Sunday Reading for November 5, 2023

1. Ink Thoughts: Montblanc Dragon Red (via A Gathering of Curiosities). This is a lovely shade of red. One inevitable consequence of the ongoing “limited edition ink craze” – combined with the fact that many companies are now expanding their standard ink lineups to include hundreds of colors – is the duplication or near-duplication of colors (even if it’s unintentional and not part of a cynical cash grab).

2. Platinum Chou Kuro Black Ink Review (via Pen Addict). None more black: the review.

3. Hobonichi A5 Notebook (via Stationery Pizza). I’ve recently picked up both Hobonichi Planners and the Notebooks in A5 and A6, and look forward to working my way through them. It’s been a while since I’ve revisited the Hobonichi lineup.

4. Professional (Hand)writing Tool (via Pen Picture). What qualifies as a “professional” writing instrument? Honestly, I’ve gotten by using pretty much anything I want in the office over the years, but what type of pen or pencil best suits your needs will be specific to your particular situation.

5. A Quick Survey on How We Experience Wet Inks and Dry Inks (via mnmlscholar). The survey linked to in this article only takes a few minutes to fill out, and I’m interested to see the results. I love how this hobby leads people in so many different directions.

6. Time for a Change (via Rachel’s Reflections). Fountain Pen Day always gets me thinking about how I optimize my own rotation. I plan to do a big clean-out this evening.

7. Pen Show Pick-Ups: An Over-Due Overview (via The Poor Penman). I don’t think I’ve done a personal overview of everything I picked up this year, much less published a grand look back. Maybe in connection with the year-end review pieces…

8. Bright Night Designs Bright (via Dapprman). Yet another reason to eventually make it to the UK, with this proliferation of independent makers hopefully helping to further grow the pen show scene.

9. M600 Art Collection – Glauco Cambon Special Edition (via Pelikan’s Perch). I had the opportunity to see one of these in person this weekend – it’s a gorgeous pen, though there are less-pronounced red tones in person than appear in the picture.

10. Trick or Treat: Sailor North America Decreasing Prices on Select Collections (via Well-Appointed Desk). My guess is that this is a result of the North American pricing being out of whack with the rest of the world, driving customers to overseas retailers and the grey market, combined with a seemingly endless stream of “limited” editions that hang around for years and that retailers apparently have trouble selling due to oversupply.

In Case You Missed It…

This week on the blog I reviewed the “Tile” 2-pen box from a new company I had the opportunity to visit with at this year’s D.C. Pen Show: NFP Design. And since it was Fountain Pen Day week, I published a short piece on why I think this event, entering its 12th year, is important, going beyond the annual sales promotions.

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop (It’s Fountain Pen Day! Or Fountain Pen Week! Or Fountain Pen Weekend….) PLUS New Gently Used Items!

Today is the last day of our own Fountain Pen Day promotion and sale. You can take 10% off most orders (excluding brands such as Roterfaden and TWSBI) using the code “FPDAY23” at checkout, and there are also tiered “add-ons” at certain order thresholds. You can read the full details here. Also, be sure to enter our Fountain Pen Day giveaway, with full details on yesterday’s blog post and Instagram. While Roterfaden and TWSBI can’t be discounted, purchases of these items will count towards your tier bonuses.

Finally, the Gently Used Page has been updated to include those items that remain after Patreon members took the first pass! These specific items are not eligible for further discounting, as they’ve been priced to move.

TWSBI

Roterfaden

Kaweco

Diamine

Patreon Update – Support T.G.S. via Sample Sales, Early Access, and Meetups!

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 (one of which is pending now), 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!

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