It's Fountain Pen Day Weekend! Here are the T.G.S. Fountain Pen Day Promotions, In-Store and Online!

Happy Fountain Pen Day, everyone! On Friday, November 1 (or the first Friday in November), the international community of fountain pen enthusiasts comes together to celebrate our mutual love of pens, inks, and paper, as well as pencils, desk and reading accessories, and all things analog. And each year, we always have special sales and product offerings to celebrate through the weekend. Without further ado, here are the 2024 T.G.S. Fountain Pen Day specials, both online and in-store:

Online Promotions Available in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

Take 10% off most brands storewide all weekend (Now through Sunday at 11:59pm U.S. Central Time), using the coupon code “FPDAY24” at checkout. The normal exclusions apply, as certain brands such as TWSBI, Roterfaden, Sunderland, Blackwing, and Pilot are not subject to further discounting per manufacturer’s terms. All orders over $75 will continue to qualify for free shipping.

Orders over $50 (before shipping) will receive a full set of Fountain Pen Day swag, while supplies last. The full set includes the 2024 bookmark, button, and sticker. Orders below $50 will receive the 2024 bookmark. If supplies run out you will receive equivalent T.G.S. Swag or such other freebies as I have available!

Now for our online exclusive: We’ve assembled a limited number of Fountain Pen Friendly Paper Samplers and Woodcase Pencil Samplers, all priced at $10. Here’s the kicker - if your order exceeds $100, prior to shipping, you can get one of these samplers FOR FREE using the coupon code “FREEPAPER” or “FREEPENCILS” at checkout. IN THE INTEREST OF ALLOWING AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO PARTICIPATE, ORDERS ARE LIMITED TO ONE SAMPLER PER CUSTOMER. NO EXCEPTIONS. Please choose either paper or pencils, not both. If both are added to an order, only one will be sent and requests for multiples will not be honored. This is a pure while-supplies-last promotion. Simply add your sampler of choice to the $100 order and use the applicable coupon code to remove the charge.

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If you buy a fountain pen in-store, you’ll definitely leave with some ink!

In-Store Specials! Come By and See Us in Our Nashville Shop

In-store purchases will be eligible for the 10% discount if you mention the FPDAY24 Code, and will also receive Fountain Pen Day Swag while supplies last. We are also going to be running some Fountain Pen Day / “TGS Grand Opening” in-store exclusives, which will only be announced in-store to those who come visit us in person, but they’re sure to be worth your while. See the “About” page for details on our physical location, hours, and how to find us. We will be open on Fountain Pen Day (Friday), from 1pm - 7pm. We hope to see you there!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. Patreon supporters will be receiving a special offer this weekend, and our meetup will be held Saturday night, so please check the feed for details.

Ask TGS: Five Tips for Success with Refillable Fineliners

I’ve read a few posts and reviews recently discussing refillable fineliners and fibre-tipped pens such as those made by Tom’s Studio, Kuretake, and Kakimori, which have raised a number of questions about how to use these pens correctly, and what you can expect with respect to the performance of fountain pen inks in non-fountain pens. Personally, I’ve had success using these pens to the point where they might currently be near the top of my everyday user/workhorse pen rotation. Here are a few tips and tricks to get the most out of your refillable fineliners. The suggestions are mostly brand-agnostic and apply across the product category.

1. Choose a Saturated Ink for Maximum Legibility. Most refillable fineliners use a cotton or fabric “wick”-style cartridge to hold the ink. You fill the pen by placing the end of the wick into your ink bottle or sample vial, and part of the fun is watching the ink work its way up the refill. After inserting the wick into the section, the “feed” part of the fibre tip should extend into the saturated cotton, and once you see the tip change color, the pen is ready to write. While this is a very straightforward way to fill a pen, the mechanics of writing work differently than with a fountain pen. A fountain pen nib and feed operate essentially as a controlled leak, with a relatively large amount of ink applied to the page compared to something like a fineliner, which works more like a brush. As a result, inks that are lighter in tone and/or designed to shade may appear extremely light in a fineliner, compared to more saturated inks, due to less ink being applied to the page. Use darker, more saturated colors to maximize legibility for writing with a fineliner, unless you are expressly looking for the lighter tone.

