2022 Year-End Review, Part II: Favorite Products Reviewed in 2022

Earlier this week I kicked off the 2022 Year-End Review Process with a new entry in the series, a “Five Up, Five Down” post, in which I looked at five products I personally used more than expected in 2022, as well as five I used a lot less. Today’s post is a bit more traditional, with a short list of my five favorite products reviewed for T.G.S. in 2022. As I reflect back on 2022, I’ve focused more on those products that I enjoyed due to the level of innovation and creativity they displayed, even if the products themselves are a new riff on something that’s been around for a while. Enjoy!

1. Good Made Better “Writewell” Writing Desk. The Writewell captured my interest immediately when I first saw it at this year’s 2022 D.C. Pen Show. Dan was kind enough to send me a production sample, and I went ahead and backed the Kickstarter because, well, why not have a second writing desk! This product embodies everything I love about this community and those who create products for it, with well-made construction, thoughtful design, and a useful purpose.

2. Nock Co. x Rickshaw Sinclair “Model R” Pen Case. My favorite pen case of all time is back, in a slightly larger, and dare I say improved, layout! I understand that eventually you will be able to customize the Sinclair using the Rickshaw Bagworks configurator, though you can put in a special request now if you reach out to them.

3. Kakimori Brass Dip Nib and Drillog Metal Dip Pen. I’ll keep these as a single entry, because I enjoy them as a product category. Both of these machined metal dip pens offer an excellent way to test and use your inks, whether you want to move between colors quickly, or have a particularly high-maintenance ink that doesn’t behave well in fountain pens. While I had some initial trouble with my extra-fine Drillog, the larger medium point that they sent me as a replacement works quite well.

4. Vinta Inks Aegean Armada and Leyte Kelp. Vinta inks have become a mainstay in my rotation, particularly the blue-green-grey “Armada” that I can’t keep out of a pen. The Vinta ink line in general made last year’s year-end review as a new discovery, and these two specific inks made for a favorite 2022 review. Vinta keeps getting ever more creative with their offerings, and as I consolidate my personal pens and inks into a smaller number of core brands, Vinta is guaranteed a slot due to their combination of quality and uniqueness.

5. Nahvalur Nautilus Ebonite Fountain Pen. Frank was kind enough to provide me with a sample of their “Pen Show Special Edition” Nautilus at April’s Atlanta Pen Show, and I’ve had that pen inked regularly, in addition to the purple “Stylophora Berry” edition. I’ve long been a fan of ebonite as a material, and love how Nahvalur (formerly Narwhal) has kept the price point reasonable while still offering an innovative design (porthole ink windows!) and quality feel.

This post does not contain affiliate links. The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases made through the T.G.S. Curated Shop and reader contributions. By shopping with us directly, you are supporting original content, pen reviews, pen show events, etc. from The Gentleman Stationer. If you would like to support us even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!

Thursday Drops: Stocking Stuffers and Last-Minute Gift Ideas

While we aren’t technically at the point of true “last minute” shopping - at least not for the Christmas holiday - we are approaching the shipping cutoffs. For the best possible chance of having a package arrive by December 25, we would strongly recommend placing your order by tomorrow, and by Monday at the absolute latest. Today’s post should be especially interesting for those in the market for “Secret Santa” ideas, stocking stuffers, and other smaller gift items that tend to be the focus of last-minute shopping excursions. We have lots of fun stuff to explore, and we made sure to buy plenty of it so we’re fully stocked through the end of the year!

Perhaps my favorite Caran d’Ache jumbo pencil set ever?

Everything featured here is in-stock and available to ship out by Monday. The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold.

1. Book Darts Page Markers. I think I first discovered Book Darts when I received a tin as a holiday gift long ago, maybe at a work gift-share party from someone who knew that I enjoyed reading. Book Darts are archivally safe page markers that come in three finishes: bronze, brass, and stainless steel. While intended to mark passages in books, they can also be used to divide notebooks into multi-subject sections, etc.

2. Hightide Co. Folding Metal Book Stand. Easily the most popular gift item in our store, these folding metal book stands can be used for reading, transcribing passages into your commonplace book, holding a planner or calendar, holding a tablet, and many other uses. Best of all, they fold completely flat for travel and slide easily into your briefcase. Currently available in ten colors.

