As I mentioned earlier this week, the holiday shopping season has kicked off, whether we want it to or not. To be honest, I’m actually looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas, as the festivities offer a respite from the stretch of “sameness” many of us have been experiencing. This week I’m featuring the Diamine “Inkvent” Calendar from our friends at Vanness, the latest Sailor 110th Anniversary Fountain Pen that I had the opportunity to handle last week at Anderson Pens Chicago, as well as a bunch of pocket pens and other accessories from Penco/Hightide that I recently received. Finally, don’t forget to check out this year’s Holiday Gift Guide, which is chock full of gift ideas for the shopping season!

A note on orders next week: Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday (including a combination of my own travel schedules and postal delays/closures, orders placed next week will be delayed. If you have an order that you’d absolutely like to receive next week, please get it in by noon on Tuesday, November 23. Many thanks!

All links to the T.G.S. Curated Shop, unless otherwise noted. By shopping with us directly, you are supporting original content, pen reviews, pen show events, etc. from The Gentleman Stationer. If you would like to support us even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!

Diamine Inkvent Calendar (via Vanness Pens). Why not kick off this week’s edition of Deals & Drops with the most festive release of all! Diamine is once again launching their “Inkvent” Calendar, containing 24 12ml bottles of ink and one 30ml bottle of ink for the first 25 days of December. Maybe this year I’ll pick one up and play along?
Sailor 110th Anniversary Limited Edition Kurogane Fountain Pen (via Anderson Pens). So during my trip to Anderson Pens Chicago last week, I had the opportunity to handle Sailor’s anniversary release, and while this particular design won’t appeal to everyone, you have to admire that they’re pushing the design envelope.
Penco “Perfection” Bullet Pens. After a somewhat lengthy backorder period, the Penco “Perfection” Bullet Pens are back in stock, in chrome, brass, and matte black finishes. These bullet-style pocket pens, which are chunkier than the Fisher Space bullet pen, use a D1 refill for maximum versatility.
Penco Pocket Drafting Pens and Pencils. When we first added these pocket-sized drafting ballpoints and mechanical pencils, they were hard to keep in stock. I finally was able to get my hands on a few of them once again.
Hightide Folding Metal Bookstands. A T.G.S. Curated Shop favorite, once again fully stocked for the holidays in nearly a dozen different colors, including new hues such as Khaki (really an “army green”) and grey! One of the most versatile items in the collection, which can be used as a traditional bookstand or, alternatively, as a stand to hold your handwritten notes/drafts for transcribing or even an electronic tablet.
Hightide Sandglasses. I have a limited number of the larger 30 minute sandglasses currently in stock, but more should be on the way and will be listed as soon as I have them in stock in all available sizes.
TWSBI Rose Gold Fountain Pens. For some reason, I find rose gold trim particularly festive headed into the Holiday Season! We have the TWSBI 580 Smoke and Rose Gold II fountain pens in stock, as well as the TWSBI Eco Rose Gold in both black and white color combinations.
Caran d’Ache Claim Your Style Edition No. 3. I think these monochromatic Caran d’Ache 849 Ballpoints are some of the best looking Claim Your Style releases to date, especially the Moss Green and the Night Blue.
Caran d’Ache 849 “Gold Bar” Ballpoint. From the “Pop Line” series, the “Gold Bar” edition would make for a great holiday gift. This matte gold finish looks absolutely spectacular in person.
Caran d’Ache 849 “Brut Rose” Ballpoint. Like the Gold Bar, the Brut Rose 849 is always popular around the holidays. I’ve stocked up accordingly!

Caran d'Ache 849 "Claim Your Style" Edition — This year’s Caran d’Ache 849 “Claim Your Style” edition offers a range of choices in a unique monochromatic color scheme!

It’s that time of year again, and consistent with my firmly held belief that Halloween and Thanksgiving are still holidays, I’ve held off on issuing the T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide until the second half of November! (Personally, I’d love to wait until Black Friday, but given shipping delays, everyone should be getting a head start on orders.) As with last year, the 2021 Holiday Gift Guide features a selection of products from the fully restocked T.G.S. Curated Shop.

While the gift guide has more than a dozen different gift ideas, if I had to pick three personal favorites for gift-giving this year, they would be the following:

Caran d’Ache 849 Rollerball Pens. These have now started shipping in the Caran d’Ache metal clamshell cases, so they make an impressive gift presentation that won’t break the bank. While the 849 Rollerball ships with an excellent Caran d’Ache Rollerball refill, the pen accepts any Parker-style refill, ballpoint or rollerball. Your recipient will be able to easily use this pen for a long time.
A Midori MD Notebook with a Natural Goat Leather Cover. I’ve found that few gift ideas are more universally loved than nice notebooks, because even non “pen people” use notebooks in one way or another. The Midori MD brand combines both high-quality paper and a universal size cover that can probably be refilled not only with easily available MD notebooks but other similarly-sized refills.
Hightide Co. Desktop Hourglass and/or Folding Metal Book Stand. I LOVE analog timers that don’t feature a jarring buzzer, and these Hightide Co. desktop sandglasses/hourglasses are one of my favorite items in the shop. They’re useful and they look great in an office. Similarly, the folding metal book stands make an inexpensive, yet thoughtful, gift for the reader or office worker, who can use it to hold anything from a book to a notepad or electronic tablet.

Check out these and more in the 2021 Gift Guide. We’ve been receiving a high volume of orders lately, but don’t be concerned if something is sold out - We are constantly restocking and recently placed a couple of large orders so please keep checking back.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold. By shopping with us directly, you are supporting original content, pen reviews, pen show events, etc. from The Gentleman Stationer. If you would like to support us even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!