Thursday Drops: New Roterfaden Taschenbegleiters Have Landed; Plus Jetstreams and More!

This week we received a restock of Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter organizers, which included several old favorites such as the recycled leather “LB_23” organizer, a four-clip limited edition (the LTD_020), as well as new colors and layouts. We have all sizes available, ranging from A6 (Roterfaden Small), to A5 (Roterfaden Medium) to A4 (Roterfaden Large).

I ran an Instagram poll the other day asking you all to guess which color I went for: It was the “Mimosa Yellow” in the Bamboo Jetstream 4&1. More and more, I’m opting for yellow/saffron color options.

Finally, a shipment of new products from Japan arrived this week, including Uni Jetstream 4&1 Multi Pens and unique colors of the Uni-ball One Gel Pens! We offer an expanding range of Uni Mitsubishi products, which are excellent tools for everyday work. Happy Shopping!

1. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter. One of our best-selling products over the past year, Roterfaden makes versatile handcrafted organizers from materials that include leather, recycled leather, and even vegan-friendly options such as danceflooring (used to surface ballet studios) and tent fabric! For an overview of how I set up my own personal Taschenbegleiter, check out this video walkthrough.

2. Blackwing One Step Pencil Sharpeners in New Colors! The excellent Blackwing “One Step” long-point sharpeners are now available in white and grey. I love this sharpener for the concave, slightly curved point and the capacity to hold as many as three sharpenings’ worth of shavings.

3. Uni Mitsubishi Jetstream 4+1 Multi Pen, Bamboo Edition. One of my all-time favorite multi pens is now available in the T.G.S. Curated Shop. These muted pastel colors feature a soft matte texture and ship with four different .5mm refills (black, blue, red, and green), plus a .5mm mechanical pencil.

4. Kaweco Sport Piston Filler Fountain Pens. Kaweco released the long-awaited piston-filler version of their Sport fountain pen, which features a matte-black finish and integrated filling system that holds a surprisingly large amount of ink. Be sure to check out my video overview, which shows how this pen compares to the vintage version.

5. Tom’s Studio Fountain Pens. UK-based Tom’s Studio started off making tools for the calligraphy space, but has recently expanded their fountain pen related offerings to include “The Studio” and “The Studio Pocket” fountain pens, as well as a range of specialty nib units that include an exceptionally good broad architect’s nib.

6. Tom’s Studio Lumos Refillable Fineliners. The “Lumos” pens are something I’ve been looking for over the years: a refillable fineliner that actually delivers on performance. Lumos pens use a wick-like capillary filling system that accepts pigmented and fountain pen ink, with interchangeable, replaceable tips in different styles. We did a full review here last week.

7. Lamy AL-Star Special Editions in “Fiery” and “Aquatic”. We currently have stock of the 2024 Lamy AL-Star releases, in fountain pen, rollerball, and ballpoint formats, as well as a mechanical pencil. Until this past month, I had never actually tried an AL-Star rollerball and came away pleasantly surprised!

8. Lamy 2000 Pens. We received a full restock of Lamy 2000s, including fountain pens, ballpoints, rollerballs and mechanical pencils. The Lamy 2000 remains one of my all-time favorite writing instruments, and a core workhorse in my rotation.

9. Uni-ball One Gel Pens. Uni’s latest gel pen technology features a smooth, bold pigmented ink that makes dark inks darker and colored inks brighter. The One is available in both muted pastel and “Earth Texture” finishes.

10. Allex Scissors. A quality pair of scissors should be at the top of everyone’s list of essential desk accessories. These high-end scissors from Japan come in both fluorine-coated and non-coated versions. (The coating helps if you regularly cut through sticky materials like tape, plus the matte black versions just look cool!

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 greatly appreciate the support of our readership.

As much as I love black and red color combinations, if you were to ask me for my favorite new arrival, it would be this smoke blue and honey A5, which is a gorgeous pairing.

