New Arrivals: Lamy Dark Lilac Is Here!

After all the hype and “controversy”, the wait is over! The new Lamy Dark Lilac Ink is here! While I no longer have a bottle of the original that I can use to compare the exact shades as they dry, I do have a swatch I made years ago of the limited edition version so I can do a side-by-side.

The new Dark Lilac is a much darker purple with reddish undertones - I’d describe it as a true purple-black with green sheen. Honestly, the new ink is not the former limited edition, but to me it lives up to its name and is an excellent purple ink standing on its own. If I’m going to go for a sheener, I love green sheen!

Let’s be honest, I was never as obsessive about this color as many were - I would never consider paying hundreds of dollars for a bottle when similar colors were available on the secondary market. But at $12 addition to the regular Lamy lineup? Give me something similar and I’m good to go because I love a good dark purple. Dark Lilac ink is now available in standard Lamy ink bottles in the shop, priced at the standard $12. (It’s listed with the standard lineup of colors because it’s not a limited edition but rather will be a regular bottled ink color going forward.) We also have fresh stock of the recently released “Cliff” and “Blackberry” 2024 edition inks, in both bottles and cartridges.

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of Lamy products.

Weekly Drops: A New TWSBI ECO and a Whole Lot of Pencil-Related Stuff!

Travel week, so it’s Friday Drops instead of Thursday, but we still have a ton of new stuff to share! Dark Sapphire TWSBI ECOs are available to ship, along with additional matte black 580 ALR fountain pens and the Caran d’Ache “Blue Lagoon” 849 sets! We also have a ton of new pencil stuff to share, from both Portuguese manufacturer Viarco as well as Japanese sharpener specialists NJK. See Tuesday’s post for additional details!

Viarco’s designs are inspired by their back-catalog of pencils. All are still being manufactured in Europe!

Finally, Lamy inks are back in stock, including bottles and cartridges of the new “Cliff” and “Blackberry” releases. Dark Lilac should be arriving early next week, and I can’t wait to do a comparison! Enjoy!

I’ve been traveling for the last couple of days, but the trip is winding to a close so we’re back on schedule and any orders placed today through Sunday will ship within our normal 1-3 business day time frame.

1. TWSBI ECO Dark Sapphire Fountain Pen. TWSBI has been building out its stable of classic designs this year, and the latest release is a dark blue ECO, which looks great offset with the red TWSBI finial.

2. TWSBI Diamond 580ALR Fountain Pen. As with the blue ECO, I consider the Black Diamond 580ALR to be a classic in the making. The matte black finish looks great on TWSBI’s flagship piston-filler.

3. Caran d’Ache 849 “Blue Lagoon” 849 Pen and Pencil Set. Color gradients are all the rage these days, and Caran d’Ache has added their take with this new 849 pen and pencil set in a white, grey, and ice blue gradient.

4. Viarco Vintage Pencil Set. If you’re looking for an opportunity to sample all of the different Viarco styles, or perhaps a gift for someone who really enjoys pencils and vintage-inspired writing, this half-gross set contains six dozen Viarco pencils in the various vintage styles.

5. Viarco Vintage Pencils (Individual Styles). All of the various Viarco pencil styles are available for purchase in boxes of a dozen, including both the No. 2 graphite pencils and the violet core copying pencils.

6. Viarco Pencil Caps. Looking for a way to protect the point on your freshly sharpened wood pencils? Viarco makes these coiled stainless steel pencil caps that slip easily over the sharpest of tips.

7. NJK Pencil Sharpeners. Perhaps my favorite long-point pencil sharpener, due to the combination of cost and effectiveness. Each sharpener is available in six different colors, and comes with a replacement blade. I plan to make additional replacement blades available soon.

8. Yamamoto A5 Writing Pads. We received a shipment of Yamamoto A5 writing pads that includes both “new” Sanzen and “old” Tomoegawa Tomoe River Paper options, in addition to Yamamoto’s own bank paper. The Tomoe River pads have 200 sheets of paper, while the bank paper pads have 100.

9. Yamamoto Fountain Pen Friendly Paper Sampler. We have one remaining Fountain Pen Friendly Paper sampler! Once these are gone we’ll be awaiting the next version if I can’t get more.

10. New Lamy Inks and Notebooks. We have a restock of the Lamy Cliff and Blackberry bottled inks, as well as ink cartridges now available!

New Arrivals: Yamamoto Fountain Pen Friendly Papers, Viarco Pencils, and TWSBI Preorders!

