Sunday Reading for October 6, 2024

1. Emotional Support Stationery, Friendship Edition (via A Gathering of Curiosities). The best thing about this hobby is, by far, the community of great, truly caring people who are a part of it.

2. Edison Jameson (via Figboot on Pens). I’ve had a Jameson since the Chicago Pen Show and need to write up the review. I love the newfound availability of No. 8 nibs, especially paired with ebonite feeds.

3. Traveler’s Notebook? (via Stationery Pizza). I can understand the frustration with toting around a bunch of A5 notebooks, and I’m definitely appreciating the simplicity of a Traveler’s Notebook carry this week.

4. A Vintage Conway Stewart “Dinkie” 550 Gets a New Sac (via Fountain Pen Blog). Pretty much spot on with how it goes the first time you restore a vintage pen!

5. Am I A Weirdo? (via Rachel’s Reflections). It goes without saying that for most of us in this hobby, the answer is clearly “yes” by any objective measure, but among us weirdos, what “unusual” pen rituals do you have? I don’t really baby my pens but I do clean them thoroughly after changing inks.

6. Uni Kuru Toga Metal Mechanical Pencil Review (via Pen Addict). I may need to put yet another Kuru Toga model on my “to try” list.

7. Pelikan Hub Bremen 2024 (via Bleistift). I love reading other Pelikan Hub reports. I sadly did not get to take many pictures, as it had been a bit of a wild day with the nasty weather.

8. The Journeyman Pen from Wingback, Now Live on Kickstarter! (via Pen Addict). I have one of these pens from Wingback, which I’ll be posting more about next week, but as with all of their pens and pencils the build quality is outstanding. If you’re a fan be sure to check this one out.

9. Using a Traveler’s Notebook as a Wallet (via Well-Appointed Desk). I do something quite similar with the Plotter Mini 5.

10. Drehgriffel Nr. 1 - A Quick Look (via The Poor Penman). Count me as a fan of both the Drehgriffel and whatever gel refill they use. I personally like drier gel refills because they don’t smear.

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In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog I took a quick look at the “Jester and Muse” fountain pens, recently launched by Good Made Better. Since I’m currently traveling, Saturday’s post featured some recap content from YouTube, as many readers of the blog may not be aware that we do have a video channel! 

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In addition to new arrivals, we have plenty of Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter covers available as part of our recent restock.

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

This week in the shop saw a restock of Midori, Traveler’s Company, and Write Notepads paper, as well as the launch of Midori’s new “MD Thick” A5 notebooks. Also of particular note is that we have more Traveler’s Company Tokyo Limited Edition refills. Be sure to check out this week’s Thursday drops for details, and even though I am traveling this week and the brick and mortar store is closed for the weekend, online orders are continuing to process and ship!

TGS x Sunderland mk1

Midori MD

Pilot Iroshizuku

Anterique Pens

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives (Including the Sunderland Mk1)

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), and would like early/extra access to shop releases and gently used stationery opportunities, consider supporting us via Patreon. 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 either online (or in person, if you’re in the Nashville area)! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, the T.G.S. Patreon includes these as well as access to early shop releases, the quarterly gently used sales, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly Zoom meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. This month’s Patreon “special” is an extra bit off the TGS x Sunderland Collaboration Pen.

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

Travel Interlude, Day One! T.G.S. YouTube Channel Updates

I’ve tried to do more video content this year, and my current trip will hopefully offer more opportunities to film in unique stationery-related locales of interest. I will be chronicling my adventures this week on the T.G.S. Instagram account, and eventually on the T.G.S. YouTube Channel. (I’d love to do more YouTube and upload longer videos in real time, but I have no idea how well my internet connection will hold up here and suspect it is too slow.) In the meantime, continuing the tradition of posting recaps of some favorite content when I’m on the road, check out a handful of my favorite YouTube videos from the past year!

1. Come Take a Tour of the New Gentleman Stationer Shop!

2. Calling All Pencil Geeks: Three Long Point Desktop Pencil Sharpeners.

3. Kaweco Sport Piston Filler: Vintage vs. Modern.

4. My Favorite Multi Pens: The Lamy 2000 4-Color Ballpoint and Uni Jetstream 4+1.

5. Pen Review: Sailor 1911 Kobe Affection Kyomachi Legend Blue, a Nagasawa Stationery Exclusive Release.

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 enjoy our content please give us a follow and consider supporting us by shopping with us directly or pledging via Patreon. Many thanks!

Thursday Drops: Midori MD Thick Paper, More Traveler's Tokyo Refills, and Other Restocks!