Exploring New Formats: Lamy AL-Star Rollerball and Mechanical Pencil

Over the years when evaluating the latest releases from Lamy (and most other brands), my default has been to review the fountain pen and, occasionally, the ballpoint. But what about the rollerball? As I was writing last week's review on the Tom's Studio Lumos fineliner, I was struck by the simplicity of writing with basic black ink, and the focus it allowed in terms of not being distracted by all the various elements that go into writing with a fountain pen. When I decided to do my initial review of the new Lamy AL-Star pens that arrived last week, I pulled one of the Fiery AL-Star Rollerballs and the Aquatic .5mm mechanical pencil - two formats that don't receive a lot of attention.

The Lamy AL-Star Rollerball: Taking a Second Look

We sell a fair number of Lamy AL-Star and Safari rollerball pens, but it's not a format I've personally used very much. It's only fair that I take one for a test drive, right? So far, the experience has been mostly positive, and largely consistent with the writing experience offered by other rollerball pens using a standard medium refill. The pen itself looks nearly identical to the AL-Star fountain pen, with the exception that there is no "cutout" in the barrel to allow you to view the ink level in the cartridge or converter. (This feature would serve no purpose in a rollerball pen, as you can't view the ink level in a metal refill, and it would look pretty ugly to see the silver peeking out, IMHO.) The grip is the same, as is the overall feel and balance of the pen.

Balance in the hand is very similar to the AL-Star fountain pen, posted or unposted.

With respect to the writing experience, it all comes down to whether you enjoy writing with a rollerball pen, which typically write a wetter line than a ballpoint or gel pen. The refills contain very dark pigmented liquid ink, and in a wider tip size, have a tendency to bleed through paper - even good paper such as the Lamy notebook in the photos below, or Tomoe River (!?!). That said, if you want a pen that writes a smooth, bold black/blue line, breaking out a rollerball can be quite satisfying. Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon outlining the main ideas for a legal brief on a legal pad, and while I had some show-through and feathering from the rollerball cartridge on the thinner paper, I would compare the experience to working with a marker on a whiteboard. There was no need for me to write small, as my primary goal was to get the "big ideas" on paper so that I could later organize them into a coherent rough draft. For this, the rollerball was perfect, especially since I didn’t plan to preserve this writing for posterity.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Pro Tip: I hardly ever purchase rollerball cartridges in bulk. Over the years, I've noticed that they don't age well (across brands), and can become skippy and dry out quickly. For that reason I typically purchase rollerball refills in smaller batches, if not one at a time, as I need them.

Lamy AL-Star Mechanical Pencil: Rotate to Your Heart’s Content

One of the curious decisions Lamy made during this recent product cycle was to release the AL-Star .5mm mechanical pencil in the new "Aquatic" finish. Why do one color but not the other? Regardless, I'm enjoying this new pencil and somewhat disagree with critics of the design, particularly those who dislike the molded grip on the AL-Star and Safari mechanical pencils.

AL-Star and Safari Grip Sections are triangular, meaning that you can rotate them as needed (at least in the non-fountain pen versions).

The major gripe that I hear is that the molded grip supposedly prevents users from rotating the mechanical pencil as you write. Some - but not all - users rotate their pencil in order to prevent flat edges from forming on the lead and to maintain a sharp point. (Uni's Kuru-Toga pencils do this automatically, which is their key selling point.)

The AL-Star Grip Section, viewed sideways.

I don't consider that critique entirely on-point for a couple of reasons. First, the molded grip on both the Safari and AL-Star is symmetrical and triangular, so rotating the pencil shouldn't affect your grip too much as long as you are someone who can actually use the AL-Star or Safari. (The molded section just doesn’t work for some people given issues of comfort and how they hold the pen/pencil.) If you rotate the pencil, there will be three different angles at which the grip remains the same. I don't personally use the molded grip to guide finger placement, as Lamy intends, and have no issue resting my fingers on top of the triangular edges, so this has never been a problem for me as someone who does rotate their mechanical pencils as I write.

