Inkvent and Colorvent 2024: Recapping the First 10 Days of December

There’s pretty much an Advent calendar for every interest these days. Tea, coffee, beer, wine, chocolate, pencils, art supplies, and - of course - fountain pen ink! Believe it or not, there are now three different fountain pen ink advent calendars on the market: the Diamine Inkvent Calendar (the original); the Colorverse “Colorvent” Calendar (new this year); and the Enigma Stationery Inkvent Calendar (put together in-store, and which collects different brands).

This year, I purchased a Diamine Inkvent and Colorverse Colorvent calendar, and have been walking through each of the inks on the T.G.S. Instagram Account (check out the stories). As a bit of a twist, this year I added a highly scientific poll to each Instagram Story that allowed readers to vote Yay, Nay, or “Blah” for each ink. Here are the top three inks for each calendar, by vote:

Top Three Diamine Inkvent Inks So Far

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Diamine Inkvent, Day One: Baltic Breeze. This one surprised me a bit with it’s popularity, but I guess it appeals to a lot of people.

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Day 8: Marley. A bit of a multi-shader and subtle color, so no surprises this one was a favorite.

Again, this one was not one of my top three, but these icy cool shimmer inks are always favorites.

Top Three Colorverse Colorvent Inks So Far

Cool color, but not my personal favorite. I think people were just happy to see something other than red, taupe, or navy blue.

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It will not surprise anyone that Red Horizon is my personal favorite of all the inks to date. Colorverse indicated they might add a few of the more popular Colorvent inks to the standard line, and I hope this one makes it as I’ll want a giant bottle.

It only took two days for a typo! I was kind of surprised that this was one of the more popular Colorvent inks. It’s a great color - don’t get me wrong - but not as festive as some of the other calendar options.

Takeaways and General Observations on Each Calendar as a Whole

I don’t have a clear “favorite” in terms of Inkvent vs. Colorvent. The two calendars are VERY different, and will appeal to different people. I’ll share my own thoughts on each, as well as one ink I felt was unfairly maligned at the polls.

• Overall Festiveness. Diamine Inkvent wins by a long shot. Nearly all of the inks are winter and holiday-themed, and of the first 10, a whopping six are shimmer inks, compared to one for the Colorvent.

• Usability. Of the two calendars, the Colorverse Colorvent calendar has more inks that I would use for everyday writing. There are fewer shimmer inks and bright holiday-themed colors, and as a whole - at least through the first 10 days - the colors are more muted, understated tones which I appreciate. So far, purchasing the Colorvent calendar would give you a very nice collection of inks that are usable year-round.

• Value. Here, I’ll probably give the slight edge to Diamine, mainly due to a greater ink variety and a much lower price, but it’s close. While neither calendar is inexpensive, with Diamine Inkvent priced at $120 and the Colorvent Calendar at $180, Diamine is 30% less. Diamine gives you 24 12ml bottles of ink and one larger 30ml for the last day. Colorverse gives you 24 15ml bottles. I will add that the Colorvent Calendar makes a more impressive gift - Colorverse uses its signature glass bottles (making for a substantial-feeling package), and also went above and beyond on the packaging design, including a short blurb “behind the door” that describes the inspiration for each ink.

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And finally, here’s the one ink that shocked me with how poorly it did in the polling. Diamine “Wishing Tree” doesn’t photograph very well because there’s a lot of subtle color-shifting and understated shimmer going on. I’ll have to post some additional photos later, because I’m probably keeping this one.

The Colorverse Colorvent Calendar and the Enigma Inkvent Calendars sold out long ago, so you’re probably too late to pick one up unless you can convince someone to sell you a calendar on the secondary market. It’s not too late to play along with Inkvent, however! Diamine makes a LOT of Inkvent Calendars, and they are still available at many retailers (including us). We only have one or two left at the time of publication.

If you missed out on the inky Advent calendar that you wanted, we still have plenty of ink available in our shop, including lots of recently added brands! If you’d like to peruse ink in person, we have extended holiday hours Thursday through Sunday. Come see us!

