Favorite Fountain Pens: Is There a Specific Color You Gravitate Towards?

March 15, 2025

People approach this hobby/passion/calling from many different angles. Some love pens because they’re collectors, and amass impressive archives of a specific brand or model that cover every variant released over decades (if not a century). Others take a purely utilitarian approach, treating their pens as tools, often settling on a single pen that meets their writing needs and never feeling the need to branch out to anything else. I take a middle approach: I definitely have my favorites that I use more than others (75% of the time, perhaps?) but I also have a bit of “collector” in me as well.

If You Make It In Yellow, I Will Probably Buy It

I collect in two ways. First, I try to have at least one example of major vintage pens in my personal collection, and sometimes more if different variations - usually colors - of a specific model interest me. For example, I currently have one Parker Vacumatic, and a handful of Parker 51s. While I might add some more Vacumatics after my prized blue one broke during a botched vintage pen repair (long story that I will tell later), I don’t feel the need to collect and example of every Parker, and the ones I do have are very much user-grade examples. To me, part of the fun of writing with a vintage pen is the idea that I can use an item in the same way that it was used by the original owner 75-100 years ago, and remark on how little has changed. The pen doesn’t need to be pristine or valuable to give you that experience. As I noted in this recent video, the Parker 45 I showed off cost me $65, even with a 14k nib!

A picture of six more yellow or almost-yellow pens from my current collection — Some of these fall into the “almost yellow” category. From left: Nakaya Long Piccolo, Kasama Una in Ultem, Mark’s Tous Les Jours metal gel pen, Leonardo Momento Zero Maestro in Omas Burkina Celluloid, and my Conway Stewart Model 100 in Honey Noire.

Second, I tend to accumulate and, yes, “collect” pens by color. You might think from the overall visual theme of T.G.S. that most of my pens are some combination of red and black. While I do have a lot of red pens, and a deep red is one of those tones that makes me happy, so does yellow. Not necessarily a bright yellow, but anything that’s a more muted mustard, saffron, or even a yellow-green is more often than not an insta-buy. There isn’t any real strategy behind this collection. It’s not organized my model, brand, or even type of pen. It’s just something I enjoy, and these days I’ll take that because it’s exactly what I need.

That said, I do my best to avoid mindless accumulation. I currently have several binders of pens, most of which I own not because they fit into some overall “theme” but simply because the design/color/backstory makes me happy. I’ve been thinking about this issue a lot lately, as I’ve made a commitment to unload a significant number of pens (5 per month) throughout 2025. While there will be some harder choices in the year to come, right now the standard is “does this particular pen make me want to use it, and does it make me happy when I use it?” (I refuse to use the phrase “spark joy.”) Through March, I’ve sold off 15+ pens and have only added two or three. I’m actually excited to see what my collection looks like by year-end!

Kaweco Sport Honey, Perkeo Indian Summer, and Kuru Toga Alpha Gel Switch — Those pens I have added this year haven’t been very expensive, including the new Kaweco Sport Honey (right) and one of the remaining Kaweco Perkeo “Indian Summer” fountain pens. The mechanical pencil is the Uni Kuru Toga Alpha Gel Switch. The yellow and black version is my favorite.

SO WHAT’S next for the collection? A couple of recent additions

Do I really need another Kaweco Sport? No, but since the new “Honey” color is the exact shade of yellow that I enjoy, I added one to the collection anyway and inked it up immediately. No regrets. I also had the opportunity to re-acquire a pen that I regret selling: the Kaweco Perkeo in the yellow/green and black “Indian Summer” colorway that was so popular a few years ago. At NY Now in January, I found out that the distributor had a few remaining in stock and I managed to acquire some mediums. What do I think I’m going to pass on? The Lamy Scarlet fountain pen. While they’re great looking pens, and I’m glad to see Lamy move to more muted shades like Scarlet and Steel Black in the standard lineup, It’s not really that exact shade of red that speaks to me. I may claim one of the mechanical pencils, though, as I really love my Lamy AL-Star mechanical pencil and I don’t have a Safari version.

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Other Interests Include Tea, Writing and Science Fiction

The Ark of Pens

June 14, 2023

Today we have a Guest Post from a friend of the blog, R.B. Lemberg! It’s been a long while since T.G.S. has featured a guest post, and I’ve been looking to bring in some new voices and hope to make this a semi-regular event. Enjoy!

In The Cultures of Collecting, editors Elsner and Cardinal describe the biblical Noah as the first collector. “Adam had given names to the animals, but it fell to Noah to collect them… Menaced by a Flood, one has to act swiftly. Anything overlooked will be lost forever: between including and excluding there can be no half- measures. The collection is the unique bastion against the deluge of time.” (Elsner and Cardinal 1994:1)

It took a global crisis to make me a collector of pens.

