We’re so excited to add TWSBI to EuropeanPaper.com! We’ve started with an edited selection of the intriguing writing instrument brand, including the TWSBI Vac 700 Fountain Pen, TWSBI Fountain Pen Nibs, and TWSBI Precision Ballpoint Pen. And we’ll soon be adding many more TWSBI pens and writing accessories!

Read TWSBI’s brand story on our blog here, and check out all TWSBI writing products on our site here!

With over 40 years of experience in manufacturing (originally as Ta Shin Precision; TWSBI was launched as a separate brand only in 2009), the TWSBI brand recaptures the romantic flair of past art and literature within its modern-day design. Relying heavily on customer feedback to tweak each product to perfection, TWSBI manufactures fountain pens, mechanical pencils, ballpoint pens, fountain pen ink bottles, among others.

Based in Taiwan, TWSBI’s roots as Ta Shin Precision are as an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) for other global companies. Philip Wang branched out with the brand name TWSBI in 2009 and it quickly evolved to encompass a smattering of fine writing instruments and accessories. TWSBI holds high standards for the quality industrial design found in their fountain pens, but they also work hard to offer their products at lower prices so more people have access to them.

When TWSBI says they want to hear your feedback on their products, they mean it. Read the story of how TWSBI launched their first product (the Diamond 530) complete with testers and feedback here on Fountain Pen Network. And here’s the result, direct from TWSBI’s man-in-charge, Philip Wang:

“The result was the TWSBI Diamond 530, a classic fountain pen with a piston ink-filling system.  By fusing the traditional mechanisms of the fountain pen with a modern industrial design, we have created an eye-catching fountain pen that is simultaneously appreciative of the past and relevant in the present.”

TWSBI Vac 700 Fountain Pen on EuropeanPaper.com

Not only is TWSBI’s direct customer service via online channels incredibly quick and valuable, TWSBI has another factor that makes it unique. TWSBI includes a manual with each fountain pen instructing you how to disassemble the entire pen and put it all back together. In our fast-paced world and grab-and-go products, TWSBI encourages the avid fountain pen user to slow down, take some time, and enjoy the process of getting to know TWSBI fountain pens inside and out, literally.

Of course, we would be remiss to not answer the most frequent question about TWSBI: what does TWSBI stand for?

Intricate and encompassing the past and present yet again, TWSBI’s name has an interesting story. It’s best to hear from the source, as TWSBI says: “TWSBI’s name stands for the phrase “Hall of Three Cultures” or “San Wen Tong” in Chinese. The character “Wen” translates into language and culture. The phrase “San Wen Tong” also brings to mind the Hall of the Three Rare Treasures created by Emperor Qianlong as a memorial to three great masterpieces of Chinese calligraphy. The initials of the phrase “San Wen Tong” was reversed and thus turned into “TWS”. The last letters “Bi” was added with its literal meaning of “writing instruments”. Thus combining the two segments, creating TWSBI.”

How to Write: A Letter of Resignation

• Resigning from something – whether it’s a job or a volunteer position with a local non-profit – is an occasion that should be given some care and attention. In most cases, your letter of resignation will be kept on file permanently and is something that could potentially resurface in the future. Here are a few essential components to any good resignation letter and a few best practices as well.

How to Write: Sympathy Notes

• Sympathy Notes really get a lot of scrutiny from the recipient. A  sympathy note is a reminder that the recipient has many people in his or her life to help fill in that empty spot. There are lots of things you can say in a sympathy note, most of which are probably fine. However, there are a few things you should avoid saying in a sympathy note and I’ll tell you why.

How to Write With a Fountain Pen

• No matter what fountain pen you have; whether it’s a $2 drugstore find or a $1,000 special edition, it’s important to understand what the tool was designed for so you use it properly. It’s also useful to find other people who use fountain pens and ask them for their tips and advice. That said, here are my tips for how to write with fountain pens.

How to Write: Improving Your Cursive Skills

• Cursive is a word that basically just means the letters are joined. So, whether your cursive is bubbly and wide or teeny and scratchy; as long as those letters are connected, you, my friend, are writing in cursive. Here are my best tips for improving your cursive.

How to Write: Friendship / Appreciation Notes

• Friendship and Appreciation notes are a special kind of personal correspondence and are always treasured by the recipient. They can be a challenge to write because they require the expression of honest, heartfelt emotion and sentiment when we, at least Americans, don’t normally do that. Start to change that with this post!

How to Write: Thank You Notes

• Thank you notes do not serve the purpose of simply naming (and sometimes also describing) a gift someone sent you. This post in the How To Write series is meant to help you write thank you notes well. And we begin by understanding one subtle difference: a thank you note is different from just a thank you. They are not one and the same.

