Sunday Reading for July 24, 2022

1. Heatwave… (via KraftyCats). Stay cool out there, people!

2. How Pen Companies Fail the Pen Community (via SBRE Brown). I agree with much of what Stephen says here. The proliferation of high-end pens that objectively don’t write well out of the box is still far too prevalent, and should never happen.

3. Meininger Art Material (Denver, Colorado) - A Quick Walkthrough (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). I love a good store tour! This is an absolutely HUGE art supply shop.

4. The DRILLOG v. 2 Machined Dip Nib (& Graft Spiral Barrel). The DRILLOG is back with a new Kickstarter, and from Ana’s observations, there have been some improvements, or maybe just a better explanation of what is reasonable to expect from the writing experience.

5. Stipula Etruria Magnifica Miele Selvatico 1.1 (via Dapprman). As a former fan of the Etruria, I’ve also found myself wondering what happened to Stipula over the years. I’m glad to hear that the quality is still generally good, and I’d love to pick up one of the faceted models.

6. Pencil Revolution Handmade Peekaboo Pride Notebook (via Writing at Large). Johnny at Pencil Revolution dove headlong into bookbinding over the past year or so, and I’m glad to see his work getting some attention!

7. Caramel Swirl: Visconti Rembrandt Eclipse (via a fleeting ripple). Visconti’s steel nib offerings are a bit of a mixed bag. Some I have tried have been very smooth, others on the drier side and scratchy. I’d recommend testing the secondary market.

8. Finishing My Greens: A Look at My Green Ink Stash (via Fountain Pen Blog). I likewise have come to the point where I’ve started to think hard about what new “stuff” I bring in to the house and add to the pen collection. That said, I have way too much ink that I need to start using or thin out.

9. TWSBI Midnight Blue on Muji Planting Tree (via Inkredible Colours). I love TWSBI’s Midnight Blue, and think it’s a highly underrated color in this particular range of blue-blacks (i.e., more of a “dark navy” than a “steel blue” or “blue-grey”).

10. RIIND Compact Pen Review (via Pen Addict - Jeff). RIIND is back with a smaller version of their knurled machine pen, which did very well the first time around. I’m excited to see if this one goes mainstream.

In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog, I talked a little about my desire to downsize my pen collection, and how I want to organize things going forward. You all have given me a lot to think about in your well-thought-out comments and responses! I also posted an unboxing/walkthrough of my latest acquisition, one of the 2022 Limited Edition Traveler’s Notebook Sets, the “Traveler’s Hotel” edition. (No, I couldn’t resist.)

This Week in the Curated Shop

I’m getting to a point where I’m feeling better about excess inventory, and the new direction is starting to take shape. I’ve managed to clear out certain slow-selling products to make room for new curated goods, including another release of the 2022 Traveler’s Notebook Limited Editions, one of which already has sold out and another of which is very close. Don’t sleep on these!

Our inventory reduction sale will be coming to a close following the D.C. Pen Show, so if you’ve been looking to take advantage, you’re coming up on your last opportunity. Certain things have been marked down, and you can receive a general 10% off most pens, pencils, and paper, automatically applied at checkout. (Certain exclusions apply.)

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Traveler's Company

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Lochby Cases

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Maruman Mnemosyne

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Washi Tapes!

Consider T.G.S. Patreon!

I would love for the T.G.S. Patreon to become a core method of support for the T.G.S. website, and have tried to streamline it. I’ll also need to be a bit more vocal about its availability and what it offers. The Patreon Program offers two options for tiers of support: $3 and $5, and plan on making monthly meetups, pen show events, and periodic exclusive content the primary benefits. Of course, Patreon members will continue to get first access to periodic sample sales, with right of first refusal on gently used pens. Attention Patreon Members: Yesterday I posted half-a dozen or so new “gently used” products to the sale page, so check it out. I’m doing a general “stash and sample” reduction, so more will follow.

