The Pen Edition

Colin here. A quick, lightweight WITI today. I’ve been toying around with the idea of using Friday to ask people about objects they find essential to their lives. I’m inspired in particular by this piece, where Marc Newson is interviewed by Louis Cheslaw. There’s gold in these recs. I certainly use the Sunspel T-shirts, and have been obsessed with his corkscrew rec. There’s even a nice tea blending tip: “My favorite thing to do is mix the Assam with Darjeeling. I was having tea in Mumbai once and the waiter suggested that mix, telling me that it was generally accepted. It’s a perfect combination and not something I would ever have thought to do.”

But as we wait to spin this up formally as a feature, I loved a small little thread that spun up on the WITI contributor’s Slack today with a few folks outlining their pen picks. I’ve seen the otaku pen selections at various Japanese stationary stores, but I didn’t know there was such obsession without our walls.

A selection of a few:

Ryan A:

My pen arsenal includes:

• Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen (made me a fountain pen convert)

• Uni-ball 307s (the workhorse, multiple colors)

• Sharpie S-Gel (backup workhorse, just black)

• Stabilo point 88 (for fine point needs, multiple colors)

Ryan M:

Ooo I didn't know this was a thing to care about. For the record, I use:

• Pigma FB

• Copic Mulitliners (various gauges)

• Tombow Fudenosuke (for brush work)

• Uni Jetstream (general notetaking)

• Palomino Blackwing 602 pencils

• Oh and a Fisher Space Pen for travel

Nick P:

• Roll hard with the Pilot G-2 every day. Workhorse, thin and thick.

• Occasional Bic Round Stic M for legal pad work and travel. Bulletproof.

• Pilot Kakuno extra fine for Tomoe River / Maruman Mnemosyne.

• Fancy boy drawing gets the Staedtler Pigment Liners out.

• Pencil-wise especially enjoy using the Leo Burnetts I received a box of 50 of, once upon a time. 

While Reilly B endorses “Pentel Sign Pen for life.” (Link has more context).

Check the entire Jetpens.com best-of roundup here (h/t Chris P).

—

Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN)

—

Why is this interesting? is a daily email from Noah Brier & Colin Nagy (and friends!) about interesting things. If you’ve enjoyed this edition, please consider forwarding it to a friend. If you’re reading it for the first time, consider subscribing.