I absolutely love these colors: “Mimosa Yellow” (a muted gold/saffron) was the one I picked for myself. As a self-proclaimed multi pen connoisseur, it was only a matter of time before I really began building out our own multi pen offerings here in the shop. One of my personal favorites is the Uni Mitsubishi Jetstream “4&1” pen, which features a textured (yet still smooth) bamboo grip section, four different Jetstream .5mm refills, and a .5mm mechanical pencil option. The Uni-ball “One” gel pen showcases Uni’s latest gel pen technology - a new smooth, dark ink formulation in both .38mm and ..read more

Atlanta Pen Show Recap (via Figboot on Pens). A great video recap of the recent Atlanta Pen Show, which I unfortunately was sad to miss! Method and Mayhem: Digging Myself Out with Plotter Lists (via A Gathering of Curiosities). The Plotter system, with it’s specialized refills, lends itself well to list-based project management and triage when you feel overwhelmed. Leonardo Momento Zero #8 La Fenice Nib Fountain Pen Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). If you’re going to make larger pens, use the larger No. 8 nibs! While the Momento Zero Grande is a bit large for me, I’m a huge fan of No. 8 ..read more

I joked last week in my Patreon newsletter that April can feel like the holiday season for stationery nerds, with a seemingly endless stream of limited and special edition releases hitting the market every week. As of today, we have the new Kaweco Sport Piston Filler in stock, as well as the new Lamy AL-Star pens, a restock of the new Lamy Safari pens, and the Kaweco Collection Apricot Sport. We are also fully reloaded on the Lamy 2000, and now offer the “Blackwood” and “Taxus” ballpoints in two beautiful woodgrain finishes. Tom’s Studio “Studio Pocket” fountain pens! The second wave of big ..read more

So far, the answer is a resounding "Yes". Though most of my everyday non-fountain pen writing is done with a ballpoint or a pencil, fineliners are a long-time favorite, especially in terms of how they feel putting ink on the page. Fineliners and other fibre-tipped pens require less pressure and allow you to get line variation that’s typically only achievable with a fountain pen. The downside? Generally speaking, fibre tips don't last very long (especially if you write with a heavier hand), are not replaceable, and you can't change the ink color. Enter the Tom's Studio "Lumos" Series, which I ..read more

While this year’s Lamy Safari special editions landed last month, members of Team AL-Star were waiting on this next release. Well, the wait is over and the pens are in stock and available to ship immediately! This year’s AL-Star pens come in two different finishes: “Fiery” (a cool metallic red) and “Aquatic” (a cool metallic blue). Lamy has paired each metal finish with a matching translucent grip section - red for the Fiery and blue for the Aquatic - as well as matching cap finials. The Aquatic finish comes in a .5mm mechanical pencil version, which is what caught my fancy from this batch ..read more

Vanness Pens - Ink Heaven and More! (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). I love my trips to Vanness Pens! It was fun to hang out after-hours during my trip to the Arkansas Pen Show. Ink Swatching Tools (via Olive Octopus). Lisa walks us through the tools that she regularly uses to make a LOT of ink samples. Best Architect Grind? Tom’s Studio - Studio Fountain Pen (via Figboot on Pens). Tom’s Studio has been new to me as well, and I agree that the Architect’s nib is excellent. I’m testing this brand in the shop and will have some of their fountain pens and other products listed in the coming day ..read more

In less than 10 days, The Gentleman Stationer will be 10 years old! That’s a milestone that sort of snuck up on me, and while I’ve certainly thought about it over the past few months, the significance really hit me this past week. I have some fun ideas for the month of April, including a bit of a retrospective and a few giveaways. But the main project I’ll be continuing is catching up on my review backlog. After 10 years, there remains a long list of pens that I've (inexcusably) never reviewed, including today's subject: The Lamy Vista. Is The Vista Just a Safari by Another Name? Kinda. But I ..read more

Since yesterday’s review of the Pilot Explorer fountain pen, I’ve received a few comments and messages thanking me for spotlighting what many consider an underrated fountain pen that often goes overlooked in recommendation lists. That’s a big part of what I’m trying to do here, both on the blog and in the shop: curate a selection of writing instruments and stationery with a focus on those items that I feel don’t necessarily get the attention they deserve. It’s easy to get distracted by the FOMO of new releases, limited editions, etc. (and those can be fun), but if you’re looking for a pen tha ..read more

If I've learned one thing over the past 10 years of writing The Gentleman Stationer, it's how difficult it is to make a consistently good fountain pen at the lower end of the price spectrum. Often companies will release a pen with an excellent nib but a flimsy body, or a decent looking pen that doesn't write well (or doesn't actually write at all). It's still somewhat uncommon to find a pen at the $25-and-under price point that delivers the entire package. While new users and/or those looking for an inexpensive daily writer certainly have had options, the addition of the Explorer fountain pen ..read more

The Tombow L105 is an excellent workhorse ballpoint, which uses the versatile D1 sized refill. Tombow remains a deeply underrated “sleeper” Japanese stationery brand. Known more in the states for their art supplies than writing instruments, Tombow also offers a deep lineup of pens and pencils. We’ve long carried the Tombow 2558 woodcase pencils - one of the best standard office pencils around - as well as the high-end Tombow Mono in various degrees of graphite. This year, we’ve expanded our selection of Tombow “shaker” mechanical pencils, and just recently added pens, including the L105 ballp ..read more