My Favorite Red Inks in 2026 (and Why I Still Decided to Make My Own)

As a red ink aficionado, I often get asked for a “Top 5” list of my favorites. I’ve deferred publishing any sort of definitive list because there are simply so many good ones out there. But since we’ve launched our own ink collaborations this week, I thought it made sense to revisit this question and offer up a “best of” list based on the red inks I find myself using the most.

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Top 5 Red Inks, in order they appear on the list below. Inks are swatched on dot grid Tomoe River 68g paper.

Joe’s Top 5 Red Inks

1. Tono & Lims Superstar T. The ink that started me thinking on my own collaboration with Tono & Lims. Superstar T is a dark red/almost burgundy ink from the Tono & Lims “Friendship” Line, which are inks designed in collaboration with influencers and other friends of the brand. On certain papers, it reminds me very much of my all-time favorite Montblanc Alfred Hitchcock (unfortunately discontinued).

2. Teranishi Modern Red. Another darker red that definitely leans more red than burgundy, Teranishi inks flow exceptionally well and features a richness of color that I enjoy. This particular ink has been in one of our shop tester pens for the past year, and people always ask what it is.

3. Laban Greek Mythology Ares Red. My substitute for old-school Sheaffer Skrip Red, and probably the brightest red I use regularly. It’s saturated without causing issues with dry times or smearing. (This goes for all of the Laban Greek Mythology Inks.)

4. Private Reserve Burgundy Mist. The first burgundy ink I ever bought, and the one that caused me to really dive deep into the broader red color family. Is it the best ink out there? No. It doesn’t have much subtlety, it can be wet, and the wide-mouth bottle is messy to use, but it’s still one of the best “pure burgundies” on the market. For nostalgia’s sake, I keep it on hand and use it fairly frequently.

5. Pilot Iroshizuku Syun-Gyo. Is it a red? Is it a red black? Is it a brown? While it leans a bit too brown to be my perfect ink, I still enjoy these dark murky shades with burgundy and red undertones. I find myself using Syun-Gyo quite a bit, if for no other reason than it’s an unusual, somewhat adventurous color for the Iroshizuku line.

Introducing Two New TGS-Exclusive Inks from Tono & Lims

So what is missing from the list above? A true “Red-Black” or “Burgundy-Black”. For the 12th Anniversary of The Gentleman Stationer, we wanted to formulate some special inks, and are happy to introduce our first two releases "Classic Burgundy" and "Black Shimmer". I strongly prefer dark red inks, and have never been able to find a red-black without overly predominant brown, purple, or pink undertones. While all those are components of most reds or burgundies, I wanted an ink with more black.

T.G.S. 12th Anniversary Classic Burgundy

Classic Burgundy is formulated to match the background dark burgundy on the classic TGS website, with the darker red-black hue I've been looking for, especially when used in a wet pen. Black Shimmer is my attempt at a subtly playful shimmer ink that can still be used as an everyday writer. It's a black that has purple and blue undertones on certain papers, and if you write with a wet pen that can lay down the shimmer, the red shimmer particles make the ink look like an actual standard red-black.

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TGS 12th Anniversary Black Shimmer

Both of these inks are now available in our shop, priced at the same price point as the rest of the Tono & Lims inks. Come see them in person this weekend in our Nashville shop, open normal hours from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday and from 10am-5pm on Saturday.

Favorite Specialty Nibs That Don't Require a Nib Grind or Modification

Many people are understandably nervous about having a nib modified by a nib grinder, whether that’s reducing a nib’s size from broad to medium, medium to fine, or changing the shape of the tipping entirely to something like a stub, architect, or kodachi. Nib modifications are irreversible. Once you’ve ground a nib into a new shape you can’t return it to its prior form without cost-prohibitive retipping, so it’s definitely wise to carefully consider any modification before you alter a favorite pen.

Look for the “SF”, “SM”, or “SFM” designation on Pilot nibs to find the relatively rare “soft” designation.

One way to test the suitability of a potential nib modification is to purchase a pen with a stock specialty nib. For example, if you’re considering having a nib ground to a stub or an architect, consider picking up a stock version and testing the grind/style of nib before modifying a pen in your collection. While stock nibs won’t be tailored to your personal handwriting - the main benefit of having a nib ground in person - they do give you an idea of how a style of nib writes and the opportunity for a longer “road test”. Pen shows and pen clubs can be helpful if people allow you to write a few lines, but I often need a week or more of continuous writing before I figure out whether a grind or nib style will work for me.

TOp “Stock” Specialty Nib Recommendations

1. TWSBI 1.1mm Stub. Those who have never written with a stub or italic nib should try TWSBI’s 1.1mm stub nib. Available in nearly all their pen models, this stainless steel stub is smooth and delivers good ink flow. It’s an excellent way to explore stub/italic line variation at a lower cost. We’ve previously done comprehensive posts devoted entirely to stock stub nibs, which we had to break into Part I and Part II.

