A Titanium Fountain Pen Got Me Again: Gravitas Sentry

If you know me in real life, or you have followed my videos for a while, it is well known that when it comes to items made out of titanium, I have a weakness. I love titanium, and whenever I come across something made from it in one of my hobbies, something inside my head says, you need to get that asap.

I was on Youtube the other day, and I saw a video from Drew Brown on the Fahrney’s Channel, and it was all about how Fahrney’s is now the US distributor for Gravitas pens, and that peeked my interest. I have seen other videos about the Gravitas pens, especially the one made from titanium, but I didn’t want to go through the international ordering and shipping hassle, so I had been holding out. While watching this video, I of course went to the website to look, and low and behold before I knew it, I had a Sentry in my cart and the order was placed.

Gravitas makes some other models in titanium like the Dinkey, Quark and Pocket, but there was just something about the Sentry that drew me in. I carried my Namisu Orion for a few years as I never had to worry about the pen being in my pocket, but I didn’t really have any other fountain pens that I really enjoy writing with that also don’t make me worry if just throwing it in a pocket with a knife or keys, and now the Sentry will be able to allow me to vary what pens I carry with me.

First page of real writing that was not random work notes related.

As I was making the video, I had to decide what ink that I wanted to use, and this can be challenging when not trying to match a material, so I wanted to select something that I had not used in a while, so I went with the Montblanc William Shakespeare Velvet Red. I think this was a great choice, as I forgot how much I enjoy this color, and in my experience, Montblanc ink always performs well.

I ordered the EF nib for this pen, and for being a Jowo #6 compatible housing, the Gravitas nib that I received writes wonderful. The addition of the laser etched logo on the nib adds a nice touch as well. I don’t have an immediate plan to swap this nib out anytime soon, but being able to add a ground nib to this in the future is very appealing.

The fit and finish of this pen I second to none, and while I understand that Gravitas might have had some customer service issues for some people in the past, I think that handing that off to Fahrney’s to handle is a way of them hearing that there were issues and trying to make it a better experience for customers. This was my first order from Fahrney’s, and it definitely won’t be my last.

Interviewing The Gentleman Stationer

So when I decided to start doing interviews on the Youtube channel, I was lucky to have quite a few local people who I was able to get on the list, and as it would have it, it took a bit for our schedules to align, but Joe and I finally got a chance to record an episode. I go to the Gentleman Stationer shop an on almost weekly cadence, but it is different to be in looking around vs getting a chance to talk about some of the stationery between other customers etc.

Getting a chance to sit down and ask questions and learn the history of a website and now store that I visit all of the time was great. I love hearing how these people get started and how they have been able to grow their passion for the hobby into a thriving online store, and in this case, actually be able to open up a new physical store. Nashville has needed this type of store, and Joe talks about in the video about he saw that and decided why not me?

It was great to see a hinted new collaboration item that is in the works as well, but it was just a visual hint in the video, so I can’t really give more details here, so definitely watch to see that tease, as I have a feeling that product will sell quite well. So I do hope you enjoy watching this one as well as all of the other episodes, as I really enjoy getting a chance to showcase all of these staples in the stationery hobby.

This Australian Burl Just Had to Follow Me Home

So lately I have run into a trend of if I haven’t purchased an item from someone that I have interviewed, I end up with something shortly thereafter. That is exactly what happened with my first pen that I picked up from Tristar Studio.

Butler Stationery has started a Friday morning pen meetup of sorts, so for the last few weeks, I have been going out there and have been able to meet up with some of the pen people who are local to Columbia, TN. One of these people is Scott Lewis from Tristar, and the day after his interview released on Youtube, he had just done one of his first matte finish pens, and the very first pen that he had burned his logo in on the barrel of the pen with his laser. I don’t think he planned on selling that pen that morning, but when I saw it, I knew that was the pen that needed to come home with me.

Don’t get me wrong, polished pens look great, but there is something about matte finishes that I seem to prefer in many cases. This Australian burl wood is just gorgeous, and the Turnt Pen Company Carson IV section material was a perfect combination with the wood. Scott uses Bock #6 nibs, and thanks to some of his other pens being on sale at Butler Stationery, we were able to do musical nibs to get an EF nib put into this pen. Since then, Scott did give me an EF nib with the Tristar Studio logo engraved on it, which is now what is in this pen.

He brought the pen that morning in a great sleeve made by Rachel of Third Bungalow Crafts, and just adds to the look of this pen. The topographic pattern just has a cool look, and seeing as I have a topographic sticker on my laptop, it was a natural fit.

Be sure to go and take a look at Scott’s website, as he has been posting new pens every few days that are all stunning, and I know that some of them only lasted on the website for a few days, as I had a friend pick one of them up recently as well.