OK, So I Caved: The Traveler's Notebook 2022 "Traveler's Hotel" Limited Edition

To all of you out there who have been taunting me that I would be unable to resist keeping one of these: You are 100% absolutely right. I caved this morning, and have no regrets. Maybe it’s because I’ve been pruning back my stationery accumulation and have made some room for one or two new things, but in any event, meet my new pen show/pen review notebook that’s going to be housing most of my notes for the blog! Enjoy this progressive unboxing of the Traveler’s Notebook 2022 “Traveler’s Hotel” Limited Edition!

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Everything arrives tastefully and minimally packaged, with careful attention to the details of the “Hotel” theme.

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I love Traveler’s Notebook’s burnished brown leather. The foil-stamped lettering is a rose-gold tone. And if you love vintage-style stickers, well, you’ll be happy.

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The hotel-themed refill included with the notebook contains the cream-colored plain Midori MD paper.

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Each 2022 Limited Edition Traveler’s Notebook comes with a brass charm. The “Hotel” notebook includes a suitcase. The other sets contain a different charm matching their respective themes.

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The pencil was the pleasant surprise (though I wouldn’t recommend splurging on the set just to get the pencil). It feels like a Palomino, with thick black lacquer, and quality wood/graphite.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Am I happy? Yes. I’ve relied on my Traveler’s Notebook more and more this year. You simply can’t beat the opportunities to customize the notebook for your personal needs, and I enjoy the tall/narrow format because I tend to take notes in a bullet or list-style. As I mentioned above, I plan to use this particular notebook for blog/pen-related notes and research, while I maintain my standard blue-cover Traveler’s Notebook as separate notebook for day job/household management.

My three primary notebooks. Two Traveler’s Notebooks and my brown Lochby Field Journal.

You can purchase the 2022 limited edition notebook featured here in the T.G.S. Curated Shop, along with the standard lineup of Traveler’s Notebooks and refills, as Traveler’s Company has been, and likely will remain, one of the select brands I plan to stock going forward. The four 2022 limited edition releases include, in the Standard Size, “Traveler’s Hotel” (pictured here) and “Traveler’s Airline”. In the Passport size, the releases include “Traveler’s Train” and “Traveler’s Records”. (Unfortunately, “Traveler’s Records” has sold out, but I have a few remaining in each of the other designs.)

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of Traveler’s Notebook and all other brands we carry.

Pen Problems: How Do You Organize Your Pen Collection?

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Inventory Reduction: Last Call for Certain Brands and Products

Many thanks to everyone who’s participated in this month’s sell-off-a-thon! Through the D.C. Pen Show next month (ending August 7, 2022), most pens, pencils, and paper in the Curated Shop are subject to a 10% automatic discount at checkout, on top of reduced clearance pricing on certain items as the shop gets right-sized. I’m down to the last few items on several skus, so if you’ve been waiting to pick up some of these, act quickly:

1. Caran d’Ache 849 Fountain Pens. Excellent fountain pens, now at an even better price. I only have a few left.

2. Soumkine “Oh My 307 Universal Planner”. I still have a few in Charcoal and Rose. These are the hardcover journals, which aren’t made anymore, at a reduced price. 160 numbered pages of high-quality paper.

3. Hightide Desk Accessories. I still have ONE 30-minute clear hourglass, and 5 and 3-minute hoursglasses remaining in most colors. Folding bookstands are running very low….

4. Caran d’Ache 849 “Claim Your Style” Season 3. Personally, I thought the third season of Claim Your Style was the best. I have the last few pens marked down, and you take the 10% on top.

5. Caran d’Ache Ecridor Racing Ballpoint/Mechanical Pencil. Honestly, if someone doesn’t take this last set off my hands, I’m going to end up buying it myself and I really can’t afford to do this right now.

6. Caran d’Ache + Nespresso Swiss Wood Pencil Sets. This year’s Nespresso collaboration included a set of Swiss Wood Pencils featuring end caps made from Nespresso capsules. They were really popular, but I ended up ordering a lot of them.

