Sunday Reading for March 2, 2025

1. Wancher Kyoto Celluloid (via Figboot on Pens). Wancher is at it again, with a rare or relatively high-end material with a price aimed at keeping the product accessible. These celluloid pens will be available via Kickstarter. In the past, I’ve seen this particular celluloid referred to as “Koi” style.

2. What Works: Pocket Notebooks (via Line Variation). A shout out to the practicality of pocket notebooks, and particularly the top-bound variety.

3. Spring 2025 London Pen Show (via Dapprman). If you’re in the UK, and aren’t at the ongoing London Pen Show, you’re running out of time! Let me know how it was.

4. Iroful A5 Dot Grid Review - The Perfect Notebook for Vibrant Colors (via dwrdnet). Iroful paper shows off color quite well, and has been described by many as a replacement for Cosmo Air Light (now discontinued?).

5. Colorverse v. Kakimori: Dip Nib Showdown (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). I need to get my hands on a couple of the new Colorverse Dip Nibs for more extended testing. I like the reservoir idea, but found that they had a very “sharp” feel in the limited experience I’ve had with them.

6. Zebra 301: A Ballpoint Pen Review (via Writing at Large). Sometimes a ballpoint pen absolutely is the right pen for the job.

7. 1912 Diary from France (via Notebook Stories). I love reading the antique notebook and memorandum posts. This one is in great condition, with a lovely stylized title page.

8. Laban Skeleton Fountain Pen Review (via Pen Addict - Sarah). Sarah’s longer review confirmed my initial impressions about this pen. Visually, it’s quite nice, but the price point is challenging for the build quality.

9. Have You Joined the Ink Pony Club? (via Well-Appointed Desk). Ana discusses a fun idea from Olive Octopus Ink! If you enjoy coloring/painting with ink, check this one out.

10. Index Cards That Actually Work Well with Fountain Pens (via dwrdnet). Many thanks for running through all these index cards. I’m becoming more of an index card enthusiast and have started carrying many of these brands.

In Case You Missed It…

This week on the blog I looked at Levenger’s latest “Freeleaf” paper iteration, as a brand I’ve used forever but which has shown some batch inconsistency over the years in terms of how their paper behaves with fountain pens. Spoiler: the current Levenger paper is quite nice. Yesterday I also talked about three desk accessories that I find critical to my own productivity, and which often go overlooked as “upgrades” by stationery enthusiasts despite not costing a lot of money.

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The Tombow Mono Graph Fine mechanical pencils hit the shop this week, which feature either a .5mm or .3mm tip size, as well as a fine diameter eraser.

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

We’re constantly bringing in more products, including a lot more useful desk and office accessory-type items such as more Notsu note/index card sets, and Levenger pen cases. We’ve also received more fountain pens across the price spectrum, from Platinum Preppies to the latest TWSBI Espresso Bronze Eco to the Lamy 2000 in Stainless Steel. Oh, and did I mention we just got more of the Uni Jetstream Lite Touch Multi Pens in the 4+1 format? Be sure to check out the weekly Deals and Drops post for up-to-date information on the latest arrivals.

Mnemosyne Journals

Uni Jetstream

Tombow Pencils

Platinum

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives and Sample Sales

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.

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Desk Accessories: What's on My Desk, at Work and at Home?

I’ve written a lot about desk accessories this week, and I mentioned in an earlier post that as a shopkeeper, the desk and reading accessories section is probably my own favorite area of the shop since so much of myself goes into the curation. In talking to customers, I’ve found that a lot of people focus on the pens, pencils, and paper side of things but don’t put as much thought into other aspects of analog work. Today I want to talk about three categories of desk accessories that I personally recommend, and which can immediately upgrade your workflow.

• A Book or Pad Holder. In today’s world, even if you take notes by hand, on paper, you will, in all likelihood, eventually need to either type those notes up and/or incorporate them into a longer form piece of writing. The single most used piece of office equipment (other than my pens and my computer) is the Hightide folding metal bookstand. I keep one in my home office and one at each of my work desks, and use them to hold notebooks, notepads, tablets, or anything else I want to be able to look at while I transcribe notes or review source material. Anecdotally, I’ve heard they are also very useful for those who transcribe books as part of their journaling practice. I’m not sure there are a ton of options on the market here, and in any event I’ve settled on the Hightide version because (1) they’re relatively inexpensive, making it easy for me to have duplicates pretty much everywhere I work; and (2) they fold flat, so they slip into a briefcase and I can take them with me when I travel.