This has been a busy week! We received a major restock of Midori MD notebooks and paper, including the Midori MD Thick A5 notebooks, as well as additional MD A5 Dot Grid Journals and the Goat Leather MD Covers sized to fit the A5 and B6 Slim MD notebooks. We’re also entering the home stretch for our recent reorder of the T.G.S. x Sunderland Machine Works mk1 Machined Pen, so if you’ve had your eye on a pen from this particular shipment, please get your orders in. We do intend to keep this pen regularly available but production on the various runs take time and stock may not be continuous.

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The new Anterique Brass Ballpoint in Forest Green.

Finally, we have brand new colors of standard Anterique Ballpoints and Brass Ballpoints available, including this sharp-looking brass version in the Forest Green!

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of brands sold.

1. Midori MD Thick A5 Notebooks. For those of you who enjoy mixed media work alongside your fountain pens, including watercolors, ink washes, oil-based marker, and even very wet fountain pen inks, Midori has released a new paper that’s twice as thick as the original. We now stock this notebook in A5.

2. Midori MD Goat Leather Covers in A5 and B6 Slim. We have additional stock of the Midori MD leather notebook covers in the most popular A5 and B6 Slim sizes. These covers age nicely and will develop a patina as you use them over the years.

3. Traveler’s Company “Tokyo” Limited Edition Refills. While we don’t currently have additional stock of the Tokyo Traveler’s Notebooks, we DO have a bunch of the Tokyo-themed refills. These are fun refills, and the cover is packed with all sorts of symbols of Tokyo.

4. Write Notepads Classic Hardcover Notebooks. I’ve long used these hardback notebooks (available in lined or dot grid) as commonplace books. They look great filled up on a shelf, and the paper is excellent.

5. Write Notepads Weekly Planners. A classic undated weekly planner in a two-page landscape layout, featuring Write Notepads’ excellent fountain pen friendly paper.

6. Ohto Rays Flash-Dry Needle-Tip Gel Pens. These needle-tip refillable gel pens, with a “Jotter-esque” aesthetic, have returned, along with a new Olive Green color.

7. Ohto Rays Flash-Dry Needle-Tip Refill. The excellent Ohto Parker-style gel refill from the Flash-Dry series of pens is back in stock, ready for you to load into the Parker-compatible pen of your choice.

8. Anterique Ballpoints in New Colors. The standard Anterique low-viscosity ballpoints are now available in four new colors: Hazy Pink, Deep Purple, and French and Italian tricolors!

9. Anterique Full-Sized Brass Ballpoint in Forest Green. Finally, we get a dark green Anterique Brass Ballpoint. (There’s also a transparent green version of the Brass Mini Ballpoint.).

10. T.G.S. x Sunderland Machine Works mk1 Machined Pen. We’ve now passed the 2/3 sold mark from this latest order, and it’s been wonderful to see so much interest in this pen. For a closer look and more discussion of why I like this pen, please check out this YouTube video that I posted the other day.

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Travel Notes and Store Hours

Please note that our brick-and-mortar location will be closed to visitors for the next week (Friday, October 4 through Saturday, October 12), as I am traveling for a combination of business and vacation. The online store will remain open and orders will continue to ship. While we have help, it’s a lot for me to ask them to staff the store for in-person shopping while they are already navigating the somewhat steep learning curve of pulling and fulfilling the online orders. Many thanks for your patience and support as we grow, and we hope to have expanded in-person shopping hours upon our return as we head into the holiday season!

Kickstarter Alert: The Good Made Better "Jester" and "Muse" Fountain Pens

We’re big fans of Good Made Better products here at T.G.S. The company’s focus on “mindful writing tools” and stated goal of cultivating an intentional space for writing dovetails nicely with our own curation philosophy, as all of the items in our own shop are chosen with a focus on good design and usability. Those familiar with Good Made Better likely know about their first product, the Penwell pen holder, and successful follow-up releases such as the Writewell Portable Desk. It was only a matter of time before they designed their own fountain pen, right?

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The Good Made Better Jester (left), shown posted, and the Good Made Better Muse (right), shown uncapped.

Yesterday, Good Made Better launched their latest Kickstarter project, the “Jester” and “Muse” fountain pens. Personally, I’m thrilled that Dan Keller, the maker behind the brand, decided to use ebonite for both pens. A classic penmaking material, ebonite pens have a warm feel in the hand and a distinct vintage-inspired look that’s always appealed to me. When I first saw these pens at this year’s Chicago Pen Show, it took all of five minutes for me to buy one of the Jester pocket pens, in this mottled matte beige ebonite that also features swirls of orange, black, and even light blue, the latter of which is hard to photograph and only really shows up in certain lighting.