2. Tom’s Studio Architect Nib. Stock architect nibs are difficult to do well because the smoothness of this grind depends heavily on your writing angle. The Tom’s Studio Architect starts as a double broad stainless steel nib, so it has a bit more tipping and is ground at a more forgiving angle than many architects. You can purchase this nib as a stand-alone add on to a Tom’s Studio pen, or you can find it pre-installed on certain pens in their Studio Pocket line.

3. Pilot Kakuno EF or Pilot PO Nib. A lot of people think they want a needle-tip or “ultra extra-fine” fountain pen - until they actually write with one. Those of us who learned to write with ballpoint technology tend to apply far too much pressure, which can absolutely make a very fine fountain pen feel “scratchy”. (You are essentially pressing a needle into the surface of the page and trying to drag it around.) Before customizing one of your own pens, try an inexpensive steel-nib EF Pilot Kakuno, or a Pilot Custom 912 with a PO nib if you prefer gold. Both of these pens offer a sense of how most needlepoints “feel” on the page, including whether you need to adjust your own writing pressure in order for these nibs to be usable.

4. Pilot “Soft” Series or “FA” Nibs. Considering having one of your gold nibs modified for flex or semi-flex? Many people don’t consider (1) how much ink these nibs put on the page, making them impractical for writing on lower-quality paper; and (2) how you need to slow your writing down when writing with a flex nib so that the ink flow can keep up. While the Pilot “Soft” nibs and the FA nibs are not necessarily true vintage-style flex, they will give you a sense of whether this type of wetter-writing pen is for you.

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Note the wide downstrokes and narrower cross strokes on this Stub.

Nib grinds and modifications can be fun, and even addictive. That said, as I mentioned above it’s usually irreversible in the sense that if you don’t like the result, you’re left replacing either the nib or the pen. Stock nibs can be a less expensive (or at least less permanent) way to explore, and we regularly recommend these options and more for those looking to branch out from your standard round nibs.

Looking to learn more? Come see us in person at our Nashville shop or at a pen show! We will be at the Dallas Pen Show next week (September 25-27), and from October 16-18, we will be co-hosting the On The Paper Trail Live in Nashville weekend event. Both events have nib grinder opportunities, so be sure to buy your tickets in advance.

2026 Mid-Year Review: Five Personal Favorite Stationery Discoveries from the First Half of 2026

During the first half of 2026 I delved pretty deeply into the catalog of Japanese-exclusive products I’ve been testing, many of which have made their way into our shop. You might be surprised to learn that most of my favorite new additions to my own rotation are less expensive everyday writers, including the Uni Zento Flow Gel Pens and the Pilot Kire-Na highlighters. There’s also a fun, offbeat ink, as well as a stationery-adjacent entry!

You can view most of these products in our own shop, both online and in-store. Check out the rest of our 2026 Mid-Year Review Post, including 5 Favorite Posts from the First Half of the Year, and our Annual Update to the Hierarchies of Fountain Pen Friendly Paper Resource.

1. Uni Zento Flow Gel Pen. If I had to pick a favorite everyday gel pen, I would say that the Uni Zento Flow has become my everyday “inexpensive carry”. I like the weight of the aluminum barrel, and I actually prefer the click-style Flow to the capped Signature model (which you can’t find anyway). I’ve had one of these since late last year, but in 2026 it firmly established itself with a key role in my rotation.

2. Colorverse Follow The Water Fountain Pen Ink. Each year, Colorverse selects three of the prior year’s Colorvent Inks to release in full bottle format. In 2024, they released three colors that many considered “safe,” while the 2025 selections were more adventurous and, in my opinion, excellent. “Follow the Water” is a muted yellow-gold multi-shader with shimmer ink, which is not a typical choice for me but I can’t get over this one.

3. Hibi Japanese Incense Matches. I’ve fine-tuned my work setup this year, and one addition I’ve grown to love is some sort of aromatic component, including these 10-minute incense matches from Hibi. (Note: They are also quite helpful for covering up that “warehouse smell”.)

4. Pilot Metropolitan Rollerball. Can you believe that until this year I had never used the Pilot Metropolitan/MR Rollerball or Ballpoint pen? The “rollerball” is actually a Pilot G2 gel refill, so it’s super smooth, and the ballpoint uses the same Dr. Grip/Cocoon refill that fits Dr. Grip Ballpoint pens and the Pilot S20. If I had to pick, the rollerball is my favorite because I still love the G2.

5. Pilot Kire-Na Double-Sided Highlighter. The “guides” on the chisel-style highlighter tip won me over during our trip to visit Pilot USA headquarters earlier this year, and the fine tip end is ultra-fine for extremely detailed annotation work. It’s one of those highly-specific tools that not everyone may need, but which is great for those who love tailoring their stationery carry to their precise needs.

Five Items for A Pencil Travel Kit (Mechanical and Woodcase)

In this week’s post on pen cases, I mentioned that I use stationery pouches to hold my pencils, as well as any ballpoints and gel pens that I generally take with me on the road for my everyday working needs. Since I rely fairly heavily on pencils, and because pencils have their own set of accessories separate and apart from any sort of pen, I thought it might be fun to break down my preferred pencil travel kit. I’ve photographed two setups that I use - one when I’m using mechanical pencils (which is most of the time on the road), and another for when I’m using mainly woodcase pencils.

