Thursday Drops: Green Diplomat Vipers, Big Notsu Cards, and More Fountain Pen Restocks

I returned from the San Francisco Pen show to a box of the newly released Green Guilloche Diplomat Viper, which we have in both fountain pen and rollerball formats! For those unfamiliar with this pen, the Diplomat Viper is a hooded-nib fountain pen that features a single nib width (fine/medium) which is perfect for my own everyday writing. While I chose the Blue fountain pen, all of these colors are great.

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We have additional stock of the TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR Affogato + Onyx, as well as newly arrived restocks of the Lamy 2000 in fountain pen, rollerball, ballpoint, and even mechanical pencil formats. Finally, Notsu is back with large-format index cards (per Tuesday’s post), and all of the Roterfadens we brought home San Francisco are back in inventory if you didn’t get to visit us at the pen show. Happy Shopping!

We are open this week from 1-6pm on Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-6pm on Saturday. Come see us in person at our Nashville location, and keep track of updated hours on this page here.

1. Diplomat Viper Fountain Pens and Rollerballs in Green. The latest Diplomat Viper release is here, in a much-anticipated green color. We also have a full restock of the other three colors.

2. TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR Affogato + Onyx Fountain Pen. A sleeper hit at this year’s San Francisco Pen Show, many people came by the tables just to see TWSBI’s latest. The Onyx Trim really sets off the dark brown anodization on this 580 ALR. The Caribbean Blue + Onyx is also stunning, and it’s also been a sleeper favorite.

3. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiters in A5 and B6. All of the Taschenbegleiters that we took to San Francisco and did not sell (as well as those that didn’t make the trip) are now back into inventory as of this morning.

4. Sunderland Machine Works MK1 Machined Rollerball. One of my favorite non-fountain pens, these machined rollerballs take a range of gel refills (G2, Energel, Sarasa) with minimal hacking, and will also accept the threaded Montblanc-style rollerball and fineliner refills. While our store custom edition is currently on hiatus, we carry the range of standard Sunderland finishes.

5. Pilot Custom 823 Fountain Pens. We’ve restocked on the Pilot Custom 823 Fountain Pen in Amber, Smoke, and Clear, and between the three finishes I believe we have most nib sizes available. The Custom 823 has long been one of our “workhorse” fountain pens for everyday writing, mainly because the vacuum-filling system uses a valve shut-off feature to allow you to travel without fear of leaks.

6. Lamy 2000 Ballpoints. The ballpoint version of Lamy’s flagship fountain pen is not only reasonably priced, but comfortable for longer writing sessions and now compatible with the M17 Jetstream refill, which we offer in either .5mm or .7mm tip sizes.

7. Lamy 2000 Blackwood and Taxus Ballpoints. Did you know that the Lamy 2000 comes in two polished wood finishes as well? These take the same range of refills as the standard pen, and have slightly more heft than the Makrolon.

8. Oversized Notsu Notecards. Notsu’s excellent ink-friendly notecards are now available in a larger 5x7 format, and we have also restocked on most other sizes and layouts.

9. Colorverse “Top 3” Fountain Pen Inks. Colorverse released the top 3 inks from last year’s Colorvent Advent Calendar, and we are now happy to offer them in 50ml bottles. The three colors that won the vote were Christmas Star (Glistening/Shimmer), Pulsar Pulse (Sheening), and Milky Way (Glistening/Shimmer).

10. Taccia Tsuchi Returns! Years ago, I had tried Taccia “Tsuchi”, a darker golden brown based on the color of wheat. Despite thinking this one had been discontinued, I found it and have added a few bottles.

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Both Onyx-trim TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR fountain pens in Affogato (top) and Caribbean Blue (bottom).

2025 San Francisco Pen Show Recap: Still The Best "Big" Show!

We returned this week from the 2025 San Francisco Pen Show, and what an awesome weekend! After having to cancel at the last minute last year due to a family emergency, it was great to be back and to have the opportunity to visit with so many of our readers and customers. Due to the number of international vendors who attend the show, San Francisco is truly an “international” pen show with both vendors and attendees from Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Turkey, and more.