For my own purposes, I wanted to find out whether the weight of the pen would affect lead breakage in the .5mm size. The AL-Star and Safari mechanical pencils are bigger pencils with a thicker diameter, and the AL-Star is metal. My concerns turned out to be unfounded. The pencil writes nicely, even with the thicker aluminum barrel. Those who sometimes find standard mechanical pencils too thin should definitely check this one out.

The fountain pen barrels in Aquatic and Fiery, for comparison purposes.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

A couple of years ago I reviewed the Lamy Safari ballpoint for the first time and (virtually) kicked myself for not testing one out sooner. The same goes for the rollerball and mechanical pencil versions of the AL-Star. I'm liking both of these and may even take a pass on the fountain pen versions of the new releases as I seek to diversify my personal collection.

The AL-Star ballpoint in Fiery and Aquatic, also for comparison purposes. I like the colored sections that complement the overall tone of the pen.

We currently stock the entire range of the Lamy AL-Star "Fiery" and "Aquatic" pens (and pencil), as well as remaining stock of other special and limited edition AL-Star finishes from recent years. Priced at $28 for the rollerball and $16 for the mechanical pencil, The Lamy AL-Star represents good value and should serve you well over the long-term, despite sitting at what many consider an entry-level price point. We also have all the refills you may need, should you wish to change ink color and tip size from the stock black medium rollerball refill, or swap out the stock HB mechanical pencil lead.

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

New Arrivals: Jetstream 4&1 Multi Pens and Uni-ball One Special Editions!

As a self-proclaimed multi pen connoisseur, it was only a matter of time before I really began building out our own multi pen offerings here in the shop. One of my personal favorites is the Uni Mitsubishi Jetstream “4&1” pen, which features a textured (yet still smooth) bamboo grip section, four different Jetstream .5mm refills, and a .5mm mechanical pencil option. The Uni-ball “One” gel pen showcases Uni’s latest gel pen technology - a new smooth, dark ink formulation in both .38mm and .5mm tip sizes.

Uni-ball One Gel Pens are available in both .38mm and .5mm tip sizes. Refills in the stock pens are black, but extra refills in blue, blue-black, red, and orange are also available for purchase separately.

We currently have interesting versions of both the Jetstream 4&1 multi pen and the Uni-ball One gel pen available in the shop. In addition to the “Bamboo” series of the multi pens, we have Uni-ball One pens in both solid muted colors as well as the “Earth Texture” series. Multi Pens start at $25 and Uni-ball One Pens at $4.50. Refills are also available for both.

View fullsize

The “Earth Texture” barrels are gorgeous. I’ve not seen anything else quite like this in the gel pen world!

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

Sunday Reading for April 14, 2024

1. Atlanta Pen Show Recap (via Figboot on Pens). A great video recap of the recent Atlanta Pen Show, which I unfortunately was sad to miss!

2. Method and Mayhem: Digging Myself Out with Plotter Lists (via A Gathering of Curiosities). The Plotter system, with it’s specialized refills, lends itself well to list-based project management and triage when you feel overwhelmed.

3. Leonardo Momento Zero #8 La Fenice Nib Fountain Pen Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). If you’re going to make larger pens, use the larger No. 8 nibs! While the Momento Zero Grande is a bit large for me, I’m a huge fan of No. 8 nibs where the pen works for me.

4. Rediscovering the Parker 45 Fountain Pen (via Fountain Pen Blog). I purchased a couple of Parker 45s at pen shows earlier this year. While I haven’t inked them up yet, I’m looking forward to exploring the vintage side of this hobby, especially now that pen show season has calmed down and I have a break from travel.

5. You Can Only Keep One (via Rachel’s Reflections). One pen from each brand? That’s a challenge. :)

6. Faber-Castell Ambition Fountain Pen Review (via The Poor Penman). The Faber-Castell Ambition is a long-time favorite of many, due to Faber-Castell’s excellent steel nibs.

7. Where to Buy Nolty Planners (via Notebook Stories). I hear a lot about Nolty Planners but have never used one myself. Is this something I should check out?

