San Francisco Pen Show Hotel View — Being able to get outside and walk along the bay near the hotel gave an added boost outside of show hours.

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

September 3, 2025

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.

San Francisco Pen Show Inside Ballroom — 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.

Nagasawa Bungu Center Ink Presentation — 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.

Roterfaden Binders at the End of the Show! — 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 :).)

The Galen Leather Dentist/Architect Nib — 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.

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.

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

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

Pilot Custom 74 Special Edition — 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.

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

This Retro 51 Display from Marty Henderson — Marty brought all the Retro 51s!

Tiny Pelikan alongside the new Liliput Kolibri — 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.

TGS_25 Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter Green Traveler's Size — They may be sold out by the time you read this, but as of publication we still have a couple remaining TGS_25 Roterfadens!

From the Archives: Early T.G.S. YouTube Videos and Overlooked Gems

July 16, 2025

Sometimes when I’m on vacation or traveling I’ll pull out some older posts from the early days - perhaps content from a time when the site (and certainly the YouTube Channel) didn’t get as much traffic as it does now. Due to the algorithmic nature of the modern internet, a lot of good, informative content gets buried simply because it’s old. Periodically you need to do what you can to put it back out there. Here are three videos/video series that I had a lot of fun making and I hope you enjoy if you missed them the first time around.

Fountain Pen Basics: How to Fill a Fountain Pen. I walk through several different filling systems, demonstrating how they work. Self-explanatory, but I do receive a lot of questions and inquiries on this topic.
London Stationery Haul, Part I: Inks from Cornelissen. I thought this one would get more attention than it did, but perhaps the YouTube Algorithm simply isn’t as captivated by historically inspired dip pen inks as I am.
Santini Italia Libra Fountain Pen Review. I reviewed a pen that was loaned to me by a friend, which honestly saved me a lot of money. These pens are beautiful but simply don’t match my writing style.

Due to our travel schedule this week, please note that our brick-and-mortar shop is closed and will reopen the week of July 21. Online orders will continue to be processed and ship but may require an additional 1-2 business days beyond our normal time. Thank you for all your support!

My Stationery Travel Kit for Vacation 2025 — All I’m bringing this week.

Vacation Prep: What I’m Taking and What to Expect Next Week

July 12, 2025

So we’re taking a vacation. A real vacation. The kind of do-not-much-but-read, actually relaxing vacation. I have some pre-set content queued up, but things will be quiet here for a few days. The brick-and-mortar shop will be closed next week (July 13-20), but online orders will still be processed and will continue to ship as I have helpers assisting with fulfillment. We’re driving all day tomorrow, so “Sunday Reading” will likely become “Monday Reading”, and I have some fun “throwback” posts on the way.

My 2025 Vacation Travel Kit

I’m keeping it simple, per the picture above, taking a single Rickshaw Sinclair with whatever fountain pens are currently in there, a couple Lamy’s with the new (and restocked!) Jetstream refills, plus my current Maruman Mnemosyne Journal and my oldest Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter with a Nanami Paper Seven Seas writer containing a partially finished first draft of a creative writing project I want to revisit. We’ll see how much actually happens, but the plan is to disconnect from work and “the world” for a bit. Honestly, this is a travel-kit-by-default because I’m working all day today to get pending orders out the door or pulled for packing tomorrow and don’t have time to redo anything, but I put a lot of thought into this currently inked rotation and really want to use all of these pens until they’re dry.

See you next week!

Latest TGS Roterfaden A5 Shipment — A5 Roterfadens are back in stock! These are easy to ship while I’m out, so orders will be processed in our normal shipping time.

Atlanta Pen Show Ryan Krusac — I didn’t get nearly as much time to wander, but one of my friends brought this purchase from Ryan Krusac by the table. Gorgeous.

2025 Atlanta Pen Show Recap: Time for a Reboot (Plus a Note on Tariffs)

April 9, 2025

I want to start by saying that I had a great time at the Atlanta Pen Show this past weekend, and overall T.G.S. did very well at this event. Despite all the economic uncertainty, our community is vibrant, energized and supportive, and I have no doubt pen shows and the community as a whole will come through this latest crisis. In my view, if the 2008 financial crisis and the multi-year pandemic shutdown didn’t kill shows, they must have a pretty strong foundation and people will figure out how to keep them going. For most of us (myself included), this isn’t a hobby, it's part of who we are and how we think and work, and I plan to do whatever I can to stick around and pull through and make sure readers and customers continue to have as wide a selection as possible for their stationery experience.

