New Arrivals: The Most Nashville-Appropriate Notebook Ever? Blackwing x George Harrison

Ok, while this is definitely a niche product, I couldn’t NOT carry this in the store, right, given my location? In conjunction with the estate of George Harrison, Blackwing has released a songwriter’s notebook that’s inspired by Harrison’s famous hand-painted guitar, “Rocky,” and paired with a matching pencil that’s only available as part of the notebook set. Each notebook also includes stickers inspired by the paintings on the guitar, as well as a plastic guide that slides over a page and serves as a template for either a lined ruling or various forms of music notation, such as chord charts and tablature.

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The Blackwing x George Harrison notebook sets are available this morning in the shop, along with a wide range of Blackwing products including pencils and sharpeners. Blackwing’s limited edition notebooks are always extremely well-executed. If this one doesn’t interest you, check out the Bill Russell notebook that serves as a companion to the Volume 11 pencils, as well as the oversized (A4-ish) Volume 574 Ledger Notebook.

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The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

New Arrivals: Tennessee-Made Pencils from Musgrave and A Blackwing Restock!

Musgrave Pencils, made just down the road from us in Shelbyville, Tennessee, are one of my all-time favorite stationery products. A family-owned business for more than 100 years, Musgrave makes a variety of pencil styles at a reasonable price point, and we’re happy to offer a fairly large selection from the outset. To get started in the Musgrave world, I often direct people to the “Heritage” sampler set, which contains 12 different pencils from across the Musgrave line, including a couple of “jumbos” and some of their specialty graphite such as news and test-scoring pencils. We also have classics such as the Harvest Professional (a classic yellow No. 2), three different varieties of the Musgrave Bugle, a 4B “Songwriter Pencil”, and the B/No. 1 “Pencil King”. (The latter two pencils are round, and extremely comfortable to use.)

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The latest Volumes release features extra-firm graphite and a burgundy eraser!

Finally, nearly all Blackwing is back in stock, including additional Blackwing 602 pencils, the latest Volume release (“Native American Art” Edition), and one-step long-point sharpeners. We’re going to continue to add pencil products throughout the year, so stay-tuned!

Come visit us in person! Public hours are Thursday and Friday from 1-6pm, Saturday from 10-6pm, and otherwise by appointment. We look forward to seeing you this week!

Thursday Drops: Traveler's Company 2025 Planners, Plus New Blackwing Pencils and Notebooks!

Yesterday marked the launch of the 2025 Traveler's Company Planners/Diaries, and you can get yours now in the shop, along with all of the 2025 accessories including folders, pencil boards, and more! We also have the Diamine Inkvent “Black Edition” Calendars available for preorder, which should ship or be available for pickup in the store later this week as soon as they arrive.

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The latest Blackwing Volumes release includes both a pencil set and legal pads.

The biggest new arrival was two huge boxes of Blackwing restocks and new limited editions, including the Volume 71 Pencil and limited edition legal pads. We also have Blackwing Spiral Notebooks, Reporter Notebooks, and yes, the Canvas Pouch that’s long enough to hold 36 unsharpened Blackwing pencils. Happy Shopping!

1. Traveler’s Company 2025 Dated Planners. It’s planner time again, and this week Traveler’s Company released the 2025 diary refills in three Standard formats (Weekly, Weekly + Memo, and Monthly) and two Passport (Weekly and Monthly).

2. Traveler’s Company 2025 Limited Edition Folders. This year’s accessories feature a peace and love theme dubbed “Love and Trip,” and you have both Standard and Passport folder options to hold all of your travel papers and/or trip mementos.

3. Traveler’s Company 2025 Limited Edition Pencil Boards. The pencil boards are always popular, as they share the same annual theme and allow you to add a harder writing surface to your Traveler’s Notebook for working on the go. Available in Standard and Passport sizes.

4. Traveler’s Company 2025 Custom Sticker Set. Personalize your Traveler’s Notebook, refills, and accessories with the annual sticker set that includes a variety of stickers, labels, dry transfers, and more.

5. Traveler’s Company Tokyo Refill. This year’s limited edition notebook theme was “Tokyo”, and while those are sold out, we do have remaining stock of the MD Paper Refills with the Tokyo-themed decor on the cover.

6. Diamine Inkvent “Black Edition”. Already? Yes - go ahead and pre-order yours so that you’re prepared to play along starting December 1 (or earlier, if you’re into spoilers). These will ship as soon as we have them in our hands, probably later this week.

7. Blackwing Spiral Notebooks. We recently received a shipment of the new Blackwing Spiral Notebooks in A4, with extremely sturdy chipboard covers and four ruling choices. I’m a fan of Blackwing paper - it’s good for all but the very wettest fountain pen nibs, and especially pleasant to write on with a tactile pencil.

8. Blackwing Reporter Pads/Notebooks. I’m always on the lookout for a reporter-style notebook with quality paper and durable construction. Featuring the same Blackwing Paper and ruling choices as the Spiral Notebooks and “Illegal” Pads.

9. Blackwing Volume 71 (Frank Lloyd Wright) Limited Edition Pencils. The latest limited edition Blackwing Volumes set feature a combination of lacquer and natural wood, inspired by Wright’s Usonian home design. Extra-firm graphite for long, sharp points!

10. Blackwing Volume 71 Legal Pads. In conjunction with the release of the Frank Lloyd Wright Pencil, Blackwing has also released a limited edition legal pad, featuring a slightly larger 9” x 12” format (“Arch A”), sold in a set of two pads with different grids, both rectangle and triangle/isometric. I love the red binding and tan ruling!