2. Don’t Expect Shimmer Inks or Inks with Special Properties to Behave the Same as in a Fountain Pen. This one should be self-explanatory, but the large particles that give “shimmer ink” the shimmering effect cannot be absorbed by a wick reservoir and can’t flow through the fineliner tip. While a shimmer ink might technically “work” in the fineliner, the color you see will almost certainly be the base color in the ink, minus the shimmer particles. Similarly, I’ve found that some pigmented inks don’t work as well in fineliners, while others (presumably with smaller particles of solid pigment) work better. I would still say that the best performers have been regular water-based fountain pen inks.

3. Don’t Leave the Cap Off Your Fineliner for an Extended Period of Time. If the ink dries out in a fineliner nib, it will need to be flushed with water to get the pen writing again. Sometimes you can fix the issue by simply wiping the tip with a wet paper towel to remove dried ink, but the easiest fix is to not let the pen dry out in the first place.

4. When Changing Colors, Let the Wick and Tip Dry Completely Before Refilling. Where a refillable reservoir is included (as with the Tom’s Studio Lumos or Wren), it is absolutely intended to be rinsed and reused several times before being replaced. I’ve had the best luck completely submerging the refill in a bowl of water and squeezing the ink out multiple times until the refill is white again. The tips can typically be rinsed under a faucet, though you may need to soak them with certain inks. Place the tips and reservoir on a paper towel and allow to fully dry (24+ hours, preferably) before attempting to refill.

5. Think Carefully About How You Plan to Use the Pen Before Filling It. Given that it can be a bit of a chore to change ink colors, you should give a bit of extra thought to ink choice and tip size on the front end. (It’s especially important for single-use pens like the Kakimori Colour Liners.) As I mentioned above, if you’re going to use fineliners for writing or sketching, and it’s important for you to write a dark line, you should choose a very dark, saturated ink.

So what inks have I had the most success using in my refillable fineliners? More saturated solid colors by Tom’s Studio and Diamine have worked extremely well. The darker purples, blues, and greens have given me no trouble, and I’ve recently enjoyed the new Midnight Blue Fibre Tip ink, specifically designed by Tom’s Studio for saturation and flow in the fibre-tipped pens. I mentioned in my recent rollerball writeup that I’ve struggled to find a blue-black rollerball or fineliner refill, and low-and-behold, this new ink appeared literally the next week.

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I’ve also run some of the Laban Greek Mythology Inks through my Kakimori Colour Liners, and the more saturated colors such as Ares Red and Artemis Navy Blue work exceptionally well. More nuanced colors like Aphrodite Pink are legible, yet appear lighter than they would in a fountain pen and you therefore lose some of the brown/grey/pink nuance to the color. While there’s no substitute for your own experimentation, I’m playing around with as many inks as possible so you don’t have to!

We carry a fairly wide selection of refillable fineliners and fibre-tipped pens in our shop, from the Tom’s Studio Lumos and Wren pens to the Kakimori Colour Liners, with Kuretake pens on the way. If you have additional questions regarding these pens and how they work, feel free to reach out using our contact link.

New Arrivals: Introducing the Tom's Studio Wren Fibre-Tipped Pen, Specialized Fineliner Ink, and More!

On Saturday, we received a huge box of restock goodies from Tom’s Studio, including the “Wren” pocket-sized fibre-tipped pen, available in five different colors, including two soft matte finishes (Black and Midnight Blue). For those who felt the “Studio” Pocket Fountain Pen was a bit too large to be truly pocketable, the Wren uses the same o-ring posting mechanism in a smaller format. While definitely a smaller, pocketable pen, it posts to a comfortable pocket-pen length, and I’ve been using it for several days without issue. I absolutely love the new “Midnight” Fibre-tipped ink, designed to maximize flow through the Lumos and Wren pens.

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The Wren refills in the same way as the Lumos, using the capillary wick.

For those who have been waiting on a restock of the Lumos refillable fineliners, we received additional pens in pretty much every color and style, including a new “Raspberry” color. We also have new Tom’s Studio pencil accessories, including .5mm mechanical pencils, and pencil holders/extenders to give your pencils better balance and a longer life!

