Thursday Drops: Green Diplomat Vipers, Big Notsu Cards, and More Fountain Pen Restocks

I returned from the San Francisco Pen show to a box of the newly released Green Guilloche Diplomat Viper, which we have in both fountain pen and rollerball formats! For those unfamiliar with this pen, the Diplomat Viper is a hooded-nib fountain pen that features a single nib width (fine/medium) which is perfect for my own everyday writing. While I chose the Blue fountain pen, all of these colors are great.

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We have additional stock of the TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR Affogato + Onyx, as well as newly arrived restocks of the Lamy 2000 in fountain pen, rollerball, ballpoint, and even mechanical pencil formats. Finally, Notsu is back with large-format index cards (per Tuesday’s post), and all of the Roterfadens we brought home San Francisco are back in inventory if you didn’t get to visit us at the pen show. Happy Shopping!

We are open this week from 1-6pm on Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-6pm on Saturday. Come see us in person at our Nashville location, and keep track of updated hours on this page here.

1. Diplomat Viper Fountain Pens and Rollerballs in Green. The latest Diplomat Viper release is here, in a much-anticipated green color. We also have a full restock of the other three colors.

2. TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR Affogato + Onyx Fountain Pen. A sleeper hit at this year’s San Francisco Pen Show, many people came by the tables just to see TWSBI’s latest. The Onyx Trim really sets off the dark brown anodization on this 580 ALR. The Caribbean Blue + Onyx is also stunning, and it’s also been a sleeper favorite.

3. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiters in A5 and B6. All of the Taschenbegleiters that we took to San Francisco and did not sell (as well as those that didn’t make the trip) are now back into inventory as of this morning.

4. Sunderland Machine Works MK1 Machined Rollerball. One of my favorite non-fountain pens, these machined rollerballs take a range of gel refills (G2, Energel, Sarasa) with minimal hacking, and will also accept the threaded Montblanc-style rollerball and fineliner refills. While our store custom edition is currently on hiatus, we carry the range of standard Sunderland finishes.

5. Pilot Custom 823 Fountain Pens. We’ve restocked on the Pilot Custom 823 Fountain Pen in Amber, Smoke, and Clear, and between the three finishes I believe we have most nib sizes available. The Custom 823 has long been one of our “workhorse” fountain pens for everyday writing, mainly because the vacuum-filling system uses a valve shut-off feature to allow you to travel without fear of leaks.

6. Lamy 2000 Ballpoints. The ballpoint version of Lamy’s flagship fountain pen is not only reasonably priced, but comfortable for longer writing sessions and now compatible with the M17 Jetstream refill, which we offer in either .5mm or .7mm tip sizes.

7. Lamy 2000 Blackwood and Taxus Ballpoints. Did you know that the Lamy 2000 comes in two polished wood finishes as well? These take the same range of refills as the standard pen, and have slightly more heft than the Makrolon.

8. Oversized Notsu Notecards. Notsu’s excellent ink-friendly notecards are now available in a larger 5x7 format, and we have also restocked on most other sizes and layouts.

9. Colorverse “Top 3” Fountain Pen Inks. Colorverse released the top 3 inks from last year’s Colorvent Advent Calendar, and we are now happy to offer them in 50ml bottles. The three colors that won the vote were Christmas Star (Glistening/Shimmer), Pulsar Pulse (Sheening), and Milky Way (Glistening/Shimmer).

10. Taccia Tsuchi Returns! Years ago, I had tried Taccia “Tsuchi”, a darker golden brown based on the color of wheat. Despite thinking this one had been discontinued, I found it and have added a few bottles.

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Both Onyx-trim TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR fountain pens in Affogato (top) and Caribbean Blue (bottom).

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

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.

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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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.)

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

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Thursday Drops: B5 and B6 Roterfaden Taschenbegleiters, Correspondence Cards, and More!

Part I of our anticipated Roterfaden restock has landed, with nearly all of the standard edition Taschenbegleiters now available for purchase. Most interesting from this batch are the Red B5 folio (which also fits A5 due to adjustable clips!), as well as new soft leather B6 covers in brown and grey. We also have additional stock of the four-clip standard and four-clip adjustable in A5.

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Yes, that’s a Roterfaden with a Lochby B5 Notebook and Rhodia Composition Book.

As noted earlier this week, we have opened a new section of the store devoted to written correspondence, which will include letter sets, correspondence cards, and more going forward. We’ve also been busy restocking our standard ballpoints and gel pens for back-to-school and back-to-work season, including brands like Anterique, the new Uni Zento, and even more multi pens including the Pilot 4+1 and the Uni Style Fit. Happy shopping!

