Sunday Reading for December 1, 2024 (The Short Season Edition)

1. Ugly Duckling: TWSBI Swipe Fountain Pen (via A Fleeting Ripple). While the design isn’t for everyone, I appreciate the Swipe as a very good entry level fountain pen attempt, especially since the US release includes two different converters plus a cartridge.

2. Midori MD Cotton Notebook (via Pen Addict). Midori MD Cotton paper is one of my favorite everyday formats for both pads and notebooks. The paper, to me, has a great balance of fountain pen friendliness and dry time. I also love how ink looks, and I try to have at least one picture of all my inks on MD Cotton.

3. Leonardo + Stilo & Stile MZ Kintsugi (via Figboot on Pens). Of all the Black Friday “Special Releases,” this Leonardo Momento Zero might be my favorite. Stilo & Stile have released some absolutely gorgeous Leonardo collaborations lately.

4. SPS Series: Wrap-Up for Now (via Rachel’s Reflections). Standford Pen Studio has launched a crowdfunding campaign to expand, which you can read more about in Rachel’s latest post.

5. Gravitas Carbon Fibre Piston Test Bed (via Dapprman). Too bad about this material, because it looks really cool.

6. Digging Back In To the Archive: How Many Do You Own? (via Philofaxy). Quite an impressive collection!

7. Moonman V60 Fountain Pen Review (via SBRE Brown). The Omas 360 was one that got away from me. I found the angles on this one too sharp to be comfortable, but many people love it.

8. Today I Get To/Got To (via From the Pen Cup). A great idea for a new journaling prompt!

View fullsize

In Case You Missed It…

I tried to take some time off this week, and had a moderate degree of success. I did a short post on the latest iteration of the Kaweco Mini Converter, which I’ve very much enjoyed in Kaweco and non-Kaweco pens. (Sorry, it promptly sold out within an hour after this review went live and I’m trying to get more.)

In terms of other content, don’t forget to check out the 2024 Holiday Gift Guide if you haven’t already! We update the gift guide annually, and it’s become a bit of a tradition around here with new items added every year.

View fullsize

We have all sorts of new Book Darts available in the shop, including smaller-quantity offerings, new bookmarks, and a 75-Dart mixed set option.

T.G.S. Curated Shop Thanksgiving Weekend/Cyber Monday Specials!

We’re thankful for all of our readers and customers, and we wanted to offer a special promotion/discount this weekend! Through tomorrow night at 11:59pm US Central Time, take 10% off all inks and refills using the promo code “INKSGIVING” at checkout. This discount applies to all except TWSBI and Pilot, and includes newly arrived inks such as Kuretake, Teranishi Guitar, Diamine 150th Anniversary and 160th Anniversary, and everything else in our ink shop, including Inkvent Calendars since Inkvent starts today! Check out this week’s Thursday Drops page for a complete list of new arrivals and some clearance items.

Don’t forget that we are open today (Sunday) from 12-5pm for extended Holiday shopping hours! Check out our store location and hours here and on our Google Business listing for updated shopping hours throughout the holiday season.

Kuretake Inks

Pilot

Diamine

Kaweco

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 had their own special Fountain Pen Day promo “mystery box” opportunity, while supplies last and which is still available!

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

It's Small Business Saturday! Stop By To See New Inks from Kuretake and More

Just a friendly reminder that we’re open today from 10am until 7pm, for what’s become known as “Small Business Saturday,” a day between Black Friday and “Cyber Monday” to support your local community-based shops! Our in-store specials are the same as our online “INKSGIVING” promotion, and we have plenty of ink for you to peruse in person.

While I’m taking a break from reviews this weekend to help us keep up with the holiday orders coming in, I did want to take a brief moment to note two ink lines we recently received from Kuretake, namely the “Art Nouveau” and “Meiji no Iro” series. I love stationery products that incorporate a bit of history, especially historically themed inks such as these and the Laban Greek Mythology series. The Kuretake Art Nouveau inks feature some of my favorite box and label artwork to date! These are now up online and on the store shelves.