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized reseller of Tom’s Studio products. If you’re in the Nashville, Tennessee area, come see us in-store, and don’t miss our ongoing giveaway and promotion which runs through Thursday evening!

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The new “Raspberry” Lumos, second from bottom.

Sunday Reading: October 27, 2024

1. Maverick Marauder Stratified (via Figboot on Pens). I didn’t get an opportunity to really explore this year’s D.C. Pen Show until Sunday afternoon, so I missed Maverick! I do love unique striated resins.

2. Identifying as a Pencil Pusher (via Line Variation). While I’m not sure that I prefer them over woodcase pencils - the two are such different writing instruments! - I love mechanical pencils and there are a few in here I’ve never tried.

3. What Is In Your Perfect Pencil Kit? (via Pen Addict). For me, not much. In addition to the pencils, a long-point sharpener with a canister to catch shavings, and a canvas pouch.

4. Kaedey / Pilot Custom Maple Fountain Pen Review (via Weirdoforest Pens). Yet another reason to get myself to Japan.

5. Pilot Silvern Tsumugi Sterling Silver Fountain Pen (via Blake’s Broadcast). I’ve always wanted one of these pens, and I find myself moving more and more into the category of “Pilot Enthusiast”. Sterling silver is a beautiful material to use in penmaking, and yes, I allow the silver to tarnish!

6. Montblanc Haus (via Bleistift). A special black ink and pen that can only be purchased there? Pilgrimage time!

7. Spotlight on Stanford Pen Studio (via Rachel’s Reflections). A smaller maker that I’ve not heard much about, Stanford Pen Studio has some gorgeous creations. I love the idea of this series.

8. Taccia Ukiyo-E Hiroshige Asahanada (via Fountain Pen Pharmacists). Even though the very long names can sometimes make them a handful to review and discuss, Taccia inks have long been underrated. There are some excellent colors available!

9. Finishing a Work Notebook (via Notebook Stories). What do you do with your finished work notebooks? Unfortunately I have to either store them on-site or destroy them, most of the time, so I rarely (and sadly) dedicate nice notebooks to work, or use systems with individual pages that can easily be removed.

10. Laban Rosa Fountain Pen in Lilac (via Well-Appointed Desk). I have much experience with Laban’s Inks, but sadly not much with their pens. Ana is giving one away.

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A major goal of mine for 2025 is to consolidate what I’m using on a daily basis paper-wise, and get back to my notebook systems for day-to-day time management after trying Hobonichi for a year as an experiment.

In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog we started our preparation for Fountain Pen Day - and 2025! The main post from this week was My 2025 Techo Kaigi (i.e., my annual planner review) in which I’ve decided that I will take a pass on Hobonichi for the next year despite having a mostly positive experience with the planners. At the end of the day, I need additional flexibility and I’m going to move back into my ring-based and modular notebook systems full-time. I also reviewed three inks from Tom’s Studio, as I was trying to find a nice purple ink to match to my Bokumondoh 149!

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The Tom’s Studio Wren is in stock, along with some new inks and other things!

Don’t Miss the Giveaway and Promotion: This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

For starters, through the start of Fountain Pen Day (up until 11:59pm on Thursday October 31), we’re giving away two stationery gift sets, and running a fountain pen ink promotion in the shop! See the linked post for details. Also, there’s a bunch of new stuff that only recently arrived including a full restock of Tom’s Studio Lumos Pens, including a new color, “Raspberry”, the pocketable Tom’s Studio “Wren” fineliners, new Tom’s Studio inks (including a Midnight Blue specifically designed for the fibre-tipped/fineliner pens), an even some pencil accessories and mechanical pencils! We also have remaining stock of Inkvent Calendars, if you’re looking to ensure that you’re ready to get started as soon as the season begins!

Tom's Studio Pens

Traveler's Company

Lamy

Kakimori

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. For example, Patrons receive an extra bit off the TGS x Sunderland Collaboration Pen, and Patreon supporters have their own version of the “Free Ink” promo currently running in the shop through this week.

