Ink Review: Laban Greek Mythology Athena Grey and Artemis Navy Blue

February 22, 2023

Because I have so many inks in my collection, it generally takes either an unusual color or an interesting story to prompt me to make a purchase. If I’m inspired to buy the entire line, the ink must be really special, and that’s where I found myself at last year’s Baltimore Pen Show, visiting multiple vendors trying to put together a full set of Laban’s Greek Mythology-inspired inks.

This one is all about nostalgia for me: I’m a huge history fan, was an even bigger fan of Greek/Roman mythology as a child, and I now have a child who loves history, including the ancient myths. While there’s nothing particularly unusual about most of the ten colors in this series - they’re all fairly standard riffs on inks you would expect to find in a lineup made by a pen manufacturer - each ink writes really well, and the color has been paired with a god or goddess from ancient Greek mythology. (While the colors themselves are different than what is typically associated with each of the specific namesakes, only a hardcore mythology nerd will catch this, and frankly these colors are far more practical and will appeal to more people than gold or silver, for example.)

Athena Grey

Athena Grey was the Laban ink that I first jumped at, not necessarily because of the color but because of the association. The Greek goddess of wisdom (Roman equivalent: Minerva), Athena holds a special place for me because my hometown hosts a full-scale replica of the Athenian Parthenon, complete with statue of Athena. You can read more about the backstory here, but a version of the Parthenon was first built for the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition before being made permanent, with the Athena statute added later in the 1990s. The venue serves as an art museum located in Nashville’s Centennial Park.

Athena Grey is a very dark grey ink, which some might even consider black, especially when writing with fine or extra-fine nibs. In a wetter, wider nib, the ink will show as more of a dark grey with purple undertones, similar to a dark, more concentrated Sailor Chu-shu. I’ve found this particular color to be an excellent ink for everyday office work, as the color is conservative while still remaining interesting enough to intrigue fountain pen users looking for those slightly offbeat shades of classic tones.

Artemis Navy Blue

A true navy ink is surprisingly (and somewhat frustratingly) hard to find. Artemis Navy Blue is a dark, rich blue with a touch of sheen - think the now-discontinued JFK Navy Blue from Montblanc, only darker (I would say “richer”) and with less grey. Named after Artemis, the Greek goddess of animals and the hunt (Roman equivalent: Diana), the artwork features the classic motif of Artemis reaching for her bow and arrow, only to find that her bow is a fountain pen! (See the gallery below for the images from the packaging, which I find really well done.)

Like Athena Grey, this ink is a bit of a sleeper and actually one of the last inks I tested from the lineup because I thought it would be a “boring” blue. As it turns out, it has become one of my favorites, and was the surprise hit at pen club a couple weekends back when I brought it for people to test in person.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

It’s rare that I’ve purchased all of the inks in a given series of releases, much less in a single weekend, so that should tell you something about how much I enjoy what Laban has done here. In fact, I liked these inks so much that I put them on the short list for inks I wanted to sell in our own shop, and we’re happy to be able to offer the Laban Greek Mythology inks directly as of last week. Each ink comes in a 50ml glass bottle, priced at $25.

I’m starting a full comparison ink swatch sheet for this line as I review the rest of them. (Don’t ask me for this paper - go bother the folks at Plotter, because this is exceptionally good Midori MD Cotton Paper with letterpress ruling that they’ve been refusing to make generally available in the US!)

New in the Shop: Design Your Own Desk Space, at Home or on the Road

February 21, 2023

Never underestimate the importance of quality everyday desk accessories! Personally, I see this every few days when I switch between my home office and “the office.” (I tend not to leave my good desk setup where it might get borrowed.) While everyone pays a lot of attention to things such as pens, pencils, ink, and paper; accessories such as scissors, rulers, tape, book stands, and desk trays can also make up a big part of your everyday work experience.

The Midori XS Stationery Kit has everything you need for a full day of work/journaling/creating, and it zips into a portable go-anywhere pouch. (Shown here my 70th Anniversary Edition version, but we stock the standard in both black and white!)