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

This weekend, we are open Saturday from 10am-7pm; and Sunday from 12pm-5pm. Come help us kick off the holiday shopping season! Additional detail on store location and hours here.

Happy "Inksgiving"! T.G.S. Thanksgiving Weekend Promotions

Happy Thanksgiving! Or should I say “Inksgiving”? Starting today and running through Sunday evening at 11:59pm US Central Time, take 10% off all bottled ink, ink cartridge, and refill orders (excluding TWSBI and Pilot) using the discount code “INKSGIVING” at checkout. Select items through the store have also been marked “Clearance” and can be searched using the navigation bar at the top of the shop pages. All orders over $100 will also receive one of our large 3” T.G.S. holographic vinyl stickers, and orders over $50 will receive one of the smaller holographic decals, while supplies last!

View fullsize

New ink arrivals are waiting for you. Any Thanksgiving weekend promotions apply in-store as well.

New arrivals this week include select inks from Diamine’s standard lineup, as well as the entire line of sixteen different Diamine 150th Anniversary inks. Other discount-eligible inks include the Teranishi Guitar inks from Japan, Tom’s Studio Inks, and Anderillium! If you’re looking for gift ideas, don’t miss our recently refreshed holiday gift guide.

Domestic U.S. orders over $75 ship free. Please review our shipping policies and time estimates prior to placing an international order. Orders to Canada may be delayed due to the ongoing postal strike, and UK orders are subject to a minimum due to VAT rules.

1. Diamine 150th Anniversary Fountain Pen Inks. Diamine’s 150th Anniversary Line contains some of my favorite colors made by the UK-based inkmaker. The blues in this series are outstanding.

2. Diamine Inkvent Calendar. Using your Inksgiving discount to pick up an Inkvent Calendar ahead of the season beginning next week!

3. Col-o-ring Ink Testing Books. Stock up on Col-o-rings to get ready for Inkvent, with sizes ranging from the small “Dippers” to the larger “Oversized” reporter-style books.

4. Teranishi Guitar Inks. This cult favorite from Japan features more than a dozen subtly unique colors. The greens are especially good in this line, as are the blacks and browns.

5. Laban Greek Mythology Inks. Athena Grey and Aphrodite Pink are back in stock, at long last. Though often overlooked, these inks from Laban are rock-solid in terms of performance, and the colors are offbeat enough to be interesting without sacrificing usability.

6. Ohto CRO2 Ceramic Rollerball. This .5mm rollerball pen features a comfortably grippy matte finish and a smooth .5mm rollerball refill that resists feathering and bleedthrough, which can fit many different models of rollerball pens (though you may need to use a spacer).

7. T.G.S. x Sunderland Machine Works mk1. We are down to TWO remaining Sunderland Pens. I will likely reorder more after the first of the year so if this is something you’re wanting for the holiday season, act quickly.

8. Zebra Sarasa Grande Vintage Pens and Refills. This series of Japanese gel pens not only won me over by actually matching the ink to the vintage-y barrel colors, but I’ve also been using the refills in the Sunderland with minor modification.

9. Kaweco Piston Fillers, Classic Sport and AL-Sport. Kaweco recently released a lower-cost version of their piston-filling Sport fountain pen, and we’re restocked on both these and the AL-Sport version.

10. A Full Restock on Lamy Pens. Finally, we’ve recently received additional pens (and pencils) in the Lamy 2000 series, the Lamy AL-Star series, Safaris, and more.

Our shop is closed today (Thanksgiving Thursday), but we will reopen tomorrow (Friday 11/29) from 10am-7pm; Saturday from 10am-7pm; and Sunday from 12pm-5pm. We hope to see you this weekend to kick off the holiday shopping season! Additional detail on location and hours here.

