The Chicago Pen Show features this bright atrium - a huge plus for viewing pens.

Report from Chicago: Pen Show Highlights from Friday

October 2, 2021

This weekend marks the first time I’ve attended the Chicago Pen Show. As with San Francisco, I’ve taken the opportunity to visit yet another new show, all of which have their own personalities and quirks. Chicago is a traditional 3-day show (though some would argue the show starts with pre-show trading on Thursday night). The show opens to the public at noon on Friday, and as I’ve observed with other shows this year, the non-public days have been pretty slow due to a smaller number of people traveling in from out of town. I expect the public days - which attract more of a local crowd - to be busier and I’ll be sure to report back.

The main ballroom in Chicago (right after the show opened to weekend pass holders on Friday).

Due to rising Covid numbers, a lot of vendors had to pull out of Chicago at the last minute. Therefore, this year’s show feels a bit smaller and more local than usual, which isn’t a bad thing. Vendors I visited included Atlas Stationers, Papier Plume, Ryan Krusac, Good Made Better (Penwell), Desiderata Pens, Keith from Randomthinks, and more! Friday night featured an auction featuring 100 different lots, and some people walked away with very good deals. As for me, I’ve not purchased anything yet, since I came more to just socialize, but as always there are a couple of things I have my eye on. Stay tuned!

The Pencil Spiral: another Randomthinks creation!

A case full of vintage Waterman pens in exceptional condition.

Burl + Acrylic pens from Ironfeather Creative.

And, of course, since Chicago is one of the great American food towns, I can’t leave you without some culinary shots from the Chicago Pen Show, which has some of the best dining options within a 10 minute drive of any show on the circuit.

As I mentioned yesterday, since I’m on the road, all Curated Shop orders placed Thursday through Sunday will ship Monday upon my return. For today and tomorrow (the two days I’ll be walking the show!) take an extra 10% off orders of $50 and up using the coupon code “CHICAGO21” at checkout! While I don’t have a table at this year’s show, I might have a few of the T.G.S.-exclusive Sunderland Pens with me, as well as smaller fun items like the new enamel pins I received this week. If you want to say hi at the show, the easiest way to get in touch is via e-mail at joe@gentlemanstationer.mom, or just send me a DM via Instagram.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop discount code excludes TWSBI and Sunderland, per my agreements with those manufacturers.

Chicago Pen Show 2021: It's Pen Show Weekend!

October 1, 2021

As you may have seen on my social media accounts, I’m at the Chicago Pen Show this weekend! Look for show content, including pictures and videos of all the goings-on, as well as updates on new releases and show-exclusive products.

Since I’m on the road, all Curated Shop orders placed Thursday through Sunday will ship Monday upon my return. For today and tomorrow (the two days I’ll be walking the show!) take an extra 10% off orders of $50 and up using the coupon code “CHICAGO21” at checkout! While I don’t have a table at this year’s show, I might have a few of the T.G.S.-exclusive Sunderland Pens with me, as well as smaller fun items like the new enamel pins I received this week. If you want to say hi at the show, the easiest way to get in touch is via e-mail at joe@gentlemanstationer.mom, or just send me a DM via Instagram.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop discount code excludes TWSBI and Sunderland, per my agreements with those manufacturers.

Kokuyo offers five different rulings, including three different grid widths.

Kokuyo PERPANEP "Zara Zara" Paper: Funny Name, Great Paper!

September 30, 2021

Ok, I’ll get this out of the way first. What’s behind the naming convention here? According to Kokuyo, “PERPANEP” is an anagram of “Pen” and “Paper,” designed to reflect the new product’s emphasis on paper feel in addition to writing performance. Kokuyo is one of the largest Japanese stationery manufacturers, and already has a broad lineup of paper. PERPANEP looks like an attempt to target the higher end of the market with high quality paper that offers multiple options for both paper texture and ruling.

