San Francisco Pen Show Hotel View — Being able to get outside and walk along the bay near the hotel gave an added boost outside of show hours.

2025 San Francisco Pen Show Recap: Still The Best "Big" Show!

September 3, 2025

We returned this week from the 2025 San Francisco Pen Show, and what an awesome weekend! After having to cancel at the last minute last year due to a family emergency, it was great to be back and to have the opportunity to visit with so many of our readers and customers. Due to the number of international vendors who attend the show, San Francisco is truly an “international” pen show with both vendors and attendees from Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Turkey, and more.

San Francisco Pen Show Inside Ballroom — I snuck in to get a shot of the ballroom as it was being set up on Wednesday night.

While the show is smaller than D.C. in terms of both physical footprint and number of vendors, there are things at this show that you simply won’t find anywhere else. This year’s international attendees included Nagasawa Stationery, Toyooka Craft, Drillog, Atelier Musubi, Stylo Art Karuizawa, Kyuseido, and seY pens, as well as a number of glass pen makers that included Glassophy, Hanabi Glass Studio, Glass Studio Aun, Glass Studio TooS, and more. It’s impossible for me to list and link to everyone here, as there are simply too many, but you can view the entire exhibitor list on the SF Pen Show website.

Nagasawa Bungu Center Ink Presentation — Representatives from Nagasawa Stationery (Nagasawa Bungu Center) presented at the San Francisco Pen Show on the history of their Kobe Inks.

What Makes the San Francisco Pen Show Great: People and Content

Ever since attending my first San Francisco Pen Show in 2021, I’ve enjoyed returning for two things: the people and the content (mainly classes and seminars). This year’s show continued the trend, with excellent workshops and classes of which I attended two. The first was a Thursday night panel that included Naoyuki Takeuchi, the head of Ink Planning and Development at Nagasawa Stationery in Kobe Japan; Daryl Lim of Atelier Musubi; Satoru of seY Pen; and renowned nib artisan Yukio Nagahara, who attended the show with his company The Nib Shaper. The wide-ranging discussion (moderated by my friend Lisa Vanness) included some generalized background about all the different companies represented, but also spanned topics as diverse as the role of stationery in different countries, paper preferences across regions, and personal pen, paper, and ink preferences.

The second seminar was held on Saturday afternoon, and was hosted by Takeuchi-san of Nagasawa and his excellent translator Anastasia, who walked through the history of Nagasawa’s Kobe Ink series and provided in-depth background regarding the development process and stories behind certain colors. I plan to do a separate recap discussing some of the topics from this and other seminars in the coming days, so stay tuned.

Roterfaden Binders at the End of the Show! — Everyone who’s visited T.G.S. at the larger pen shows know that we’re somewhat selective in what we bring to shows, given the already diverse selection available across more than a hundred tables. As with the D.C. Pen Show, this year we only brought Roterfaden, the German clip-based binder system, and as you can see, we went from 16 to 4 Taschenbegleiters by midday Saturday!

Business Recap: So Long to All Those Roterfadens!

Everyone always asks me “how was your show?”, so let me say this: it was fabulous. Not only did we do well business-wise (taking some of the stress out of an otherwise expensive trip) but I love meeting readers and customers in person and hearing about how much they’re enjoying their stationery, especially when they stop by to tell me how they’re actually using it out there in the real world. While I only had five TGS_25 Roterfadens available at the show, at least twice that number of people came by to tell me how much they were enjoying theirs that they had bought online. (Some even wanted pictures, which was a new experience for me, as all my friends know I’m camera-shy :).)

The Galen Leather Dentist/Architect Nib — The Galen Leather “Dentist” Nib, which is a fine architect that’s super-smooth.

We had teamed up with Vanness Pens at their table in the Oak Room (at the back of the entrance hallway), and were joined by Ana Reinert of the Well-Appointed Desk and Galen Leather, who brought not just their latest “Havana Brown” release, but also their exclusive fountain pens and custom nibs ground by Meltem (“Amphorastale” on Instagram). I had a few minutes on Saturday - or maybe it was Sunday, it’s all a blur - to test out their custom nib grinds and found them excellent. The next time you order one of the Galen Leonardos or another JoWo-compatible pen, consider adding a specialty nib. My favorite was the fine italic.