7. Kokuyo PERPANEP A5 Notebooks. I’ve heard that Kokuyo is not continuing with the PERPANEP paper, at least in this format. I have a handful of notebooks left, in the popular “Steno” ruling, but after they’re gone that’s it.\

8. Kokuyo “Sketch” Hardcover Pocket Notebooks. I have a handful of these left in green, white, charcoal, anise, and dark blue.

9. CW+T Pen-Type A and Pen Type-C. All Pen Type-Bs have sold, but I still have one Pen Type-A and a handful of Pen Type-C’s remaining. Enjoy a clearance discount on these excellent EDC options for Hi-Tec-C lovers.

Many thanks to all your support! The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

Sunday Reading for July 17, 2022

1. Gioia Alleria (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). I’ve not tried a Gioia fountain pen, and the aesthetic isn’t really something that’s in my wheelhouse, but I’ve seen nothing but good reviews in terms of their quality.

2. Thin Strokes, Thick Strokes: 1.1mm Lamy Stub Nib (via KraftyKats). Chloe has a guest post this week from A Fleeting Ripple (another great blog you should be following). Honestly, the standard Lamy 1.1mm stub shouldn’t be as good as it is, yet I find myself reaching for it periodically as well.

3. Water Lilies: Giant’s Pens (via A Fleeting Ripple). I have a pen on order with this same resin (Water Lily Koi), and it’s also interested to read about yet another newer artisan maker!

4. A Currently Inked That Is Currently Sharing (via mnmlscholar). I can’t go on enough about how enjoyable it is to have a pen club, either local in-person or either online, where you can share your love for stationery with other like-minded people! (Especially if you don’t have anyone in your family, at work, or in your close circle of friends who loves stationery as much as you do.)

5. Pens That Make You Go Ooh (via Dapprman). I think one of my own goals as I reevaluate things is to make sure I write with all my pens. Especially those pens I love and have kept because they both write well AND are visually appealing.

6. Graf von Faber-Castell “Perfect Pencil” (via Scrively). An iconic product, but is it super-functional from a usability perspective? Maybe for some people but probably not for me.

7. Otto Hutt Design 04 Fountain Pen (via SBRE Brown). Otto Hutt has been getting more exposure lately, especially how good their nibs are. Some of their designs are a bit too slim for me.

8. Nespresso + Caran d’Ache Fixpencil (via Bleistift). I wish I had kept one of these for myself when I had them in the shop. I do love the orange finish, even if I would definitely have replaced the Nespresso recycled lead with a 2B Technograf.

9. Ink Review #1859: Scribo Grigio (via Mountain of Ink). As discussed a bit further below in today’s post, I’ve been using Scribo Ink lately, and Scribo Grigio is a personal favorite.

10. Curnow A5 NEW PAPER Inserts (via Well-Appointed Desk). Known as being among the first to use Tomoe River in pocket notebooks and handmade journals, Curnow Bookbinding has started experimenting with new papers.

In Case You Missed It…

This week on the blog I had two posts: a follow-up look at the Lamy 2000 Multipen (or “4 Color Ballpoint), more than five years after I first reviewed this particular pen. I also reviewed another Scribo ink I’ve been using, Verde Prato, which is a quite functional bright green.

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Only a couple of these are left in T.G.S. “Gently Used”!

Visit the T.G.S. Curated Shop for Reduced Pricing Storewide!

We’re selling down a lot of our inventory as we refocus the shop going forward, so take advantage of 10% off pens, pencils, and paper (some exclusions will apply) from now until the D.C. Pen Show. The discount automatically applies at checkout, so no coupon code is necessary. Also, there are still a few pens left in the “Gently Used” section of the website. These have gone relatively fast, and I’m happy to see pens going to homes where they will be used and loved!

Consider T.G.S. Patreon!

I would love for the T.G.S. Patreon to become the primary method of support for T.G.S., and have tried to streamline it. I’ll also need to be a bit more vocal about its availability and what it offers. As of yesterday, I’ve streamlined the Patreon to two tiers: $3 and $5, and plan on making monthly meetups, pen show events, and periodic exclusive content the primary benefits. Of course, Patreon members will continue to get first access to periodic sample sales, with right of first refusal on gently used pens.