11. Blackwing Volume 746 (Golden Gate Bridge) Limited Edition Pencils. These gorgeous red/orange limited editions, which may be my favorite Blackwing Volumes release to date, are back in stock.

12. Blackwing Canvas Pencil Pouch. Yes, these are long enough to hold unsharpened Blackwing Pencils, and 36 of them at that!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you enjoy our content please give us a follow and consider supporting us by shopping with us directly or pledging via Patreon. Many thanks!

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Quick Look: Different Grades of Blackwing Graphite (Plus a Bonus YouTube Video)

Blackwing doesn’t use either of the typical graphite grading scales in their pencils. Instead of numbering them 1-4, or H, F, HB, B, etc., they’ve designated their different graphite formulations as “X-Firm”, “Firm”, “Balanced”, and “Soft”, with each core given its own standard production line pencil and rotated through the limited edition “Volumes” line. Last quarter’s Volumes release (Volume 2) even introduced a new “XX-Firm” formulation that’s the closest Blackwing has ever come to a true HB/No. 2 pencil. To date, it’s only available in this special release pencil.

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The two extremes. “Soft” graphite at top compared against the XXF Graphite in the Volume 2, compared against the Tombow HB.

I love Blackwing pencils because even their “lightest” shade of graphite is relatively dark. As a fan of dark pencils, I regularly use most of the standard Blackwings, as well a full pencil chest of their special editions. Despite the darker core, Blackwings retain their points well - even the soft graphite in my favorite “Blackwing Matte” with low-smear performance. My second favorite would probably be the “X-Firm” Blackwing Natural, but that’s more an aesthetic preference than anything to do with performance!

For a fun bonus, check out our latest YouTube video which dropped today, where I look at the Blackwing Pencil Extender and how it works.

As of last month, the T.G.S. Curated Shop is an official Blackwing retailer! We carry the full range of pencils, accessories, and even paper (the excellent “Illegal Pad”) in our curated stationery shop, which is how the site gets supported.

Thursday Drops: Blackwing Jerry Garcia Pencils, Pencil Extenders, Eraser, and the Pentel Kerry!

I don’t know about you, but I personally think Blackwing has absolutely nailed the past handful of releases. Volume 2 featured a “cracked” glow in the dark finish, with an extra-firm graphite that I personally really enjoyed. That said, this latest Jerry Garcia-themed release features a matte finish with Blackwing’s softest core, which is my personal favorite of all the various Blackwing graphites out there so I’m loving this one as well.

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All of the Blackwing accessories look great in the new white finish!

It doesn’t stop there: We now have the Blackwing Handheld Erasers (really big and soft and erase quite nicely!) and Blackwing Pencil Extenders, as well as more of the one-step long-point sharpeners. Both the Handheld Erasers and Long-Point Sharpeners all come in three different colors (black, white, and grey) so you can make yourself a matching set. Finally, if you’re looking to try out Blackwing for the first time, or searching for a gift for a Mom, Dad, or upcoming graduate, the Blackwing Pencil Essentials Set is back in stock. It has one of each pencil from the standard line, along with a one-step sharpener and a pencil cap.

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all Blackwing products.

1. Blackwing Volume 710 Jerry Garcia Pencils. It took me a while to get some of these in, but I wasn’t going to pass them up given that they feature the soft graphite, which is my favorite of the Blackwing cores.

2. Blackwing Volume 2 Limited Edition Pencils. The Jerry Garcia pencil above followed Volume 2, which not only has the awesome cracked glow-in-the-dark design but also features a specially formulated extra-firm graphite, for those who love an HB or F grade pencil.

3. Blackwing One-Step Long Point Pencil Sharpeners. Blackwing’s excellent long point sharpener, which only requires one step to achieve a nice, slightly curved point, is now available in three colors: black, grey, and white.

4. Blackwing Pencil Extender. Blackwing has been on a tear with their accessories lately, and this pencil extender attaches to the ferrule of your Blackwing Pencil, giving you a nice way to use up that jar of 1” Blackwing stubs!

5. Blackwing Handheld Eraser. Not a fan of the integrated Blackwing eraser? Or most integrated pencil erasers, for that matter? I love this new soft handheld eraser by Blackwing, in three different cases. It’s giant and refillable.

6. Blackwing “Illegal Pads”. One of my favorite legal pad products is Blackwing’s take on the classic legal pad. Available in traditional ruled (complete with the line down the middle!), graph, and dot, this paper even handles fountain pen ink well.

7. Pentel Sharp Kerry Mechanical Pencil. Currently only available in grey, though more colors are in the works! This .5mm mechanical pencil features a capped design that protects the tip while the pencil is in your pocket, yet still allows you to click to advance the lead when posted.

8. Pilot Explorer Fountain Pens in New Colors! The Pilot Explorer is easily one of our best selling fountain pens under $30, and we’ve added additional colors: Turquoise, Lime Green, and Silver! These all come with matte black trim and look sharp. (Full matte black pens are back in stock as well.)

9. Pilot Iroshizuku Ink Cartridges. In addition to the full line of excellent Pilot Iroshizuku bottled inks, we now have the full line of available cartridges (which are most of the popular colors).

10. Tom’s Studio Fountain Pen Inks. The Tom’s Studio line of Lumos pens has sold extremely well, as have the fountain pens and specialty nibs. But what about the inks? Tom’s Studio has nearly two dozen inks available, including a pigmented black for those who desire a micron-like experience for their Lumos.

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Be sure to keep checking our Pilot range, as we’re constantly restocking on some colors that were sold out. I believe we have all of the Iroshizuku inks in cartridge and bottle form.