My San Francisco Pen Show Haul, Plus things I did not buy because infinite money is not really a thing

As I mentioned above, those looking for high-end glass and dip pens did not come away from San Francisco disappointed. Unless you waited too long, that is. The San Francisco Pen Show is notorious for product selling out on Friday morning, since weekend pass-holders queue-up early to get access to the most in-demand products. This time around it was mainly glass pens, and I heard that people arrived at 5 a.m. to get in line. Despite not being able to be part of the initial rush since I was behind the table, I still managed to pick up a couple of fun pieces on Saturday: a glass pen from Glass Studio Aun with a broad nib, and a Drillog 2.0 with a .5mm tip size. You can read my original (somewhat critical) review of the Kickstarter Drillog here, but I have to say that this new version delivers on the original vision and more. It’s super smooth, and since there are additional channels cut into the nib, it delivers sustained ink flow. Drillog also switched to titanium, which has improved performance. I plan to post a full follow-up on this one.

Studio Aun Glass Pen alongside a Drillog — My glass pen from Studio Aun (left) alongside my Drillog. I chose the short nib.

Schon DSGN Monoc Evo — Schon DSGN has released a new pen: the Monoc EVO, which is a piston-filler fountain pen with an integrated nib.

Pilot Custom 74 Special Edition — This year’s special release from Pilot will arrive in October. This Custom 74 will be available in four special nib sizes, including Soft Fine, Soft Fine-Medium, Soft Medium, and Double Broad.

The Drillog Table at the San Francisco Pen Show — The Drillog setup at the San Francisco Pen Show. Customize to your heart’s content.

This Retro 51 Display from Marty Henderson — Marty brought all the Retro 51s!

Tiny Pelikan alongside the new Liliput Kolibri — A tiny Pelikan fountain pen (M300?) alongside a Kaweco Liliput Kolibri.

That’s a Wrap for 2025 Pen Shows: On to Pelikan Hub, Fountain Pen Day, and In-Store Events!

My goal was to bring T.G.S. to three or four pen shows in 2025, and I did four, so check that annual performance goal off the list! In addition to San Francisco and D.C., we attended Arkansas and Atlanta back in the Spring, and already are planning adventures for 2026 and beyond. We’re now entering the fall season, which will include the annual Pelikan Hub, Fountain Pen Day, and even a few special events we are planning to host in our own space. Stay tuned and I hope to see you soon in Nashville!

We are back to a normal in-store schedule, so come see us from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday and 10am-6pm on Saturdays. Please check this page here for information on our store location and up-to-date information on hours, etc.

TGS_25 Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter Green Traveler's Size — They may be sold out by the time you read this, but as of publication we still have a couple remaining TGS_25 Roterfadens!

San Francisco Pen Show Empty Ballroom — The calm before the storm. The San Francisco show is always quite busy as there is generally less ballroom space than D.C.

Thursday Drops: Labor Day Weekend Arrivals from Roterfaden and TWSBI, Plus More Correspondence Cards!

August 28, 2025

It’s San Francisco Pen Show Week, and I’m super excited because the San Francisco Show is always one of my favorite annual events. I unfortunately had to miss last year’s festivities, but I’ll be set up in the Oak Room sharing table space with Vanness Pens and Galen Leather! Note that we don’t have a full show setup, just Roterfaden, including a handful of the TGS_25 A5 Slim Binders. Be sure to come by early on Friday if you’re looking to pick one up in person, but the easiest way to be sure that you get one is to order online. Over half of this shipment has sold within 24 hours of being made available for purchase, and while I expect it to slow down some, I can’t guarantee that anything will be available through the weekend. I’ve also brought a fairly large selection of Roterfaden A5 Taschenbegleiters with me, and I’ve split the stock so that most of these will remain available for online purchase as well as in-person in San Francisco.

My personal TGS_25 Taschenbegleiter — If you miss out on the stock available at the table in San Francisco, I will have my personal Roterfadens available for attendees to check out in person.