• Scissors. Don’t underestimate the utility of a quality pair of scissors. I used cheap scissors for years, but until I spent just a little bit more money on a pair of Allex desk scissors at C.W. Pencil Enterprise (R.I.P.), I didn’t realize what I was missing. Quality scissors tend to be sharper, more precise, and don’t gum up when you have to cut through things like glue and tape, especially if you buy scissors with fluorine-coated blades.

• Page Markers. I’m a heavy annotator, meaning that I mark up documents and books as I read, and I nearly always end up tagging passages for later review. My own personal favorite is the Book Dart, but people also love Levenger Page Nibs and even Washi Tape, where you can mark a passage by folding a tiny piece over the edge of the page. If there’s one category of office supplies where I probably should try to economize but can’t, it’s on page markers, because I go through tins of these things and can’t stop. Pro tip: use them to divide your notebooks into multiple sections.

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Why Do You Focus on This Stuff and Where Can I See It in Person?

I enjoy helping people assemble a workspace that’s both functional and enjoyable for them to use, which is why I like maintaining a physical shop location in addition to having an online presence because this type of product can be hard to visualize without seeing it in person. I can talk about this stuff for hours, and even though T.G.S. would probably make more money focusing on more expensive luxury goods, desk accessories provide a LOT of value to users because they tend to be “buy-it-once” items. (My Allex Scissors are now six or seven years old and work as well as they did when I bought them, and my Hightide Bookstands are the same ones I purchased for myself back in 2020.) If you can’t come see us in person in Nashville, I’ll be taking T.G.S. to the Arkansas Pen Show at the end of March 21-23, where I’ll have desk accessories as well as all the pens, pencils, and paper you can handle.

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.

Thursday Drops: New Notsu Notecard Sets, Notecard Holders, and More Desk Accessories!

Notsu Notecards Sets are back, including several new designs! In addition to more of the popular “Centre Rise” vertical to-do index cards, we have the “Centre” Set that features a horizontal card layout, and which is compatible with both “To Do” and “Weekly Planner” cards sold separately in packs of 50. Nakabayashi paper has been fully restocked in most formats, and of course we have the Levenger writing pads that we reviewed yesterday. Happy shopping!

Come browse our wares in person! We are open in-store today and tomorrow from 1-6pm, and Saturday from 9-3pm (closing a bit early but opening early to compensate), so please come by and check out all of our new stuff!

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The new Hightide Bicolor Sandglasses feature 30-minute and a new 10-minute interval.

1. Notsu “Centre” Notecard Set. Notsu’s ink friendly notecards/index cards were a big hit when we brought them in last month. These vertical “To Do” notecards are scored so that you can fold them for easy carry in a wallet or shirt pocket, plus the box transforms into a magnetic stand for your desk. (I have some pictures of how it works here.)

2. Notsu “Centre Rise” Notecard Set. The popular Notsu “Centre Rise” is back in stock in black, with only limited quantities available at this time but more on the way. If the magnetic stand is not important to you, a hard box of the vertical “To Do” cards is separately available.

3. Notsu Notecard Holder. Looking to streamline your workflow and carry just a few notecards plus a pen? This vegan leather notecard holder features a magnetic clip and a pen loop, plus a back pocket to hold notecards and business cards.

4. Notsu Notecards. We have Notsu index cards in a variety of formats, including dot grid 4”x6” and 3”x5”, horizontal and vertical “To Do” layouts, and a useful “Weekly Plan” layout.

5. Exacompta Index Cards. Featuring Clairefontaine paper, Exacompta is known for making fountain pen friendly index cards in various rulings. Multi color versions available as well.

6. Levenger Freeleaf Notepads. Looking for an annotation ruled legal pad that won’t break the bank? I’ve long been a fan of Levenger’s versatile layouts, and I have what amounts to a lifetime stash of these pads in my personal archive.

7. Nakabayashi Paper Restock. We recently received a full restock of the Logical Air, Logical Prime, and Yu-Sari papers, in clothbound, spiral, and looseleaf formats.

8. Hightide Sandglasses and New Bicolor Sandglasses. Hightide Sandglasses are longtime shop favorites, and we’ve recently added three new bicolor glasses in 30-minute and 10-minute variants.

9. Levenger Bomber Jacket Leather Pen Cases. These started selling on-site in the store as soon as I took them out of the box. Featuring seven pen slots and a zippered pouch in the middle, these pen cases make for a carry solution that’s both practical and luxurious.

10. Levenger Canvas Stationery Pouches (Set of 2). These carry-all pouches come in a set of two, allowing you to hold notecards, small notebooks, page markers, pens, pencils, and more.