In 2020, shuttered in my room and yet overloaded with responsibilities of teaching, leadership, caregiving, and generative work, I stepped into the world of fountain pens for respite. It wasn’t my first pen venture; I learned about writing with dip pens and fountain pens in Soviet elementary school. I was a clumsy child and the pens were of poor quality; I hated every moment of it. Later, in graduate school in the US, I happily used a single Pilot Falcon. I put it aside after getting my doctorate, and switched to Pilot V5s; but something shifted during the pandemic. I think this describes many people.

Edison Menlo and Kaweco Liliput — Edison Menlo (top) and Kaweco Liliput (bottom).

I remember 2020 and 2021 as joyful years for pens. Everything else was ash and fear, but pens were a happy creative outlet, and many new people joined the hobby. I certainly did not think about myself as a stationery collector before the pandemic, but I found myself reading fountain pen books and blogs and watching instructional videos. In a quest after that special magic of a perfectly tuned nib touching paper, I tried a whole lot of pens. I sent a few pens to Mark Bacas for a grind. I talked about fountain pens endlessly. By the end of 2021, I figured out what I liked, and began curating.

I wasn’t collecting pens to save them from the deluge of time, and these days I’m not sure if I am a collector at all. I like to use my pens, but I also enjoy simply lining them up; I live for an aesthetically pleasing pen tray. There’s certainly a central theme to my collecting. I love Italian pens. I gravitate towards stubs and italic nibs, as well as the sometimes-maligned European mediums. The colors and textures of pens in my tray reassure me that beauty persists beyond the devastation of wars and pandemics, beyond market pressures and too-rapid technological advances. Fiddling with my pens reminds me that history is a human story. We value not just what’s the latest and fastest and flashiest; my pens promise and deliver a contemplative world.

As a curator, I am infinitely curious about other people’s practices. Over the last three years, I read blogs and talked to folks online and offline about managing fountain pen collections. Some never give anything up – once the pen enters a collection, it is there to stay, whether used frequently or not. In the story of the flood, only a single raven (and later: a single dove) ever left the Ark. Others rotate through pens, frequently buying and selling; a prime example of this approach is the fascinating UK Fountain Pens blog. Many people are somewhere in the middle - they keep most or many of their pens, and let some go. Some folks call their pens a collection, others an accumulation. I call mine the gathering. Sometimes I think my pens are alive – not just items on display, but friends who hang out with me, and help me get words down on page in a way that nurtures my soul.

Sometimes, pens leave the gathering. They’ve had enough of my party. :) Others are here to stay.

Today’s Highlights

Onoto Scholar in Mandarin Yellow. I got this one from Onoto directly for a great introductory price in early 2022; the nib in it right now is a special order stub, I believe ground for Onoto by John Sorowka.

Leonardo Momento Magico in Brooks Bohemian Twilight. This one was a birthday present from Limited Pens Korea. I swapped the steel Medium it arrived with for the excellent Franklin Christoph M Sig – one of the best nib grinds I’ve tried so far (thank you, Audrey!) It is an incredibly versatile and joyful pen – I love the ink window and the fact that the nib unit unscrews for cleaning, making it excellent for shimmers.

Aurora Optima Viola with a Factory Stub. I got it for an amazing price on Fountain Pen Day. This also was subsidized by birthday moneys. I wanted to try an Aurora, and this one is superb and easily one of my favorite pens ever.

What are some of your fountain pen standouts? Do you curate, and if so, what is your approach?

R.B. Lemberg (they/them) is a queer, neurodivergent academic and writer of speculative fiction. They are the author of The Unbalancing (2022), The Four Profound Weaves (2020), and other books. You can find them on their website http://rblemberg.net, on their Instagram as @rblemberg, and on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/rblemberg

Pen Problems: How Do You Organize Your Pen Collection?

July 20, 2022

I’ve done a decent job of not accumulating an excessive number of pens over the years. (“Decent” and “excessive” should be construed liberally, in the context of community of enthusiasts. Normal people would would - and should - still consider me certifiable.) That said, despite reviewing and writing about fine writing instruments for nearly a decade, I don’t have hundreds of pens, and possibly not even 100. I regularly give pens away to friends, family members, and those just getting into the hobby. I sell off pens that I can’t afford to just give away, sending them on to new homes where hopefully, they’ll be used and loved and won’t just sit in the case. But still, at the end of the day, there are pens. Lots of them.

Lots of pens that need to get moved around.

And while this isn’t an article about pen storage, it’s impossible to touch on “organization” without briefly mentioning it. I mostly use a combination of pen boxes/cases/folders to store my pens. I have one primary 36-pen “display” box where my most prized pens live, and the rest are kept in various folios and covered pen trays. I know some people who pick one storage medium and roll with the same case or box, so they have a uniform storage system. I’m not one of those people, and generally use a combination of different cases that fit into different locations in my office. This article from 2019 remains my most up-to-date discussion of my favorite ways to store pens.

