New Arrivals: Anterique Restock, Including the Brass Version!

Do you all remember when the New York Times/Wirecutter reviewed the Penco Perfection Ballpoint pen earlier this year, causing the pen to sell out instantaneously nearly everywhere? Well, the same thing happened last week, with an article by New York Magazine’s “The Strategist” prompting a run on longtime site and shop favorite Anterique. These vintage-style “clic” ballpoints come in dozens of colors, in both a standard plastic, bicolor, and brass-barrel versions. Mini versions and mechanical pencils are also available, along with extra refills. There are even highlighters that look like paint tubes.

I even did a YouTube video highlighting this brand. We were ahead of the times by a few years!

The brass pens had been out of stock for some time, but we recently received a shipment and we now have most colors available in both full size and mini. While these are in demand at the moment, we have a large stock so you should be able to get one even if certain colors run low. To read more on these excellent low-viscosity ballpoints, check out our past reviews and write-ups, in addition to the video linked above.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop (our online store) and pledges via the T.G.S Patreon Program. Come see these and more in our Nashville shop, where we are open from 1-6pm on Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-6pm on Saturday!

Comparing Low Viscosity Ballpoint Pens: Jetstream vs. Acroball vs. Anterique vs. Ohto

It’s been interesting to see pen manufacturers - especially the Japanese manufacturers - move away from standard ballpoints to low viscosity refills. You sometimes hear these refills referred to as “hybrid gel-ballpoint”, because they combine the permanence and quick dry times of a classic ballpoint pen with the smoothness of a gel pen. Personally, I love them, and they form a core part of my own everyday writing rotation. The downside is that outside the Jetstream line, you don’t have many color options, with most companies offering these refills only in black.

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In order of darkness, I would rank the inks as follows: Pilot Acro Ink, Uni Jetstream, Anterique Mach Ball, and Ohto. In order of dry time, I would rank them the exact inverse: Ohto, Anterique Mach Ball, Uni Jetstream, and Pilot Acro Ink. That’s not to say that any of them “dry slowly,” but with a darker like, you will get more smoothness, and with that added smoothness comes increased dry time because it means more ink is on the page.

With so many of these sorts of pens entering the market, I thought it might be helpful to do a quick comparison of my thoughts on four of the most common brands: Pilot (Acro-Ink / Acroball), Uni (Jetstream), Ohto (various needle-tip refills), and Anterique (“Mach-ball”). See below for my thoughts on each. Please note that this post is not intended to be comprehensive, but rather an overview of the more popular refills that I often get asked about, with a focus on how they compare to one another. For a more general overview of low-viscosity ballpoints, including other brands, see this post here.

• Uni Jetstream. Probably the easiest to find of all the refills featured in this post, the Jetstream comes in anything from D1 size to Uni’s own proprietary multi-pen size to a standard Parker-style cartridge. The biggest selling point of the Jetstream is the number of options you have. D1 and multi pen refills come in colors that include black, blue, red, and green, and even though the Parker-style cartridges are available only in black, you still have .38mm, .5mm, and .7mm tip sizes. Jetstreams are smooth writers - maybe not quite as smooth as Pilot’s Acro-ink, but you’d have to be a pretty big ballpoint aficionado to notice the difference.

• Pilot Acro-Ink. In my opinion, the smoothest, easiest-writing refill on this list. While Pilot’s Acro-Ink refills aren’t quite as ubiquitous as the Jetstream line, I like them for longer-form writing. The .7mm writes a smooth line without smearing, and in my opinion it’s a better .7mm tip size than the Jetstream. These refills are found in the Pilot S20 ballpoints, the “Dr. Grip” line, and the Pilot “Acroball” pens that you can sometimes find in larger office supply stores.

