Sunday Reading for October 15, 2023

1. Method and Mayhem: The YosekaLab Planner (via A Gathering of Curiosities). A deep dive into a few of the different options available in the YosekaLab “experimental” planner. I love the idea behind this product.

2. Hooray for Workhorse Fountain Pens (via Cheryl Lindo Jones). There are many different interpretations of the term “workhorse pen”, and you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a pen that you can carry with you everywhere and use every day.

3. Spicing Up Old M and B Nibs (via mnmlscholar). Given that I have so many “standard” JoWo and Bock nibs, whenever I order a pen featuring one of these interchangeable nib units I typically order a Medium or a Broad for this same purpose - to maintain a healthy stock of nibs for grinding.

4. Bullet Journaling: Dot Pads (via Stationery Pizza). There are top-ring-bound Rhodia Dot Pads? I need to find these.

5. Pros and Cons of the Ultrasonic Cleaner (via Goodwriterspens Blog). I don’t use my ultrasonic cleaner as much as I used to, but I do find it quite helpful for certain pens where the section and feed have lots of nooks and crannies where ink can get stuck, or for pens that aren’t easy to disassemble.

6. The London Autumn Pen Show, 2023: My Haul (via Fountain Pen Blog). A Parker 61 capillary filler? Maybe a new goal for the upcoming Ohio Pen Show?

7. 2023 Autumn London Pen Show (via Rachel’s Reflections). The London Pen Show seems like an outstanding, well-run event. The idea of a one-day show intrigues me.

8. October London Pen Show Selling Experience (via Dapprman). Taking a table at a pen show to sell part of your own collection is an excellent way to (mostly) pay for the cost of attending, and you also get the benefit of meeting all the people who come by to visit your table!

9. Yamamoto Paper’s Fountain Pen Friendly Paper Collection, Volume 7 Review (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). These Yamamoto Paper samplers are an excellent way to experience rarer Japanese papers before splurging on a large-quantity purchase.

10. Pen Review: Pilot FriXion Ball3 Slim 3-Color Multi-Pen (via Well-Appointed Desk). Don’t sleep on the Frixion! (Sorry Pilot, the “FriXion”.) As Ana points out, it can be extremely convenient to be able to erase gel ink, especially in a professional context.

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Sometimes it’s ok to just dock the boat for a week.

In Case You Missed It…

I was on vacation this week! I actually managed to take some real time off, so new posts were kept to a minimum, though I did finish and post this longer discussion of what pens and notebooks I took with me on my travels and why I decided to leave these specific pens inked up. I also recapped this year’s pen travels and talk a bit more about remaining pen shows in 2023.

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This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop - More Clairefontaine!

The big news from this week was the arrival of Clairefontaine clothbound notebooks. I purchased a HUGE amount of these, since they have been a popular seller and inexplicably became a bit difficult to source this year. Our selection of this workhorse paper, as well as other papers and planners like Laconic, will continue to expand, so stay tuned! We’re also working on a larger Roterfaden restock, though we have at least one in each size available to ship immediately. Once again, we truly appreciate all of you who placed orders while we were away, since it’s scary to walk away from your shop even for a week without the (admittedly irrational) fear that the business will disappear overnight without constant attention. Your orders have started to ship and my goal is to get them all out the door by tomorrow.

Diamine Inkvent Calendar

Clairefontaine

Traveler's Refills 2023

Laconic Tokyo

Patreon Update - Support T.G.S. via Sample Sales, Early Access, and Meetups with Special Guests!

If you’re interested in further supporting T.G.S., consider joining the T.G.S. Patreon, which features not only access to meetups and the early gently used sales, but more exclusive content. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. In addition to purchases from The Curated Shop, Patreon allows us to continue to grow the site without relying on advertisements and affiliate marketing. If you’re interested in meetups and exclusive content, or simply supporting the site, we greatly appreciate your pledge!

Back from Vacation! Recapping The Year In Pen Show Travel, Upcoming Shows, Etc.

Since we are back in town today, any orders placed over the past week should start shipping out this afternoon, and you will see labels and tracking numbers being generated over the weekend. Remember - all orders placed in the shop through 11:59pm Sunday (10/15) will receive some of the new/restocked T.G.S. Swag that I recently ordered! Many thanks for continuing to support us while we were out on this much-needed break!