Slowly but surely, the Desk and Reading Accessories section of the T.G.S. Curated Shop is starting to take shape. We’ve recently added new items from Midori, including these multifunction scissors, wood-inlay rulers, and the ever practical XS Stationery Kit for when you want to carry an entire desk setup with you in your bag. In addition to accessories, be sure to keep checking the “New Arrivals” in Pens/Pencils, Ink and Refills, Paper and Notebook Systems, and our recently restocked selection of Washi Tape and Enamel Pins. More items are being added daily!

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

From left, the Uniball Jetstream, Traveler’s Company Brass Ballpoint, Mark’s “Tous Les Jours,” Penco Perfection, Penco Perfection Light, and Mark’s x Anterique “Days” Click Pen.

Workhorse Pens: Low-Viscosity Ballpoint Pens

February 18, 2023

Let’s face it: When it comes to actually getting work done, a fountain pen is never the most practical option. For me, it’s not so much the messiness, but more the added mental load and distraction. In addition to the work itself, you have to consider the nib, ink, paper, and how all three of these factors interact with one another. If any single thing goes wrong, it will break your focus, and while I’ve been in this long enough to have a pretty good instinct about what combinations do well enough to allow me to “just work”, lately half of my everyday writing has been with a ballpoint. But not just any ballpoint….

“Low-Viscosity” Ballpoints: An Excellent All-Around Workhorse Option

By now, you’ve likely heard the term “low-viscosity” ballpoint and wondered what the heck that means. I won’t get too deep into the science here, but it seems to be the new marketing term for what I’ve always referred to as “hybrid gel” ballpoint pens such as the Uniball Jetstream and the Pilot Acroball. Pen companies have modified their traditional oil-based ballpoint ink formulations to make them less “sticky,” which allows the pen to write darker, crisper lines, and results in quicker dry times with less smearing. As a result, today it’s actually fairly easy to find ballpoint pens in the .5mm (and even .38mm) tip sizes, which is difficult to pull off in a more traditional ballpoint ink formulations without clogging and skipping.

Lately I’ve been using a lot of needle-tip ballpoints. Low-viscosity ink allows you to have a very fine ballpoint line without running into problems with skipping. From left, the Mark’style Tous Les Jours ballpoint, the Traveler’s Company Brass Ballpoint, and my ever-reliable Lamy 2000 multipen with a Penco Needle-tip refill.

Five Excellent Low-Viscosity Ballpoint Pens

Unsurprisingly, Japanese companies dominate this product category. The Uniball Jetstream and Pilot Acroball tend to be the “gold standard” pens/refills, though there are boutique options available that, in my opinion, offer even crisper and finer ballpoint lines, including in needle-tip formats. Here are five to consider:

Uniball Jetstream and Pilot Acroball. Though they’re not necessarily exciting, these remain exceptionally good pens and excellent low-cost options. If I were stocking a workplace or office supply closet, this is where I would start. Uniball actually makes a Parker-style cartridge called the Jetstream SXR-600, which I have used to convert many of my rollerball pens like my Grey Caran d’Ache 849.
Traveler’s Company Ballpoint Pen and Needle-Tip Refill. A favorite for years, I own three of these pens. One is permanently clipped to my Plotter Mini-5, and the other two live in the breast pockets of my two winter coats, so they’re always available. I’ve found the needle-tips reliable, and despite the small size, the refills last for a very long time and are cheap to replace.
Mark’style “Tous Les Jours” Ballpoint with Ohto Needle-Tip Refill. If you don’t enjoy the format of the Traveler’s Company Ballpoint, and want something longer for better balance, these hexagonal wooden click pens from Mark’s Inc. contain an Ohto needle-tip ballpoint refill and feel like you’re writing with a woodcase pencil. The “Tous Les Jours” series from Mark’s is insanely popular, with what might be the finest needle tip on a ballpoint I have ever seen.
Penco “Perfection” Pocket Ballpoints and Pocket Drafting Ballpoint. I suspect that Penco uses a .7mm version of the Jetstream D1 refill (or something very similar) for it’s “Perfection” line of pocket ballpoints, and the pocket-sized “Drafting” Ballpoint uses a D1 needle-tip ballpoint refill that is an excellent option for other D1-compatible pens like the Lamy 2000 Multipen. I feel like both refills write a finer line than their respective .7mm and .5mm designation.
Mark’style x Anterique “Mach” Ballpoint. A new addition to the Curated Shop - one which I plan to continue to stock in additional formats - I discovered the “Mach” ballpoint refill by Japanese stationer Anterique during my trade show travels earlier this month. The .5mm, super-sharp ballpoint refill leaves a clean line, and as discussed below, is sold separately from the pen body and can be used to jazz up your collection of vintage Bic Clics.