Lots of news today! First Up: It’s been a long time since we’ve had a dedicated Tomoe River Paper writing pad available for purchase - the availability of this paper has been the subject of much discussion over the past few years - but as of yesterday, we now offer A5 writing pads from Yamamoto Paper containing two different versions: The “New” Sanzen S Tomoe River Paper or the prior version of Tomoe River still made by the Tomoegawa Paper Company. These pads have 200 sheets, and the Yamamoto Bank Paper version has 100. We also have limited availability of the Yamamoto Paper Fountain Pen Friendly Paper Sampler, which features 16 different types of fountain pen friendly Japanese papers, including a handful of which are being discontinued. (For those looking for the heavier 68g Tomoe River Paper, we recently received a restock of Lochby A5 notebooks and pocket notebooks).

View fullsize

This might be my favorite of the six Viarco pencil designs. I ended up getting one of the half-gross sampler packs.

Viarco Pencils and Pencil Accessories from Portugal

We now have most of the Viarco vintage-inspired wood pencils in stock, in 7 different finishes and retro packaging. Viarco graphite is pleasantly tactile to use and isn’t waxy or smeary - it’s the type of graphite I used to love seeking out in school because it sharpens well and retains a point. These pencils are made in Portugal, in one of the last remaining operative pencil factories in Europe. To go along with your new pencils, why not pick up a NJK long-point sharpener from Japan? To see how this sharpener compares to other options out there, you can check out this post from a few years ago when I first received one from C.W. Pencil Enterprise.

View fullsize

TWSBI ECO “Dark Sapphire” Pre-Orders

Last but not least, the TWSBI ECO “Dark Sapphire” is in-hand and ready to ship on tomorrow’s release date. We also have additional stock of the TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR in Black, which sold out nearly instantaneously the first time around. The 580 ALR Black will ship out today, with the Dark Sapphire ECOs going out the door tomorrow morning.

Note: We will be traveling for the later part of this week, so if it’s important for you to receive your order this week, please get it in by Wednesday morning so we can ensure it ships out. Many thanks for your support!

New Arrivals: Lamy Notebooks and Yet Another Interesting Paper Ruling!

As part of our never-ending quest to curate the most interesting paper rulings, we’ve added Lamy notebooks to the shop! Available in Hardcover, Softcover, and “Booklet” (Softcover Slim) formats, all of the Lamy A5 notebooks feature Lamy’s proprietary paper ruling, which is a combination of lines, grids, and dots. The slim booklets are perfect for notebook systems like the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter and the Lochby Field Journal, since you can carry multiple books under one cover. The 90g Italian paper is absorbent, so it dries quickly, and handles most fountain pen inks very well!

Lamy’s signature paper ruling is great for those who like both lined and grid notebooks. You can alternate between the two.

The hardcover and softcover versions are priced at $25, and the three-pack of booklets are priced at $15. In addition to Lamy paper, we’ve also recently restocked on Clairefontaine notebooks and writing pads in most of the formats that we regularly carry. Happy shopping!

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of Clairefontaine and Lamy products.

California Pen Show Workshop Recap: Paper for Everyday Writing

Many thanks to everyone who came out to see me at the 2024 California Pen Show! We had a great turnout at the “Stationery for Everyday Writing” Workshops on Friday and Saturday, and since I’ve had a couple requests for the names of the paper samples we discussed, I thought I would post them. Just a reminder that the promotional code distributed to workshop attendees (and Patreon members) is valid through February 29, 2024 (end of the month). If you attended the seminar and lost the code or need the details of the promotional offer, please contact me and I will send them to you.

Four of My Favorite Papers for Everyday Writing

• Write Notepads Paper. Relatively inexpensive, absorbent, and available in a wide variety of formats and rulings, Write Notepads paper is among my favorite for everyday writing and notetaking.

• Midori MD Paper. Another excellent Japanese paper that’s cost-effective enough to be used everyday. I especially enjoy their writing pads, which can be used vertically and horizontally (“landscape mode”). MD Paper is used in standard Traveler’s Company refills, and if you’re looking for something slightly more absorbent, you should try the MD Cotton version.

• Clairefontaine French-Ruled Looseleaf Paper. The multi-lined paper handed out at the workshop was Clairefontaine French-ruled (or “Seyes-ruled”) looseleaf paper in the A4 format. Clairefontaine is often most people’s first experience with fountain-pen friendly paper, and while it’s slower to dry than the other options listed here, it’s also less expensive and more widely available.

• Tomoe River 68gsm Paper. While the long-term availability of this paper is subject to debate, given recent manufacturing changes, it continues to be available from some sources (including the Lochby refills that we sell). 68gsm Tomoe River Paper is still quite thin, though a bit thicker and slightly more absorbent than the lighter-weight 52gsm version so it dries quicker.

For additional fountain pen friendly paper recommendations, check out our post titled “Hierarchies of Fountain Pen Friendly Paper,” which will walk you through these options and more.

The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized reseller of the brands we sell, and is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.