New Arrivals: Two Ink Series by Taccia

We’ve been sitting on this release for a couple of weeks - not because we’re holding out on you, but simply because it’s taken us this long to swatch, photograph, and list nearly 30 new Taccia inks, including both the standard line and the gorgeous cult favorite Ukiyo-e line, inspired by the work of four different traditional Japanese artists. All of these inks are now listed online and available to ship immediately!

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Uguisu is one of the more interesting greens that I’ve used, featuring a lot of depth. Great lighter green colors can be hard to find.

I’ve long been a fan of Taccia Ink, as the colors are vibrant and the ink demonstrates excellent flow. Of the standard line, the blues and greens really shine (particularly Uguisu), and of course from the Ukiyo-e series, Sabimidori steals the show, with the blue-grey Ainezu another personal favorite. If you enjoy these types of colors, be sure to check out the Teranishi Guitar Inks as well, which feature similar ink formulations and 16 more interesting colors.

Sabimidori is loved for its color shift from blue to green/grey as it dries.

An update on shipping: Many thanks to all of you who supported us during our first Thanksgiving Weekend as a brick-and-mortar retailer! The new space has definitely made shipping more seamless, and orders are currently shipping within 48 hours. That said, we don’t have control over carrier processing and delivery speeds, so if you need something by a specific date, give yourself plenty of time by placing orders earlier rather than later.

Sunday Reading for December 8, 2024

1. A Mini Techo Kaigi, and Plotter A5 Setup Thoughts (via A Gathering of Curiosities). I find simple, straightforward planner setups like this to be the most effective, mainly because they’re the ones you’re more likely to stick with for the long term.

2. Visit to Ishimaru Bunkoudou in Nagasaki, Japan (via Inkredible Colours). The stationery selection at this department store looks absolutely incredible, particularly the ink selection!

3. Diamine Inkvent 2024: Spoiler Free Introduction (via Writing at Large). A great annual Inkvent series revealing each of the colors as we go through December. I’m only linking to the introductory page to avoid spoilers for anyone who hasn’t started yet, but at this point I think most people have seen at least one of the inks.

4. Year End Pens: December Blues (via Line Variation). Both the Parker Sonnet and the Pilot Custom Heritage 92 are vastly underappreciated pens.

5. Guest Post - Archiving Solutions (via Philofaxy). What do you do with those planner inserts and pages you are not actively using? Some sort of archive is usually necessary to manage any sort of notebook system.

6. Distracting: KWZ Stardust Blue Fountain Pen Ink (via A Fleeting Ripple). As someone who is not typically a shimmer ink enthusiast, I’m intrigued by these inks with a formulation that allows the shimmer particles to remain suspended without shading….

7. Montblanc 145 Classique S Nib Fountain Pen Review (via Blake’s Broadcast). These round nibs with lots of tipping are gaining in popularity. I’ve honestly never been tempted, as I prefer nibs with a bit more angular line variation than these seem to offer.

8. Discovering the Aurora Marco Polo Fountain Pen (via Fountain Pen Blog). Now that’s a market find! a cool retro-themed design, too.

9. Pilot Iro-Utsushi Dip Pen Review (via Pen Addict-Jeff). These Pilot dip pens have garnered rave reviews. I need to get my hands on some and test them out.

10. ‘Tis the Season to be STICKII (via Well-Appointed Desk). A sticker advent calendar? If you’re a sticker fiend you may want to check this one out, if not this year then next.

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In Case You Missed It…

This week on the blog, we’re well into the throes of the holiday season, so I published a short counterpart to the T.G.S. Annual Gift Guide, which is a post titled “5 Bad Stationery Gift Ideas” that I hope you all find entertaining. I also posted an update on how I’ve been using my Bible Size Plotter binder to help manage my growing brick-and-mortar shop.

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

We’ve recently restocked on Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter binders, as well as Pilot E95s fountain pens, Book Darts page markers, and more! We also have a large volume of new inks coming into the shop from brands including Diamine, Teranishi, and Kuretake, most of which have already been added online but all of which are available to peruse in-person. Be sure to check out our weekly Thursday Drops post for stock updates, as well as the Tuesday “New Arrivals” post which also contains any updates to weekly shop hours.