That said, more than the depressing state of world affairs cast a pall over the 2025 Atlanta Pen Show. The show was not nearly as well-run as in years past. The vendor and seminar lists were never updated (even now the site shows 2024 names), no seminars were even held, and there was a lot of confusion among potential attendees about whether the show would even take place. This wasn’t an economy issue - it was purely on the showrunners. While the organizers certainly dropped the ball for 2025, I don’t expect these problems to continue next year as I understand they were plagued by a lack of available help, which is already being addressed.

Tri Star Studios Setup at the Atlanta Pen Show — Tri Star Studios attended as a vendor for the first time. I ended up buying a pen from Scott, who also had ceramics from Tracy Cullen Pottery. See Saturday’s post for details.

While it’s never fun when a show doesn’t run smoothly, I still had a blast. I’ve never had a table at the Atlanta Pen Show, and like the Arkansas Pen Show, I really enjoyed getting to meet so many long-time customers in person. As long as my family schedule permits, I will continue to return. Despite organizational snafus, there was a good mix of vendors, including many independent makers showing for the first time, though the show did lack a major source of ink because both Vanness and Dromgoole’s could not attend this year.

TGS Atlanta Pen Show Table Setup — I’m perfecting the art of the one-table setup. :)

T.G.S. also had a good show, business-wise. As I discussed post-Arkansas, my goal for shows is to bring goods that other vendors don’t tend to focus on, including non-fountain pens like the ever-popular Tom’s Studio Lumos and Wren series, notebook systems from Roterfaden and Lochby, and more unusual niche inks. (This past weekend I brought inks from Teranishi and Tom’s Studio.) I had several people comment on the selection and express appreciation for doing something different, which makes me think I’m on to something. :)

Pen Show After Hours in the Bar — I was most disappointed that the bar no longer had any beer on tap. And ran out of most bottles on Friday.

Response to Reader Questions: What About Tariffs?

Like many other retailers, I’ve been fielding inquiries since the weekend about how U.S. tariffs will impact the pen industry and U.S.-based retailers. Unfortunately, I have to say that the likely impact is obvious: there will almost certainly be higher prices in the future if the current tariff rates hold. Most of the industry is, at least for now, import-dependent. While there are some stationery products that are made in the U.S.A., even these may have ties to imported components and raw materials, machinery, and other elements of the supply chain that are not immediately obvious. Please remember that retailers have very little control over prices, which tend to be dictated by manufacturers and/or distributors. Most of us sell our goods at the lower end of the permissible range at whatever markup is necessary to support a viable margin that allows us to keep the lights on. The prices we charge are directly impacted by the prices we are charged, and contrary to some of the speculation I have seen in various pen forums, stationery is not a high-margin business capable of completely absorbing tariffs of this magnitude. Brick and mortar retailers have even slimmer margins due to overhead costs.

TGS Post-Pen Show Restock Photo — Post pen-show and restocking chaos. We will be cleaned up and ready to go by Thursday, and the brick and mortar shop will be open Thursday-Saturday for the foreseeable future. Check out this page to stay up to date on hours.

That said, I believe that it’s also unlikely the current tariff rates will hold. [Edit: They’ve been paused as of 4:00pm on 4/9. Guess we’ll talk again in 90 days?] The more plausible scenario is that over time, they will be negotiated down to something that still stings but will be more manageable. Most retailers and distributors have likely been stocking 4-6 months worth of inventory - if not more - to ride out the initial turbulence, but for things like limited edition releases that need to be ordered in the next several weeks, it may be a different story. I try to be transparent so I will keep everyone updated as I hear more about how the industry is responding, but for now it’s fair to say that nobody really knows how this will all shake out.

Many thanks to everyone who has expressed support and/or concern, and I’m extremely grateful for your patronage! T.G.S. is in a good position, and because we’re small with lower overhead than most we will be nimble enough to adjust as circumstances dictate. In addition to having a large supply of most major brands, we try to stock a range of goods across many different price points to ensure that people will be able to continue to enjoy their stationery no matter the circumstances.

Come see us in person this weekend! Our physical shop is open Thursday and Friday from 1-6pm, and 10-6pm on Saturdays.