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I snuck in to get a shot of the ballroom as it was being set up on Wednesday night.

While the show is smaller than D.C. in terms of both physical footprint and number of vendors, there are things at this show that you simply won’t find anywhere else. This year’s international attendees included Nagasawa Stationery, Toyooka Craft, Drillog, Atelier Musubi, Stylo Art Karuizawa, Kyuseido, and seY pens, as well as a number of glass pen makers that included Glassophy, Hanabi Glass Studio, Glass Studio Aun, Glass Studio TooS, and more. It’s impossible for me to list and link to everyone here, as there are simply too many, but you can view the entire exhibitor list on the SF Pen Show website.

Representatives from Nagasawa Stationery (Nagasawa Bungu Center) presented at the San Francisco Pen Show on the history of their Kobe Inks.

What Makes the San Francisco Pen Show Great: People and Content

Ever since attending my first San Francisco Pen Show in 2021, I’ve enjoyed returning for two things: the people and the content (mainly classes and seminars). This year’s show continued the trend, with excellent workshops and classes of which I attended two. The first was a Thursday night panel that included Naoyuki Takeuchi, the head of Ink Planning and Development at Nagasawa Stationery in Kobe Japan; Daryl Lim of Atelier Musubi; Satoru of seY Pen; and renowned nib artisan Yukio Nagahara, who attended the show with his company The Nib Shaper. The wide-ranging discussion (moderated by my friend Lisa Vanness) included some generalized background about all the different companies represented, but also spanned topics as diverse as the role of stationery in different countries, paper preferences across regions, and personal pen, paper, and ink preferences.

The second seminar was held on Saturday afternoon, and was hosted by Takeuchi-san of Nagasawa and his excellent translator Anastasia, who walked through the history of Nagasawa’s Kobe Ink series and provided in-depth background regarding the development process and stories behind certain colors. I plan to do a separate recap discussing some of the topics from this and other seminars in the coming days, so stay tuned.

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Everyone who’s visited T.G.S. at the larger pen shows know that we’re somewhat selective in what we bring to shows, given the already diverse selection available across more than a hundred tables. As with the D.C. Pen Show, this year we only brought Roterfaden, the German clip-based binder system, and as you can see, we went from 16 to 4 Taschenbegleiters by midday Saturday!

Business Recap: So Long to All Those Roterfadens!

Everyone always asks me “how was your show?”, so let me say this: it was fabulous. Not only did we do well business-wise (taking some of the stress out of an otherwise expensive trip) but I love meeting readers and customers in person and hearing about how much they’re enjoying their stationery, especially when they stop by to tell me how they’re actually using it out there in the real world. While I only had five TGS_25 Roterfadens available at the show, at least twice that number of people came by to tell me how much they were enjoying theirs that they had bought online. (Some even wanted pictures, which was a new experience for me, as all my friends know I’m camera-shy :).)

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The Galen Leather “Dentist” Nib, which is a fine architect that’s super-smooth.

We had teamed up with Vanness Pens at their table in the Oak Room (at the back of the entrance hallway), and were joined by Ana Reinert of the Well-Appointed Desk and Galen Leather, who brought not just their latest “Havana Brown” release, but also their exclusive fountain pens and custom nibs ground by Meltem (“Amphorastale” on Instagram). I had a few minutes on Saturday - or maybe it was Sunday, it’s all a blur - to test out their custom nib grinds and found them excellent. The next time you order one of the Galen Leonardos or another JoWo-compatible pen, consider adding a specialty nib. My favorite was the fine italic.