Come see us this week on Thursday and Friday from 1-6pm, as well as Saturday from 10am-6pm, so you can see all of these and more in-person! Always check this cite here for updated hours.

1. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter B5. This size accommodates B5 notebooks, composition books, and the adjustable clips will shrink down to hold an A5 notebook as well. This is an experiment, so hopefully it will prove popular and Roterfaden will make more color options.

2. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter SO_20 in B6. B6 has become a more popular size in the U.S., and we’ve had more requests for different colors. We now have light brown and light grey.

3. Diplomat Viper Fountain Pens and Rollerballs. The Diplomat Viper is back in stock! This excellent hooded fountain pen features a smooth fine/medium nib and the ability to pair it with a ballpoint to create a matching (or non-matching) set. Personally, I picked a blue fountain pen and brown rollerball.

4. Yamamoto Ro-Biki Covers in Mint Green. We have a third color of the excellent Yamamoto Paper Ro-biki canvas notebook cover, “Mint Green,” along with the other Ro-Biki colors and all of the standard and passport refills.

5. Belle & Union Letterpress Correspondence Cards. These excellent fountain pen friendly cards are made here in the U.S.A., and feature stationery-themed designs, including two fountain pen versions. Envelopes included.

6. Belle & Union Die-Cut Vinyl Stickers. These analog and stationery-themed vinyl stickers feature motifs that include fountain pens, typewriters, and even a full-size pencil sticker!

7. Mottanai Memo Pads. While you can of course use these memo pads however you want, we’ve enjoyed them for short personal notes such as those you might include with a gift. Made from scraps of specialty Japanese paper generated by the offset printing process, each pad features three types of textured or patterned paper.

8. Anterique Restock. The Anterique “Mach Ball” .5mm ballpoint is one of our top-sellers, and probably the one product that people return to the store to stock up on because they like it so much.

9. Viarco Pencil Restock. All of the Viarco Vintage Series pencils are restocked, along with the standard Viarco office line.

10. Viarco Pencil Caps. These customer favorites are back! Sold in packs of 8 or 20, these simple spring-loaded Viarco pencil caps protect your long-point in your pencil case or pouch. It’s great that they’re inexpensive enough so that you don’t need to worry about losing them.

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Friday Drops: New Platinum Preppy Wa Edo-Monogatami, Colorverse Colorvent Top 3, and More Viarco!

This week’s Drops post is a bit late, and it’s because I had to spend yesterday listing a bunch of new inventory as it arrived. New arrivals include the latest Platinum Preppy Wa “Modern Maki-e” series, dubbed “Edo-Monogatami” and themed around various aspects of life during Japan’s Edo period. (You may recall that the Taccia Ukiyo-e fountain pen inks reflect Edo period art, so consider whether these pens and inks might be a good match!)

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After a somewhat lengthy wait, we also have the much-anticipated Colorverse “Top 3” inks from the 2024 Colorvent Calendar, and the three colors chosen were Christmas Star, Pulsar Pulse, and Milky Way. You can purchase a set containing three 15ml bottles (one of each color) plus four complementary washi tapes, or you can purchase a standard 65ml bottle of individual colors. Finally, we have the new Lamy AL-Star pens and pencils highlighted in Tuesday’s post, as well as a full Viarco pencil restock.

Another reason why it’s been a bit quiet here recently - in addition to Pen Show travel - is that we are expanding our store! Next week we will be taking over a larger showroom to create dedicated viewing and shopping space (though we will still have our current location as our warehouse, office, and event space, and it will likely be some time before the new space is open.) Come see us this week on Thursday and Friday from 1-6pm, as well as Saturday from 10am-6pm, so you can see all of these and more in-person!

1. Platinum Preppy Wa “Modern Maki-e” Edo-Monogatami Special Editions. All of the most recent Platinum “Modern Maki-e” releases are now available, themed around life in Japan’s Edo period.

2. Colorverse Colorvent “Top 3” Ink Sets and Bottles. We knew it was coming, but Colorverse has finally released the Top 3 inks from the Colorvent Calendar, available either in a set of three 15ml ink bottles with matching washi tape, or as individual 65ml bottles.

3. Lamy AL-Star Dark Dusk and Mint Special Editions. The latest Lamy AL-Star pens and pencils have landed, in two new green and blue colorways.

4. Laurett’s Ebonite Ballpoint Pens and Mechanical Pencils. I picked up several of these Laurett’s machined ebonite ballpoints and mechanical pencils at the D.C. Pen Show after visiting the Laurett’s table. The combination of precision knurling and ebonite is unlike anything I’ve seen before.