• Anterique “Mach Ball” Refill. Anterique is known for taking the classic vintage-style click pen and upgrading it with their excellent refill. It only comes in one tip size (.5mm), with black ink, but it’s a great pen and relatively inexpensive. Pro tip: you can often substitute one of these refills into a standard vintage Bic Clic ballpoint. I have a large collection of vintage ballpoint pens, and it’s been a joy to give many of them a fresh life with a new refill. Sometimes you have to trim or extend the Anterique refill, as I don’t think the specs on the Clic were consistent over the years, but there are only a couple of exceptions where I was unable to make it work. Anterique’s biggest selling point is that it dries nearly instantaneously.

• Ohto Needle-Tip Ballpoint Refill. The ultra-precise .5mm needle-tip ballpoint has become Ohto’s hallmark. Of all the pens on this page, Ohto’s are on the drier side, but what this means is that you will get a very precise line and zero smearing. Ohto makes the refill for Object Index, Traveler’s Company, and Mark’style branded pens. Honestly, if you see any Japanese needle-tip ballpoint pen, chances are it’s an Ohto.

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Writing sample pens are, from left, the Pilot S20 (shown here in brown), the Anterique Mach Ball Standard Size, the Object Index Cedar Pen, and the Uni Jetstream 4+1 Bamboo.

I’m a huge fan of ballpoints and they play a huge role in my everyday working life because, well, they just work. We stock a wide variety in our shop, and if you come visit us in person, ask to try each of the refills featured here, as we have testers generally available.

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.

New Arrivals: Pilot S20 Ballpoints, Uni Jetstream Prime and Edge, and More Giftable Ballpoints

Ahead of the holidays, one of my top priorities was to restock our supply of higher-end ballpoint, rollerball, and gel pens, especially Japanese imports, but we also made room to bring in some new finds. Last week, we received our first shipment of the excellent Pilot S20 ballpoint, which uses Pilot’s hybrid “Acro-ink” and performs similarly to the Uniball Jetstream. A friend from our local pen club gifted me a S20 last year, and I couldn’t get over how comfortable this pen was to use: it sports an hourglass silhouette and soft, polished wood finish in two striated wood grains: red/black and brown/black. We also have a healthy supply of the Dr. Grip “Cocoon” refills, which is that cartridge that fits the S20.

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Other new arrivals include the Pilot Birdie/Birdie Switch: a small format writing instrument from Pilot that comes as either a mechanical pencil or “reversible multi-pen”; as well as additional stock of the Uni Jetstream Prime, the Uni Jetstream Edge, and the Zebra Sarasa Grande Vintage. All colors and tip sizes should be restocked and showing as available.

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The hourglass shape of the S20 ballpoint simply fits very well in your hand!

Store Holiday Hours and T.G.S. Holiday Gift Guide

I’ve updated the shop hours for Thanksgiving week. While we will be closed Thursday, we plan to open Friday (10am-7pm); Saturday (10am-7pm), and Sunday (12-5pm) to kick off the holiday shopping season. Remember that you can always shop by appointment outside of our public hours.

Also, don’t miss our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide, which walks through stationery gift options and recommendations that include pens, pencils, paper, and other desk and reading accessories for those who appreciate analog things! If you have gift-related questions, always feel free to reach out.

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If you come see us in-store, you’ll be able to peruse our growing selection of inks, including the entire range of Teranishi Guitar Inks in over a dozen colors!

Pen Review: The Lamy Econ Ballpoint Is Not a Fancy Pen, and That's OK.

You might be surprised to know that most readers of The Gentleman Stationer, and most of our shop customers, use ballpoint pens regularly, either as their primary writing instrument or as their “second option” after fountain pens. I personally use a lot of ballpoints, including the Lamy 2000, which features the same refill as the pen I’m going to look at today: the Lamy Econ.

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Lamy Econ ballpoints come in various colors.

As it’s name implies, the “Econ” is not a fancy pen. With an unadorned round, matte barrel, a folded steel clip, and a quiet knock system that won’t annoy your office or classmates, it’s pretty much the definition of an economy workhorse. For example, the matte black version pictured here is the pen you could buy as a gift for someone who’s not a “pen addict”, but who still appreciates nice everyday carry or professional accessories that offer a quality writing experience without appearing overly showy. Of course, the Econ comes in colors other than matte black, including “Matte Apricot”, “Lagoon”, “Sea”, “Indigo” and “Raspberry”, which do offer a pop of bright color if that’s what you’re looking for.