We also have the new TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR Affogato, which pairs a deep brown expresso finish with TWSBI’s Onyx Trim, as well as a restock of the Pilot Custom 823 fountain pen, Lamy Dark Dusk AL-Stars, and Well-Appointed Desk Letterpress notepads in new designs. Happy Shopping!

Please note that our Nashville Brick-and-Mortar Store is closed this weekend due to Pen Show Travels. Thanks to everyone who came by for special hours on Tuesday. We will reopen the week of 9/2 for normal hours, and online orders will continue to ship in the normal 2-3 business day time frame. Kindly remember that Monday is Labor Day, which is a business/postal holiday.

Roterfaden TGS_25 Special Edition Restock. The second round of our collaboration with Roterfaden has arrived and is now available for purchase! This A5 Slim Taschenbegleiter fits most Traveler’s Standard refills, as well as the Lochby Voyager notebooks that contain 68g Tomoe River.
Roterfaden Replacement Elastics. Many of you who are interested in the TGS_25 expressed interest in replacement elastic bands. These thinner bands will fit A5 and B6 Taschenbegleiters, and are sold in two color sets each containing three different cords.
TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR Affogato with Onyx Fountain Pen. The latest release from TWSBI’s “Breakfast Collection” has arrived, and this one is a stunner, pairing espresso-colored anodized trim with the black onyx plating.
Lamy Safari Multi Color Special Editions. The latest Lamy Special Edition release features an All-Black and All-White gloss Safari, paired with a multi colored finial and swappable bands that you can use to customize your pen. (I went with the All Black Safari and paired it with a Saffron/Orange band, which looks amazing.)
Pilot Custom 823 Fountain Pens. At long last, we received a restock of the Pilot Custom 823 in Amber and Smoke. Between the three available colors, we have most nib sizes available.
Lamy “Dark Dusk” and “Mint” AL-Star Fountain Pens. Our allocation of the Dark Dusk fountain pens sold out nearly immediately and I had to reorder. While the midnight blue Dark Dusk has been the most popular by far, the cool green “Mint” pen should also prove popular.
Uni Signo RT1 Gel Pens. The RT1 is Uni’s upgraded retractable gel pen that features its signature fine tips but with a soft textured barrel that’s comfortable to hold. Ink is vibrant and dries quickly.
Yamamoto Ro-Biki Canvas Cover in Mint. The Ro-Biki notebook system uses another “A5 slim” style refill that’s slightly narrower than standard Traveler’s/TN. We have the Ro-Biki canvas cover available in a new Mint Green. To see how this system works, check out this YouTube video where I do a walkthrough demonstration.
Well-Appointed Desk Memo Pads. These letterpress memo pads from the Well-Appointed Desk/Skylab Letterpress now come in additional designs, including the popular “Side Quests” and all T-Rex/Velociraptor motifs.
Well-Appointed Desk and Skylab Letterpress Greeting Cards. As noted above, we continue to build out our correspondence and greeting card offerings in their own shop page. These vintage-inspired greeting cards are available individually or as an assorted pack of four, with one of each design.

Well Appointed Desk and Skylab Letterpress Greeting Cards

DC Pen Show 2025 Table Setup Vanness and T.G.S.

D.C. Pen Show Weekend Update: Greetings from the Big Show!

August 3, 2025

Despite multiple flight cancellations and delays, I finally made it to the D.C. Pen Show, though I didn’t make it to the actual event on Friday given my arrival time. This will be a two-day show weekend for me, but Saturday was busy and more than made up for missing Friday. I don’t leave until Sunday, so I’ll be set up until show close (or at least until there’s nobody left)! If you’re looking for me, I’m right out front of the main ballroom, sharing table space with the Vanness Pens Kaweco DIY Station, where I can help you assemble your own Kaweco Sport! It’s a fun little exercise that I plan to do myself before I leave, and will be sure to document the process.