8. Stationery Travel Diary, Librarian Edition (via Pen Addict - Sarah). I’m always up for a fun travelogue, especially in a city where I’ve never done any book/stationery shopping!

9. Since I’ll Be 120 For the Next One…. (via From the Pen Cup). Did anyone else journal about their eclipse experience?

10. My Ink 100: Part 1 - Admitting I Have a Problem (via Well-Appointed Desk). I tried this at one point. I failed. I still have a problem.

The Tom’s Studio Lumos Pro Duo!

In Case You Missed It…

This week was a fun week of content on the blog, not least because T.G.S. turns 10 years old this month! Yep, 10 years of writing about pens, inks, paper, desk accessories, and all that fun stuff that goes along with it! We had a particularly fun review that published Wednesday, which contained my first impressions of the Tom’s Studio Lumos series of refillable fineliners. These have been really well-received, and I’m glad that I made the decision to bring them into the shop because everyone I’ve talked to who has used these long term seems to enjoy them. Yesterday, I updated the “Best Pens” list for 2024, and there were some moderate revisions to this year’s categories. Please keep in mind that any content on this website, including any decision to including or omit something from “Best Pens”, reflects my own opinion and should not be taken as a judgment on any pen not mentioned.

Our current stock of Kaweco Piston Fillers consists of the boxed set with a vintage-style bottle of Kaweco Royal Blue ink.

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop: The Kaweco Piston Filler is Here!

In addition to the arrival of the Tom’s Studio Lumos fineliners and the Tom’s Studio fountain pens (and specialty nibs), the big news was the arrival of the long-awaited Kaweco Sport Piston Filler fountain pen! We have a small number of these pens available, as they’ve sold fairly quickly. If you’d like to see a hands-on demonstration of the pen and how it compares to one of its vintage predecessors, you can check out this YouTube video! For a full list of new arrivals and restocks, visit this week’s Thursday Drops post.

View fullsize

Lamy

View fullsize

Tom's Studio

View fullsize

Lamy AL-Stars

View fullsize

Pencils

Support us on patreon and get access to our monthly meetup and extra content!

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! 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. Patreon supporters also get access to any pen show-exclusive specials and promotions.

No matter how you support us - even if just with a comment, recommendation, or encouraging word - we greatly appreciate your readership!

A Huge Thank You for a Wonderful 10 Years: The 10th Anniversary T.G.S. Best Pens Update Is Live!

I did some more extensive revisions for this year’s “Best Pens” update, revising some of the list to reflect price changes, new additions, pens that have fallen out of production, and older companies that have become a bit stagnant. I won’t be overly long summarizing the update: you can read the list for yourself here! There is plenty more 10th Anniversary content on the way, including a pending “Best Pencils” list (both mechanical and woodcase), as well as a Multi-Pens category for the main Best Pens list. I wasn’t in a position to finalize all of those today, as I’m still considering whether to break pencils into a separate list. I hope you enjoy! I’ve really enjoyed being a part of this community for the past 10 years, and hope for at least 10 more!

Updated 4/14/24: I receive a lot of comments and messages whenever I update my “Best Pens” list. I can’t respond to all of them, but as a general matter I want to clarify a few things.

• It goes without saying that any TGS review/ curated list reflects my opinion, based on my own decade-plus experience of buying, using, collecting, and selling fountain pens. The fact that a pen is not featured on the list should NOT be considered a judgment on a pen that you otherwise personally enjoy.

• I cannot review everything. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of different pens available on the market and to keep things manageable I reduce each category to five entries. If there is a pen that I have not reviewed on the site or featured in the list, that you think I should consider, please send me a message through the “Contact” link and I promise I will look into it.

• Because the overwhelming majority of my readership is in the United States, I generally limit “recommendations” - especially for beginners - to pens that are readily available in the U.S., from U.S. based retailers, so that it’s unnecessary to mail a pen overseas for warranty service. Of course I still import pens and review them and enjoy them, but this list is written with a different set of considerations in mind.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you enjoy our content, please consider supporting us directly.