Montblanc Leonardo Reorganization — Montblancs and Leonardos, after this morning’s reorganization.

What I want to talk about today is how to “best” organize those pens that are in storage. I currently have my pens loosely grouped by brand, but not consistently. My 36-pen display case contains most of my favorite writers, and those are grouped by brand within that case. For example, my Auroras and Pelikans sit next to one another on the top level, but I also have other Auroras and Pelikans that don’t “make the cut” for the “favorites” box, and those are separately stored together in a different folio. While I enjoy having my favorites in one place for easy access and reference, I have other pens that I know go unused due to simple disorganization and the fact that I don’t regularly lay eyes on them. I recently had to move my office, and I can’t tell you how many times I came across something that I hadn’t seen in years because it was inadvertently tucked into storage I had forgotten about.

Lamy Collection Organization — All those Lamys line up pretty, especially the “propeller” clips on the Studio. It’s been WAY too long since I’ve inked them up, and I need to pick up a Lamy Glacier.

So what do I plan to do? As of this morning, I’ve started the process of overhauling my current system of organization, grouping all pens I have together strictly by brand. Most of my favorites will remain in the 36-pen chest, and certainly those higher-value pens that I want to give maximum protection, like my Montblancs (some of which are uncommon) and Leonardos (some of which are very uncommon). But others might get moved to, say, the “Pilot” section of another binder, so that when I find myself wanting to use, say, my Vanishing Point, I’ll also come across my Harvest Gold Decimo and remind myself to ink that one up instead.

How Do You Organize Your Pen Collection Instagram Poll — My very unscientific Instagram poll.

How do you organize your pen collection? I’m interested to hear. I polled Instagram yesterday, and while most people organize by brand, many organize by color, and a few by material and model. I also received several messages in which people suggested “country of origin” and simply “favorites” as options. Those who use or collect a single brand will certainly have their own strategy, as will vintage collectors who likely organize by model and date. To be clear, there is no “wrong” answer here. I’m merely satisfying my own curiosity, as I think through this “pen problem” to make sure all of my favorites get rotated regularly!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop (currently running an automatic 10% off sale on most pens, pencils, and paper!), and pledges through the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain paid advertising or affiliate links.

Organizing A Pen Collection: Pulling It All Together

March 6, 2021

Many thanks to all of you who wrote in or commented in response to Wednesday’s post, in which I talked about the “struggles” in managing a larger pen collection and ensuring that all pens get used. The comments were varied, ranging from “I don’t worry about it at all and keep as many pens inked as I like” to descriptions of sophisticated spreadsheets or database systems programmed to track which pens and inks haven’t been used lately and recommend a fresh pairing. I thought I’d share some of the top recommendations:

Fountain Pen Companion. By far the most popular recommendation I received for managing a pen collection was Fountain Pen Companion, which is not only a sophisticated online database for tracking your pens, inks, and usage, but a community with 800+ registered users. FPC features an ink “leaderboard” with collection rankings by bottles, colors, samples, and brands, and can serve as a platform to trade ink samples. I registered for Fountain Pen Companion last year, but never got around to entering my pen and ink collection into the system. That will change soon. (I’m registered under “GentlemanStationer".)
Figboot on Pens Spreadsheet. Second to Fountain Pen Companion was David’s “EDC Log” spreadsheet that he developed and generously released to the community several years ago. The “EDC Log” functions similarly to Fountain Pen Companion, only offline in an excel file that will automatically track your most-used pens and inks.
Filemaker Pro and Other Database Software. Several readers described how they built their own custom pen and ink databases that include pictures, purchase details, and usage history, using Filemaker or other database software. I don’t have the knowledge or technical skill to build one of these myself, and my experience with database tools is limited, so I can’t offer much guidance here but if you’re looking for your own customized collection management solution, building a database or your own custom excel template is likely the way to go.
“Currently Inked” Lists and Notebooks. Most of us started here, and many of us never abandon the tried and true “Currently Inked” list, kept on an index card, in a notebook, or logged in a dedicated, special-purpose notebook like Ink Journal. Personally, I keep a Reporter’s Style Notebook that (theoretically) shows all of the pens and inks I currently have in rotation, though I often forget to log them. These lists sit on my desk and are intended to serve as a quick reference in case I forget which shade of blue is in which pen, and they don’t get saved long-term. I may also start keeping a running list of pen-and-ink pairings in my Traveler’s Notebook to retain for posterity.
No System at All. Many of you were adamant that forcing an organizational system on pens and inks would drain the fun from the hobby, and I totally get that. For me personally (since I’m a nerd), part of the fun of collecting, whether it be pens, books, coins, stamps, music, etc., lies in the selection and curation process, but it’s not for everyone.

