The 2025 T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide is Live! Plus Five Favorite Stationery Gifts

Our annual Holiday Gift Guide has been updated and is live on the site! Each year we revise this page to reflect new gift ideas and trends from the past year of stationery, and everything featured in the guide is not only available for online shopping but in person at our Brick-and-Mortar store, located in Nashville, Tennessee! We will have regular hours through the Holiday season and possibly open on a few additional Sundays between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day so stay tuned. If you’d like to make an appointment to shop on days that we are not showing as open please do reach out because I know everyone’s holidays are chaotic and we want to be as flexible as possible.

My Thoughts on Gifting Stationery and My Favorite Gifts I Give Every Year

It probably comes as no surprise to anyone that I give stationery as gifts every holiday season (and birthdays, etc.). But what I give does sometimes surprise people, because I try to keep it simple and relatively inexpensive as I don’t want the recipient to be afraid to actually use the item. Here are five of my personal favorite stationery gifts for family, friends, and colleagues. Most of these are featured in the Guide but I figured I’d add a bit of personal color for fun. I love recommending gifts for people, and find it one of the most fulfilling parts of running the retail side of T.G.S.

• Pocket Pens. Even if they don’t know it, everyone needs a pocket pen, and there are several out there that even the most non-stationery obsessed person can appreciate. The Lamy Pico was our top seller last holiday season, but we’ve also added Rite-in-the-Rain bullet pens which are great options for outdoorsy types. Rite-in-the-Rain makes a “nice” metal version, as well as a two-pack of the pressurized plastic pens.

• Pocket Notebooks. Field Notes always make a great gift for non-fountain pen users because you can usually find a theme to match their interests. (The National Parks series is a perennial favorite). For those with recipients who might want better paper, the Lochby versions aren’t as ornate but feature 68gsm Tomoe River Paper, and the Lochby Field Journal Mini or Pocket Journal makes a nice complement if you want to scale up the gift.

• Pencils. Some of my favorite gifts ever were thoughtful pencil gifts, and I’ve never had a pencil-themed gift go bad. Turns out may people like wood pencils, especially if you can find good ones because most non-stationery nerds assume that all pencils made these days are poor quality. Favorites include Camel pencils from Japan with the integrated erasers, Uni and Tombow “handwriting” pencils, and all of the novelties from Begoody that despite their quirkiness are good writers with excellent graphite. For recipients who enjoy technology, the Uni Kuru Toga KS or Alpha Gel Switch are inexpensive mechanical pencils that feature the Kuru-Toga’s auto-rotation mechanism.

• Bookmarks. I’m a reader, and most of my family and close friends appreciate a solid bookmark (or pack of “writable bookmarks” that you can use to take notes and annotate). Small and inexpensive, bookmarks make great stocking stuffers or small items for gift exchange parties.

• The Lamy Swift Rollerball Pen. Do I have a go-to recommendation for a gift for a nice pen for a “non pen person” (or even a pen person whose preferences you might not know)? Yes, and it’s the overlooked Lamy Swift retractable rollerball. Most people are sold when they see how the clip retracts into the barrel, which should keep you from trying to stick the pen in your pocket with the tip extended - NOT a good thing to do with a liquid rollerball. :)

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No, these aren’t made anymore (in 20 years) and I don’t sell them, but they remain one of my favorite holiday gifts ever received. (I later bought up several dozen on eBay.)

Get Your Holiday Orders in Early (Or Shop in Person), and Other Tips for Surviving the Holiday Season

Thanksgiving is late this year (and the weather here has felt like Spring), so there’s been a delayed start to the traditional holiday shopping season. While our shipping times have remained fairly fast, with orders typically out the door within 2 business days, we have no control over carrier delivery times and things like carrier strikes. I would advise giving yourself 10 days grace if you need something for a gift by a specific date. Note that during the holiday season, due to unpredictable delays, some carriers are not considering a package “lost” until 20 days have passed on a domestic delivery, and up to 6 weeks for international shipments. If you need something expedited, please send us an e-mail and we can explore overnight or express shipping options. And of course, you can always come by and shop in person all the way up to Christmas Eve!

As stressful as it is, I always love the holiday season! Enjoy the gift guide, thank you for your support, and as always, please reach out if you have any questions.

Thursday Drops: Roterfaden Returns, Kuretake Inks, Pilot Elite 95s, and the Last Inkvents

Many thanks to all of you who supported us last week during the Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Small Business Saturday events, and an especially big thanks to those of you who came to see us in person! Our holiday shopping opportunities continue, with certain pens, paper, and desk accessories on clearance, as well as a full Roterfaden restock. We have Taschenbegleiter binders available in all sizes (A4, A5, and A6). We also received Burgundy Pilot E95s fountain pens with fine nibs.

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The Pilot E95s is restocked, shown here in black with burgundy/silver also available.

Finally, we are down to a single T.G.S. x Sunderland mk1 pen (take it home for the holidays!), and two or so Diamine Inkvent calendars. I’ve been posting the first few Inkvent inks on Instagram, which you can follow along in the stories. Don’t miss other new ink releases such as select inks from the Diamine standard line, the 160th and 150th Anniversary inks, and two separate series of Kuretake inks.

Domestic U.S. orders over $75 ship free. Please review our shipping policies and time estimates prior to placing an international order. Orders to Canada may be delayed due to the ongoing postal strike, and UK orders are subject to a minimum due to VAT rules. We are open this week Thursday through Sunday! View up-to-date hours here.

1. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter Organizers. The clip-based Roterfaden system has become one of our top sellers over the past year, and we were fortunate enough to get a fresh restock in the door before year-end.