The Gentleman Stationer Table Setup at the 2025 D.C. Pen Show

While I’ve barely been out from behind the table to explore, this year’s D.C. Pen Show seems well-attended and has an energy that the show has lacked in recent years. Attendees are happy, and spreading out the show among four ballrooms definitely limited the door rush. Many thanks to everyone who attended my Notebook Systems 101 Class on Saturday - there was a nice turnout and the some excellent questions. I will plan to post some information from this class in the coming weeks.

The one continuing disappointment from the current show setup is the lack of a true after-hours gathering space. The hotel has been remodeled, and while the old setup wasn’t great, the current way the hotel is organized has done away with a lot of the tables and nooks that people could use to catch up after hours. The bar/restaurant area severely limits seating, especially at long tables. Even later at night, when nobody was still eating dinner and tables were empty, the staff tried to keep us from sitting down even though we made it clear we planned to order drinks. It left me more than a bit nostalgic for the old D.C. show, which had legendary after-hours socializing that has become much more disjointed and subdued.

Since it’s Pen Show Weekend, take 10% off most orders with “PENSHOW10” at checkout. (Certain brands cannot be discounted so the discount will not apply.) Note: If you are wanting to order a Roterfaden A5, I brought my entire remaining stock with me to the pen show so come find me early. We only have a handful of A5 covers remaining.

Saturday Updates and Scenes from the Arkansas Pen Show, Day 1

March 22, 2025

It’s going to be relatively quiet this weekend on the blog as we’re attending the Arkansas Pen Show in Little Rock. I thought it might be fun to post some “Day One” pics from Friday, which was surprisingly busy for a Friday afternoon at a smaller pen show and definitely bodes well for Saturday! While I spent most of my time behind the table, I did get to visit Matthew Chen of Matthew’s Nibworks (@pactagon on the socials) to get a Kodachi grind on my Lamy 2000 in Stainless Steel. I also spent some time perusing the Newton Pens table. While I haven’t picked anything up YET, there are definitely some muted multicolor ebonites that caught my eye….

Note that our Nashville brick and mortar location is closed this weekend while we are in Arkansas but the online store remains open. If you’re in driving distance of Little Rock, please come see us at the show! We will return to normal operating hours next week.

Matthew Chen working on my Lamy 2000 in Stainless Steel — Matthew hard at work on my Lamy 2000 Stainless Steel.

Matthew Chen Tester Pens at the Table — Even if you don’t get a nib ground, Matthew has tester pens out on his table with all of the different nib grinds that you can try them all out to see what might appeal to you.

A tray of Newton Orville Fountain Pens, ready to go — Anyone venture a guess as to which one appealed to me?

Newton Prospector Fountain Pens — The Newton Prospector is one of my favorite small-maker fountain pens. (Don’t be fooled by the imitators out there - Shawn is the original creator of this particular design.) He’s working a lot with ebonites lately and there are some gorgeous pieces out there.

Lochby Journal Cover Aged Leather — I posted this yesterday to show the difference between a new Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter LTD_022 and my 7-year old version on the right. These covers age beautifully, with the leather becoming more supple over time. If you’re attending the show, I have a handful of Roterfadens left behind the table. Note that what’s shown in the online inventory is available for online purchase only, as I have not brought those specific items with me to the show.

Pelikan Table 41 Chicago Planner Conference

Recapping the 2024 Chicago Planner Conference: An Entirely New Experience!

November 13, 2024

I have a Venn diagram in my head of the greater stationery community, with the classic overlapping circles showing all the different areas of interest, some of which overlap, and some of which barely overlap at all. There are not only "pen people", but "journal people", "planner people", "sticker/washi people", "pencil people", sketchnoters, and many more. The one common thread running through all of these various communities is a love of analog, and while not all hyper-specific passions and obsessions are necessarily shared, I've always felt that this might be more a question of lack of awareness than a true lack of interest.