It’s not just my pen collection that I’m sorting through. I recently received my custom “Ex Libris” stamp in the mail and have begun the process of marking all the “keeper” books in my home library.

So why am I so hung up on this? I think it stems from the fact that I’ve been spending so much time at home and noticing how much unused stuff I have lying around, including different “collections” I’ve accumulated over the years. But for things to truly be considered a “collection,” I’ve always subscribed to the view that there needs to be some basic level of curation or organization. Otherwise it just becomes clutter. As I mentioned, that curation process is part of what I’ve traditionally enjoyed about my hobbies, and I think some of the “hobby burnout” I’ve been experiencing is due to the fact that I’ve let that aspect get away from me. I get even less enjoyment when the disorganization gets to a point where it prevents me from actually using what I have. This year, a major goal of mine is to sort through my various accumulations, organize and keep what I love into actual collections, and pass along anything that needs a new home.

Mini-Collections and Under-appreciated Pens: The Parker Sonnet

February 24, 2021

I’m making more of an effort to sort and organize my pen collection these days. After a decade in the hobby, I’ve accumulated a lot, with varying degrees of intention. While I’m far from a single-purpose collector - for example, I don’t have a specific pen or brand that I collect exclusively - I do have several major themes around which I’ve build an eclectic group of pens. I’ve written about a few of these before: I have a soft spot for “near-vintage” Waterman, as well as celluloid pens in general. Neither is a particularly surprising focus for someone seriously into fountain pens, and wouldn’t appear out of place at a pen show or meetup. What is surprising, however, even to me, is the extent to which I’ve built up “mini collections” of under-appreciated pens that don’t attract much attention as everyday writers, much less the focus of collections. One such pen is the Parker Sonnet.

I currently only have three Sonnets in my personal collection, though I’ve owned many more. Why do I like this pen so much? For one thing, I consider the Parker Sonnet to be a modern classic. It’s been around for decades now, and the shape recalls the vintage Parker Vacumatic Majors from the 1930s. Vintage Vacumatics are among the most comfortable pens to write with - they fit the hand well when posted, as does the modern Sonnet. While Parker (rightfully) has taken flack over the years for allowing quality control to slide, a properly tuned Sonnet nib makes for an exceptional everyday writer, and the most recent Sonnets I’ve acquired have written perfectly out of the box. (I will note that these have been the gold-nib versions. I cannot speak to the steel.)

Sometimes a brand’s heritage isn’t immediately obvious. Parker has never “reissued” the Vacumatic - at least not to my knowledge - but a similar writing experience lives on in the Sonnet.

Building on the piece I wrote last week, which offered my first impressions of Parker’s recently released “Next Generation” Parker 51, I do believe that the level of vitriol directed at the modern Parker Pen Company is unwarranted and unfair. Sure, much of it can be written off as your typical internet snark, but even setting that aside, people really seem to relish hating Parker, and hold it to a much higher standard than other companies. For example, I’ve not found Parker nibs to be less reliable than those released by Visconti, which often charges twice as much money. A Parker Sonnet with a gold nib will run you anywhere from $250-400, with the higher end of that price range covering the chiseled sterling silver models. Even if you factor in $20-25 for a nib tuning, I have a hard time viewing the Sonnet as a bad value, especially given that you can often find them on sale or the secondary market. Hunting Sonnets at pen shows can be especially rewarding, as many people pass them up in favor of trendier pens and vendors are often willing to unload them at a discount. (Side Note: A few years ago, I criticized Parker for trying to push up the retail price of the Sonnet to its current level. Given the degree to which pen prices have risen industry-wide over the past five years, this was hasty and probably unfair. A gold nib Sonnet is less expensive than many steel-nib pens these days.)

Currently, the Parker Sonnets in my collection include two pens from the now-discontinued “Great Expectations” special edition series: the “Subtle Big Red,” which I previously reviewed, and another matte black version which I believe was called “Secret Shell Black.” Just recently I also added the “SE18 Journey Blue” pen to my collection, which was the last one in stock at Appelboom and seems like it will make a nice companion to my Traveler’s Notebook. The extra fine 18k nib is sublime.

If I must say so, the blue “Journey” looks good on the blue Traveler’s Notebook!

I’m interested in hearing more about this concept of “mini-collections.” Do you all have any side interests apart from your primary focus (if you collect at all)? In addition to the Sonnets, I have managed to get my hands on all of the special Lamy 2000 releases (with the exception of the red one that cost like $18,000), most of the Lamy Studio special releases, and a handful of Leonardo Momento Zero Grandes. The fascinating part about this for me, personally, is that it was largely unintentional, and as I focus on paring down my pens going forward, I may see what happens if I do spend some time focusing more on the “collecting” aspect of the hobby and building out some of these interests. (While still using my pens, of course!)