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

Ink Review: Three Dark Purples from Tom's Studio (Juniper, Iris, and Constellation)

This post started out as an experiment in which I attempted to find the perfect dark purple ink to pair with my Bokumondoh-enhanced Montblanc 149, but I ended up experimenting with and extensively testing the three darkest purple inks from the Tom’s Studio ink lineup. I figured I would go ahead and write up my thoughts on each one of them. Read on to the bottom to see my final verdict on the best match for the 149!

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You can really see the variation in tone between the top writing sample (made with the 149’s stub nib and a glass swizzle stick), the bottom left (.8mm Drillog dip pen), and a Kakimori dip nib, the latter of which is still wet.

No. 12: Juniper (“The Sheening Dark Purple”)

Tom’s Studio Juniper was the first ink that I tried, because I thought the combination of the dark purple and the gold sheen would pair quite well with the gold trim and raden finish on the 149. I wasn’t wrong, and have really enjoyed this pairing. It helps that, despite being a super sheener that finishes with a thick gold sheen over the dark purple, Juniper doesn’t smear once it’s dry. Those who love sheening inks - especially those inks that sheen in multiple colors - understand how rare that can be. In recent years, however, I’ve noticed that inkmakers have improved the overall performance of “sheeners,” and nowadays you don’t experience as often the situation where you open a journal entry from weeks/months/years ago and the ink still hasn’t dried. :(

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I took a pass at Juniper with a couple of different ink swatching tools to see if I could capture the different appearances of the ink. In a fine or extra-fine nib, it will look almost black (which I love), but the gold sheen takes over. The Kakimori writing sample (at right) has not completely dried yet, so this is how the ink looks when it’s still wet.

No. 9: Constellation (“The Purple Black”)

I would call Constellation the “non-sheening Purple Black” in this line. Well, there is some sheen, but it’s more of a glisten, roughly the same color as the ink itself (with maybe a hint of red?) so you’d still call this a purple once it dries. Constellation might also be the least “interesting” of these three inks, because it’s a fairly conservative, solid color. That said, it’s an excellent work ink that won’t look out of place on official correspondence or around the office. I would add that Constellation works great in the Tom’s Studio Lumos pens because it’s so saturated, and I’ve had this one loaded into my Lumos mini for several months without issue.

Constellation dries to a mostly dark purple-black. The tones are subtle.

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No. 11: Iris (“The Classic Purple”)

Iris might be one of my new favorite purple inks. It’s bright without being “nuclear”, with neither too much red nor too much pink, and it’s definitely not blue. It hits that “Waterman Violet” vibe, maybe slightly toned down and a bit darker? I enjoy using purples, but in order for me to be able to use them consistently at home and at work, the tone can’t be too crazy. This particular ink dries quickly, and I’ve had no issues with bleedthrough or staining (another potential issue to watch with brighter purples).

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Takeaways and Where to Buy

The Tom’s Studio ink line has turned into one of my everyday favorites (and not just because it’s what I’ve had hanging around the shop - though that’s an added benefit). As someone who appreciates darker colors and more subdued versions of pastels, most of these inks match my personal taste, and the fact that they’re relatively saturated makes them work well in the Lumos fineliners as well as fountain pens. If you’re interested in reading further about other colors, you can check out this previous post. I’ve found all of these inks low-maintenance and very well-behaved in the pens I’ve used them in, and have enjoyed the purples and the greens/green-blues the most.

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Tom’s Studio Inks are made in the U.K., possibly by Diamine, though it’s unconfirmed, and that would be consistent with the quality.

If I had to pick a favorite from the three I reviewed in this post, it would be a toss-up between Iris and Constellation. Iris offers that pop of bright purple/violet while not being eye-searing or too pink, while Constellation is the purple-black that I would use every day. Juniper will occasionally make it into the rotation, but I’m REALLY wanting to load the Iris into the Bokumondoh pen and get a bit of contrast between the black pen body and the ink!

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I do kind of wish the Juniper would stay that pure purple black color once it dried!

Tom’s Studio fountain pen inks currently come in 19 different colors and are priced at $16 for a 50ml bottle of ink. We also carry most of the Tom’s Studio Pens in our shop, and are freshly restocked with new arrivals.

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. If you’re in the Nashville, Tennessee area, please visit us at our physical store!