Zebra’s Emulsion ink is a bit of an enigma. Most companies neatly categorize their inks ink “ballpoint,” “gel,” and “rollerball” and some even throw in “hybrid” but Zebra ended up with “emulsion.” Does that mean something specific? Is it a translation quirk or brand name? Let’s dig into it a bit.
Lamy’s modular fountain pen nibs aren’t particularly complex, but there are some basics concepts to know if you want to get the most out of them. Additionally, there are some long lists of details you might want to refer to that aren’t worth memorizing but will help you with your purchase.
This article will help you get your head around Lamy’s steel and gold fountain pen nibs.
There are few writing experiences that are more satisfying than a great gel pen. The right gel pen is buttery smooth, has an ink color that really pops, and is a pleasure to write with on all sorts of different paper. Gel pens are truly one of the best and most versatile ways to write on almost all paper types.
The re-release of the Rotring 600 ballpoint in 2018 was a historic moment for pen collectors. The Rotring 600 ballpoint returned to the market, to the excitement of everyone who didn’t get one in the late 1980s or early 1990s (or didn’t spend a fortunate on Ebay).
Since that point Rotring did little with the 600 and 800 ballpoint (the 800 being the re-release of the Rotring 600 gold edition), but that could be changing early next year.
Continue reading “Rotring 600 Red, Blue, and Green Editions Coming Soon”
Have a mechanical pencil (also known as an automatic pencil) whose lead won’t come out? There is a good chance that your pencil is jammed! This can be annoying, but it’s usually easy to fix. This guide will help clear that jam and get get your pencil back in working order.
Continue reading “Pencil Lead Won’t Come Out? How to Fix a Jammed Mechanical Pencil”
Lamy sells a lot of ballpoint pens, many of which have been available for decades. Which are them are worth buying? Which have simply gained momentum over the years but aren’t worth your money? Let’s dig into Lamy’s best ballpoint pens.
In theory fountain pen cartridges should be easy — you insert one into your pen and you start writing. In practice, they are rather confusing. Some only work on one brand of pen, some work on lots of pens, but they all look alike. The are not labeled well and the downside of messing up an cartridge installation can be a broken pen (bad) or a leaky cartridge (usually worse).
This guide should help with some of your common fountain pen cartridge questions as well help you visually identify which cartridge is which.
Have you heard of Cello Pens? If you aren’t based in India, there is a good chance that the company is entirely new to you, but it’s a big outfit and its worth having on your radar.
Moleskine notebooks are excellent and easy to find, but they have notoriously lightweight paper. The company doesn’t say exactly what the weight is, but give most premium notebooks (Clairefontaine, etc.) are in the 90 grams per square meter (gsm) range, Moleskine feels to be about 70 gsm. This number might not feel too light, but it’s under a critical number at which many fountain pens and broad — often even medium — rollerballs will bleed through.
So, with that lightweight, possibly uncoated, paper in mind, what are the best pens for using in Moleskine Classic notebooks?
Continue reading “What Are The Best Pens for Moleskine Notebooks?”
One of the more common questions people have about pens is, “Who invented the ballpoint?” We honestly can’t say why this gets asked so often but it most certainly does, so let’s dive into it.
Continue reading “Who Invented The Ballpoint Pen? Origins Of A Modern Writing Instrument”
Bullet journals are a wildly popular method for organizing your life. It’s one of those things that you never heard of before but then a few months later it’s a foundation of your sanity. It’s not hard or complex, but as with all systems, the right tools can make a difference.
Here are our picks for the right pens for your bullet journal journey…
Neil deGrasse Tyson is a well-known fountain pen collector and user. What pens does he use? Are the pens astronomy inspired, like the Visconti Starry Night, as you might guess of the director of the Hayden Planetarium? Or does this world-famous astrophysicist and author use the same pens as you or I?
Continue reading “What Fountain Pens Does Neil deGrasse Tyson Use?”
Choosing a fountain pen isn’t always an easy task and a surplus of information can be almost as bad as a total lack of information. With that in mind this guide is designed to help you choose a Sailor fountain pen. Sailor isn’t is common as Pilot, Platinum, and a few other competitors here in the US, but they make some really exceptional pens.
This guide will help you decide the right Sailor fountain pen for any buyer at any price level in 2019. We’ll be focusing on the most popular Sailor lines, with the assumption that if you are looking for something expensive or rare, you probably don’t need a buying guide!
Pen storage is serious business. Everyone has their own preferences and space restrictions. Additionally, you might have more “bulk” pens and less fancy urushi pens than someone else so your storage demands might be completely different.
Here are our favorite pen storage containers that can be mixed and matched to tailor a solution that’s best for you.
New York City is a dream for shoppers of all kinds, but it really isn’t a stationery town. Compared to the cities of Europe or even some smaller college towns New York City’s stationery shops are few and far between, and dedicated pen shops are even rarer. What’s worse is that many of the longstanding places, like Pearl Paint’s iconic Canal Street location, have been closing.
Things aren’t all bad though, NYC still has some of the nation’s top stationery destinations.
Continue reading “The Best Stationery Shops in New York City”