To recap 2023 a bit: I attended a lot of pen shows! If you’ve missed reading about my year in pen-related travels the first time around, I’ve linked to most of my show recaps below.

• NY NOW and Shoppe Object (Trade Show, not a Pen Show, but it was still fun!).

• 2023 Baltimore Pen Show

• 2023 Arkansas Pen Show

• 2023 Atlanta Pen Show

• 2023 Washington, D.C. Fountain Pen Supershow

• 2023 San Francisco Pen Show

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Maybe I’m looking forward to hunting more vintage in Ohio?

I don’t currently plan on doing any additional shows as a vendor this year, though as I mentioned I may attend the Ohio Pen Show during the first weekend of November. Other shows taking place during October include the Colorado Pen Show (this weekend!) and the Detroit Pen Show next weekend (October 20-22, 2023). The Scriptus show also takes place in Toronto on October 29. You still have several opportunities to get a pen show in before things shut down in November and December. Stay tuned as I will continue to be off from the day job through the first week of November, and have a bunch of fun content planned!

Thursday Drops: The Return of Clairefontaine Clothbound Journals, Roterfaden Restock Update and More!

This week we finally received a shipment of Clairefontaine Clothbound Notebooks in both A5 and A4 sizes, and I understand that a restock on the French-ruled Looseleaf sheets won’t be far behind! You can check out our full selection of Clairefontaine offerings here. The big news is that we can now offer these notebooks in three rulings: Seyes (French-Ruled), Lined, and Grid/Graph.

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An announcement on Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter organizers: I’ve placed a restock order but these take time as the Taschenbegleiters are all made to order in Germany. For now, we still have at least one cover in all three sizes (A4, A5, and A6), all of which are available to ship starting this weekend when we return from vacation Saturday.

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

1. Clairefontaine Clothbound A5 Notebooks. One of our original best sellers back when I first launched the TGS Curated Shop was the Clairefontaine Clothbound Notebook in French or Seyes-ruled. Not only are these back in stock, but we now offer standard lined and grid/graph versions as well.

2. Clairefontaine Clothbound A4 Notebooks. In addition to the popular A5 size, we also offer this same Clothbound notebook in the larger format A4.

3. Clairefontaine Top-Bound Reporters’-Style Notebooks. I’ve had a couple of requests for recommendations on top-bound spiral notebooks, and these Clairefontaine versions are excellent, available in multiple sizes.

4. Roterfaden LB23 Taschenbegleiter (A5). We have one of the A5 Taschenbegleiters in A5 size still remaining from our initial order, which features the durable recycled leather cover. For those looking for a cover that feels similar to the “Danceflooring” material on the V19, you may want to consider this one as it offers a firmer surface than standard soft leather. I have this particular material on my A4, and it makes for a nice lap desk.

5. Roterfaden LTD017 Taschenbegleiter. This light blue A6 Taschenbegleiter pairs the Danceflooring cover material from the V19 with a grey suede interior. It’s a very nice color combination for those looking for something in A6 size.

6. Anderillium Inks “Lepidopteran” Series. The latest releases from Anderillium feature inks based on butterflies and moths (hence the name). This series might be one of my favorites - the browns and greens are all excellent colors.

7. HMM Ballpoint Gift Set in Matte Black. These dodecagonal machined ballpoints from HMM (Human Made Method) Project have been surprisingly popular, and we are now able to offer this gift set, complete with a black leather pen sleeve.

8. Craighill Kepler Pen. Craighill’s machined “Kepler” pen features a unique knock mechanism that’s been tailored to take the universal D1 refill, meaning that you can use pretty much any brand or type of ink you’d like in this pen, including a standard ballpoint; a low-viscosity hybrid ballpoint such as the Uniball Jetstream; or even a gel refill. The curves on the barrel make this one extremely comfortable to use.

9. TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR Sunset Yellow Fountain Pen. While we have sold out of the TWSBI Kai limited edition, we have fresh stock of the Sunset Yellow Diamond 580, which is the latest in a series of outstanding yellow and orange releases from TWSBI this year, also including the TWSBI ECO “Heat” and the ECO-T in “Saffron”.