3. Hightide Co. Sandglasses. We’ve sold more Sandglasses this month than ever! If you’ve never used an analog timer like an hourglass for work, meditation, or simply for the simple pleasure of watching time pass for a brief moment, check out these products from Hightide. Available in 30, 15, 5, and 3-minute intervals. If you’d like to read more on how I personally use mine, check out this post.

4. Caran d’Ache “Colour Treasure” Maxi Pencil Sets. These colorful tins of jumbo pencils are pure fun, and I can’t imagine any stationery enthusiasts NOT loving these. I’m trying to get my hands on as many sets as I can because I want to keep them past the holidays.

5. WMS & Co. Corner Page Marker. Looking for something a bit more hefty, with gravitas? Consider these metal bookmarks that slip over the corner of your page. Available in bronze and copper.

6. Midori Clip Bookmarks. The perfect stocking stuffer, these ultra-thin metal bookmarks come in four different patterns and won’t bulk up your novel or your notebook.

7. T.G.S. x Penwell Exclusive Edition in Aged Red. I’ve always been a proponent of gifting pen accessories - not pens - to pen enthusiasts, since it’s simply too hard to guess preferences. This Penwell pen stand features a dark red finish exclusive to our store, and attaches to your desk with a microsuction pad that ensures a secure place to park your pen!

8. Anderillium Inks. After accessories, ink tops my list of recommended gifts for fountain pen lovers. Anderillium Inks, with two lines organized around themes of birds, squids, and octopuses, are both quirky and quality - the hallmarks of an interesting ink brand!

9. Washi Tape and Snail Mail Accessories Like Stickers. Washi tape (Japanese decorative masking tape) has become insanely popular among journaling and letter enthusiasts over the past several years, and we recently brought in nearly a dozen new patterns. Who doesn’t want “Taco Tuesday” washi tape in their stocking?

10. Enamel Lapel Pins. With themes ranging from stationery to science to reading, there’s always an enamel pin made for you to adorn your jacket, bag, or pen case. These high-quality pins from iLootPaperie are colorful and sturdy.

Year-End Review: Five Up, Five Down in the Personal Collection for 2022

It’s that time of year again, when I close out the year by looking at what I liked and what I didn’t, not just in my capacity as a pen reviewer and retailer but as an enthusiast in my own right. I thought it might be fun to kick off the year-end review process with a list I’ve never done before - one where I took stock of my own collection and listed those products that surprised me with how much use they received, and others where usage was down. Note that this shouldn’t be considered a “good/not good” list - it’s more a personal reflection on how my own preferences are changing. As you’ll see, I’m not happy that a couple of things appear in the “Five Down” section, and will be making some changes to get true favorites back in rotation.

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The Schon DSGN Emojis just make you want to pick up and use the pens!

Five Up: Products I Used More Than Expected

• Plotter Binders and Accessories. It’s no secret that I went all-in on the Plotter notebook system/system techo in 2022. I’ve been regularly using all sizes from A5 down to the Mini 5, and I see this trend continuing into 2023. While I personally use Plotter more as a notebook/binder system than a planner, given the range of available refills and accessories you can deploy this one however you want.

• Schon DSGN and Opus 88 Fountain Pens. A solid 60% of my usage over the past several months has consisted of pens by either Schon DSGN or Opus 88, and I don’t see that changing. These versatile everyday writers hold a lot of ink and feature JoWo No. 6 nib compatibility, which I’ve used to swap in custom-ground Franklin-Christoph nibs as well as nibs by brands such as Platinum and Pilot using the Flexible Nib Factory housings.

• Naginata-style Nib Grinds. I have a larger review of Naginata-style grinds in the works, but I’m having trouble bringing it together into a coherent piece because there are so many different styles and variations on this Japanese blade-style grind that writes similarly to an architect nib but with fewer sharp edges. Regardless, this style of grind has become a staple in my everyday writing rotation.