We are currently caught up on orders, nearly all of which are shipping within two business days. While we do our best to get holiday season orders shipped quickly, we have no control over carrier timing and delivery - if you need something by December 25 or earlier, please get your orders in as soon as possible!

Diamine Inks

Pilot

TWSBI

TRAVELER'S Company

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives (Including the Sunderland Mk1)

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), and would like early/extra access to shop releases and gently used stationery opportunities, consider supporting us via Patreon. We do our best to remain 100% self-supported without having to rely on third-party advertisers or affiliates. Of course, the number one way to help is to visit our curated retail shop either online (or in person, if you’re in the Nashville area)! If you enjoy in-person and virtual meetups and having access to more personal content, the T.G.S. Patreon includes these as well as access to early shop releases, the quarterly gently used sales, a monthly updates newsletter, and of course our monthly Zoom meetups. Patreon support starts as low as $3 per month, and if you pay annually there is a further discount. For example, Patrons receive an extra bit off the TGS x Sunderland Collaboration Pen, and Patreon supporters had their own special Fountain Pen Day promo “mystery box” opportunity, while supplies last and which is still available!

No matter how you support us - even if just with a comment, recommendation, or encouraging word - we greatly appreciate your readership!

Plotter Bible Size: Embracing the Single-Use Notebook

I’ve cycled through a few Plotter binders, looking for my ideal size. For everyday work, I’ve settled on A5 as the best combination of portability and practicality. My Plotter Mini 5 serves as my wallet, which has a “security blanket” notebook incorporated into it for capturing those stray thoughts which in years past probably would have gone into a Field Notes or other pocket notebook. The sizes I’ve struggled the most with, however, are the Narrow and Bible. I ended up selling my Narrow Plotter binder, simply because it was too “in-between”: too tall for the kind of portability I expected, and not quite wide enough to do the same kind of writing I can do in a Traveler’s Notebook. Now, what about the “Bible Size”?

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The Plotter Mini 5 (which started it’s life as Grey Pueblo leather) atop my olive green Bible Plotter. For those who will ask, the pencil in the notebook is a Pilot Birdie mini-pencil (and there’s also a pen/pencil combo version).

The “Bible Size” Plotter binder measures approximately 4.5” x 7”, with the refill pages measuring roughly 3.5” x 6.75”. So it’s roughly the same height as the Plotter Narrow but offers a few more inches of width to allow for more flexibility with writing. When I picked up this olive leather limited edition last year, I really wanted to make this my primary Plotter, but it’s just too small for day job and research notes, plus I love being able to easily hole-punch A5 paper and use it in the larger Plotter.

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The Bible-Size Plotter does, however, work great as a shop notebook that houses my ink swatch catalog and restock lists. Whenever new inks arrive, I immediately swatch one bottle and add it to this “master catalog” at the same time I swatch the inks onto Col-o-ring Cards. One of the best decisions I’ve made so far as a (fledgling) shop owner has been this master ink book that I control: the swatch book that sits out on the shelf tends to be easily damaged, with cards torn, smudged, or stolen - yes, people do take the swatch cards both in-store and at shows - and there’s nothing worse than having someone ask to see a swatch of a specific color only to discover it’s gone. If that happens, I have my backup, which also comes in handy for personal color comparisons and reviews.

I’ve also discovered that it’s essential to maintain a central a location for a “running list” of items that need to be restocked on subsequent orders. Some would say that this list should be kept electronically, but I rarely have my computer near me in the shop, and I hate having to constantly pull out my phone. While most of this particular Plotter binder is used for ink, there’s also a dedicated section in the back for reorder notes.

Those of you who have been following our Diamine Inkvent and Colorverse Colorvent reveal on Instagram may have noticed this paper, which is Midori MD Cotton with letterpress lines, sized for Plotter. I’m not seeing these currently on the Plotter USA website, so they may be pen-show exclusives. MD Cotton Paper is one of my favorite paper for swatching inks since it shows off color quite well.