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Every design element in a Good Made Better Product is intentional. For example, with respect to the triple rings engraved in the barrels:

“Both pens feature sets of triple rings (with the Jester sporting two sets), and it’s worth noting these are not arbitrary embellishments. They’re positioned at the point of cap to body contact, so if the cap is turned when at an angle to the body and the edge of the cap rubs the body, it won’t mar the surface of the body over time and leave a line. As a secondary use, they’re positioned to visually break up the transition of any color change in the ebonite so even the natural changes that take place are incorporated into the finished product as subtly as possible—more on this below.”

— Good Made Better, Kickstarter

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The caps on both the Jester and the Muse feature a single facet rollstop, engraved with the Good Made Better wordmark.

Both the Jester and the Muse are comfortable to use, and oddly enough, despite the Jester being a pocket pen, approximately the same length when in “writing mode”. The Jester, a cartridge-only pocket pen, is designed to post, and threads on the back of the barrel allow the cap to sit securely. The Muse does not post, by design, as posting the cap simply would not work due to length and weight. My Jester features a matte ebonite section, and the Muse textured brass.

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The GMB wordmark is even more subtle on the Midnight Black Muse. I consider matte black ebonite one of the most underrated fountain pen materials out there, and choosing this one was a no-brainer.

As you might expect, the overall look and aesthetic of these pens complement the rest of the Good Made Better lineup. The Muse fountain pen fits perfectly into the Penwell, and given that the cap can be removed in 2-3 quick turns, is quite easy to deploy. Both pens also feature a single facet on the cap, which serves as a roll-stop and allows you to rest the pen on your desk without worrying about it rolling onto the floor.

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When posted, the Jester is actually slightly longer than the Muse. Without the brass section and end cap, it’s also lighter. If portability is important to you, the Jester should be your pen of choice.

So which pen do I prefer, in terms of writing experience? The Jester and Muse both use JoWo No. 6 nibs, which arrived perfectly tuned, so there’s little to no difference between the two pens nib-wise. While I have more experience with the Jester, having used it for a few months now, the Muse has grown on me. I have to stress that this is a perfectly balanced pen. I prefer my pens slightly frontweighted, and this combination of the brass section and a slightly wet JoWo medium nib makes for a pleasant writing experience directly in line with my own preferences.

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The brass section on the Muse will patina nicely. For whatever reason, a green ink spoke to me, and I filled this one with Tom’s Studio “New Forest” No. 4. Both Good Made Better fountain pens use No. 6 JoWo nibs, and both of mine arrived as well-tuned, smooth writers.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

I’ve had my Good Made Better “Jester” fountain pen in-hand since the Chicago Pen Show in May, and I’ve only become more impressed with Dan’s work over the following months. The Muse is equally good, with the workmanship and quality exactly what I’ve come to expect. These pens earn an unqualified recommendation, especially for those who love ebonite as a material.

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While the launch colors on Kickstarter are (necessarily) limited to five options, Dan has been showing off these pens at various pen shows throughout the year, and the range of available unique ebonites is fascinating. You can even add textures, including the “bark” shown here, as an add-on to your pledge.

As I mentioned above, Good Made Better has launched both of these pens on Kickstarter, and the project fully funded on the first day. Pledges start at $250, which is standard pricing for small-batch, bespoke pens. There are currently five different colorways available (Midnight Black, Orion Blue, Herdsman Green, Sunrise, and Sunset). Sorry, the blended beige ebonite that I snagged in Chicago isn’t currently available, so you’ll need to go get yourself to a pen show and visit Dan in person!

Many thanks to Good Made Better for providing the Midnight Black Muse for review. I purchased the Jester pocket pen shown here with my own funds for my own use, and I just backed the Kickstarter for another Muse in Orion Blue.

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 not compensated monetarily for review content such as this one, so if you enjoy our content please consider supporting us by shopping with us directly or pledging via Patreon. Many thanks!

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My Muse fountain pen has a new home in my TGS Aged Red Penwell.

New Arrivals: Favorite Papers from Write Notepads and Midori MD!

We know that most Write Notepads products have been out of stock for an extended period of time in the shop. That’s not a reflection of any lack of love for the brand, but rather a logistical issue between our recent move to the new space and production speed. As of this morning, we are fully restocked on the Write Notepads Classic Hardcover Notebooks in all colors and rulings, as well as the popular undated Weekly Planners! I’ve always found Write Notepads paper to be excellent for most pens and inks, with a smooth, somewhat absorbent texture that dries quickly and makes it suitable for work purposes. You can read a more extended review of the paper here.

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We also received additional stock of the Midori MD A5 Dot Grid Journals, and A5 Goat Leather Covers designed to fit these and other standard Midori A5 offerings. Stay tuned as new products arrive each week!

See this page for updated opening hours and the hours for our brick-and-mortar shop, which may vary due to travel. The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.