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My San Francisco Pen Show Haul, Plus things I did not buy because infinite money is not really a thing

As I mentioned above, those looking for high-end glass and dip pens did not come away from San Francisco disappointed. Unless you waited too long, that is. The San Francisco Pen Show is notorious for product selling out on Friday morning, since weekend pass-holders queue-up early to get access to the most in-demand products. This time around it was mainly glass pens, and I heard that people arrived at 5 a.m. to get in line. Despite not being able to be part of the initial rush since I was behind the table, I still managed to pick up a couple of fun pieces on Saturday: a glass pen from Glass Studio Aun with a broad nib, and a Drillog 2.0 with a .5mm tip size. You can read my original (somewhat critical) review of the Kickstarter Drillog here, but I have to say that this new version delivers on the original vision and more. It’s super smooth, and since there are additional channels cut into the nib, it delivers sustained ink flow. Drillog also switched to titanium, which has improved performance. I plan to post a full follow-up on this one.

My glass pen from Studio Aun (left) alongside my Drillog. I chose the short nib.

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Schon DSGN has released a new pen: the Monoc EVO, which is a piston-filler fountain pen with an integrated nib.

This year’s special release from Pilot will arrive in October. This Custom 74 will be available in four special nib sizes, including Soft Fine, Soft Fine-Medium, Soft Medium, and Double Broad.

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The Drillog setup at the San Francisco Pen Show. Customize to your heart’s content.

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Marty brought all the Retro 51s!

A tiny Pelikan fountain pen (M300?) alongside a Kaweco Liliput Kolibri.

That’s a Wrap for 2025 Pen Shows: On to Pelikan Hub, Fountain Pen Day, and In-Store Events!

My goal was to bring T.G.S. to three or four pen shows in 2025, and I did four, so check that annual performance goal off the list! In addition to San Francisco and D.C., we attended Arkansas and Atlanta back in the Spring, and already are planning adventures for 2026 and beyond. We’re now entering the fall season, which will include the annual Pelikan Hub, Fountain Pen Day, and even a few special events we are planning to host in our own space. Stay tuned and I hope to see you soon in Nashville!

We are back to a normal in-store schedule, so come see us from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday and 10am-6pm on Saturdays. Please check this page here for information on our store location and up-to-date information on hours, etc.

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They may be sold out by the time you read this, but as of publication we still have a couple remaining TGS_25 Roterfadens!

New Arrivals: More Index Card Formats from Notsu!

We have more Notsu! One of our favorite discoveries of 2025 has been the Notsu Index Card system, which features a series of desktop notecard sets that include the “Centre Rise” and “To Do” organizers. The rounded dot grid version of these ink-friendly index cards is now available in a larger 5x7 format, and the cards are creased to fold to a more portable 3.5x5 inch size. We have also added the 3x5 grid/graph index cards. Be sure to check out all of our Notsu offerings, including not just the cases but accessories like vegan leather card holders, as well as Notsu’s line of notebooks and writing pads. Notsu cards are incredibly ink friendly, and one of the best options for index cards that handle fountain pens well.

Come see these and more in person as we are open this week from 1pm-6pm Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-6pm on Saturday!

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Monday Reading for September 1, 2025 (Labor Day Weekend Edition)

1. My Pen Picks for San Francisco Show & Tell (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). It was great to hang out with Kimberly this weekend, and yes, there were some great pens in here.

2. Two Years of Curiosities, and May-August 2025 in Stationery (via A Gathering of Curiosities). Congratulations on two years of blogging!

3. I Spent a Week Using Only Starter Fountain Pens: Here Is What I Found (via dwrdnet). Derek spent a week using a Pilot Kakuno and a Platinum Preppy with cartridges! See how he fared.

4. Plotter Mini5, But Make It a Wallet (via The Poor Penman). I will second the suggestion that the Plotter Mini5 makes an excellent wallet, with the wallet as the primary function.

5. Drillog Dip Pen (via Figboot on Pens). One of the things that I picked up this weekend in San Francisco was one of the Drillog 2.0 dip pens in a similar finish to what David reviews here.

6. Anterique Mach Ball Brass Edition Ballpoint Review (via Pen Addict). At some point we will have a wider selection of the brass pens back in stock! I’m working on it because so many of you have reached out to let me know how much you love the Anterique pens.