While it might seem like a step back from my overarching goal of limiting the number of notebooks I’m using at any given time, sometimes the most efficient solution is to add a separate stand-alone notebook to handle a specific task. I’ve been using my “shop notebook” for a couple of months now and I think it’s going to stick. I’m continuing to work through my planner/journal setup for 2025, experimenting with test runs and sample layouts in December. I’ll plan to do a full “Notebook System” layout around the new year, which will feature my condensed 2025 notebook lineup centered around moveable pages (i.e. disc and ring-based systems). For a discussion of how I fared with my 2024 lineup and what I’m looking to change, check out this recent post here.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’re interested in talking inks and seeing our swatches and growing selection, come see us in-person! We’re open this week Thursday-Sunday, and otherwise by appointment.

Thursday Drops: Roterfaden Returns, Kuretake Inks, Pilot Elite 95s, and the Last Inkvents

Many thanks to all of you who supported us last week during the Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Small Business Saturday events, and an especially big thanks to those of you who came to see us in person! Our holiday shopping opportunities continue, with certain pens, paper, and desk accessories on clearance, as well as a full Roterfaden restock. We have Taschenbegleiter binders available in all sizes (A4, A5, and A6). We also received Burgundy Pilot E95s fountain pens with fine nibs.

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The Pilot E95s is restocked, shown here in black with burgundy/silver also available.

Finally, we are down to a single T.G.S. x Sunderland mk1 pen (take it home for the holidays!), and two or so Diamine Inkvent calendars. I’ve been posting the first few Inkvent inks on Instagram, which you can follow along in the stories. Don’t miss other new ink releases such as select inks from the Diamine standard line, the 160th and 150th Anniversary inks, and two separate series of Kuretake inks.

Domestic U.S. orders over $75 ship free. Please review our shipping policies and time estimates prior to placing an international order. Orders to Canada may be delayed due to the ongoing postal strike, and UK orders are subject to a minimum due to VAT rules. We are open this week Thursday through Sunday! View up-to-date hours here.

1. Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter Organizers. The clip-based Roterfaden system has become one of our top sellers over the past year, and we were fortunate enough to get a fresh restock in the door before year-end.

2. Pilot E95s Fountain Pens. The burgundy E95s has been a favorite of many, and we’ve had them trickle in gradually over the past several months as Pilot works through a bit of a backlog. We currently have a limited quantity of fine-nib pens.

3. TWSBI ECO-T Jade and Rose Gold Fountain Pens. I still have a handful of these pen sets, which come with a small bottle of midnight blue ink. These pens were a special holiday release from last year and a couple of them emerged during our move.

4. Kakimori Hardcover A5 Notebooks. We still have some of these gorgeous Kakimori notebooks, which would make great gifts as they feature beautiful Japanese fabric covers.

5. Traveler’s Company 2025 Dated Diary Refills. Now is a great time to grab your 2025 dated journal/planner refill for the Standard and Passport-sized Traveler’s Notebooks.

6. Traveler’s Company 2024 Limited Edition “Tokyo” Refills. We stocked up on these MD Paper Refills, which accompanied the 2024 Tokyo Special Edition Traveler’s Notebooks. These would make a fun gift this holiday season but they likely will not last.

7. Viarco Vintage-inspired Pencil Gift Sets. These gift sets from Portuguese pencil-maker Viarco include six dozen Viarco pencils, each dozen a reproduction from Viarco’s extensive back catalogue. Viarco is one of the few remaining European pencil manufacturers still in operation.

8. Tom’s Studio Mechanical Pencils. I’ve had several requests for interesting mechanical pencils “that don’t look too technical”, and these comfortable, front-weighted machined pencils from Tom’s Studio are designed for both writing and drawing.

9. Kaweco Collection Perkeo “Infrared”. Kaweco introduced the Perkeo as a full-sized pen that could accept both short international cartridges and a full-sized ink converter. This transparent red color was a 2024 special release.

10. Teranishi Guitar Inks. I can’t sing the praises of these inks enough. They flow well, and show a moderate amount of sheen and color-shifting without being high-maintenance. Read about five of my favorite colors here.

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Come see us in-person, and view all of this an more for yourself! we’re constantly restocking and have plenty for both online and in-person holiday shopping.