Pocket Pen Converters: Has Kaweco Solved the Mini-Converter Problem?

While I love pocket pens, and pocket fountain pens in particular, those of us who also enjoy using bottled ink have been frustrated by the lack of a functional converter that fits most pocket pens. While Kaweco had released a smaller plunger-style converter designed to fit the Sport series that worked reasonably well, two things kept it from becoming more popular than it did. First, the converter was still too large to fit other popular pocket pens like the Schon DSGN Pocket 6 and the Tom’s Studio Studio Pocket; and second, the plunger didn’t lock, so when the converter was full you could accidentally expel ink into the cap by bumping the plunger.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Kaweco recently redesigned the mini converter to address both of these issues, and the fix was somewhat creative and fairly simple: The plunger rod folds down and “locks” once the converter is full. This not only reduces length, but a slight “lip” on the top of the plunger prevents it from accidentally depressing once folded. I’ve tested the new model, and it not only fits all of the cartridge/converter Kaweco Sport models, but the Schon DSGN Pocket 6, the Tom’s Studio pocket pen, and even the recently released Good Made Better Jester.

View fullsize

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Is a mini-converter revolutionary? Not really, but sometimes small incremental improvements like these can drastically increase your enjoyment of a pen. You’ve always been able to refill cartridges with bottled ink using a syringe, but many people (including myself) find a converter more convenient, and having this converter option makes it more likely that I’ll reach for my pocket fountain pens. Plus, plunger-style converters make it very easy to clean out a pen since you can flush water through the nib and feed with more force than with a piston-style converter. The more options, the better!

We currently have a small-ish number of these Kaweco Mini Converters available in the shop, but since I’ve liked how they work so far, we will probably plan to carry these as a regular item. We’ve also recently restocked our supply of Kaweco bottled ink and Kaweco cartridges, not to mention a bunch of new releases from the Sport and Perkeo lines.

During the upcoming holiday season, our store will be open for extended hours. Please check the “About” page for directions and updated operating hours, as well as announcements regarding any special events.

New Arrivals: Pilot S20 Ballpoints, Uni Jetstream Prime and Edge, and More Giftable Ballpoints

Ahead of the holidays, one of my top priorities was to restock our supply of higher-end ballpoint, rollerball, and gel pens, especially Japanese imports, but we also made room to bring in some new finds. Last week, we received our first shipment of the excellent Pilot S20 ballpoint, which uses Pilot’s hybrid “Acro-ink” and performs similarly to the Uniball Jetstream. A friend from our local pen club gifted me a S20 last year, and I couldn’t get over how comfortable this pen was to use: it sports an hourglass silhouette and soft, polished wood finish in two striated wood grains: red/black and brown/black. We also have a healthy supply of the Dr. Grip “Cocoon” refills, which is that cartridge that fits the S20.

View fullsize

Other new arrivals include the Pilot Birdie/Birdie Switch: a small format writing instrument from Pilot that comes as either a mechanical pencil or “reversible multi-pen”; as well as additional stock of the Uni Jetstream Prime, the Uni Jetstream Edge, and the Zebra Sarasa Grande Vintage. All colors and tip sizes should be restocked and showing as available.

View fullsize

The hourglass shape of the S20 ballpoint simply fits very well in your hand!

Store Holiday Hours and T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide

I’ve updated the shop hours for Thanksgiving week. While we will be closed Thursday, we plan to open Friday (10am-7pm); Saturday (10am-7pm), and Sunday (12-5pm) to kick off the holiday shopping season. Remember that you can always shop by appointment outside of our public hours.

Also, don’t miss our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide, which walks through stationery gift options and recommendations that include pens, pencils, paper, and other desk and reading accessories for those who appreciate analog things! If you have gift-related questions, always feel free to reach out.

View fullsize

If you come see us in-store, you’ll be able to peruse our growing selection of inks, including the entire range of Teranishi Guitar Inks in over a dozen colors!