I bought it, but my early 1980s-era Lamy 2000 ballpoint pen showcases what the black Makrolon Lamy 2000 can look like after decades of regular use. The grooves are more or less worn completely smooth, lending the pen a shinier appearance, but the knock still functions with a solid click and this one remains a workhorse. For those looking for a sharp gift for a non-fountain pen user - particularly someone who might work in a stuffy office and therefore prefers something fun yet understated - the standard pens and mechanical pencils in the Lamy 2000 line are excellent options and will last a very long time.

3. Plotter Mini-5 Binder/Wallet. Believe it or not, this used to be grey leather. Compare the photo shown at the top with the photo below, taken immediately after I purchased it. All of the grey leather products I’ve owned over the years transition to a greyish brown, which may or may not be your preference but I enjoy the patina. This Plotter Mini has gone in my pocket nearly every day, and in addition to serving as my emergency notebook, I use the card holder for my work access pass and a couple of credit cards.

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What’s your most “well-loved” stationery item? I’m interested to hear different stories, as everyone’s daily users vary depending on individual needs and preferences.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain third-party affiliate links or paid advertising.