You’ll have no issues getting the PERPANEP notebooks to lie flat.

Kokuyo PERPANEP products are quite understated, taking a page from the Midori design book. The notebooks feature grey covers with a white cheesecloth binding, and hold 60 pages/120 sheets of slightly off-white 75gsm paper. Functionally, these notebooks are straightforward workhorse stationery, featuring excellent quality paper, a flexible binding that allows the notebook to open completely flat, and five different rulings. It’s a versatile product, as you can choose from .4mm dot, .3mm grid, .4mm grid, .5mm grid, and a .6mm steno ruling.

While PERPANEP paper comes in three different paper variations - smooth, ultra smooth, and textured, I decided to stock just the textured (“Zara Zara”) because it was, for me, the only version that performed consistently well with fountain pens, meaning that it had zero feathering or bleed through. I brought one of these notebooks to the last meeting of the Middle Tennessee Fountain Pen Club last week, and we could not get this paper to feather or bleed even with our wettest writers. I would compare the paper feel to Fabriano or Baron Fig in terms of texture, but the performance to Midori. It’s that good. Dry time is pretty decent (10-15 seconds with the inks I tried).

Kokuyo PERPANEP Paper is currently available for purchase in the T.G.S. Curated Shop, priced at $14. If you’re interested in reading further on fountain pen friendly paper, check out this brief guide to the “hierarchies” of paper, which I try to keep updated as I discover and review additional brands.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands we carry, including Kokuyo.

Favorite finish: I do wish Caran d’Ache would introduce this matte grey finish to other models in the 849 lineup, or even the Fixpencil!

Hands-On Review: The Caran d'Ache 849 Rollerball (or "XL Ballpoint"?)

September 29, 2021

Caran d’Ache’s latest release has started to gain more traction than expected, as reviewers have reacted positively to the (much) larger design and pen enthusiasts also embrace it. The curious part to me, however, is that while Caran d’Ache released this pen as what they called the “849 Rollerball,” some retailers are actively promoting this pen as the “XL Ballpoint.” The reason is simple enough: the pen takes a Parker-style refill, and there are enough gel, ballpoint, and rollerball options out there to place the 849 Rollerball in the same ballpark as versatile workhorses like the Retro 51 Tornado and Baron Fig Squire, both of which also accept ballpoint and gel Parker-style refills. Today I’ll take a closer look and talk a bit about why the 849 Rollerball has become one of my most-used everyday writers over the past few weeks.

Comparison to the Classic 849 Ballpoint

The first thing I wanted to know when Caran d’Ache first announced the 849 Rollerball was how the pen compared size-wise to the standard 849 ballpoint pen, a favorite of mine that serves as my go-to “click pen” probably 80% of the time. The Caran d’Ache 849 serves as the company’s flagship writing instrument, and is reissued every year in a wide array of special and limited edition finishes and collaborations. I have dozens of these pens, and it’s rare that you’ll find me without one clipped to my shirt pocket or in the pen slot of my notebook or planner.

Caran d’Ache says the 849n Rollerball is 28% larger than the 849 ballpoint. I had it pegged at closer to 50. Astoundingly, I didn’t notice much increased weight since the pen remains very well balanced.

So why mess with a formula that’s worked for decades? The downside to the standard Caran d’Ache 849 ballpoint is that while it works exceptionally well as a portable “jotter” pen - perfect for taking quick notes, writing checks, signing things, etc., it’s relatively slim and some might find it uncomfortable for longer writing sessions. The Caran d’Ache 849 rollerball maintains the hexagonal barrel shape - which I find comfortable - but is 28% larger without adding much weight. If I’m looking to take 2 hours worth of notes in a meeting, or spend a half-day marking up documents, I will take the 849 Rollerball option. If it can be done without adding too much weight and throwing off the balance of the pen, I find a larger barrel much more ergonomic.

I enjoy hexagonal barrels, especially where, as here, they aren’t too sharp.