5. Archer & Olive Traveler-sized Notebooks. These A5 Slim hardcover notebooks have proven popular so we are likely going to bring in additional sizes, as well as more of the Traveler’s-size notebooks.

6. Viarco Pencil Restock! We spent most of yesterday afternoon listing a half-dozen different varieties of Viarco pencils and accessories, including all of the standard office pencils in HB and B hardnesses as well as the vintage series. Oh, and…

7. Viarco Pencil Caps. Pencil caps are back! These simple metal spring-style pencil caps protect your long-point-sharpened wood pencils in transit. Available in the boxes of 8 or larger packs of 20.

8. Blackwing Volume 140 Pencils. We have some remaining stock of the latest Blackwing Volumes release, inspired by stainless steel cookware and the Maillard Reaction. These are very nice looking pencils, and there are also high-quality recipe cards to pair with the release.

9. Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil. The Perfect Pencil is back! We have the more reasonably priced version, which you won’t be afraid to carry and use as intended, as an everyday sharpener and pencil extender.

10. Faber-Castell Grip Trio Sharpener in New Colors. The Grip Trio pencil sharpener allows you to sharpen standard, jumbo, and colored pencils, and now comes in three new colors.

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And yes, we’ve added to our selection of Bicolor annotation pencils!

Thursday Drops: Laurett's Pens and Pencils, Archer & Olive Notebooks, Plus Diplomat, TWSBI, and Nakabayashi Restocks

We’re back from the D.C. Pen Show and came home to a stack of boxes in our receiving area! As noted on Tuesday, we now have Archer & Olive hardcover A5 slim notebooks, which are the equivalent of a Traveler’s Notebook standard refill in hardback format. We also have freshly arrived Diplomat Viper fountain pens and a full TWSBI restock, including more of the recently released Serpentine Bronze fountain pens.

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Archer & Olive’s paper features a bright white dot grid ruling and is ink-friendly!

But what I’m most excited about today are these “WAKA” ebonite ballpoints and mechanical pencils from Laurett’s, a Japanese precision manufacturer known for their ultra-fine knurling. I visited the Laurett’s table at the D.C. Pen Show and couldn’t resist bringing some of these home with me. If they do well I will add additional colors of ebonite, of which there are plenty!

Come see all this stuff in person! We will be open at our Nashville location this weekend from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-6pm on Saturday.

1. Laurett’s Ballpoint Pens and Mechanical Pencils. Laurett’s Japan is known for precision machining, and offers ebonite and anodized aluminum pens with some of the best knurling I’ve experienced. Limited quantities on these!

2. Archer & Olive A5-Slim Notebooks. We recently learned that people really love TN/A5-slim notebooks, and these hardcover notebooks from Archer & Olive feature 160 gsm dot grid paper that’s ink friendly, with three different cover designs in canvas or vegan leather.

3. Archer & Olive Vinyl Planner Tabs. These planner tabs allow you to organize your planner or notebook by month. Each set contains 24 tabs, with two stickers for each month.

4. Diplomat Viper Fountain Pens. The hooded Diplomat Viper is a unique fountain pen that you can pair with a matching rollerball to create a set (or you can mix and match colors like me). We currently have black, blue, and brown pens available.

5. TWSBI ECO Serpentine Bronze Fountain Pens. Our initial shipment of Serpentine Bronze fountain pens flew off the shelves, but we have more in all nib sizes.

6. Nakabayashi Paper. Nakabayashi offers fountain pen friendly paper in a wide variety of formats, led by the fountain pen friendly Yu-Sari paper in both notebook and looseleaf. Of all the paper we carry, Nakabayashi is our fastest-growing brand.

7. Nakabayashi Shredder Scissors. This unique desk accessory was a longtime favorite, and we’re happy to have more! If you need an easy way to quickly shred a document but don’t have access to a full-size shredder, these scissors offer a portable solution.

8. Uni Style Fit Meister 5 Multi Pens and Gel Refills. A classic conical-tip gel multi pen, the Uni Style Fit is one of those classic pens that has been around for a while but features a wide range of refills in a multitude of different tip sizes.

9. Pilot 4+1 Acroball Multi Pens. Did you know that these Pilot multipens take both Pilot’s excellent Acro Ink refills and will also work with the Uni Style Fit gel refills? They’re incredibly versatile!

10. Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil. The Perfect Pencil is a combination pencil cap/extender/sharpener that ships with one Faber-Castell “B” grade pencil but is compatible with most standard woodcase hex pencils.

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And, yes, we still have Yamamoto Bullet Jotters, plus the refill pads that include the newly released “Meringue” paper and others.