• Ballpoint Pens. If I had to call out three specific ballpoints that I’ve been using more than most, I would say it’s the needle-tip Traveler’s Brass Ballpoint, the Gravitas Pens “Ultematum” Twist, and the Caran d’Ache 849 Rollerball with a Parker-style .5mm Jetstream refill. I’m firmly on “team ballpoint,” and recently wrote about how I consider it an unfounded myth that ballpoints aren’t for “real” pen enthusiasts.

• Galen Leather “Magnum Opus” 12-Pen Cases. One of my favorite acquisitions from 2021 was the natural leather “Magnum Opus” 12-pen case with the magnetic closure, and this year I picked up a dark grey zippered version at the D.C. Pen Show. Since I’m a regular attendee at both pen shows and meetings of my local pen club, I’ve been carrying at least one of these two large pen cases to meetups on a weekly basis, as they are a very secure (yet attractive!) way to move multiple pens.

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As hard as it was to part with some of the Blackwing Volumes editions where I loved the design (such as the “Bauhaus” edition pictured here), the fact that they sat unused in a box for years didn’t bode well, and others would use them much more.

Five Down: Products That Saw Much Less Use Than Expected

• Lamy 2000 Fountain Pens. This one is NOT a reflection of any sort of changing sentiment for the Lamy 2000, which remains one of my favorite pens, but is more the result of my personal collection getting too large for me to rotate through everything as much as I’d like. This changes immediately, with at least two Lamy 2000 fountain pens going back into rotation as of January 1, 2023.

• Blackwing Pencils. I accumulated more Blackwing pencils than I could ever use in five lifetimes, much less one, so I sold off 90% of my stash. I’m no longer a Volumes subscriber, and I’m happiest with the standard dark “MMX” Blackwing and the Natural pencil with the extra-firm core. I simply don’t use a high enough volume of woodcase pencils to justify holding on to anything more than my absolute favorites.

• Tomoe River Paper. Partly due to the paper’s (temporary) discontinuation, partly due to my discovery of Midori MD Cotton paper, I’ve used a lot less Tomoe River despite liking the new Sanzen product. I’m still waiting to see whether a new 68gsm version reappears, as that particular paper is one of my absolute favorites of all time, and since I have a healthy stash I’ll be looking to get 68gsm Tomoe back into rotation in 2023.

• Liquid Ink Rollerballs. Though some people love them, the liquid ink rollerball is probably my own least-favorite writing option. Don’t get me wrong, I have “rollerball” pens that I absolutely love, such as the Caran d’Ache 849 mentioned above and the Baron Fig Squire, but nearly all of them have ballpoint or hybrid gel refills substituted for the rollerball cartridge. I’ve found that most rollerball inks tend to bleed-through and feather on basically every paper out there, though the Montblanc and Caran d’Ache options fare much better than most.

• Leonardo Momento Zero Grande. While NOT a knock on the MZG in general - I still think it’s a great pen - I included this one on the list because I found myself with four or five of these pens in my possession after I fell in love with the materials. The problem is, the MZG simply doesn’t fit my hand as well as the standard Momento Zero, so I recently made the decision to begin selling off the larger pens and consolidating my collection into what I will actually use. “Zero Regrets.” (Sorry.) I still have one currently for sale in the “Gently Used” section of the website, and have at least one more in my collection that I will list at some point in the near future.

Stay tuned for more year-end review content, including lists of my favorite products reviewed, favorite products acquired, and favorite shop additions!

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Overall, I’m really happy with how this is aging!

This post does not contain paid advertising or third-party affiliate links, and the Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely via purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop, the Gently Used Store, and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. The Patreon Program will be undergoing a bit of a revamp in 2023, as I’m going to look to add in new content such as weekly updates and mini newsletters, in addition to the current benefits. This week in the Patreon, I posted my entire “currently inked” lineup, which gives you a sense of just how many pens I’m evaluating at any given time! We appreciate all your support.

New Arrivals: Maruman Mnemosyne Portfolios and Notepads

Japanese paper company Maruman makes some of the most versatile and cost-effective fountain-pen friendly paper on the market, and we’re fortunate enough to be able to stock it in nearly all available formats. We’ve recently added new versions of the portfolio-style notepad holders in both A4 and A5 sizes, as well as several different sizes of notepads and spiral notebooks in several different rulings.