10. TWSBI ECO Indigo Blue + Bronze Trim. Indigo/navy blue plus a warm bronze trim makes for a sharp color combination. This release was a bit of a pleasant suprise as no one (at least not me) expected it!

Adventures in Pen Travel and Pens for Vacation, 2023 Edition

Now that I’ve had a few days to decompress, It seems like a good opportunity to talk a bit more about my travels over the past two months, the ongoing “hard reset” of my work and personal life, and, of course, my marathon pen cleaning session last week.

I recently announced that I’m changing day jobs, which is a big move for me. I held my old position for nearly 10 years, and while I won’t be changing employers, I’m stepping into a role that (1) involves less of an overall time commitment; and (2) has fewer administrative responsibilities. One reason for the shift is the rapid growth of T.G.S. - while it’s not yet a full-time project, it requires more attention each month, and I’m of course more than happy to rearrange my working life to accommodate the expansion. That said, it’s likely going to require a complete reorganization of my workflows and how I go about my daily working life if I want to keep things manageable.

These two pens - shown here with a new ink I tested at the Dallas Pen Show - stayed in rotation!

The biggest change is the lack of formal structure. My new duties are primarily project-based, allowing me to work mostly remotely, on my own schedule. Outside of the posting routine that I’ve fallen into over the years, T.G.S. also doesn’t have a “schedule”, so my greatest concern about the new arrangement involves my ability to structure my time in a way that ensures that (A) I get everything done, and (B) I keep work confined to “regular” hours as much as I can, allowing me to have a greater semblance of a personal life that includes picking back up other hobbies and interests that I’ve necessarily had to let slide. Case-in-point: I’ve not done nearly as much personal writing and journaling as I would have liked over the past year, despite having a half-dozen notebooks “in rotation” and 30+ fountain pens inked up.

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The 10 pens I took with me on vacation, identified and discussed below from left.

Current Setup: Fountain Pens

While of course there’s a lot that I’m thinking through and working on that I can’t publicly discuss here, I CAN tell you what I’m doing about my pen problem. The first order of business was to flush 20 or so pens, most of which had been inked for the Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Dallas Pen Shows. The cleaning process was aided considerably by the Schon DSGN Luer Syringe Cleaning System, which Ian kindly gifted me in San Francisco to test out. The system consists of a series of fittings designed to attach to the section and/or nib unit of your pen, with different attachments made to fit JoWo, Bock, Pilot, and Sailor (with more to come). You can then thread a 1cc syringe into the fitting and easily flush out a pen in much less time than it would take you to clean using a converter, and with less mess than a bulb syringe. I left nine pens inked up, which I’ll identify from the photo above, listed from left:

• Santini Libra in Blue Swirled Ebonite: This pen is on loan from a friend, and I left it inked because I need to write with it and get it reviewed so I can return it to her! Santini pens have long interested me because they are made entirely in-house, nibs included! Though Santini visited this year’s D.C. Pen Show, I was disappointed that I didn’t have the chance to visit their table.

• Leonardo Momento Zero in Bohemian Twilight Resin. Jonathan Brooks’ Bohemian Twilight material is one of my favorites, and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pick one of these up since I didn’t yet have a pen in this material in my personal collection. The ink I chose to pair with this pen? Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing Butterfly Green, from the recently released Anderillium Lepidopteran Series. It’s a slightly brighter dark green than the swirls in the pen, which complements it perfectly.

• Conid Bulkfiller Kingsize. I’m torn on Conid, and I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about the brand, especially compared with the Kyuseido Kakari (discussed more below). While extremely well-constructed, I’m not loving the Bock Titanium nib, and I hope to soon procure a gold nib option because I need more consistent inkflow and less of a “squeaky” writing experience. This pen is currently inked with Nahvalur “Dark Forest,” an excellent ink that I plan to review in more detail as soon as I’ve had the opportunity to try more from the series.

• Sailor Pro Gear “Moonlight over the Ocean”. I’ve long loved the form factor of the Sailor Pro Gear, and odd name aside, this edition spoke to me so I picked one up for my personal collection. It’s inked with Anderillium Atlas Moth Brown, also from the Lepidopteran Series. For some reason I thought this pen needed a good brown-black ink?

• TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR “Sunset Yellow”. I always have a TWSBI inked and in rotation, and the one I haven’t been able to put down is the recently released “Sunset Yellow,” - really more of an orange gold. The matching ink is Monarch Butterfly Orange, from yet again, the Anderillium Lepidopteran Series.