Pen Hacks: Saving the Classic Mid-Century “Click” Pen

I don’t write about “refill hacks” very often, but when I discovered the Mark’s/Anterique pens earlier this month, and learned that the refill was sold separately, it got me wondering. I have a rather large personal collection of vintage and vintage-inspired “clic” ballpoints, which is ironic in the sense that while I love the format of this pen, I’ve grown to despise the standard refill. In my experience, these pens write much more inconsistently than the Bic Cristal, and I find the refills almost always skippy and too light. It begs the question: Can you use the Anterique “Mach” refill to upgrade your classic click pens? Maybe.

The fit isn’t perfect. The standard Bic Clic has thinner plastic around the opening. As a result, even with the upgraded refill you will have tip wiggle and rattling. Then again, it’s <$2. I still love it.

One odd thing I’ve noticed is that while the external design of the “Bic Clic”-style ballpoint hasn’t changed much over the years, these pens are far from identical on the inside. Some (frustratingly) use refills that are slightly longer and/or thicker than others, and there’s no real way to know which pens contain which parts other than to disassemble them. For pens designed to take the longer refills, there is an easy hack/fix that you can use to get the Anterique refill to fit. My notes below:

Field Notes Clic Pens and Pen Addict “Loaner” Pens are based on a version of the Bic Clic ballpoint that should take the Anterique refill without modification. (I say “should” because all that I can be certain of is that the Anterique refills fit the specific pens in my possession. It’s possible there isn’t refill or manufacturing consistency across product lines with these sorts of ballpoints, so YMMV.)
“Higher-end” Clic-style pens may need modification. I have a handful of “demonstrator” Bic Clics and some “fancy” Clic-style Kikkerland pens that required mild hacking to get them to work. Specifically, the Anterique refill was too short, but I was mostly able to fix the problem by wrapping a small piece of washi tape around the end of the refill to lengthen it. I was never able to get the Kikkerland pens to work 100% consistently, so if you don’t already own these I wouldn’t buy them for the purpose of modification.

You can adjust the length of the refill by wrapping a piece of tape around the end. Alternatively, if a refill is too long, you can trim the plastic a bit.

Of course, if you want to save yourself the trouble of refill hacking, or you don’t already have a large collection of vintage ballpoints, the Mark’s/Anterique pen bodies are a nice upgrade. The plastic is thicker, especially around the tip/opening, and as a result there is zero wiggle or annoying rattling when you write with them. (While Anterique pens are designed to mimic the vintage “disposable” pens in design, they’re actually intended to serve as nicer refillable pens. Stay tuned for a bunch of different colors and body styles that I have on the way, in addition to the Mark’s versions currently in stock.)

Writing Samples - various low-viscosity / needle-tip ballpoint inks on Write Notepads paper.

2023 Pen Show Schedule: T.G.S. at the Baltimore and Arkansas Pen Shows!

February 17, 2023

Mark your calendars! Just a quick note to let you all know that we will be at both the Baltimore Washington International Pen Show and the Arkansas Pen Show next month! Stay tuned for details on exactly what we’ll be bringing with us, but you can look forward to plenty of notebooks and cases from Lochby and Traveler’s Company, including the ability to put together your own notebook cover + refills at the table. I’ll also be teaching a workshop at both shows, more details to come.

