Thursday Drops: New TGS x Hinze Pens Taschenstift in Violet Micarta, Pilot Restock, Lamy Swift Capless Rollerballs, and More

April 10, 2025

The big news this week is the launch of the latest collaboration from T.G.S. and Hinze Pen Company: a micarta “Taschenstift” Pocket Pen in a material dubbed “Violet Tendencies"! We’ve worked with Hinze for over a year on a special Taschenstift model for this material, and have opted for a micarta pen that friction-posts the cap on the barrel rather than the standard design that uses threads. The pen features a dark purple section and Lilac anodized nib. All pens are hand-turned by Hinze Pen Co., feature hand-tuned nibs, and will ship with a mini converter to allow you to fill from a bottle. Retail price is $250, with a special price available for T.G.S. Patreon members.

Lamy Swift Capless Rollerball Pen — The Lamy Swift Capless Rollerball (shown here in matte black) has been a favorite new addition.

We’ve dodged a bit of a bullet on price increases (for now) as many tariffs have been postponed. In any event, we’re continuing to increase our stock to ride out any future tariff-related volatility, and have received restocks of Pilot, Lamy, and more. We’ve also added some new products, including Clairefontaine Hardcover A4 Notebooks, which many have requested, and brought back the A7 Life.Unplugged pocket notebooks which will fit the Lochby Sidekick.

We are open this week, Thursday-Saturday! Check out our hours for each day here. Saturday is always the long day with 10-6 opening hours. I hope to see you all in person soon!

T.G.S. x Hinze Pens Taschestift “Violet Tendencies”. Our latest release in collaboration with Dallas-based Hinze Pens! All nib sizes remain available.
Pilot Vanishing Point Fountain Pens. We have additional stock of the Pilot Vanishing Point Fountain Pens in the matte trim finishes, as well as the black and blue “Carbonesque” barrels.
Pilot Iroshizuku Ink. We are restocked on most colors of Pilot’s excellent Iroshizuku bottled ink, and we have them in cartridges as well as bottles.
Lamy Swift Capless Rollerball Pens. One of my favorite new discoveries from the deep LAMY back catalogue, which I’ve never used until this year.
Lochby A5 Field Folio and A5 Field Journal. The Field Folio adds a zipper closure to Lochby’s popular A5 Field Journal.
Lochby Sidekick. This small wallet/notebook/penholder is sized to fit A7 notebooks, which we now have back in stock. See the entry immediately below.
Clairefontaine A7 Notebooks. These popular two-packs of A7 notebooks are back! Featuring fountain-pen friendly Clairefontaine paper, each comes with one black notebook and one colored version. Colors are sorted randomly.
Blackwing x George Harrison Songwriter’s Notebook. Developed in collaboration with the George Harrison Estate, this A5 notebook features 80gsm paper and comes with one exclusive Blackwing pencil unavailable anywhere else.
Kuretake Ink Café Art Nouveau Fountain Pen Inks. These inks feature some of the prettiest box/bottle artwork I’ve ever seen, based on classic Art Nouveau posters and advertisements.
Clairefontaine Hardback A4 Notebooks. These hardcover notebooks contain 96 sheets/192 pages of fountain pen friendly Clairefontaine paper (lined/ruled).

2025 Atlanta Pen Show: Short Haul Update!

April 5, 2025

Yeah, so I didn’t come away from Day 1 completely unscathed. While most of my day was spent occupied behind the table, before the show opened I managed to pick up this Nashville-inspired pen from Tri Star Studio (local to me - bonus points if you can identify the inspiration in the comments), as well as a mug and pen rest by Tracy Cullen, brought to the show by Scott from Tri Star. If you’re in Atlanta, DO NOT MISS his table. I hope to have Scott visit the shop at some point in the near future. View the full Atlanta Pen Show hours and schedule here.

Our brick-and-mortar in Nashville is closed today but we are open online! Remember that all paper orders placed through Sunday at 11:59pm will get 10% off using the coupon code “ATLANTA” at checkout.

New TGS x Hinze Pens Collaboration Coming Soon: Taschenstift “Violet Tendencies”

It’s been a while since we’ve done an exclusive TGS release, and this weekend I took delivery of the latest one: a custom release from Hinze Pens that’s a play on their “Taschenstift”, featuring a micarta/crazyfibre material called “Violet Tendencies” that we’ve chosen to pair with a deep purple anodized section and a lilac nib. The pen has had a great reception so far in Atlanta, and I’ll be releasing it once Patreon supporters have had an opportunity to purchase. Look for it next week. Now back to the show, and please do stop by and say hi if you’re here.

Hinze Pen Update: VERY Limited Number of Pens with Crimson Nibs Available

July 7, 2023

A quick update: This afternoon I received a couple of pens with Crimson nibs, which are now available for sale in the shop. There is a slightly upcharge due to additional cost involved, so the pens with the special ink and this nib are $235 instead of the standard $225. I have inquired as to the availability of additional crimson nibs, which I will plan to make available for a nib swap/add-on purchase if enough people are interested. We now have standard stainless steel nibs and the black nano-ceramic nibs available for separate purchase if you would like multiple nib sizes and/or colors.