Lamy AL-Star Fountain Pen on EuropeanPaper.com

I love fountain pens. Ever since I first held my father’s Mont Blanc those years ago, I fell in love with the way a fountain pen smoothly passed over the paper, the gentle flow of the ink. Ever since that day I have used a fountain pen for all my personal and professional writing and editing.

For everyday use, I use a Pilot Varsity fountain pen; they come in a variety of colours and if I should happen to misplace it, I can replace it with no big financial burden. For my personal writing and editing, I use my father’s old burgundy gold nibbed Mont Blanc.

I came across the LAMY AL-Star dark purple fountain pen as I was perusing the European Paper website. I had never used a Lamy pen so I was intrigued and wanted to experience it. I’ve heard fantastic things about the AL-Star and wanted to use it for myself. I fell in love with the colour first and knew I had to have it!  I ordered it and eagerly anticipated its arrival. The pen came in a simple cardboard-like box in an envelope mailer.

This pen is everything I could have wanted or imagined! It is sleek, a lovely deep purple, and it comes with a cartridge of deep blue ink. I had ordered the medium sized nib and was writing in a Moleskine Squared Folio Notebook. As I started writing with it, the solid feel of the nib as it moved across the paper was smooth, the ink didn’t clump or run dry as I wrote, it slid across the paper, fluid and with a precision that belies its modest price.

I have used this pen for everything – for writing checks, to signing grocery receipts.  I keep it in my purse and use it to write in my journal. The ink doesn’t bleed across to the other pages, and dries almost instantly so it doesn’t smudge.

This pen is a fantastic investment; I would recommend this writing instrument to any one – new or seasoned.

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Meet the Writer: Akhila Jagdish is a writer and editor in the process of starting her own editorial services company, The Crafted Word. She loves making lists, collecting journals, reading, drinking wine and cooking. 

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We’re celebrating the first annual Fountain Pen Day today! Scheduled for the first Friday of November, two fountain pen enthusiasts (with the backing of the larger fountain pen community at Fountain Pen Network), Aaron and Cary, have put the proverbial fountain pen flag in the ground of November 2, 2012. Check out all the resources they’ve compiled on FountainPenDay.org and embrace the day!

To share the fountain pen love on EuropeanPaper.com, we’ve got a special coupon on the Lamy AL-Star Fountain Pen! Grab it in Graphite, Ocean Blue, or Dark Purple (all available in either Fine or Medium nib), and take 10% off the AL-Star Fountain Pen for a limited time. Just use coupon code FPD10 at checkout for the 10% savings and enjoy it for Fountain Pen Day!

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Learn more about the Lamy AL-Star: The Lamy AL-Star Fountain Pen is a fun and functional fountain pen, perfect to add to any fountain pen enthusiasts’ collection. Made of lightweight aluminum, the Lamy AL-Star has a sleek and modern design with a flexible wire clip. The translucent grip section is molded for comfort and the whole pen comes ready to write right out of the box!

The AL-Star uses ink cartridges primarily (a Lamy T10 Blue Ink Cartridge is included with your purchase), but can be modified with Lamy’s Z24 Converter to use their T52 Bottled Ink. Choose the Lamy AL-Star in either fine or medium nib, and use it for everyday use or for catching up on correspondence!

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How will you be celebrating the first Fountain Pen Day?
Share with us in the comments below!

Take the boring out of note-taking! Get your writing noticed with each of our top picks, and best of all, buy the pen or pencil and get 20% off their accessory.

Available in Graphite, Ocean Blue, and Dark Purple, the Lamy AL-Star fountain pen is the updated version of the Lamy Safari, but with an aluminum body instead of plastic.

Perfect to add to any pen collection, the Lamy AL-Star has a sleek and modern design with a flexible wire clip. The translucent grip section is molded for comfort and the whole pen comes ready to write right out of the box! The AL-Star uses ink cartridges primarily (a Lamy T10 Blue Ink Cartridge is included), but can be modified with Lamy’s Z24 Converter to use their T52 Bottled Ink.

Choose the Lamy AL-Star in either fine or medium nib, and use it for everyday use or for catching up on correspondence!

The Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Fountain Pen is an exact replica of the original Conklin Pen Company crescent filler used and promoted by Mark Twain. The Conklin Pen Company was established in 1898 and is regarded as one of the most innovative manufacturers from the golden era of fountain pens. In 1903, Mark Twain, the legendary American author, began his relationship with The Conklin Pen Company, the great American pen manufacturer. As a spokesman for Conklin, Twain advertised and promoted the famous Conklin Crescent Filler.