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Levenger Freeleaf Paper: A Brand That Started It All for Me

Back in the early 2000s, Levenger was one of the more readily available sources of quality, yet reasonably priced, stationery and desk/reading accessories, and I fondly recall spending hours browsing their original factory store when my parents lived near Delray Beach, Florida. (I would also visit the old Tysons Corner, Virginia location when I attended the D.C. Pen Show at the old Sheraton location.) The Levenger Circa disc binder system still plays a role in my personal carry, and I love that I can hole-punch any letter or A4-sized looseleaf paper and organize notes by sheet, much the same way as I have used William Hannah.

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Levenger paper is more absorbent, so it doesn’t show off sheen or shading as much as coated paper. It does, however, dry fairly quickly. I love these pads for notetaking in meetings, using the ruled areas to take actual notes and the shaded “annotation” section to summarize talking points and follow-up questions.

While Levenger has long advertised their paper as “ballpoint, rollerball, and fountain pen friendly”, I’ve found it to be somewhat inconsistent over the years. I suspect they’ve changed the sourcing more than a few times. In the early 2010s, I acquired a large batch of Circa notebook refills, Oasis desk pads, and annotation legal style pads which I would describe as “relatively” fountain pen friendly. The paper was certainly usable (especially for the price point), but it still suffered from some feathering and pinpoint bleedthrough with especially wet pens and nibs broader than a fine, and sometimes a medium. The current generation of Levenger paper, I’m happy to report, performs much better.

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The grey-shaded annotation pads feature a monthly/weekly date function that allows you to date your notes by circling a specific day or a range. The color shaded annotation pads do not feature the calendar.

I’m still working through that original giant bulk order, sp I’ve not had much of a chance to sample any of Levenger’s latest releases until recently, when I acquired a large batch of their “Freeleaf” notepads from an estate sale. I’ve been using them for about six months or so, and have been so pleased with the quality that I not only bought more but decided to bring them into the shop. To me, what makes Levenger products fun to use are their diverse array of layouts, ranging from their classic “annotation ruled” paper (a version of Cornell-style formatting) to this new “Vintage Library” pad that looks like a giant library card. The annotation pads are definitely the most fountain pen friendly of the bunch, and I’ve had no issues with this paper bleeding or feathering even with very wet nibs and grinds like architects and kodachi/blade grinds that can dig into the paper a bit. I hope Levenger keeps this source and begins to use this paper across their entire product line, because in addition to performing well with ink it has a pleasant texture and tactile feel when writing.

Ever wanted to write on a giant library card? Well, now you can live that dream.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

As a shop owner, I’m constantly paying attention not only the best-performing paper, but paper that performs well at a price point that’s accessible to those of us who use it every day and, as a result, burn through a lot of it. While all the specialty Japanese papers out there can be interesting to use and often perform superbly with fountain pens, they tend to be too pricey for me to use on more mundane office tasks where the paper often has to end up in the shredder. The Levenger “Freeleaf” legal pads handle fountain pen ink quite well, and can cost as little as $8 on a per-pad basis, making them a great office resource. I love that the pages are formatted on both sides to maximize usability and minimize waste.

We currently sell the Freeleaf pads individually and in a pack of five, in three different layouts. We also carry a curated selection of Levenger accessories, including some newly arrived leather pen cases and canvas stationery pouches. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve tried so far, and definitely plan on adding as much as Levenger will make available to independent retailers.

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.

New Arrivals: Levenger Cases and Desk Accessories, Plus Hightide Sandglasses

If I had to pick a true “favorite” section of the shop, it would be the desk and reading accessories, because this entire product segment has become a personal curation of items that I use regularly. We’ve recently brought in additional items from Levenger, ranging from the simple (Aero Clips and Page Nibs) to the more luxurious (bomber jacket leather pen cases that hold up to seven pens AND feature a zipper pouch). And we’ve added additional layouts of Levenger’s “Freeleaf” notepads, which come in grey and color-shaded annotation layouts, as well as a “vintage library” style that looks like a giant library card. Levenger was one of the brands that got me into stationery many years ago, and we’re thrilled to be able to offer it in our own shop.

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Hightide Sandglasses have also returned, including new bicolor versions in 30-minute and 10-minute variations. These hourglasses were one of our first big hits, and they’re a perennial seller around the holidays (though they’re also fun to gift year-round). These new colors stand out, especially the larger version which makes a statement on your desk.

Finally, it’s last call for the InCoWriMo special! February is International Correspondence Writing Month (InCoWriMo), and for the days that remain, take an extra 10% off certain letter-writing supplies using the code “SNAILMAIL” at checkout. Note that our brick-and-mortar hours will be slightly modified on Saturday, with the store opening an hour early and closing at 3pm.