Bag Dump of Ballpoint, Rollerballs, and Gel Pens

Travel Interlude: First Bag Dump of 2025, Plus a Travel/Pen Show Week Promo

March 5, 2025

It’s been a while since I did a “Bag Dump” post, probably because I haven’t traveled much in the last six months. For a short 2-day trip like this one, I still carry a fair amount of stationery, especially when the travel relates to a work conference where I’ll be taking a lot of notes. Because this trip doesn’t involve a pen show (sorry, Baltimore!), you won’t see any fountain pens featured here, and this particular Rickshaw Sinclair Model-R permanently holds a fistful of workhorse rollerballs, ballpoints, fineliners, and gel pens, which is what you see above from left to right:

Rickshaw Bagworks Sinclair Model-R Pen Case in Saffron Yellow. One of my absolute favorite pen cases for travel, the Sinclair Model-R (and previously, the Nock Co. Sinclair) makes a great modular case that’s simple to move between bags.
Leuchtturm Drehgriffel Gel Pen. A review in process, and one where I keep going back and forth on how much I like the product. Some days, I love the Drehgriffel; on other days I wish it were slightly larger. Stay tuned.
Lamy 2000 Rollerball. I’m not a proponent of the Lamy 2000 fountain pen for air travel, since hooded nib pens don’t generally don’t handle the pressure change well and tend to burp ink into the cap. Given how much I love the overall design of the Lamy 2000, however, one of the other Lamy 2000 formats always comes with me. Here, I’ve hacked a .5mm Ohto rollerball refill by taping a small piece of paper to the end to make it longer, so this is a rollerball pen with a fine refill that doesn’t feather or bleed. Perfection? Possibly.
Tom’s Studio Lumos Pro Duo Fineliner, with Leather Rollstop/Grip. You all know how much I use these things, so I won’t belabor the point, but I added the rollstop to ensure this one doesn’t end up rolling off the table onto the floor. I don’t want to be that guy crawling up the aisle at a conference in the middle of the presentation looking for his pen. I swore that would never happen again.
Gravitas Twist Ultemate Ballpoint. A pen that I picked up some time ago but have held off on reviewing while Gravitas worked through some production issues. It’s back in the queue for future commentary.
Uni Jetstream Prime Lite Touch 3 Multi Pen. I don’t go anywhere without at least one Multi Pen. The recently released Lite Touch 3 made the cut for this outing.
Lamy Swift Retractable Rollerball. Stay tuned on this one, as it has a few cool aspects that I’ve never seen on another pen. (Like a retractable clip?) I received a couple of these pens with the large rotating Lamy display I ordered earlier this month, and I plan to have more to list in the coming weeks.
Montblanc Classique Ballpoint with Monteverde for Montblanc Gel Refill. Yes, you can turn your Montblanc twist ballpoint into a gel pen. These Monteverde for Montblanc gel refills are still around, and very good.
Pilot S20 Ballpoint. While I love my Jetstreams, Pilot’s “Acro-Ink” is excellent, and the Pilot S20 might be my favorite ballpoint for long writing sessions.
Notsu Vegan Leather Notecard Holder. It fit perfectly inside the Sinclair, what do you know? I plan to have this with me at my conference to discretely jot down any non-conference related thoughts that may be worth retaining.

Travel Notebooks: Plotter, Midori 5-Year, Lochby Field Journal Mini — So what about notebooks? With me this week are the same three notebooks I picked to start 2025 (the Musubi is very close to completion), along with the Lochby Field Journal Mini, which sadly will be out of stock for a while, from what Lochby tells me.

And What’s a Pen Show Week Without a Promo? This Time on Notebook Systems!

If I’m attending a pen show, I’ll always have something on special to compensate for the fact that I’m away from the shop for a few days (until Friday), and also to let those who can’t attend the actual show to get in on the fun. Even though I won’t be at the 2025 Baltimore Pen Show, I thought it might be fun to do a flash promo on notebook systems through Friday, March 7. Take 10% off notebook systems, including Traveler’s, Midori, Lochby, Laconic, and Stàlogy, using the code “TRAVEL” at checkout. I hope you use them for something fun!

Filson Bag Under Seat — I’ve switched things up some lately, but since I prefer aisle seats with little under-seat storage, this week’s travel companion was my classic Filson Twill Briefcase.

Did you like this post? The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. To accompany this post, I filmed a short “unpacking” video (a true “bag dump”), which you can now view on the YouTube Channel!