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Woodcase pencils will require a longer pouch. Blackwing makes a specialized canvas pencil pouch long enough to hold an unsharpened Blackwing Pencil, which is probably the longest pencil you would want to carry.

1. Mechanical or Woodcase Pencils. First up - the pencils themselves. Lately I’ve been traveling exclusively with mechanical pencils. I generally write smaller for work purposes, so the finer .5mm lead size suits my hand. My current carry for this week is a Lamy Safari .5mm pencil in Scarlet and a .5mm Pentel Sharp Kerry in light green, and I almost always have at least one Uni Kuru Toga thrown in. While I still love a good woodcase pencil, due to their inherently messy nature I don’t work with them on planes and therefore rarely travel with them. If you do decide to travel with woodcase pencils, you will need a different set of accessories, including a sharpener and possibly a point protector.

2. Erasers. Very few pencils have decent integrated erasers, so I always carry a separate handheld eraser in my pencil pouch. In my opinion, the best ones are made by Pentel and Tombow. Currently I am using one of the Pentel erasers by Craft Design Technology, and the excellent Tombow Mono comes in a sizes ranging from small (tiny) to Jumbo (friggin’ huge) depending on how much you can carry.

3. Pencil Caps or Point Protectors. If you prefer woodcase pencils to mechanical, you may want to consider a pencil cap to protect your pencil points. Personally, this isn’t something I’ve worried much about over the years, though we’ve sold so many of the Viarco spring-loaded caps that this is obviously an in-demand item that people use.

4. Mechanical Pencil Leads. Be sure the lid tightens securely, otherwise you’ll have a dusty mess on your hands because loose mechanical pencil leads simply won’t hold up in a pouch. Uni makes these metal cases that have a sliding closure, which are a favorite of mine for travel.

5. Pencil Sharpeners. NJK out of Osaka, Japan makes the best portable long-point sharpener on the market, especially for the money. While the Blackwing One-Step Long-Point sharpener is probably my favorite handheld sharpener overall, it’s slightly too large to carry in a pencil pouch.

You can and should design your own “carry kit” to fit your specific needs, but I get so many questions about what I use day-to-day that I wanted to do a couple of layout posts showing exactly what items I carry for which purposes. I will plan on doing a few more of these bag dump-style posts and possibly even some posts on how I set up and format my notebooks and planners.

The Kuru Toga Alpha Gel Switch (another regular carry), plus the metal lead case linked to above.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can also come visit us at our physical stationery store in Nashville, Tennessee.

2025 Year-End Review: Five Favorite Posts from 2025

Since I’ve launched the store, and have to deal with marketing and selling products every day, the most enjoyable writing for me hasn’t necessarily been product reviews but rather posts on what stationery I like to use and how I use it in my own life, because I still write a lot. For my five favorite posts of 2025, I’ve chosen more editorial-style writing discussing how analog fits into my own life and workflow and the products I personally enjoy and why.

Joe’s Personal Favorite Posts from 2025

1. Everyday Notetaking and Creating an “Idea File”: On Perforated Field Notes and Index Cards. This has been a great year for fountain pen friendly index cards, and rediscovering the utility of being able to jot down ideas and file them away without having to keep track of where things are in a notebook.

2. Comparing Low Viscosity Ballpoint Pens: Jetstream vs. Acroball vs. Anterique vs. Ohto. Low-viscosity ballpoints feature an ink that’s basically the best of both worlds: the permanence of ballpoint ink with most of the smoothness of gel. Many planner enthusiasts prefer low-viscosity ballpoints because they write a dark, fine line that comes in handy when filling out smaller sections of planners like the Hobonichi Techo and Jibun Techo.

3. Five Reasons I Prefer Undated Planners and Calendars. This year I went undated for most of my planning, but as you’ll see in some forthcoming content, I’m going with a hybrid approach for 2026 as I find a dated planner useful for certain business purposes.

4. Complementary Notebook Systems and Stationery: Yamamoto Bullet Jotters. These Yamamoto Bullet Jotters are an excellent counterpart to a Bible-sized 6-ring binder, especially if you prefer writing on a bound pad as opposed to in the 6-ring binder itself. I often mix and match notebook systems to take advantage of the best aspects of each and customize them to my specific needs.

5. 2025 San Francisco Pen Show Recap, Part II: Panel Takeaways. The 2025 San Francisco Pen show was one of the better stationery show experiences I’ve had, content-wise. The topics discussed during the various panels I attended inspired much of the content I’ll be working on for the next year, including our recently launched podcast/video project, which now has it’s own home so please follow along.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can also come visit us and see any products we sell directly at our physical stationery store in Nashville, Tennessee! Also, please visit our Holiday Gift Guide page if you would like guidance on stationery-related gifting, and we’re also happy to discuss in-person.