The Econ is well-balanced and features a "grippy" round barrel compatible with many different grip and handwriting styles.

I have to go on record once again, giving props to Lamy for dramatically improving the quality of the M16 ballpoint refill over the past several years. If a company makes ballpoint pens that take proprietary refills, that refill had better be good. While Lamy has had issues with the M16 in the past, if you haven’t tried it in recent years and are generally a ballpoint fan, you owe it to yourself to give it another try. This same refill also fits nearly all other standard Lamy ballpoint pens, including the Lamy Econ, Lamy Noto, Lamy Studio, and the Lamy 2000.

The M16 writes a relatively fine, manageable line, even in the medium tip size. Shown here on Midori MD Memo Block paper.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

With its matte barrel, solid knock and good refill, the Lamy Econ has filled a niche in my own household as the reliable “utility” pen that everyone in my family can use. From personal experience, it makes an excellent “car pen”, meaning the ballpoint(s) that I tend to keep in center consoles of our vehicles so that there is always something to write with. You never know!

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You can purchase the Lamy Econ in our shop, either online or in person, priced at $25. We actually have a display of Econ ballpoints on the “Lamy counter,” along with several other relatively inexpensive ballpoint pen options that you have the opportunity to pick up and handle before making a decision. As noted above, both the Econ, the Lamy 2000 ballpoint, and the Lamy Noto take the Lamy M16 refill. Pens ship with a black medium tip refill but additional colors and tip sizes are also available.

Would you like to see these pens in person? Come visit our physical location, located at 4320 Kenilwood Drive, Suite 113, Nashville, Tennessee! Hours this week will be from 1-6 on Friday Aug. 30, and from 11-6 on Saturday. The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

How Fine is "Too Fine"? Comparing Tip Sizes Across Different Pen and Pencil Types

It can be hard to make sense of the different tip sizes in ballpoints, gel pens, and mechanical pencils. Manufacturers tend to denote the tip size in millimeters (or tenths of a millimeter) as opposed to the arguably more descriptive "fine,” "medium,” and “broad” or “bold” typically used in fountain pens and rollerballs. Moreover, the actual corresponding line width isn't always consistent, due to differences between ballpoint and gel ink. For example, a .5mm gel pen might write a wetter line that looks wider than a corresponding .5mm ballpoint.

Since I've spent the past couple of weeks on "day job" projects that have required a lot of travel and non-fountain-pen use, I thought it might be interesting to do a direct comparison of the different widths and test some recent observations.

These days, the only ballpoint pen I use with any regularity is the Uniball Jetstream. And I use ALL the sizes. Even in non-Jetstream pens, I’ve mostly swapped out the original refill for the Parker-style Jetstream SXR-600 (shown at bottom). Shown here are the Jetstream Prime (left) and Jetstream Edge (right).

Ballpoint Example: Uniball Jetstream

It's somewhat difficult to find decent ballpoints that allow you to write a very fine line outside of Uni's Jetstream line. There are exceptions, like the Anterique Mach Ball Pens and the Ohto Refills found in Mark's and Traveler's Company Pens, but these less common Japanese imports are generally limited to the .5mm size, whereas the Jetstream comes in in both .38mm and .28mm line widths.

Since ballpoint refills are typically drier than rollerball or gel pens, you really do get a lot of differentiation between the different line widths. That .28mm can almost be described as a “hairline”, especially with light pressure.

I'm always shocked at how smooth Jetstream refills write, even at the .28mm width. .5mm will always be my personal sweet spot for everyday writing, but it's nice to have the ultra fine options for notetaking and annotation. Currently, I’m only aware of the Jetstream Edge in this ultra-fine .28mm tip, but it’s possible there are others sold in Japan.

The Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto has long been my go-to gel multi pen. Check out my original review from 2016!

Gel Pen Example: Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multi-Pen

The Pilot Hi-Tec-C remains a favorite gel pen, and the Coleto multi-pen version (in all of its various iterations) is probably my all-time favorite option. With gel pens, I tend to prefer the Hi-Tec-C's needle-tip, and I've found the Coleto Multi-Pen refills to resist the flow issues and clogging that can be endemic to the standard Hi-Tec-C.

I don’t have a .7m Hi-Tec-C (or know whether one even exists), so I subbed in a Pilot G2 for the .7mm writing sample.

Personally, the "sweet spot" for me is the .4mm Hi-Tec-C Coleto refill. I find these ever-so-slightly wider and smoother than most ".38mm" refills. This could be an ink issue as opposed to tip size, but I'm speaking from hands-on experience here, not any sort of technical analysis.

Mechanical Pencil Examples: Uni Kuru Toga and Caran d'Ache 888 Infinite

I've only recently begun experimenting with mechanical pencils narrower than .5mm. During my recent trip to NYC, I picked up a .38mm Uni Kuru Toga at Kinokuniya. I'm surprised at how usable this pencil is, even if you do have to be somewhat careful to avoid lead breakage. Generally speaking, a .7mm mechanical pencil will give you a line width closest to a standard woodcase pencil freshly sharpened in a long-point sharpener. The .5mm is my default “I-want-to-write-small-without-worrying-about-lead-breakage” pencil, and the size I use the most frequently. If you use a higher quality pencil lead, a .5mm mechanical pencil can be nearly as break-resistant as a .7mm pencil.

Shown here: the .7mm Caran d’Ache 888 Infinite (sorry, no longer available but the lead is identical to other Caran d’Ache Mechanical Pencils), and two Uni Kuru-Toga pencils in both .5mm and .38mm. I’m aware that .9mm and 1.1mm mechanical pencil sizes exist as well, though they’re less common and at that width, I will probably use a standard woodcase pencil or a 2mm leadholder.

Practical Considerations: Some Parting Thoughts on Choosing a Size

First, the good news: Most ballpoints, gel pens, and mechanical pencils are relatively inexpensive, so the risk of choosing the "wrong line width" is relatively low. You can buy one of each size and write with them for a while before making a larger investment in a broader range of colors or multiple refills.

If you find that you enjoy a certain brand/width combination (for example, a Jetstream in .7mm), you aren’t necessarily limited to buying pens from a single company because you can often find a more universal refill. Shown here is the Jetstream SXR-600, a Parker-style refill that fits ballpoints and rollerballs from many different brands. The Jetstream SXR-200 D1 refill is a great option for most D1 multi pens.

Second, as someone who takes a lot of notes and is a serial annotator - meaning that I obsessively mark up books, articles, and documents as I read them - I tend to find a use case for all of the different sizes. While .5mm is my go-to size for everyday writing, I typically keep a .38mm or .4mm handy, and have been experimenting with the .28mm Jetstream Edge. On the other hand, if you mainly write longhand, such as using your pens and pencils to journal, you may find .7mm the best all around choice. .5mm or wider will give you a smoother writing experience.

Here you can see an overall comparison of the three categories of writing samples above. In general, gel pens write a wider line than their corresponding ballpoint, and mechanical pencils will of course have less “spread” on the page since they don’t use liquid ink. The paper used is the Blackwing “Illegal Pad”, in the ruled format with the classic center dividing line.

Finally, though I'm still working through my thoughts on ultra-fine mechanical pencils, I'm pretty confident that anything finer than .5mm won't make it into my everyday rotation. With a mechanical pencil, you have to worry about lead breakage, and these ultra-fine widths are inescapably more fragile than their .5mm and .7mm counterparts. With a .38mm mechanical pencil, I've found that I have to pay more attention to things like paper texture, which can snag the lead and cause a break.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. Certain pens and pencils discussed in this post are available for purchase in our shop, so please consider supporting us if you enjoyed this content!