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Notable new additions include a wide range of A4 spiral notebooks in lined, dot-grid, and blank formats. The grid and blank spirals are landscape-style, perfect for orienting below your keyboard!

Just a reminder that if you are shopping for gifts and need delivery by December 25, you will likely want to get your orders in by Friday to give it the best possible chance of arriving on time.

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands sold. For additional suggestions on fountain pen friendly paper, check our our “Guide to Fountain Pen Friendly Paper,” and be sure to read the comments for many additional suggestions.

Sunday Reading for December 11, 2022

1. Lamy 2000 Fountain Pen Review (via The Poor Penman). I agree with a lot in this review, but I’m not convinced that the new Lamy 2000 pricing is unreasonable. $250 for a piston filling fountain pen with a 14k gold nib in today’s inflationary market seems, well, reasonable. (To compare, a steel nib cartridge-converter Esterbrook sells for $155-$195, depending on the color, which is pretty standard.) I think Lamy is seeing the effect of years of underpricing this flagship, which has created the perception that the Lamy 2000 should be a “cheap” pen.

2. The Go-To Notebook Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). Blake reviews this new collaboration between Chronicle Books and Mohawk Paper, which can be found at mainstream retail. But can it be considered fountain pen friendly?

3. Butterflies: KWZ Monarch (via A Fleeting Ripple). I have not seen this before, but if you like inks in the red-orange color spectrum, you will want to check this one out.

4. Color Traveler Delta Light Blue on Midori MD Cotton (via Inkredible Colours). A true “light blue,” as opposed to a turquoise, might be one of the few shades that I’ve never had in my collection.

5. 25 Days of Dupes 2022 - Week 1 (via Rachel’s Reflections). Rachel takes a look at the Diamine Inkvent calendar and comparable inks from this year’s release.

6. A Balanced Academic Conference Carry Kit - the Non-Pen Parts (via mnmlscholar). A great gear post for conference carry - compact yet utilitarian.

7. A travel-friendly academic conference pen load out (via mnmlscholar). And the pen-and-ink counterpart for a conference carry.

8. Ink Review #737: Pennonia Balaton Blue (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist). Balaton Blue is one of my favorite multi-shading inks, with gorgeous shades of purple and blues.

9. Limited Edition Esterbrook Camden Oktoberfest (via Rants of the Archer). I’m a little late, because it’s far past Oktoberfest, but I’ve not paid attention to this release and it’s a pretty one.

10. On the first day of Inkmas… (via Well-Appointed Desk). Ana hits the road to Dromgoole’s in Houston and reports back with the first ink of Inkmas.

In Case You Missed It…

This week on the blog, I talked a bit about two of my favorite topics: Pens Under $40 and New Releases that Won’t Break the Bank, and the current state of my personal collection, as I’ve steadily been reducing my accumulation of “standard” release pens in favor of a more curated collection focused around independent and small-batch makers.

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

We had a bunch of new releases arrive, including the TWSBI Precision Ballpoints and Mechanical Pencils, which have sold rapidly, as well as a complete restock of new Caran d’Ache Colour Treasure Items including the newly arrived five jumbo / “Maxi” pencil sets. Pretty much all TWSBI fountain pens are available! Don’t forget to check out our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide, and remember that if you want to give your package the absolute best shot at arriving by Christmas, get your orders in by December 15 to account for any shipping delays. (Packages shipped after that date may make it in time, there’s just not much wiggle room.)

TWSBI

Kokuyo Highlighters

Midori

Field Notes

Consider T.G.S. Patreon!

For those who want to support T.G.S. without necessarily adding to their accumulation via shop purchases, the Patreon Program offers two options for tiers of support: $3 and $5 (with a discounted annual option) and plan on making monthly meetups, pen show events, and periodic exclusive content the primary benefits. Of course, Patreon members will continue to get first access to periodic sample sales, with right of first refusal on gently used pens. (Reminder that those items which made it through Patreon become available to the general readership, and this week you can get an extra 10% off Gently Used items with the coupon code referenced above!) Many thanks to all of you who already decided to back via Patreon. Your support means the world to me!