2. Pilot E95s Fountain Pens. The burgundy E95s has been a favorite of many, and we’ve had them trickle in gradually over the past several months as Pilot works through a bit of a backlog. We currently have a limited quantity of fine-nib pens.

3. TWSBI ECO-T Jade and Rose Gold Fountain Pens. I still have a handful of these pen sets, which come with a small bottle of midnight blue ink. These pens were a special holiday release from last year and a couple of them emerged during our move.

4. Kakimori Hardcover A5 Notebooks. We still have some of these gorgeous Kakimori notebooks, which would make great gifts as they feature beautiful Japanese fabric covers.

5. Traveler’s Company 2025 Dated Diary Refills. Now is a great time to grab your 2025 dated journal/planner refill for the Standard and Passport-sized Traveler’s Notebooks.

6. Traveler’s Company 2024 Limited Edition “Tokyo” Refills. We stocked up on these MD Paper Refills, which accompanied the 2024 Tokyo Special Edition Traveler’s Notebooks. These would make a fun gift this holiday season but they likely will not last.

7. Viarco Vintage-inspired Pencil Gift Sets. These gift sets from Portuguese pencil-maker Viarco include six dozen Viarco pencils, each dozen a reproduction from Viarco’s extensive back catalogue. Viarco is one of the few remaining European pencil manufacturers still in operation.

8. Tom’s Studio Mechanical Pencils. I’ve had several requests for interesting mechanical pencils “that don’t look too technical”, and these comfortable, front-weighted machined pencils from Tom’s Studio are designed for both writing and drawing.

9. Kaweco Collection Perkeo “Infrared”. Kaweco introduced the Perkeo as a full-sized pen that could accept both short international cartridges and a full-sized ink converter. This transparent red color was a 2024 special release.

10. Teranishi Guitar Inks. I can’t sing the praises of these inks enough. They flow well, and show a moderate amount of sheen and color-shifting without being high-maintenance. Read about five of my favorite colors here.

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Come see us in-person, and view all of this an more for yourself! we’re constantly restocking and have plenty for both online and in-person holiday shopping.

The T.G.S. 2024 Holiday Gift Guide is Live!

Our annual Holiday Gift Guide has been updated and is live on the site! The biggest difference this year has been our ability to offer everything in our gift guide for in-person shopping at our new Brick-and-Mortar store, located in Nashville, Tennessee! We plan to have regular hours through the holidays, and will possibly open on a few additional Sundays between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. We are usually at the shop for a few hours every day, even those days we are officially “closed,” so if you’d like to make an appointment to shop on days that we are not showing as open please do reach out.

A few highlights on holiday shopping from T.G.S., in addition to what is mentioned in the updated Gift Guide:

• Certain Items Are Limited. Roterfadens, Sunderland Pens, Diamine Inkvent Calendars, and some of the new Kawecos that recently arrived, such as the new Classic Piston Filler and the AL Sport Olivine, are available in limited quantities and it’s been hard to get timely restocks this year. If you’ve been considering one of these items, and it’s available, please don’t wait.

• We Have a Ton of New Ink In-Store. All of our recent ink shipments, including new inks from Diamine, Teranishi Guitar, and Platinum, arrived at around the same time! While we’re working as fast as possible to get these listed online, they are all available immediately for purchase in-person.

• Shipping/Delivery Times. While our shipping times have been pretty fast since we’ve moved to our new space (orders are typically out the door within 2 business days), we have no control over carrier delivery times, which always slow during the holidays. I would advise giving yourself 10 days grace if you need something for a gift by a specific date. Note that during the holiday season, due to unpredictable delays, some carriers are not considering a package “lost” until 20 days have passed on a domestic delivery, and up to 6 weeks for international shipments. If you need something expedited, please send us an e-mail and we can explore overnight or express shipping options.

As stressful as it is, I always love the holiday season! Enjoy the gift guide, thank you for your support, and as always, please reach out if you have any questions.

The 2023 T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide is Live!

Sure, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but since I’ve been getting “Black Friday Sale” alerts since the Fourth of July, why not? ;) You can find the 2023 version of the Gift Guide here, and since new arrivals tend to trickle in from distributors through November and early December, I will likely update it periodically.

Each year, I don’t revise the Gift Guide from scratch, since the different categories of recommendations don’t change much. Since the store has grown exponentially in the past year, however, you’ll find new items in each category, most of which are targeted gift ideas for those who you think might appreciate stationery but may not necessarily be as “enthusiastic” about it as many T.G.S. readers.

A Note on Shipping

This looks to be a busy holiday season, so the earlier you get your orders in the better. The holidays always suffer from shipping delays - we have no control over USPS, UPS, or Fedex - so please give yourself time by ordering well in advance of when you will need your package to arrive. Finally, please review our shipping polices, particularly as they pertain to international shipments as those are more delay-prone due to customs issues.

As always, many thanks for your support! The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases through the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

The 2022 T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide is Live!

As part of my recovery from last night’s Pelikan Hubs festivities, I updated the annual T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide this morning! Each year’s gift guide is slightly different from the last, featuring an annually updated selection of stationery-themed gift ideas. As you’ll discover in the guide itself, I generally don’t give fountain pens as gifts, since fountain pen lovers are hard to buy for, so the guide tends to focus heavily on accessories and other items with a wide appeal to those who appreciate analog-living in general. Enjoy!

P.S. - for those who missed out on the Pelikan Hubs, I have some of the “Pelikan Passion” magazines and the T.G.S. party favors left over. I’ll plan to add them to orders over $50 until they’re gone (with the price threshold set due to the higher cost of shipping the magazines). They are nice magazines and I don’t want to just throw them out, plus the T.G.S. goodie bag will get you a store coupon and a button + sticker.