I will have some limited ability to bring shop orders for pickup. If you would like to place an order for pickup at the pen show, and it’s a smaller item (i.e., not a 30-min Sandglass), go ahead and check out and use the coupon code 615PICKUP at check out to drop the shipping charge. Send an e-mail to joe (at) gentlemanstationer.mom, noting the order number and the show you will be attending. As always, if you have any questions, just reach out.

While the yellow ECO (far left) is long gone, the Saffron ECO-T (center) and Transparent Yellow Demonstrator (right) are both in-stock and available for purchase.

Thursday Drops: Midori Paper Restock, Life x Kleid Notebooks, and TWSBI Saffron!

February 16, 2023

While the big news this week was the expansion of our selection of bottled fountain pen inks and refills to include three new brands and a separate page in the shop, we still have boxes of new arrivals and restocks showing up on our proverbial doorstep daily! Notably, we now have the Saffron TWSBI ECO-T fountain pens in-stock and ready to ship, as well as a refresh on other ECO models and the TWSBI Swipe. Don’t forget - since we still have 10ml Anderillium sample bottles available, our Nahvalur promotion continues. All purchases of Nahvalur and Opus 88 fountain pens receive a complimentary bottle of Anderillium Ink, and purchases above $120 receive two! Happy Shopping!

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

TWSBI ECO Black and ECO White — TWSBI Tuxedo, anyone?

TWSBI ECO-T Saffron. Of all the various colors that TWSBI has released over the years, the ones that have stuck in my collection - the pens that I simply can’t bear to part with - have been their yellow pens. This Saffron model in the subtly triangular ECO-T already has a spot in my pen case.
TWSBI ECO Black and White. Even the “basic” ECO lineup looks sharp. In addition to a restock of the classic clear TWSBI ECOs, we’ve added the standard black and white pens. Sort of a late oversight on our part!
TWSBI Swipe Restock. Most colors of the TWSBI Swipe are now back in stock, including this winter’s popular “Ice Blue” edition.
Nahvalur Nautilus Bronze Corydoras and Black Cephalopod Fountain Pens. While our stock of the Nautilus “Pen of the Year” has sold out and is gone, I’m still stuck on the classic black Nautilus, and can’t pick a trim. Bronze or Black? Bronze won our Instagram poll from a while back. (Note: Your purchase of an ebonite Nautilus will complimentary 10ml sample bottles of Anderillium Ink.)
Life x Kleid “Noble Note” Notebooks. In this Japanese stationery collaboration, Japanese stationery Life has paired with Kleid to incorporate the latter’s 2mm grid ruling into the “Noble Note” notebook series. these notebooks are available in both standard A5 and B6 formats, in four different cover and paper combinations.
Midori Soft Color A5 Notebooks. Looking for something different to refill your A5 notebook cover, or merely a new paper to give you that vintage “examination book” feel without losing fountain pen friendliness? These Midori notebooks are available in blue, grey, green, or purple.
Midori Multi-Year Diaries. It’s not too late to start journaling, even in February, and especially where you can use an undated multi-year journal that lets you pick up wherever! We stock three, five, and even ten-year versions!
Penco Pocket Drafting Pens and Pencils. Love the look of classic technical drafting pens and pencils but wish you could take them with you in a portable format? These pocket-sized versions come in either black or silver, in both a ballpoint pen and .5mm mechanical pencil version.
Midori MD Cotton Writing Pads. Our top-selling everyday writing pad is now the Midori MD Cotton pad, which features soft, ink-friendly paper that works well with pretty much every writing instrument. Now if only Midori would resume making the entire standard MD Notebook lineup in a cotton paper alternative! (Blank notebooks ARE available!)
Write Notepads Memo Pads. Baltimore-based Write Notepads makes some of the best everyday writing paper on the market - these memo pads are sold in packs of two and come in three different rulings: lined, dot grid, and “meeting.”