We’ve got two new colors of this classic fountain pen, and while they both have the flexible rubber sac as an internal ink reservoir plus the two-toned stainless steel nib with the well-known crescent shaped breathing hole, they definitely have distinct characteristics.

The commanding hue of the Conklin Orange Crescent Fountain Pen is also made from cellulose acetate and the barrel is engraved with the famous Conklin logo. However, the orange version is accented with a yellow-gold plated clip, cap band, and crescent.

The classy Conklin Black Chase Crescent Fountain Pen is made from cellulose acetate with a subtle pattern over the whole body and cap. The Black Chase version is different from the other colored Conklin Crescent Fountain Pens as it is accented with a rose-gold plated clip, cap band, and crescent (rather than yellow gold).

Both Conklin Crescent Fountain Pens are beautiful writing instruments for fountain pen enthusiasts of all types, including obviously Mark Twain.  He even expressed his love for this special fountain pen in a series of advertisements when he stated, “I prefer it to ten other fountain pens, because it carries its filler in its own stomach, and I can not mislay even by art or intention. Also, I prefer it because it is a profanity saver; it cannot roll off the desk.”

“No design writes better,” promises the famed German pen manufacturer Lamy. With countless fans to attest that claim, Lamy rose to prominence using groundbreaking techniques with molded synthetic plastics in their pens. This is most notable when very carefully inspecting Lamy pens for lines where sections meet – look long enough and you may see the very faintest of a connection point, unnoticeable to the untrained eye.

Lamy’s Foundation: The 2000 Fountain Pen

Founded in 1930 by Josef Lamy (originally a sales representative for The Parker Pen Company), Lamy pens quickly rose to prominence as one of the most modern pen manufacturers with their flagship fountain pen the Lamy 2000, first released in 1966 and still their premier pen to this day.

Check out the Lamy 2000 Fountain Pen on EuropeanPaper.com for all the details.

Made of a combination of fiberglass and brushed stainless steel known as Makrolon, the Lamy 2000 Fountain Pen is piston filled and thus can only be used with an ink bottle and not with ink cartridges. No worries though, the piston has quite a large and reliable capacity. It also has a gorgeous 14-carat gold, platinum-coated nib that is hand polished and semi-hooded to prevent ink drying when left uncapped, not to mention the spring-loaded stainless steel clip that can hold up to years of clip-on, clip-off.

Designed by Gerd Alfred Müller, the Lamy 2000 was awarded the Busse Longlife Design Prize in 1984. The 2000’s sleek design and smooth writing style has stood the test of time as it stays at the top of many a fountain pen enthusiasts’ wish lists. Just be sure not to leave it lying around the office as its refined look is sure to catch attention and it may “walk off” on its own! The innovative Lamy 2000 is so revered that it is on permanent display at the Museum of Modern Art and has won countless design awards. One other tip: the 2000 nibs are not marked, so keep the box you bought it in so you can always have the nib size on hand!

Lamy Safari Fountain Pen

Then in 1980, Lamy created the Lamy Safari, a fountain pen for beginners and students primarily, now heralded as one of the best introductory fountain pens on the market.

Lamy Z50 Fountain Pen Nib on EuropeanPaper.com

Designed by Wolfgang Fabian & Bernt Spiegel, the Safari’s stainless steel Z50 nib is interchangeable with several other Lamy fountain pen collections including the CP1, AL-Star, Vista, Joy, Studio, Accent, and Logo. Some other models that are fitted with a standard Lamy steel nib can also swap out nibs, but the previously mentioned styles are the most available and used in the US. The Z50 nibs do not fit the Lamy 2000 fountain pen.

Back to the Safari though: With a shiny flexible chrome clip, the Safari is ready to travel and comes equipped with a Lamy T10 ink cartridge so you can write with it straight out of the box. You can also modify the Safari to use Lamy’s Z24 Converter, in which case you can use any bottled ink like Lamy’s T52 Bottled Ink.

Grab the black, white, blue, or red Lamy Safari Fountain Pen on EuropeanPaper.com or get all four!

Made of sturdy ABS plastic, the Safari is available in Charcoal, Blue, Apple Green, Red, and White, on EuropeanPaper.com and is designed with the writer’s comfort in mind with its molded grip section. The Charcoal Safari comes with a black coated steel nib (your choice of fine or medium nib), while the Blue, Red, and White Safaris come with a non-coated steel nib (once again, your choice of fine or medium nib).

Today, Lamy has branched into ballpoint pens, rollerball pens, mechanical pencils, and more, and is still at the forefront of pen innovation. Still made in Heidelberg, Germany, Lamy is a brand you can trust for quality, durability, and versatility.