7. Unboxing and Trying Out Some Cool Pens! Multipens and a Beautiful Wooden Pilot S20 (via Inkdependence). Chalk up another win for the Pilot S20, one of my favorite low viscosity ballpoints.

8. This ICONIC Pen Needs a Relaunch - Rotring 600 (via Doodlebud). Do we need to bring back the Rotring 600 fountain pen? I never got to experience this one back when they were more readily available at reasonable prices.

9. Galen Leather Crazy Horse Havana Brown 10-Slot Zippered Case (via Well-Appointed Desk). I had a lot of hands-on time with the latest color from Galen Leather this weekend, and I’m really loving the darker brown.

10. Souverän M600 Art Collection - Rudi Rother Special Edition (via Pelikan’s Perch). I’m glad to see Pelikan sticking with the art collection, as I enjoyed seeing last year’s release even if I didn’t pick one up.

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I managed to get my hands on the 2025 Pilot Custom 74 Special Release and try out the new nibs! This pen will be available in October, with Soft Fine, Soft Fine-Medium, and Soft Medium Nib Options.

In Case You Missed It…

This week I was traveling to and attending the San Francisco Pen Show, which is a large endeavor that took up much of my time so it was quiet on the content front. Look for a recap this week, as well as some additional photos and videos as I unpack. Many thanks to everyone who made it down the hallway to the Oak Room to visit us at the Vanness tables this week, as it was quite the struggle at times due to the crowds. The best thing about the San Francisco Pen Show, however, is the people, as it’s always a great time both during the show and after-hours!

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What’s New in the T.G.S. Curated Shop?

Since we only took Roterfaden to San Francisco, getting ready for the show occupied most of my attention this week. We relaunched the TGS_25 A5 Slim Taschenbegleiter, and this second shipment went even quicker than the first. Currently only green elastic models remain in the A5 Slim, but we do have additional A5 and B6 covers available for purchase.

Lost in the shuffle a bit was the TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR “Affogato” with the onyx trim, which I was able to spend some time with at the pen show this weekend. It’s a gorgeous finish and one of the best looking TWSBI’s they’ve released. The combination of brown and black trim is one that’s not been used much, which is a shame. We also have the Lamy “Multi” Safari, Signo RT1s, and remaining stock of the Platinum Preppy Wa Modern Maki-e fountain pens. Be sure to check out each week’s Thursday Drops for a full list of new arrivals.

We will have normal hours this coming week, open from 1pm-6pm on Thursday and Friday and from 10am-6pm on Saturday. Please check our main shop page for updated info.

Lamy

Uni

Correspondence Shop

Multi Pens

Consider Further Supporting T.G.S.!

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 special promotions, 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)! The T.G.S. Patreon includes early access and discounts on exclusive shop releases (including the Taschenstift “Violet Tendencies” and the Roterfaden TGS_25), the quarterly gently used sales, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. As noted above, we’ve recently started a Discord community for all paid Patreon supporters.

San Francisco Pen Show Saturday Update: Come See Us If You Can Fight Through the Crowds!

Greetings from San Francisco! We’re tucked into Oak Room, which is straight down the entrance hall, all the way to the back on the left. We’re sharing table space with our friends at Vanness Pens and Galen Leather, so please do come see us.

San Francisco is one of the busiest pen shows I’ve attended in years. Please take it slow, be patient and kind, and accept up front that things are selling out very, very quickly so you may have to hunt for some of the more unique items. Regardless of whether you can purchase on site, there’s still a LOT of fun stuff to see because many vendors have demos, like the Drillog table shown above.

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Hmmm.

If you’re looking for a Roterfaden TGS_25 at the show, those unfortunately sold out in a few hours on Friday morning, but there is very limited stock still available online. (I’m posting this link here at the request of several show attendees so people know exactly where to go.)

Please note that our Nashville Shop is closed today due to travel, and will reopen next week. Updated hours can be found here.