• Montblanc 149 in Rose Gold with Bokumondoh Urushi Work. This pen will stay inked for the foreseeable future because it’s beautiful, and the result of a year spent on the Studio Bokumondoh wait list. Fittingly, when I reviewed this pen nearly three years ago I was on vacation in the same spot I’m sitting in now typing this list.

• Kyuseido Kakari Fountain Pen. The Kakari is the first pen release from Kyuseido, the new company recently started with C.Y. of Tokyo Station Pens and the Tokyo Inklings podcast. I chose the black PVD titanium version, with a Sankakusen nib grind. It’s worth reading Kyuseido’s description of the “Pump-Piston” filling mechanism - you’ll see why this pen is of interest to so many people. The pen is currently inked with unobtanium: Diamine “Suman” created especially for this past year’s Manila Pen Show that a friend was kind enough to gift to me.

• Nagasawa Kobe Affection Kyomachi Legend Blue Sailor 1911L. My friends at Vanness Pens are now the exclusive U.S. retail partner for Kobe Japan-based Nagasawa Stationery, and I couldn’t resist taking home two of their current Sailor collaborations from the Dallas Pen Show. The first is the 1911L version of the “Kyomachi Legend” pen, which features a metal section similar to that on my 1911 Black Luster. Currently I have this pen inked with Sailor Souboku in cartridge form. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this pen is the broad nib I chose. I’ve never used a Sailor Broad (which frankly writes very much like a JoWo medium), and I’m enjoying it.

• Nagasawa Kobe Pro Gear Mini “Mouette”. The two-toned grey on this one got me, along with the fact that this edition of the Pro Gear Mini doesn’t have threads on the end of the barrel, allowing for quicker deployment. I inked this one up with Taccia Hiroshige-Ainezu, a beautiful grey that I’m enjoying.

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Current Setup: Notebooks

I took four notebooks with me: My Roterfaden A5 kitted out with my Laconic Monthly Calendar and two Plotter pads; my older (and now-discontinued) Traveler’s-sized Roterfaden with a few blank Traveler’s Midori MD refills; my Midori 5-Year Diary, and a Bank Paper journal from Atelier Musubi. As I mentioned above, I haven’t done much personal journaling and want to experiment with different formats. So far I’ve managed to write each day for at least an hour! What didn’t I bring? My Plotter notebooks. I use them more as binders to organize papers by topic, and since I’m not actively working on any projects this week I decided to leave them at home as I can incorporate pages from the Plotter notepads as necessary upon my return.

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One goal of mine is to streamline my everyday carry. As I journal more, I want to finish up several notebooks “in progress” and limit what’s active going forward.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my current stationery life! As you might imagine, things are a bit chaotic right now, but in a good way, as I’m excited about what’s to come. Stay tuned as I have much more to announce over the coming month!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain paid advertising or third-party affiliate links.

Curated Shop Updates: Laconic Tokyo Restock!

I’ll post a bit more later this week (albeit probably briefly) about the pens and notebooks that I’ve chosen to accompany me on my current vacation, but one brand easily got the nod: Laconic Tokyo. You can read more on how this system works here, but to briefly recap, Laconic makes a line of softcover A5 notebooks, similar to the Midori MD light series, in a variety of different formats and layouts with specific purposes: Undated Planners/Diaries/Journals, Productivity/Planner Ad-ons such as “To Do” and “Spreadsheet” formats, and Creativity/Life-Logging layouts. What I love about this system is that while Laconic makes their own slim covers, the universal sizing makes it quite easy to combine these refills with the cover of your choice. I currently have one of their undated monthly calendars in my Roterfaden A5 (you can see the exact setup in this YouTube demonstration), and they should also fit A5 covers from Midori, Lochby, or other brands of your choice.

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You can view the entire range of Laconic Tokyo offerings here, with nearly all layouts of the A5 notebooks in stock. Many of the Bookmarks are in short supply, and we are trying to restock as soon as we can.

While we are currently on vacation, order processing shouldn’t be delayed by more than a few business days, and will be fulfilled upon our return in the order received. The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of all brands sold, including Laconic. We truly appreciate your support!