Thanks for all of your support so far! I look forward to doing more of these projects in the future.

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

Hinze Pens It's Five O'Clock Somewhere Fountain Pen

Pen Review: Hinze Pens "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere"

July 30, 2022

At pen shows, it’s always Five O’Clock Somewhere! Always. Especially at the Hinze Pens table. I’ve been sitting on this review for a few months, waiting until just before a pen show when readers might be able to see and pick up a Hinze Pen for themselves. You’ll have that opportunity next week in at the 2022 Washington D.C. Pen Show, as the team from Hinze will be in attendance with a full table’s worth of pens.

This “Five O’Clock Somewhere” resin has so much contrast, and is a far cry from what “The Gentleman Stationer” typically goes for, yet somehow it works!

As I’ve sought to re-spark my interest in fountain pens and refocus my own collection, one goal has been to reduce the percentage of “stock” or “standard” pens that I own, in favor of supporting independent makers and small manufacturers. I’ve known Jim Hinze and Francisco Lopez through the show circuit for years, but had never acquired one of their pens. At this year’s Baltimore show, the pen pictured here caught my eye, and since only one pen in this particular material remained in Atlanta, I went ahead and took it home.

Starry Night Resins Five O'Clock Somewhere Patterns — There are so many different color patterns and swirls in this material that it’s easy to get lost!

This particular pen is the classic Hinze model, which features a minimalist shape designed to showcase the underlying material. In this case, the resin used is dubbed “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere,” by Starry Night Resins. While I love the pen itself - and I’ll discuss that more in a bit - the resin steals the show. it’s a swirled combination of purple, orange, blue, and grey, with subtle hints of pastel green and cream in the cap. While there are plenty of makers out there releasing colorful swirled acrylic pens, the use of grey, green, and cream in this pen alongside the purple and orange offered a unique color patter that I hadn’t seen before. I hope these blanks come back at some point because I’d love another pen in this material.

This side of the cap might be my favorite feature of the pen. I love the combination of light green, cream, pink, orange - there are just too many colors to name and it seems like I discovery more everyday. Sometimes I find myself staring at this pen, lost in thought.

The pen features a flat-topped, cylindrical shape with a longer section and subtly tapered barrel. It does not post by design. If I had to pick one thing about this pen that I love, it would be the longer section, which I have found exceedingly comfortable for extended writing sessions. As a lighter acrylic cartridge-converter pen, the longer tapered barrel is probaby necessary to create a good balance, one that I’d compare to the “Classic” or “Classic Flush” designs by the Kanilea Pen Company.

Hinze Pens Five O'clock Somewhere Nib — Ultimately I went with a dark blue nib - I felt this color complemented the section better than the original magenta.

A Note on Hinze Nibs

One of Hinze Pens’ trademarks are their multicolored nano-plated nibs. Unlike ordinary anodization, these nibs undergo a different process whereby they are coated in a ceramic plating that is much more durable than typical anodization. Here, I opted for a dark blue, which I felt complemented and drew out the grey-blue tones in this particular pen. (Purple or magenta would have been another option.)

Note that I did have this nib modified, so there is a small gap in the coating where Matthew Chen ground a .5mm cursive italic. Ordinarily, if you grind a coated or plated nib, there is a risk of the coating peeling back and flaking off from the area that’s been ground. So far, I’ve seen none of that with the Hinze nib, and I understand that due to the process used, there’s much lower risk of it happening. Care instructions are included with each pen, including recommendations on “safe” inks and cleaning practices.

Here’s my same pen with a different color nib, as originally shown at the Hinze Pen table at the 2022 Baltimore Pen Show back in March. You can see some additional “Five O’Clock Somewhere” pens on the right.

The inlaid finial that Hinze incorporates into their cap is a nice touch, and gives the pen a high-quality, finished appearance.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

There are many bespoke and “small-batch” penmakers out there. It’s easy to get lost and if you’re new to the fountain pen world (and the pen show world especially), to not know where to start. Hinze Pens can serve as a great starting point for those newly interested in bespoke fountain pens, or a new destination for the experienced enthusiast who enjoys unique materials in a well-made workhorse. The price point is extremely reasonable, with most pens priced from $200-250.

The Baltimore Pen Show display that initially caught my eye.

You can purchase Hinze Pens directly from the company via their website, or even better, visit them at a pen show! They will be attending the 2022 Washington, D.C. Pen Show, running from Thursday, August 4 through Sunday, August 7. Stop by and see their table. (And come see me while you’re at it!)

Disclaimer: I purchased the pen featured in this review with my own funds, for review purposes, though Hinze Pens was kind enough to offer me a discount on the price. This post does not contain paid sponsorship or affiliate links.