The second reason is the refill. While I personally enjoy the proprietary Caran d’Ache “Goliath” ballpoint refill that ships standard in the 849 ballpoint, and Caran d’Ache is finally releasing the Goliath in more colors and tip sizes, you’re pretty much stuck with it as your only option unless you want to hack other refills and/or purchase a custom adapter from a third party. (I understand some people have had luck with certain brands of Parker-style refills in the 849 ballpoint. I have not. All of the Parker-style options I have tried are too long.)

The refill is very easy to swap out. You simply unscrew the knock and drop in the new cartridge.

The 849 Rollerball, on the other hand, is designed around a Caran d’Ache Parker-style rollerball cartridge, which in and of itself is a very nice writer that I could use regularly. It bleeds much less than the Schmidt refills that ship standard with the Retro 51 Tornado and the Baron Fig Squire, and I would definitely consider substituting this refill if you find the Schmidt too wet. That said, for daily use, I immediately swapped in the Uni Jetstream SXR-600 in .5mm, one of my favorite Parker-style options that also lives in several of my Baron Fig Squires. This hybrid ballpoint-gel refill has a fine tip that allows me to write small, dries quickly and has performed flawlessly in pretty much any pen I’ve tried.

Nothing too exciting here in the writing sample department (black rollerball refills, and all). Paper shown here is the Write Notepads Engineer’s Notebook, which also comes in pad form.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Caran d’Ache has done a nice job of updating the 849 lineup over the past several years, building on its history and maintaining the classic “hex pencil” barrel shape while also adapting to the needs of new formats. For example, the 849 fountain pen includes a cap and a rounded section, yet it doesn’t take away from the inherent “849-ness” of the pen. Similarly, they made the rollerball larger to better adapt it to longer writing sessions - something rollerball users tend to appreciate more, in my experience - though again the pen still feels like a Caran d’Ache 849.

From left, the Caran d’Ache 849 Ballpoint, the Caran d’Ache 849 Rollerball, and the Retro 51 Tornado.

I also think Caran d’Ache nailed the price point on this pen. At just under $50 at most retailers, the 849 Rollerball is competitive with the Retro 51 Tornado and the Baron Fig Squire, its two primary “competitors.” (I would put “competitors” in quotations because these are all very different pens, and you can’t go wrong with any one option. It just depends on which shape and/or aesthetic you prefer.)

Available colors, from left: matte grey, white, matte black, red, and blue.

Most Caran d’Ache retailers are stocking the 849 Rollerball, including our own T.G.S. Curated Shop, which has the pen priced at $48. Currently, the 849 Rollerball is available in five colors: a matte grey, a matte black, red, blue, and white. My personal favorite at the moment is the matte grey, which I selected for my own personal pen, with the white version a close second. All of the options look great, however, and I can’t wait to see whether Caran d’Ache introduced additional colors, or even makes the 849 Rollerball available for collaborations.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands we carry. By shopping with us, you are supporting original content, pen reviews, pen show events, etc. from The Gentleman Stationer. If you would like to support us even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!

Restock Tuesday! Clairefontaine French-Ruled Paper, Washi Tape, and Enamel Pins!

September 28, 2021

Yesterday I received a fresh shipment of Clairefontaine French-ruled paper, which should be a relief for those of you who have been asking for a restock. I currently have Clothbound, Stablebound, and Wirebound notebooks all ready to ship, in addition to more Quo Vadis Habanas, which feature Clairefontaine dot grid paper. I’m also happy to introduce a new round of select washi tapes from iLootPaperie, as well as a new snail mail-themed enamel pin that you can proudly wear to show your love for written correspondence and the postal service! Finally, I’ve brought back the best-selling “science matters” enamel pins. Happy Shopping!

The A5 Clothbound Notebook might be my favorite Clairefontaine item that I carry.

There are some gems in this latest washi restock!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all products sold.