I spent the past weekend at the 2024 Chicago Planner Conference, helping my friends from Vanness Pens and the Well-Appointed Desk teach a class on fountain pen inks and paper, and generally exploring this new (to me) area of stationery. It may help to first define "planners". This isn't a Filofax or Plotter convention, though traditional organizers do have a central role. Rather, at shows like the Chicago Planner Conference, Wild for Planners, and other similar events, "planning" is a broader concept that draws in those interested in organizing, journaling, scrapbooking, and art. The planners and personal organizers that tend to take center stage are different from the Plotters and Traveler's Notebooks that you tend to see at pen shows, and include smaller brands catering specifically to a more niche planner community. As an interesting aside, as more "planner people" discover fountain pens, many of the makers and brands that cater to this specific group were wanting to talk to us about fountain pen friendly paper, and how they could make their products more compatible with fountain pens since it's something many of their customers are interested in.

Planner Conference vs Pen Show vs Stationery Fest

The biggest difference that jumped out at me immediately was the lack of focus on "the consumer." The Chicago Planner Conference has grown rapidly in the past few years, but only in the past two have they offered a pen show-style marketplace where attendees could shop on site. Even so, the event revolves around content and experiences, not shopping: Attendees pay $300+ for admission mainly to enjoy speakers, classes, photo ops, after-hours parties and events, and more. I would say that the choice of venue (the historic Chicago Hilton) reflects this focus, as it was much more comfortable, centrally located, and a touch more expensive than your typical pen show hotel. At least two other conferences were running alongside CPC over the weekend.

Pen Shows and the new trend - stationery fairs or "stationery festivals" - are generally viewed more as buying opportunities, though certain shows (the D.C. Pen Show, the San Francisco Pen Show, and Yoseka's NYC Stationery Fest) have offered an broader range of seminars and workshops for attendees to enjoy. Because the event is focused more on the vendors, and the ability to sell to as many people as possible, there is no cap on attendance and the public shows get very crowded as a result. At a more traditional "conference," where attendees buy an expensive ticket and the number sold is limited to roughly 500, the event runs at a slower, less frenzied pace. There are correspondingly fewer vendors - if there are any at all - and most brands and retailers in attendance focus more on engaging with their customers (and truly meeting new ones) than maximizing profit over the limited number of hours selling is permitted. Sure, the event has a TON of energy, and its still busy, but it's less hoards of people rushing to buy as much stuff as they possibly can from a given table and more pure excitement to be there.

A shot of the vendor marketplace during vendor setup on Saturday morning. Compared to a pen show, the space was absolutely massive.

This to me was the key difference - everyone seemed so happy simply to be at the event, as opposed to the nervous anxiety and "fear of missing out" on purchases that’s so prevalent at traditional pen shows. For example, the vendor marketplace was only open specific hours each day: Friday 4-9pm, Saturday 8-9:30am and 4-7pm; and on Sunday from 8-9:30am and 1-2pm (or something approximately along those lines). Many attendees who came by the table to shop only did so for the first time on Sunday afternoon because they were otherwise occupied and focused elsewhere. For the whole weekend!

My Swag from Chicago Planner Conference 2024 — Event tickets are expensive, but attendees walk away with a ton of sponsor swag. For the main sessions on Saturday, attendees are assigned to a table sponsored by specific brands/companies, and each attendee receives gift bags, in addition to your event swag bag that you receive upon registration. This is only a small portion of what I took home!

My Own Takeaways and whether You should Attend

If I had to describe my weekend at the Chicago Planner Conference, the word I would choose is "refreshing". While the content was not 100% on-point with my own personal interests, I often find it helpful to venture outside my own comfort zone and get some new ideas on how to organize my analog life, journal, and collect my thoughts on paper. If you've ever wanted to explore more artistic avenues of expression outside of writing, you'll find plenty of inspiration at this show. And I can't underscore enough how much happier the attendees seemed than at your typical pen show. I found it refreshing to see pure passion as opposed to FOMO.

Should you attend? It depends on why you go to shows and similar events. For those of you who enjoy attending pen shows mainly to shop, maybe not. On the other hand, if, like me, you enjoy pen shows as an opportunity to see your friends, meet other like-minded enthusiasts, trade your extras and duplicates after hours, and perhaps learn something new, I would definitely recommend looking at next year's Chicago event. Especially if you're into planners (you'll know who you are). :)

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. We also have a brick-and-mortar store, which you can visit! See here for hours.